Online Marketing

If someone tells you they're an online marketing expert, guru, ace, master, or dab hander (look that last one up, I dare ya), chances are, they're not.

Aaron Kahlow OMS CEO (c) Sean DreilingerThat was one of the key take-aways I got when the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) rolled through Austin last week. It was a refreshingly different professional conference. I plunked down my registration fee, gladly expecting the panelists and speakers to make me me feel like an online marketing dimwit. I mean, that's why I was attending. To learn. But as OMS CEO and founder Aaron Kahlow explained in his welcome greeting, no one can really claim true expertise in this space, because it is changing and evolving — every day.  Kahlow said one thing is certain: that online marketing is here to stay and is quickly gaining status as a marketing must-have over traditional marketing channels.  

Aaron has one of those intense-but-laid back personalities that you instantly like. With a personal mission to educate, he is the driving force behind the friendly vibe of the conference. No trade show booths. No thick conference programs bulging with sponsor ads. Just information. Lots of it. We were even encouraged to boo at panelists if they got too far into their corporate elevator pitch during their talk.

The highlight of the day was the "Big Brands, Big Plans" panel. Aaron rewarded good questions with a free happy hour beverage, (that wasn't the reason it was a highlight, but I was the only one to earn two free Dos Equis beers).  Aaron asked the panelists, "If you had a million dollars to spend on one online strategy, what would it be?

The panelists (who really were bonafide experts) squirmed a little bit at first, reluctant to name one thing.  But they did.  I gleaned four main take-aways:

• Create and maintain a content-rich website with a lead-generation program that will help you build relationships and drive sales via regular, ongoing follow-up email communications.
• Optimize the site to assure high search engine rankings — Google in particular.
• Develop varying, targeted Google Adwords campaigns. Test which ones work best to drive traffic to your web site and use what works best.  Don't worry about why something works, just use it.
• Develop a strong and ongoing analytics program to gauge performance and adjust course as necessary.

There. Now, thanks to the OMS Whistle Stop Tour, I'm an online marketing expert, and so are you. Not.