Search Engine Strategies in New York was once again a good show. It seems to have grown again this year, and I always enjoy the opportunity to catch up with different people in the biz. Here are & major impressions I have following the show:
- There is really so much opportunity out there. New things keep popping up that result in new ways to win big.
- Podcasting is becoming mainstream. I was shocked by how many people had listened to our podcast series. And there are podcasts on all types of subjects. This is one of those places where the playing field remains very level between large businesses and small businesses.
- Video marketing is also becoming mainstream. As with podcasts, the playing field is very level here.
- As I have written many times before, we continue to cycle back to old fashioned marketing. Trust, and hence branding, is king. The only difference now is that the consumer is much, much more educated.
- I have been thinking this for a long time, but it still blows my mind that tagging is back as a critical factor in web marketing (on sites like del.icio.us, for example). What a fragile way to build an industry! Of course, the good news with this version of tagging is that the fact that it’s open to the public provides some editorial balance.
- The search marketing space is amazingly social. Competitors readily interact with each other, party after the show, help each other out.
- I know I just used this term, but search marketing is no longer the right term. For example, getting a video to go viral on YouTube has nothing to do with search. We are really talking about web marketing now.
Net-net is that it was a great experience again. More to come in May with SMX, and other events.
