Important Takeaways from the Digital Summit Denver
Three days, three workshops, and many classes later, the rezStream marketing team has much to share about our attendance at the Denver Digital Summit. We enjoyed many topics and concepts important to your business’s online marketing strategy. So, we’ve highlighted our top takeaways from the conference below.
Connectivity
Nowadays we have almost every means possible to connect with people, whether they are sitting right beside you or halfway across the world. From smartphones and email to chatbots and online messaging apps, there are plenty of ways to stay connected. As a business with an online presence, it’s important to offer connectivity through every channel – where possible. Offering this level of connectivity allows you to interact with your guests and potential-guests frequently and on a more personal level.
Instagram Stories
It’s no secret the Instagram platform has quickly become the top social media platform over the years. But one feature of Instagram has rocket-launched the platform into a new dimension and that is Instagram Stories. Last year Instagram Stories reached 250 million users, surpassing Snapchat’s 166 million users, and the numbers just keep going up.
Instagram Stories is a great way to engage with your audience on a deeper level through real-time, authentic content. In fact, 20% of Stories receive a direct reply from followers. Now that’s a response rate we love to see! As we previously mentioned, it is important to offer connectivity through as many channels as possible, and Instagram Stories is a great option to do just that.
Brand loyalty
When you think loyalty program or reward program, don’t just think monetary rewards; think of ways to reward your guests with experiences. Guests are more loyal to a brand they can “experience.” So, find creative ways to entice your guests to keep coming back with experience rewards. For example, instead of offering them a 10% discount on their next visit, offer them one of your packages or add-ons for free.
Personalization
Again, we were reminded of the importance of personalization. This idea of reaching your guests on a more one-on-one level with pop-ups, email, chatbots, and social media was a huge focus at the Digital Summit. But personalization isn’t just important to your guests, it’s also beneficial to your business, as it’s a tactic that can help you better understand your guest.
For more on personalization, read our blog here on the Art of Personalization.
Customer is the disruptor, not technology
Often, we think it’s the advancements in technology that drive the changes in business when really, it’s the customer who is the disruptor. While not a groundbreaking concept, putting your customer first, was a point that was driven home at the conference. As we so often do, it is easy to put our business hat on before putting our customer hat on. Your guests are what drives the changes you make in your day to day business, whether you see that or not. So, take a step back and take some time to really understand if your business decisions are customer-focused.
Email marketing is not dead
There always seems to be a question of whether “email is dead?” The conference validated our position that email is still very much alive. In fact, conference presenters stated “checking email” is the most popular activity that takes place on a smartphone. On average, email accounts for 59% of all time spent on smartphones.
Setting aside the fact that this is the most popular activity performed on a smartphone, over social media, there are also encouraging advancements and opportunities seen with email marketing, which include automation, preference centers, animation, lead nurturing, etc.
Watch for other conferences and workshops the rezStream team will be attending in the future and subscribe to our monthly blogs to stay up to date with the latest information.