AIMS 2015 is anything but your “normal” Alaskan business event. Never before has there been a group of digital marketing and social media experts in Alaska for one day to teach us best practices. So why did we decide to host this summit and bring all these rockstar marketers to our great state? The answer is in the enormity of change that is happening all around us and how it’s affecting our businesses.
It’s hard to deny that the way we market, even the way we communicate is transforming right before our very eyes. As businesses, we’re competing in a new environment that’s incredibly complex – yet filled with unique and exciting opportunities for our companies and our clients. Marketing technology expert, Scott Brinker, described this seismic shift: “What’s really happening is that marketing itself is changing fundamentally. It’s really hard to quantify all these changes that are happening.” We often seem to have more questions than answers. Phrases like “proven methods” are being replaced by concepts like “A/B testing” and “client relevant social media marketing.”
At Beacon Media + Marketing we view this incredible time that we are living in as the greatest shift in communication since in the invention of the printing press. Information is being disseminated on a much larger scale more rapidly than ever before. Marketing opportunities are available to more businesses and the playing field has been leveled. With these advances in digital media and technology we are also seeing many industries radically disrupted as they struggle to adapt and keep pace with the speed of the change. Travel Agencies to online retailers- the shift is no longer just in certain industries, it’s our entire marketing worldview has changed and is continuing to change.
Historically, companies and brands reached out to their consumers and prospects to tell them what they should think about their brands. Advertising agencies told the general public how to buy, when to buy and what to buy. Now with the powerful emergence of social media a dynamic and fundamental shift has occurred. Consumers and the general public has influence and access to much more information. They have many channels to use to communicate their likes, dislikes, and assorted opinions. The way companies interact must be to inform, educate and participate in the conversations that are already happening all around us. Then when consumers choose to buy, they are choosing brands they already have a relationship with. Why do they feel like this? Because they see the company that choose to have a digital conversation with them as the experts, as trustworthy.
With these changes come all kinds of opportunity, and that’s where the Alaska Inbound Marketing Summit (AIMS) is relevant to our current experience– it’s about bringing the best in the industry to Alaska and having the opportunity to spend a day learning, growing and applying this new method of marketing to our businesses and marketing teams. If you can harness the power of Inbound Marketing, you will not only thrive in this changing time, but perhaps be a recognized leader yourself. #AIMS2015 www.alaskainbound.com
