**By Lachlan Kirkwood, Digital Marketing Manager**
The digital industry constantly shifts as technology evolves at such a rapid pace. As users demand change, brands are more focused than ever on delivering personalised, more engaging experiences that drive actionable results. So how can brands adapt to industry changes to ensure they remain both relevant and competitive?
The Interactive Minds 2018 Digital Summit uncovered the latest technologies, strategies, and practices to help digital marketing teams excel. With a myriad of influential speakers from HTC, LinkedIn, Facebook and Beam, there was substantial value to take away from the event. If you missed the summit, or want to review the main takeaways, this post covers four of the key themes from the day.
**Personal branding**
Claire Austin, LinkedIn Content Marketing Strategist, delved into the importance of personal branding for individuals. With platforms like LinkedIn, every user now has the power to become a marketer. Claire highlighted the success she had seen from organisations who were leveraging their employees’ personal brands to help drive business growth. By including employees throughout the content creation process, it empowers them to not only share their knowledge but also their personal stories. Claire explained that this form of content will often see higher engagement rates as it’s both authentic and engaging.
**Blockchain**
If you’re familiar with blockchain technology, Holly Stephens’ session was a must see! Holly covered not only why this emerging technology is becoming a renowned industry solution, but also how it will directly impact the digital marketing landscape. Holly deconstructed the future of digital ad buying, explaining how a decentralised ledger would replace the need for an ad platform to connect brands and publishers. As all ad placements and transactions would be transparent, brands could see exactly where their ads were placed, and accurately interpret how they performed.
**Data-driven digital marketing**
As data becomes a necessity for driving digital strategies, it’s more important than ever for those working in digital marketing to understand how they can leverage the existing data they already have. Joseph Park guided a session on how data can be used to drive measurable results. He highlighted that digital teams need to change their ‘spray and pray’ approaches and make truly informed decisions that drive real value. Although organisations are often filled with a wealth of existing data, it’s crucial for marketers to first identify what data is relevant to them, and how it can improve their overall strategies.
**Engaging content**
As users consume content at an increasingly fast pace, it’s crucial for brands to understand how they can engage with users on an emotional level. By evaluating existing user data, brands can identify user segments throughout their purchase lifecycle, then create content to cater to these specific individuals. There was also a mention to the importance of monitoring user behaviour after the initial conversion period.
Amongst these topics, there were also some great discussions emphasising the importance of creating native content for each platform, the evolution of voice integrated experiences, and how brands can drive ongoing value to users in an agile way.
There was so much value to get from this year’s Digital Summit. As our digital team continues to grow, we look forward to implementing the latest strategies to continually provide our clients with value.
If you want to talk more about digital, email (link: http:// text: lachlan@superdream.com.au)