Our 2009 Online Marketing Workshop kicked off with an evening of networking and fun at our Opening Reception that highlighted the beautiful setting at the historic Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona.   Speakers, Board Members, Shop.org veterans, and first-time attendees took advantage of this time out of the office to gain a fresh perspective and discuss with their colleagues strategies for succeeding in this challenging economic environment.

Day 1 began in a rousing fashion that immediately reinforced our theme of Marketing Channel Optimization.   BestBuy.com SVP and GM John Thompson discussed how Best Buy “Sweated Their Assets” to cross-channel success and provided the audience with what John felt was a top priority for growth, efficiency, and optimization.   John was followed by Lane Bryant VP of Marketing and first time Shop.org speaker Jay Dunn, who gave a humorous and tactical look at “Marketing Through the Apocalypse” with a strong focus on maximizing social media tools that will result in growth and prosperity.   The rest of the morning and all afternoon our sessions broke out into retailer panels tackling a variety of hot-button issues including: optimizing online affiliate programs, integrating social media and email together to maximize both channels, using video as an affordable marketing tool, and marketing channel attribution.  The day closed with a series of roundtable discussions led by our speakers throughout the day and a lively reception and dinner in the scenic Garden of the Camelback Inn.

Day 2 kicked off with Rob Bondurant, VP from Patagonia who took an in-depth no holds barred look at their unique retail perspective and shared the secrets of the importance of story telling to turn your customers into tribes that will sing your praises.  Rob discussed specific examples of how Patagonia is a unique brand in a crowded retail marketplace by strategies that may “make his CFO Cringe”, but make his customers sing.  Rob was followed by Shop.org favorite Stephan Spencer who directed an interactive 90-Minute workshop on SEO Optimization.  The audience was encouraged to bring their computer and follow along with Stephan to learn specific tips and tricks to make their SEO all that it could be.  Stephan promised 90 minutes of pure ROI and we believe those that attended agree that he is a man of his word.  The Workshop concluded with a series of Vendor-Retailer Case Study roundtables at lunch in the EXPO Hall where attendees learned specific examples of how retailers partnered with our exhibitors and sponsors to optimize their marketing efforts.

We would like to thank our attendees, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors for making the 2009 Marketing Workshop a great blend of learning and networking in a fun, relaxed environment.  We hope all of you that attended were able to walk away a bit inspired and armed with some research and key tactics you can implement to make sure your marketing efforts are firing on all cylinders.  For those of you that missed it, we have included some highlights and a few presentations from the event for you below.

Highlights

• A 15-minute power introduction from Patti Freeman Evans, VP and Research Director from Forrester Research.  Patti provided key findings from the just-released SORO Marketing Report – with a focus on strategies and tactics.
• A hands-on 90-minute workshop on SEO and SEM optimization lead by search guru, Stephan Spencer.  Stephan lead participants through practical exercises identifying major gaps and quick wins with keywords, content, and site architecture and provided live, impromptu site critiques.
• Keynote speakers – John Thompson, SVP and GM of BestBuy.com, Jay Dunn, VP of Marketing from Lane Bryant, and Rob Bondurant, VP of Marketing, Merchandising and Communications from Patagonia.  Each gave attendees a glimpse into their companies and provided their unique visions of thriving, in an era of uncertainty.
• An in-depth discussion on “Using Social Media to Optimize Your Email Marketing and Beyond”.  Our panel of experts led an in-depth discussion filled with practical tips on how they have successfully used social media to maximize the performance of their email programs in response to the new social customer.
• Roundtables!  In addition to our Vendor-Retailer Case Study roundtables on Tuesday, attendees were able to participate on roundtables with a majority of our speakers.  Topics included:  Building a Cross-Channel Video Commerce Strategy, Industry Attribution Standardization, Balancing Paid Search and Affiliate Marketing, and Marketing Metrics in the Age of Social Media. 

Presentations

Below we have included a few of presentations from the Shop.org 2009 Online Marketing Workshop. 

Keynote: Jay Dunn, VP Marketing, Lane Bryant - "Marketing Through The Apocalypse"

Fact or Fiction:  The Profitable Online Affiliate Program

Using Social Media to Optimize Your Email Marketing and Beyond

Measuring What Matters: The Secret of Marketing Channel Attribution

2009 State of Retailing Online (SORO) Marketing Report Key Findings

Tell a Story, Sell a Story: Building a Cross-Channel Video Commerce Strategy