#MDMC19: Rocking Visual Marketing as Non-Designers

By Patricia Knight


Jeff Sieh, Known as “Head Beard” Host for Manly Pinterest Tips and Owner/Creative Director at His Design, Inc. talked to us about visual marketing can be used without being a Graphic Designer. Visual is super important to describe what’s going on in the image that we view or create. Sieh discussed taking the graphics to the next level. He showed us an image of a Barbie doll wearing a shrimp on her head like a hat as a joke to the Australian phrase, “Putting shrimp on the barbie”. A picture of a cannoli dessert on the bottom of the word “I” and top of the word “imagine” to create a pun for the phrase, “I can only imagine”.

 

  • Collect Consistently

 

Pixar’s Instagram page is the best example of images that related to visual marketing since they are the best storyteller on their platform. Pinterest is a good place to share images to audiences to stand out your pinboards on your page. Taking photos can help you with ideas of storytelling later. Evernote is a great app to collect ideas for images when you’re out and about. Dribbble app is for designers to go get inspired and get hired as creative professionals.

A mental note is no note at all”

-Ken Davis

Adobe Capture CC app is used for capturing photos and turning into a scalable vector for use in a logo, illustration, animation, and more. You can even find your typography and capture light and color to turn into beautiful color grading profiles for your images and videos. Font Finder is a cool app where you take a picture or upload from your phone, tap the font that you want to identify and test it out with your own text.

http://Depositphotos.com is definitely a timesaver for finding ideas for content with royalty-free photographs, vector images, stock footage and editorial files available to use for customers that you work with. http://www.Ifttt.com is a website that you can visit to save ideas with connecting all of your different apps and devices, like automatically backing up your photos and sharing them online for you. Thanks to Ifttt, procrastination is Jeff’s main power. SPAR! app gets you to create or join a challenge for goals with your friends, make a proof that you achieved your goal(s), and winners get to split the pot.

  •  Condense Construction

The site, http://www.Canva.com is great for quick and easy graphics for social media headers and posts.  Another graphic site, http://www.easil.com allows you to create awesome Instagram story templates.

Templates are very important for creating images for flyers and signs. Photoshop templates are made in Adobe Photoshop program to create image contents that can include words or phrases.

The websites, www.creativemarket.com and www.mightydeals.com are best for photoshop templates. Creative Market-Scene Creator Mockup is great for adding a photo layer on top of an image background. There are free stock photo sites for people who don’t want to pay for anything, like pexels.com, unsplash.com, and librestock.com, while depositphotos.com and www.123RF.com  are the only paid stock photo sites for images that you want to use.

Video templates are created by using Adobe Premiere to create and edit videos with clips. Movable GIF-like ads on Pinterest are the coolest ways to get people engaged like Kohl’s Cash ad that can allow while you’re browsing on Pinterest. The video templates site, videohive.net, and digitaljuice.com have everything that you need to create videos on Adobe Premiere. Wave.video is great for creating Instagram Story with awesome music, watermark, and high-quality video. Slide.ly/promo is a quick video creator whenever you want to share videos to everyone right away.

Free video creator such as headliner.app and Adobe Spark let you create clips and graphics into stunning storytelling videos to share to the audiences on social media platforms. Enlight is a paid mobile app that is used for revitalize colors with two-toned gradients for a retro feel in images and decorative touches with add and customize text, doodle, borders of photos and other cool creative stuff.

Sieh used a self-portrait of himself on one of the image editing apps called FaceTune and use Brad Pitt’s head as a layer image to cover his entire head as an example of using an image layer in a photo. Afterlight 2 have cool filters to edit image brightness and contrast. Instasize app use filters that are similar to Instagram’s filters while you edit photos and videos. Apollo: Immersive Illumination is the only mobile app that allows you to add light sources to your Portrait Mode photos even after the photos is taken.

Enlight Photofox  is an app that I personally use that create sophisticated layers by combining photos and re-edit each layer at any time as well as making stunning double exposures and unique designs with graphic elements. Enlight Quickshot mobile app edits any photo and takes photos with a filter like Instagram, but you get to add neat special effects. Enlight Pixaloop mobile app helps you refresh your photos into life with photo element like adding clouds in the sky to move along with animations in seconds and easily created cinematic magic with your images. This app also allows your image to be animated.

Photoshop CC- Workflow is a program to use on the computer to edit images with special filters and layer images to make them unique for audiences to be engaged to your creation. Enlight Videoleap mobile app has cool features like mixing videos to make them creative, adding text and emojis, visually use Hollywood green screen to make Hollywood-level films, and adding fun & artistic effects. Slider by Word Swag app helps you easily turn your photos into a video story, brand your own posts with logo and colors, and twerking your posts to sing with your own music or exclusive TV-quality tracks. You can get access to over a million free photos in this app. Adobe Rush app allows everyone to shoot, edit, share videos with cool features to social channels.

  • Combine Creatively

Stephanie Liu works for Lights, Camera, Live as a host and she stands out her creativity by using her image on the computer screen for a graphic advertisement for her Facebook Live show. Colorzilla is a Google Chrome Plugin that allows everyone to use any color that they pick for their brands. The website, Paletton.com is great at letting visitors select any color in the color palette for their graphic images. Adobe Rush is similar to Adobe Premiere, but it’s free to use for everyone who wants to create videos.

“90% perfect and shared with the world always changes more lives than 100% perfect and stuck in your head.”

-Jon Acuff

Sieh also mentioned that image contents don’t have to be perfect, but with excellent quality and having people help you with creating good images can be a good thing. Creating image content can sometimes be hard for some people to do if they didn’t have knowledge of visual marketing.

I learn a lot of different programs that allow everyone to create images and videos to gain audiences to view their social media posts. It was very fun to hear good facts about visual marketing. Go follow Jeff Sieh on Twitter @jeffsieh and connect with him on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsieh/. You can also visit his website, http://manlypinteresttips.com for podcasts, blogs, and videos about Visual Marketing.

#MDMC19: Shane Barker Reveals Everything You Need To Know About Influencer Marketing

By Sarah Thomas


It is no secret that influencer marketing is extremely successful! I mean with 1 billion monthly users on Instagram spending an average of 53 minutes a day on the platform, influencers have a huge reach! Influencer marketing has completely taken off leaving a lot of businesses’ in the dark on how to use it to their advantage and just not using it at all.

Digital Strategist and Influencer Consultant, Shane Barker shared his influencer marketing expertise with us at MDMC this year. Shane shared everything from his experience consulting influencers, to the best ways for businesses to utilize influencer marketing. Keep reading for answers to your influencer marketing questions!

Influencer Marketing Works

Influencer marketing works because influencers have gained the trust of their audience. When someone you know suggests something, you trust their opinion and recommendations. This is why when an influencer shares a product, their audience is quick to try it! Even I have been guilty of impulse buying the electric toothbrush that my favorite youtuber swears by – haha!

 

Finding The Right Influencers

Shane shared four tools that can help you find influencers that best suit your business and goals.

  • Buzzsumo – Helps you find trending content ideas and relevant influencers
  • GRIN – Find influencers, and run and track your campaigns
  • GroupHigh – Find relevant bloggers and influencers, track and measure content reach
  • Insightpool – Identify relevant influencers with helpful tools like discovery, activation, and insights

How To Pitch Influencers

Before you send a pitch, you should get to know the influencer you are interested in. Do this by taking the time to follow and engage with what they share on social media. Look for any common interests that you can mention when reaching out. A pitch should be personalized to each influencer you are reaching out to so that the influencer gets the sense you genuinely want to work with them. Influencers are receiving a lot of pitches so be sure to make yours unique!

Successful Influencer Marketing

In order for influencer marketing to be successful, Shane shared a few key components to control.

  • Know your audience – this is the biggest thing to consider before choosing an influencer. Choose an influencer that has the same audience as your target audience.
  • Know your goals – in order to keep things clear with the influencer you should set specific goals and communicate those to your influencers.
  • Customize your approach – Your approach should be customized to each influencer you work with depending on their audience and personality

Now that you’re in the know on how businesses can utilize influencer marketing, take the leap and try it out! Be sure to check out Shane Barker, @shanebarker on Instagram and @shane_barker on Twitter.

#MDMC19: Instagram Expert Jenn Herman Shares How to Grow Your Instagram and Make More Sales

By Sarah Thomas


Here’s the undeniable truth about Instagram at the moment – it is POWERFUL. The engagement rates on Instagram are higher than all social media platforms making it is the best platform to build a community for your brand.

Instagram expert Jenn Herman, who you may know by her Instagram handle, Jenn’s Trends, shared everything you need to know to strengthen your game on Instagram at MDMC this year. Jenn is a social media marketing consultant, author, and speaker with a huge community of followers on Instagram. One thing is for sure, Jenn packed the room during her presentation and captured the attention of the audience with her vivacious personality and humor! Continue reading for a recap of the valuable steps Jenn provided to grow your Instagram and make more sales.

Clearly, you should not want to miss this, I mean look at how packed her session was!

Create a Profile That Attracts Followers

Jenn shared that the most important factors in your profile are as follow:

  • Name & username
  • Profile Photo
  • Bio Description
  • URL
  • Contact Info

These are the first impression of your audience so use them wisely! One thing Jenn stressed is the use of hashtags in your bio – do not overdo this. The only hashtags you should be using in your bio are hashtags that are specific to your brand, otherwise, you are sending viewers to a hashtag that has nothing thousands of photos with no relation to you.

Better Attention with Better Content

Jenn explained that less is more when it comes to content. The quality of your content is much more important than the quantity of content. A couple of posts a week that get engagement are much more effective than posting every day with little to no engagement. To get more engagement with your content, find ways to connect to your audience through emotion, this can be done using humor or relatable stories.

Get More Reach and Followers

Strategies you should be using to get a larger reach include:

  • “Tag” friends – have your audience tag friends in the comments, this gives more exposure to your posts
  • Hashtags – use hashtags that are specific to your brand or industry
  • Resharing to Stories – make sure your audience is able to share your stories to theirs, you can find this option in your settings.

With all of this in mind, you are officially ready to go step up your Instagram game and build your brand’s community! If you aren’t familiar with Jenn be sure to follow her on Instagram @jennstrends, there is no doubt you will benefit from all of the tips and tricks she is constantly sharing with her followers.

#MDMC19: Wilson Raj- Elevating your Customer Experience with AI

By Kyle Eggering


AI has begun to dominate the marketing discussion. Who better to give us a rundown on AI than Wilson Raj!? Raj is the Global Director of Customer Intelligence at SAS. SAS is a world-renowned data analytics company that’s been around since the 1960s. The quality of their company is clearly shown in Raj, a true leader in his field and an excellent speaker as well.

One of the main points Raj tried to emphasize is that AI does not do all the work for you. An example he used an ancient stone tablet of one of the first recorded transactions ever made. On it, it listed everything you would expect a transaction to list. The name of the buyer and seller, what was being sold, how much it was sold for in the end, all data that is easily stored. But what it didn’t have was what Raj called “haggling data.” Haggling data is the human part of the data that machines don’t tend to pick up. How aggressive was the seller? What did the buyer expect to have to pay in the beginning? How much debate was done between the two on the pricing? This is the type of data that would be considered haggling data.

What AI does allow us to do, is worry less about the statistical data, and focus on the human data. By learning what your customer is like, you can turn them from a customer, into an advocate. This is the main point Raj wanted to make, and AI can help with this. By learning data on the customer, AI can help you find out what you need to do to please them. But ultimately, humans know humans better than computers do, and it’s up to you to keep that customer. Just know that AI can give you a little bit of help with that.

Are you interested in MDMC? Be sure to check it out at https://bestmarketingconference.com/en/. And if you want to know more about Raj, be sure to check him out on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilsonraj/.

#MDMC19: World Exclusive: A Sneak-Peek at LinkedIn Live

LinkedIn_Live_Strub

By Kyle Eggering


On Wednesday, April 17, MDMC attendees got a sneak peek at the next big feature of the social media giant, LinkedIn. LinkedIn Live, LinkedIn’s competitor to other live video services like Facebook Live, will be coming to all LinkedIn users in time, but in the meantime, Chris Strub, author of 50 States, 100 Days: The Book, demoed the service in front of the conferencegoers.

The new service from LinkedIn is only available to a few hundred people right now, but Chris Strub was lucky enough to get his hands on it early. The new service is a little different from other services on the market. It requires a professional, 3rd party app to use, in order to keep the livestreams more professional, fitting the tone of the rest of the website. The streaming service has around 45 seconds of delay now, but this is common for streaming services like this and is acceptable for a more relaxed, person to person style streaming service. The service does have some kinks to be worked out, as the stream went down mid-presentation, but it shows a lot of promise.

Chris also made sure to emphasize how easy the service is to use. Anyone with a smartphone and a 3rd party app, many of which are free, will be able to use the service. LinkedIn wanted to make the service both accessible and professional, and it’s looking like their work will pay off.

If you don’t have a LinkedIn yet, or you want to keep up to date with LinkedIn Live, be sure to register here at https://www.linkedin.com. And be sure to keep up to date with all MDMC news at https://bestmarketingconference.com/en/.

#MDMC19: What You Missed At The 2019 Midwest Digital Marketing Conference

 

By Katelyn Chostner


I hope you made it to the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference this year because it was every digital marketer’s dream! We saw a rise in attendees with over 1900 people showing up to get their digital marketing on at Union Station in St. Louis.

The mornings started off with keynote speakers that were jam-packed with onlookers. MDMC decided to live stream the speakers in the exhibitor hall so that everyone would be able to hear the presentations. After the keynotes, everyone got up to attend breakout sessions or explore the tables in the exhibitor hall.

The hall was packed with so many different St. Louis companies, like Anvil, UMSL Business, SteadyRain, SLAM! Agency and more. The crowd was able to visit with these exhibitors and speak with them about their company missions. With so many different companies and organizations, there was something there for everyone.

Emily Koehler, an MDMC first-timer, talked about how she was there to learn more about digital marketing. She works for ej4, a training technology company, as a marketing coordinator. Koehler works a lot with SEO strategy and optimizing their website and MDMC was a great place for her to learn more.

“So far I love it. MDMC is a really great mix of people. Everyone is so friendly, and you can just tell that people are here to meet and network with other people and just share expertise… Sessions so far have been really interesting. I just went to a great SEO panel and all of the speakers had different expertise, but they all shared such interesting things that I’m definitely going to take back to the workplace with me,” said Koehler.

Some booths had amazing handouts and attractions for attendees. Strange Cares was giving out some of Strange Donuts’ signature treats, such as Maple Bacon, Rainbow Pony, and Gooey Butter. An even crazier, but awesome attraction was Voltron. Shareable: Social Video Strategy by Coolfire invited people to come and visit their booth in the company of the Legendary Defender. Fans were able to walk around Union Station and grab pics with (the scaled-down-to-size) character who roamed the halls.

 

Eventually, everyone’s favorite time of the day came around: lunchtime. MDMC provided everyone with some crazy good food trucks to choose from. K-Bop, Locoz Tacoz, UKraft, and Andrew’s Bayou Ribs were just a few trucks out of many that served everyone. Some people were worried about lines, but these trucks showed their skills by getting people their food only a few minutes after they ordered.

K-Bop seemed to be the most popular choice for lunch as people lined down the sidewalk past other trucks to wait for their mouth-watering Korean BBQ in a bowl.

“I love the food selection. I think it’s a great representation of all the food and culture St. Louis has to offer and even though there’s a ton of people here lines are moving so quickly. There’s something here for everyone and the line was a great place to get to know people and network with other marketers also,” said Koehler.

There’s no better way to get to know people than over food and sunshine (or a little bit of rain for those there on the second day). If you missed the chance to network and educate yourself on the latest marketing trend, or even grab some great food, you can always sign up for next year. You know what they say: Don’t make the same mistake twice! Keep an eye out on MDMC’s website for next year’s tickets.

#MDMC Scholarship Recipient: Samuel Craig

Hear from one of two first-ever MDMC Scholarship Recipients!


My name is Sam Craig, I am a senior marketing major at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. I am honored to be a recipient of the MDMC Scholarship. I applied for this scholarship because out of all the available grants, the MDMC Scholarship aligned almost perfectly with my academic and professional aspirations. During my first semester at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, in my digital marketing class taught by Professor Perry Drake, I discovered the scholarship and the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference. Dr. Drake spoke frequently and highly about the conference and the strength of the MDMC network; this made me excited about the possibility of entering that network. Since I became an MDMC scholar, I have been exposed to numerous opportunities for my career and education; without this scholarship, I would not have had these opportunities. The scholarship gave me increased pride and confidence in myself as a marketing student and professional. I hope to carry this pride and confidence forward throughout my career. I would love to expand my creative skills, as I have experience working for a marketing agency as a video producer and editor. I also enjoy producing music in my spare time. I hope to advance to a creative director position at a company in the near future. I value company culture and significance in the community, so I hope to achieve that goal at a company that aligns with those values. The MDMC scholarship has greatly enhanced my time here at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, and I am beyond thankful for the opportunities I have received and will continue to receive down the road.

I encourage any student who is interested in this scholarship to pursue more information on it by visiting the website or contacting Dr. Drake himself. Students can greatly benefit from this scholarship and many others like it!

#MDMC Scholarship Recipient: Gabby Menneneier

Hear from one of two first-ever MDMC Scholarship Recipients!


Hi, my name is Gabby and today I’m going to be talking about my experience with MCMC, Professor Perry Drake, and my MDMC scholarship. I applied for the MDMC scholarship because it was a scholarship that I qualified for and my degree is focused on Marketing and Digital Marketing Communications. Being one of nine kids, my parents do not have money lying around to help pay for my college. Since enrolling at UMSL, it has been my goal to graduate debt-free and without student loans. I’ve worked very hard in the past few years to make this happen. When my last semester was approaching, I was trying to figure out a way to pay for my last semester of college to no avail. I already work more than full time, so I was at a loss. This scholarship was a Godsend for me. Without this scholarship, I would not have been able to reach this goal, but little did I know that my hard work was paying me back.

I found out about the scholarship through my professor, Dr. Perry Drake, whose classes I took in the Spring of 2018 and am currently taking in the Fall of 2018. I heard about MDMC when Dr. Drake gave us the opportunity to attend the conference as a volunteer. I was hesitant to volunteer because I have never worked at a conference before, and to make it more daunting, it was a huge conference. A couple of weeks before, I had a meeting with Dr. Drake and he asked if I would be willing to do a little more than a regular volunteer. He mentioned that he noticed how hard I work and that I’m a good student and would be capable of handling it. Trusting in his opinion, I agreed. I thought to myself that it couldn’t be that much more than a regular volunteer because I’ve never done this before…man was I wrong. The first day of the conference I arrived at 6:30am to help prep, and I was one of 5 people who was given a walkie-talkie. Instantly after taking my walkie, I assumed I was given the wrong job. I oversaw several volunteers as well as the ballroom floor where there were at least 4 to 8 sessions happening at a time for the two days. I am so grateful for this opportunity because it helped me realize the type of leader I am. It also gave me the chance to attend some sessions and learn a lot about marketing. MDMC and the scholarship it provided has given me a chance to further invest in my future. I hope to one day help a business be able to expand and reach their clientele through social media with the business and marketing skills that I have acquired.

For more information on this, and many other scholarships that UMSL has to offer, check out http://www.umsl.edu/services/finaid/scholarships/. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

The Ultimate First-Timer #MDMC18 Cheat Sheet!

What To Know About #MDMC18 For First Time Attendees


If it is your first time attending the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference (MDMC18) and you do not know what to expect, we are here to help. First off, be ready for two days full of exciting activities, new information, plenty of new people, and, of course, a lot of fun!
MDMC Session Schedule
MDMC18 is the largest digital marketing conference in the Midwest region, which is going to take place on March 27 and 28, 2018, at St. Louis Union Station. It is a full, two-day event offering over 100 concurrent sessions across nine tracks, such as, Data, Digital, Social Media, Innovation, etc.
We know, it is no easy matter to choose among the sessions presented by more than 100 speakers from such companies as BuzzFeed, Google, Pandora, Refinery29, SAS, Nielsen, GoDaddy and many more including the local talent, so make sure to read the schedule beforehand and make your choice.
Registration
Registration for the conference starts at 7 am on day one. You can receive your badge in the exhibitor hall: just tell us your name and the company you represent. Please note, there are going to be around 2000 people attending the conference this year so you might want to pre-register the day before the conference kicks off to avoid standing in the line. Pre-registration will be available on March 26, 2018, from 10 am till 6 pm, with free 15-minute parking included.
Keynote Speakers
Mark your calendar and make sure you attend keynote addresses on both days at 8:30 am. As soon as you grab your badge (and your morning coffee to keep your energy level high) head to Grand Ballroom D/E to listen to Dre Baldwin and Pam Moore setting the tone to the conference with their keynote addresses.
Venue Details
This is the third year for the MDMC to take place at St. Louis’ Union Station, which is a 120-year-old National Historic Landmark located on Market Street. The parking will be discounted for the conference attendees by over 50% to only $8.00 per day, just show your MDMC18 badge upon exiting the parking lot to receive the discounted rate on March 26th, 27th or 28th!

There will be refreshments and coffee offered at the conference, but lunch will not be provided. Food trucks will arrive at 11:30 am on each day and will be parked on S 20th Street. If you choose to eat off the venue, there will be a few restaurants in the area, such as, for instance, Maggie O’Briens or Hard Rock Café, providing discounts for the conference attendees.
Exhibitor Hall
While going from session to session, as well as during the lunch time, make sure to visit the exhibitor hall with more than 40 exhibitors this year to learn more about the companies and expand your network.
After Parties
The opening night party on Tuesday called “Your Date With Data”, will be hosted this year again by Momentum Worldwide. Momentum is a total brand experience agency located right across the street from Union Station. The MDMC18 closing party will take place on Thursday, March 28, and will be hosted by CIC and Cortex at 4240 Duncan Ave. Please register in advance for both parties using the official conference app.
Conference App
As a conference attendee, you should have received an email inviting you to download the conference app. The MDMC18 app, Guidebook, will help you access the conference schedule, create your own schedule, learn more about the speakers, see available food options, register for the after-parties, connect with your fellow attendees, and much more.
MDMC18 on Social Media
Want to get a chance to win an MDMC branded t-shirt or a tumbler? Follow MDMC on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, and give us a shout out using the #MDMC18 hashtag.


 

Sessions to Attend: #MDMC18 Bucket List

The Midwest Digital Marketing Conference, also known as MDMC18, is the largest digital marketing conference in the Midwest, which is going to take place at St. Louis’ Union Station on March 27 and 28, 2018. Going into its sixth year, the conference boasts more than 100 speakers from such companies as BuzzFeed, Facebook, HubSpot, LinkedIn, Google, GoDaddy, Nestle Purina, Monsanto, Yelp, and brings marketing professionals together from all over the US.
Being a full, two-day event, MDMC18 will feature more than 100 concurrent sessions across nine tracks, namely, Data, Digital Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Academic, Career, Creative, Innovation, Social Media, and Technology.
With such a variety of topics offered for discussion the choice which sessions to attend is not an easy one. Keeping that in mind, we decided to help MDMC18 attendees get the most out of their conference experience and advise which sessions might be beneficial for them to attend based on their professional role.


Role: Social Media Manager
For those who manage social media and deal with various social media platforms on a daily basis, here is our recommended bucket list.
Day 1, March 27th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Crisis at the Speed of Social, Cully Eisenberg, FleishmanHillard
○          Digital Content Creation – Art or Science?, Finola Austin, Refinery29
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          Combining Paid Social and Influencers to Drive Growth for Your Business, Steve Weiss, MuteSix
○          Mobile and Video Media Revolution, Kevin Murphy, DistroScale, Inc.
○          Massive Instagram Growth for Small Businesses, Stefani Pollack, Build Digital Marketing, and Scott Thomas, Grillin’ Fools, Inc.
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          Livestreaming for Your Brand, Stephanie Liu
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Livestreaming Panel
○          Facebook Family Feud, Clayton Clark, Big Rush Marketing
○          How to Create Digital Videos that Drive Real Results, Tyler Kelley, SLAM!
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          The Future of Visual Search, Raashi Rosenberger, Pinterest
○          Metrics That Matter: How to Show ROI On Your Social Media Marketing, Steph Nissen, Atomic Revenue
○          Social Media Crisis Management Panel
 
Day 2, March 28th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Why is Fewer and Bigger . . . Better on Facebook?, John Patten, Facebook, and Stephanie Harwin, Nestlé Purina
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          $4.6 Million, 24 Hours: Using Facebook Live to Raise Millions in Louisville, Chris Strub, I Am Here, LLC, and Cara Baribeau, Community Foundation of Louisville
○          Social Video: 5 Mistakes You’re Probably Making, Jeremy Corray, Coolfire Studios
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          The Power of Full Funnel Content on LinkedIn, Rachel Rickles, LinkedIn
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          The Secret LinkedIn Playbook to Generate High Quality Leads, Build Relationships, Pat Henseler, LinkedSelling
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          AI Can Drive What We Buy: How Social Media is Changing Content and Commerce, Obele Brown – West, Weber Shandwick
○          #Ad Isn’t Enough: Laws Affecting Influencer And Social Media Marketing, Mark Sableman, Thompson Coburn LLP
 
Role: Vice President / Director
Below is the list of sessions we would recommend to those holding managerial positions and defining company’s strategy.
Day 1, March 27th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          The Challenge of Becoming a Data-Driven Company, Sean Cotton, Coegi, and Matt Hertig, Alight Analytics
○          Level Up Your Marketing: Using Gamification to Enhance Marketing Campaigns, Mitch Canter, Vanderbilt University
○          Can Elephants Dance? Agile Marketing At Scale – CA’s Story, Yuval Yeret, AgileSparks
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          Marketing & Media: The Intersection, Aaron Perlut, Elasticity, and Jack Speer, NPR-Washington
○          The Future of Advertising, Ben Williams, Eyeo/Adblock Plus
○          Building A Digital Dream Team Panel
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          The Price of Privacy, Ayana Miller, Privilgd
○          Mobile UX Case Studies – Mistakes, That Most Of The App Designers Make, Csaba Hazi, Webabstract
○          Avoid The Trappings That Lead Digital Teams Toward Failure Or Mediocrity, Kevin Farr, CNTRD
○          Live Podcasting Panel
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Livestreaming Panel
○          Why Can’t We Be Friends? A Modern Marketer’s Guide to Teaming With Sales, Sam Mallikarjunan, HubSpot
○          Turning Big Data to Shopper Experiences, Shaun Brown, Momentum Worldwide, and Steve Mackinnon, IBM Global Business Services
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          Making The Case For Interactive Email, Heidi Olsen, and Cher Fuller, eROI
○          Ways to Leverage AdWords, Google Shopping, & YouTube for Full Funnel Growth, Brett Curry, OMG Commerce
○          Programmatic: The Quality Conundrum, Lindsey Freed, Centro
○          They Filled Out a Form; Now What? Drives Sales with Marketing Automation, Shane Freeman, Eureka Consulting Group
○          Social Media Crisis Management Panel
 
Day 2, March 28th
9:30 – 10:40 am
○          How to Supercharge Your Marketing with Competitive Intel, Ellie Mirman, Crayon
○          Building Brand Love in B2B, Jazzy Danziger, Atomicdust
○          Beyond The Tactics: Integrated Marketing Strategy For New Product Launch, Joe Duffin, Spry Digital
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          How To Get Fans To JOIN Your Brand, Andrew Cohen, Moosylvania
○          Your Brand Is A Hypothesis: Data Science & Creativity, James Campbell, Slalom
○          Facebook Advertising Panel
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          What’s The Deal With Location-Based Marketing?, Matthew Davis, Reveal Mobile
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Visual Storytelling: Creating A True Connection With Your Content, Carl Reed, Lion Forge Comics
○          Harnessing Our Humanity: Shifting Perceptions With Employee Storytelling, Kim Clark, GoDaddy
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          AI Can Drive What We Buy: How Social Media is Changing Content and Commerce, Obele Brown – West, Weber Shandwick
○          #Ad Isn’t Enough: Laws Affecting Influencer And Social Media Marketing, Mark Sableman, Thompson Coburn LLP
 
Role: Small Business Employee
Running a small business has its own benefits and challenges. Here are the MDMC18 sessions that we think would be beneficial for those working for small businesses.
Day1, March 27th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Crisis at the Speed of Social, Cully Eisenberg, FleishmanHillard
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          Massive Instagram Growth for Small Businesses, Stefani Pollack, Build Digital Marketing, and Scott Thomas, Grillin’ Fools, Inc.
○          Combining Paid Social and Influencers to Drive Growth for Your Business, Steve Weiss, MuteSix
○          The Echo Chamber: How Content Is Ruining The World And What We Can Do To Fix It, Kasim Aslam, Solutions 8
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          12 Principles Of Viral Content, Ryan McCready, Venngage
○          Live Podcasting Panel
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Livestreaming Panel
○          Facebook Family Feud, Clayton Clark, Big Rush Marketing
○          2018 Hiring And Compensation Trends, Elizabeth Ledbetter, The Creative Group
○          How to Create Digital Videos that Drive Real Results, Tyler Kelley, SLAM!
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          They Filled Out a Form; Now What? Drives Sales with Marketing Automation, Shane Freeman, Eureka Consulting Group
○          Social Media Crisis Management Panel
 
Day 2, March 28th
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          $4.6 Million, 24 Hours: Using Facebook Live to Raise Millions in Louisville, Chris Strub, I Am Here, LLC, and Cara Baribeau, Community Foundation of Louisville
○          Social Video: 5 Mistakes You’re Probably Making, Jeremy Corray, Coolfire Studios
○          The Blogger’s Mindset – Find Topics, Write Faster, And Reach More People, Mike Alton, The Social Media Hat
○          Facebook Advertising Panel
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          Why You Need To Optimize Your Video Content For Mobile, Elizabeth Giorgi, Mighteor
○          Branding While Broke, Keisha Mabry
○          Search Snippets: How To Create Content That Targets Spot No. 0 in Google, Jared Reed, Pan Galactic Digital, LLC
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Effective Advertising: The Keys To A Great Creative, Elizabeth King, Nielsen
○          The Secret LinkedIn Playbook to Generate High Quality Leads, Build Relationships, Pat Henseler, LinkedSelling
○          Harnessing Our Humanity: Shifting Perceptions With Employee Storytelling, Kim Clark, GoDaddy
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          Making Digital More Human, Eliot Frick, Bigwidesky
○          Next Level Native With BuzzFeed, Phil Cara, Buzzfeed
○          Improving Your SEM Campaign To Reach Your Goals Panel
 
Role: Enterprise Employee
Working for a big company has its own peculiarities. We recommend the following MDMC18 sessions for those working for enterprises.
Day 1, March 27th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          The Challenge of Becoming a Data-Driven Company, Sean Cotton, Coegi, and Matt Hertig, Alight Analytics
○          Level Up Your Marketing: Using Gamification to Enhance Marketing Campaigns, Mitch Canter, Vanderbilt University
○          Can Elephants Dance? Agile Marketing At Scale – CA’s Story, Yuval Yeret, AgileSparks
○          Crisis at the Speed of Social, Cully Eisenberg, FleishmanHillard
10:40 -11:30 am
○          Combining Paid Social and Influencers to Drive Growth for Your Business, Steve Weiss, MuteSix
○          Poetry Is The One Simple Hack To Increase Creativity, Shawn Pfunder, GoDaddy
○          Massive Instagram Growth for Small Businesses, Stefani Pollack, Build Digital Marketing, and Scott Thomas, Grillin’ Fools, Inc.
○          Building A Digital Dream Team Panel
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          The Price of Privacy, Ayana Miller, Privilgd
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          2018 Hiring And Compensation Trends, Elizabeth Ledbetter, The Creative Group
○          Turning Big Data to Shopper Experiences, Shaun Brown, Momentum Worldwide, and Steve Mackinnon, IBM Global Business Services
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          Digital Storytelling: How Brands Can Better Understand Their Consumer Through Underground Blogs, Cami Thomas, FTCTV
○          Social Media Crisis Management Panel
 
Day 2, March 28th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Data Driven Conversion Optimization, Sara Kear, Adept Marketing
○          Marketing Trends: Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Craig Rutkowske, SAS
○          Building Brand Love in B2B, Jazzy Danziger, Atomicdust
○          Beyond The Tactics: Integrated Marketing Strategy For New Product Launch, Joe Duffin, Spry Digital
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          Is Your Brand Ready For AI, IoT And The Sonic Revolution?, Gabe Tartaglia, Pandora
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          The Power of Full Funnel Content on LinkedIn, Rachel Rickles, LinkedIn
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Harnessing Our Humanity: Shifting Perceptions With Employee Storytelling, Kim Clark, GoDaddy
○          Making Effective Data Visualization Is A Key Marketing Skill, Kaiser Fung, Principal Analytics Prep
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          Next Level Native With BuzzFeed, Phil Cara, Buzzfeed
○          AI Can Drive What We Buy: How Social Media is Changing Content and Commerce, Obele Brown – West, Weber Shandwick
 
 
Role: Non-profit Employee
How does working for a non-profit organization differ from working for a for-profit company? Despite utilizing similar tools, marketing professionals build different strategies, target different audiences and employ tactics specific for the non-profit sector. Here is the list of MDMC18 sessions that we recommend to those employed by non-profits.
Day 1, March 27th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Social Media for Non-Profits Panel
○          Digital Content Creation – Art or Science?, Finola Austin, Refinery29
○          Massive Instagram Growth for Small Businesses, Stefani Pollack, Build Digital Marketing, and Scott Thomas, Grillin’ Fools, Inc.
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          Poetry Is The One Simple Hack To Increase Creativity, Shawn Pfunder, GoDaddy
○          Data Driven Video – Your Unfair Advantage: Bringing Data to the Entire Marketing Funnel, Tony Yi, Videology Group
○          Mobile and Video Media Revolution, Kevin Murphy, DistroScale, Inc.
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          12 Principles Of Viral Content, Ryan McCready, Venngage
○          Live Podcasting Panel

2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Livestreaming Panel
○          Facebook Family Feud, Clayton Clark, Big Rush Marketing
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          Social Media Crisis Management Panel
○          Digital Storytelling: How Brands Can Better Understand Their Consumer Through Underground Blogs, Cami Thomas, FTCTV
 
Day 2, March 28th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Why is Fewer and Bigger . . . Better on Facebook?, John Patten, Facebook, and Stephanie Harwin, Nestlé Purina
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          $4.6 Million, 24 Hours: Using Facebook Live to Raise Millions in Louisville, Chris Strub, I Am Here, LLC, and Cara Baribeau, Community Foundation of Louisville
○          Social Video: 5 Mistakes You’re Probably Making, Jeremy Corray, Coolfire Studios
○          Facebook Advertising Panel
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          Why You Need To Optimize Your Video Content For Mobile, Elizabeth Giorgi, Mighteor
○          Branding While Broke, Keisha Mabry
○          Search Snippets: How To Create Content That Targets Spot No. 0 in Google, Jared Reed, Pan Galactic Digital, LLC
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Effective Advertising: The Keys To A Great Creative, Elizabeth King, Nielsen
○          Harnessing Our Humanity: Shifting Perceptions With Employee Storytelling, Kim Clark, GoDaddy
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          #Ad Isn’t Enough: Laws Affecting Influencer And Social Media Marketing, Mark Sableman, Thompson Coburn LLP
○          Making Digital More Human, Eliot Frick, Bigwidesky
○          Next Level Native With BuzzFeed, Phil Cara, Buzzfeed
 
Role: SEO/SEM Managers
MDMC18 offers a number of sessions for those working with SEO and SEM. Here is the list.
Day 1, March 27th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Digital Content Creation – Art or Science?, Finola Austin, Refinery29
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          Mobile and Video Media Revolution, Kevin Murphy, DistroScale, Inc.
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          How To Befriend Google & Win!, Chris Brewer, Online Marketing Giant and OMG Commerce
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Turning Big Data to Shopper Experiences, Shaun Brown, Momentum Worldwide, and Steve Mackinnon, IBM Global Business Services
 
Day 2, March 28th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Data Driven Conversion Optimization, Sara Kear, Adept Marketing
○          Marketing Trends: Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Craig Rutkowske, SAS
○          The Future Of Mobile, Stephanie Cox, Lumavate

10:40 – 11:30 am
○          How To Win At And With SEO, Dave Rohrer, NorthSide Metrics
○          Is Your Brand Ready For AI, IoT And The Sonic Revolution?, Gabe Tartaglia, Pandora
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          Search Snippets: How To Create Content That Targets Spot No. 0 in Google, Jared Reed, Pan Galactic Digital, LLC
○          Content Development Panel
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Mapping Your Digital Footprint, Juntae Delane, Digital Branding Institute
3:10 -4:00 pm
○          Improving Your SEM Campaign to Reach Your Goals Panel
 
Role: Entry Level Professionals
For those conference attendees who are making their first steps in digital and social media marketing MDMC18 recommends attending the sessions listed below.
Day 1, March 27th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Crisis at the Speed of Social, Cully Eisenberg, FleishmanHillard
○          Digital Content Creation – Art or Science?, Finola Austin, Refinery29
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          Poetry Is The One Simple Hack To Increase Creativity, Shawn Pfunder, GoDaddy
○          Mobile and Video Media Revolution, Kevin Murphy, DistroScale, Inc.
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          12 Principles Of Viral Content, Ryan McCready, Venngage
○          Live Podcasting Panel
○          The Price of Privacy, Ayana Miller, Privilgd
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          What They Say vs What We Hear: Translating Business For Creatives, Douglas Davis, New York City College of Technology
○          2018 Hiring And Compensation Trends, Elizabeth Ledbetter, The Creative Group
○          How to Create Digital Videos that Drive Real Results, Tyler Kelley, SLAM!
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          Social Media Crisis Management Panel
 
Day 2. March 28th
9:40 – 10:30 am
○          Marketing Trends: Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Craig Rutkowske, SAS
○          Why is Fewer and Bigger . . . Better on Facebook?, John Patten, Facebook, and Stephanie Harwin, Nestlé Purina
10:40 – 11:30 am
○          Social Video: 5 Mistakes You’re Probably Making, Jeremy Corray, Coolfire Studios
○          The Blogger’s Mindset – Find Topics, Write Faster, And Reach More People, Mike Alton, The Social Media Hat
○          Facebook Advertising Panel
1:00 – 1:50 pm
○          Branding While Broke, Keisha Mabry
○          Search Snippets: How To Create Content That Targets Spot No. 0 in Google, Jared Reed, Pan Galactic Digital, LLC
○          Content Development Panel
2:00 – 2:50 pm
○          Making Effective Data Visualization Is A Key Marketing Skill, Kaiser Fung, Principal Analytics Prep
○          Personal Branding Panel-Creating And Applying A Successful Personal Brand
3:10 – 4:00 pm
○          Making Digital More Human, Eliot Frick, Bigwidesky
○          Next Level Native With BuzzFeed, Phil Cara, Buzzfeed
Check the full conference schedule here.