7 Digital Marketing Insights From Pubcon Austin ’16

The digital marketing event Pubcon was held yesterday in Austin and delivered some insightful knowledge in the areas of online marketing, social media, SEO, site optimization, and more.

Here are some interesting takeaways from the event you might find useful in your own digital marketing strategy.

1. Mobile matters (more than you think)

Pubcon Austin began with a kickoff keynote presented by Simon Bolger of Google. His advice to the crowd–think mobile first.

Smart phones are more readily accessible than desktops, meaning users can access your website anytime, anywhere.

Site speed and usability are imperative to mobile optimization. The brand Condé Nast’s GQ saw an 83 percent increase in mobile traffic after they reduced their mobile page load time from seven to two seconds, said Bolger.

Here are some stats to show the scope of impact site speed and usability have on the user experience, according to Bolger:

• 88 percent of mobile users are less likely to return to a site if presented with a bad experience.
• One-third of users say that speed is the most important factor when using the mobile web.
• 74 percent of people will abandon a mobile website that takes more than five seconds to load.
• 61 percent of users will leave a mobile site if they don’t find what they’re looking for right away.

To enhance usability across platforms, use a service like crossbrowsertesting.com to test the UX/UI of your website on multiple devices, like Android, PC, Mac, and iPhone.

2. Less Is More: Quality > Quantity

“More always isn’t better,” said Casie Gillette on the topic of creating killer content.

Many speeches at Pubcon touched on this theme, and multiple presenters stressed that it’s not about the number of content pieces being produced, but rather their quality.

One tip: Focus on higher quality content but fewer posts. It’s better to invest your energy in a single thing that’s killer, rather than multiple pieces of content that are just mediocre.

3. Post Like A Fan, Not Like A Marketer

When Giovanni Gallucci began working with the mineral water brand Topo Chico two years ago, the goal was to bring brand awareness beyond its headquarters in Monterrey, Mexico.

Since then, Topo Chico’s user-generated content of visually-pleasing photos and emotion-invoking stories on social media have successfully contributed to its increase in brand advocacy throughout the states.

Snack time in #Marfa with @jessandcamera ☀️

A photo posted by Topo Chico Mineral Water (@topochicousa) on May 3, 2016 at 9:08am PDT

According to Gallucci, featuring user generated content in its digital marketing strategy has been huge in developing a loyal fan base. Fans who love the beverage will share and direct message their stories, he said. The brand re-shares much of that across their social accounts.

“When you don’t have a large team to produce content, you have to think like a fan and post the things they would post,” said Gallucci.

4. Treat Downloadable Content Like A Product Launch

Are you doing all you can to optimize your content’s reach? Arnie Kuenn of Vertical Measures recommends planning a series of digital marketing announcements around a new piece of content to help it obtain maximum exposure.

Just like you’d plan activities around a product launch, a similar digital marketing launch plan can be done for a piece of content, like an ebook.

5. Make Sure Links Open In A New Tab

“This is a sure-fire way to make somebody leave your site,” said Zeph Snapp while discussing user retention in content and websites. Most would agree that’s it’s rather annoying when clicking on a link takes you away from the page you were on.

*WordPress user note: If adding links in WordPress, make sure you check “open link in a new tab” (the same can be done for images).

6. OPTIMIZE YOUR WORDPRESS SITE FOR HIGHER CONVERSIONS WITH THESE TIPS

It’s no doubt that site speed directly affects user experience, page rankings, and your bottom line. In fact, according to Kissmetrics, 40 percent of users will abandon your site if it takes more than three seconds to load.

“Hosting is one of the easiest ways to speed up your site,” said Steve Floyd during a presentation on WordPress optimization and marketing tactics.

In the same presentation, David Vogelpohl recommended several plugins that can help you attain site optimization and higher conversions, including: JetPack, OptinMonster, Ad Rotate, and Fullstory.

“Picking a plugin is like picking a partner for your business,” he said. Just be sure to avoid bloating your site with unneeded plugins, as that’ll make it run slower.

7. 5 things to watch in google analytics

In a speech on mapping content to your sales funnel, Marcela De Vivo of Gryffin Media discussed several important analytics to look at to help determine who your audience is, as well as how they are interacting with your content:

• Real time data
• Cohort analysis
• Demographics & Interests
• Behavior Flow
• Acquisition and Conversion Funnel report

Although we could not list them all, there were many great digital marketing insights delivered at this year’s Pubcon in Austin. Did you attend Pubcon? Let us know your takeaways from the event in the comment section below.