conferences

Search Marketing Expo (SMX) West took place last week in downtown San Jose, California at the McEnery Convention Center. This was “the biggest and best SMX show ever” according to Chris Sherman, Vice President of Event Programming for SMX. I agree! This show featured honest conversation, open sharing, and interaction between experts and novices alike. Deciding which sessions to attend was tough – there were many great options. I focused heavily on SEO, with some local search and social mixed in. Here are the top 12 takeaways I brought back to Kansas City with me.

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking on a local search panel titled “Solving Problems and Seeing Success in Google Places.” On the panel, we presented recommendations for dealing with human support at Google places, tips from an agency perspective, and a look at case study information from my work with Houlihan’s restaurants. Download my Google Places panel presentation slides for more information.

Attending SMX West for more search engine marketing knowledge? Be sure to catch our own Corey Morris, Search Engine Marketing Strategist for emfluence on the speaker line-up. More information and registration is on their site: http://searchmarketingexpo.com/west/agenda Meanwhile, stay informed: Read search marketing blog posts by Corey Morris.

One thing we hear often at emfluence is how unavailable digital marketing education seems to be. Sure, you can take another 1-hour webinar on LinkedIn, but where can you find a seminar on strategizing and intgetrating every aspect of your digital marketing?

The answer is in Kansas City, November 9th.

Announcing emfl-U: Digital Bootcamp

Whether you attended or if you didn’t get the chance, the notes will be worth gold. Take a peek at the top takeaways from the three keynote presentations at the 2011 emfluence Marketing Platform User Conference.

My first South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) experience definitely lived up to the affectionate moniker “geek spring break” From social media to widgets to guerrilla marketing, I had plenty to learn from. But as a marketer, my heart was captured by some of the best non-traditional promotions I’ve seen by an industry bursting with new ideas every day. Here’s my “Top 8” list of the best promos at SXSWi 2011 (and the brands behind them):

How do you measure the success of your email marketing campaigns? When our clients ask us our thoughts, we encourage them to measure email marketing like you do any other kind of marketing: by calculating your Return On Investment (ROI). Sure, we know that you know that email marketing still has the highest ROI of any marketing channel. But are you actually measuring your success?

At the emfluence User Conference last month, our CEO and Head Email Brainiac, Dave Cacioppo, gave a rockin’ keynote: “Email ROI: Let It Rock!” Our users voted it the best takeaway content of the day, so we thought we’d share the good info. So, Dave, how do you rock your email ROI?

Social Fresh’s fifth social media conference was hosted April 19th just across the state in St. Louis. We sent Jessica Best to soak up some knowledge about emerging media from some heavy hitters. Here’s what she gleaned:

Last week, our Marketing Nerd — oops Marketing Manager — Jessica Best headed off to New York City for the first Innovation Uncensored conference, put on by Fast Company. Here’s what she heard from some of the smartest and most innovative people in business:

We sent emfluence CEO/President (and lucky dog) Dave Cacioppo down to Captiva Island for Media Post’s Spring Email Insider Summit 2010. Here are 5 bits of information that will give you an idea of the value of the content and the experience: