by Jaimie Siegle | Advertising Systems, Inc.
Photo courtesy of http://bu.edu
The Digital Marketing Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) Executive Education, a first annual three-day conference held at the end of August, featured conversations with panelists and experts from all aspects of the digital marketing world: media, technology, and business. Although the first annual event was exclusive to current and former participants of Stanford’s Strategic Marketing Management (SMM) program, Forbes contributor and SMM alum Louis Columbus pr0vided a thorough – albeit lengthy – report.
Panelists from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Constant Contact shared their perspectives on industry trends, while speakers from VC firms and tech corporations discussed best practices for a successful marketing strategy. Below are some of the experts’ best nuggets of knowledge for small businesses and entrepreneurs, according to Columbus. We think they’re pretty insightful too.
- The future of retail is in providing an exceptional customer experience. -Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, VivaKi
- Top areas of social media critical to a successful strategy: Publishing, landing pages and analytics. -from Technology Trends: A Venture Capital Perspective
- Remember the 4Cs of Marketing: Content, Context, Connection, and Conversation. -Dr. Andreas Weigend, former Chief Scientist at Amazon.com
Dr. Weigend, now a professor at Stanford, also revealed his crucial rules of using “big data”:
- Start with the problem, not the data
- Focus on metrics that matter to your customers
- Make it trivially easy for people to connect, contribute, and collaborate
- Embrace transparency
Sometimes, the best advice is often the simplest.
What aspects of digital marketing or technology do you find crucial to running your business?
