Posted In: Digital by
Connor,
October 2, 2024
Fran Haigh, Senior Account Executive
For Leeds Digital Festival 2024, we opened our doors to invite those wanting to ‘Learn at the speed of digital’ and spilled our inside knowledge to those who attended. If you missed the event, our four speakers have shared their highlights.
I had the pleasure of speaking at Leeds Digital Fest where I discussed a topic that I’m truly passionate about and that is the importance of making informed, strategic decisions when it comes to digital marketing.
My talk was titled “Digital Marketing Today: Waking To The Realities” which focused on the growing misconception that digital marketing is a quick fix capable of delivering instant results with minimal effort. I’ve seen it too often where businesses fall into the trap of prioritising short-term gains over long-term strategy and my goal was to shine a light on the challenges this creates.
It was great to see a strong turnout, and I’m especially pleased with the level of engagement during and after the talk. Many of the attendees shared my sentiments and shared their own experiences and frustrations. It was also reassuring to hear that so many have similar challenges when it comes to managing expectations, budget constraints, and the pressures of producing immediate results.
One of the key highlights for me was the opportunity to have more frank discussions with fellow marketers and business owners about the state of the industry. I believe there’s real value in pushing for transparency between agencies and clients, ensuring that marketing strategies are not only well-informed but also sustainable over time.
Overall, the event was a fantastic platform sharing insights on how we can better approach client needs in today’s competitive landscape. I’m looking forward to continuing these important conversations in the future.
Speaking at my first Leeds Digital Festival was fab! I had the opportunity to share my passion of the paid social world by diving into why understanding your audiences through insights is crucial for any paid social campaign. I also wanted to address the latest rumour that CPCs were increasing – which my session concluded that they were only increasing if you were not thinking audience first and implementing the new technologies the platforms have to offer.
My talk delved into how gathering insights can guide your choice of platform, ensuring that you’re targeting the right audience with the right message and by understanding the pain points of your audience, you can craft creatives that genuinely resonate with them, maximising engagement and effectiveness. The structure of the event itself was very unique, with the attendees split into four groups, this allowed for the presentations to feel more intimate rather than talking to a large impersonal crowd. I was able to engage directly with the attendees that sparked some interesting feedback and questions.
The event for Leeds Digital Festival was my first ever talk! It felt like a full circle moment to go from attending a Boutique event before working here, to being a speaker at one myself. I was really anxious to begin with, but as I got going it felt good to push myself out of my comfort zone and was very rewarding.
My session was all about building brand authority through SEO, with strategies for building visibility and reputation. I aimed to disprove the myth that SEO serves no wider purpose than to just rank on Google, and that it always takes a while to work – sometimes you can see results quite quickly. Alongside the odd metaphor, I discussed the importance of website accessibility, quality content and relevant digital PR to position brands as reliable, knowledgeable and respectable. I finished with a top tier example from our agency, sharing a case study of a client blog featured on Google Discover.
One of my key highlights was hearing from other industry experts the positive impact that using SEO as a brand authority tool has had on them – it reaffirmed that everything I was saying was truth! Overall, it was a brilliant opportunity to network and share insights with other people from within the marketing industry. Can I add ‘public speaker’ to my LinkedIn bio now?
It was such a lovely vibe in the office with the format working well to keep it feeling intimate with small groups allowing the opportunity for discussions between talks. This helped the event feel good for all with none of that usual sitting and just listening to someone speak at you for an hour you get in so many places.
My talk was centred around why you cannot rely solely on a Keyword based strategy for your Paid Search accounts and how important understanding your Audiences are to deliver great results. It’s a lot of what we do here at Boutique to first understand the audience and their pain points so you can ensure that you are addressing them directly within your ads and are choosing an appropriate strategy to target your key demographic.
Overall, it was a delight to meet other people within the industry and have an opportunity to form connections and learn from others. Even if there was some heated debate over the use of Performance Max!
Leeds Digital Festival is always a rich experience, and this year was no exception.
Now you’re have heard our session highlights, if you’d like to learn more about what our digital department can do for you or hear more about the talks themselves – say hello: Contact Us.
Privacy Policy
