Marketing Conferences brought to you by…

It never ceases to amaze me how many marketers flock to conferences, genuinely believing they are about to discover the latest and greatest in the marketing world.

In reality, what they’re about to discover is whatever the sponsor has paid for them to discover. Nothing more.
Nothing less.

Marketing strategies that were once effective and now find themselves in the rearview mirror often turn to conferences as a way to make themselves continue to seem relevant. This happens at virtually every digital conference in the country. While real digital firms are developing and deploying tools that allow them to hyper-target and segment audiences, the conference circuit, sponsored by [fill in automated marketing company here], is talking about using drip campaigns through email. They need you to forget the fact that email engagement has fallen off the table and that more and more laws are being passed to inhibit it.

Never mind that both B2C and B2B surveys show people hate the sponsor’s strategy—it’s what they have, and by God, they sponsored this conference. So we all get to pretend SEO isn’t dying and that consumer behavior hasn’t changed in the last seven years. You essentially signed up for a heavy dose of defunct strategy when you registered for the conference. Enjoy your report highlighting impressions and clicks. Who cares about actual conversions anyway, right?

They’ll toss in some contemporary vernacular to sound cutting-edge, and maybe everyone will think they have just witnessed true brilliance. But, ultimately, it’s just the same ugly shoe with a new coat of polish. Be smart. Stop wasting your time with drivel designed to keep you using strategies which your own analytics tell you don’t work anymore.

I could be wrong but I doubt it.