Four killer conversion rate optimization musts for 2016

Influencer marketing is one of the big watchwords for 2018, as ad blockers, ad fraud, and ad network malware become curse words on both sides of the paid advertising industry.

But influencer marketing doesn’t mean tapping a celebrity. It’s not about follower count -- it’s about micro-influencers with carefully curated crowds. And while it’s tricky to find the right person to deliver the right message about your brand to the audience that’ll be the most receptive, when you find the right match, the intangible benefits like deeper storytelling, genuine connection to an audience, and greater engagement translate directly to bottom line results.

Get in on the power of influencer marketing when you join this VB Live event. From ambassador programs to why celebrity sponsorships don’t work and more, you’ll learn how to navigate the influencer marketing landscape and start to leverage the heart-to-heart connection that a harmonious match can create.

You'll learn:
* How brands find the "right" influencers and the role of word-of-mouth-marketing
* How your company can leverage influencers to build your brand
* The difference between celebrity endorsement and true influencers
* Who are the big social media names and influencers to watch

Speakers:
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

There’s opportunity to deepen customer relationships at every stage of the relationship lifecycle — and those opportunities, so fundamental to retention, are too valuable to ignore.

That means B2B marketers have a lot to learn from their B2C counterparts. They’re the experts at driving enthusiastic customer loyalty, and they do it in ways that have nothing to do with rewards points and coupons, and everything to do with leveraging a customer-obsessed loyalty strategy that yields advocates who will promote your product or service everywhere they go and generate revenue via referrals and recommendations in the process.

Learn more about building your stable of advocates, and improve retention and acquisition with B2B engagement when you register for our latest interactive VB Live event!

Don’t miss out!

You’ll learn about:
* Extending and elevating your existing retention efforts engagement plan
* How B2B engagement differs from B2C
* How to develop brand advocates (social influencers, customer feedback)
* Engagement tactics for each part of the funnel
* Developing expert content and thought leadership (case studies, testimonials)

Speakers:
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

We’re certainly not going to get less connected, less global, or collect less data -- but data breaches are more common than ever; 4,000 were reported just last year. It’s time to figure out how to minimize risk, reduce vulnerabilities end-to-end, and most importantly, deal swiftly and decisively with any breaches that break through our carefully constructed barriers.

And it’s more important than ever in the wake of the increased regulatory pressures, especially with the GDPR coming into effect in May 2018, and personally identifiable information (PII) becoming more broadly defined.

Data security is a big task, but best practices are beating out the bad guys. A strategy in place means less collateral damage, quicker bounceback, and intact customer confidence.

You’ll learn about:
* End-to-end data protection in the payment industry
* Repairing tanked customer relationships and reputations after a breach
* What General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations mean for your company
* What is the future of GLOBAL attacks and how do US-based companies address them?

Speakers:
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

If you’re in the VR startup trenches, you know it feels a little bit like the wild, wild west. Tech is constantly evolving, “best practices” are closer to “best guesses,” and funding is at the end of the rainbow.

Want advice from the companies a little farther down the road? Join our latest VB Live event, where we’ll be featuring a panel of VR entrepreneurs with hands-on experience, who know a thing or two about jumping startup hurdles and launching their big ideas and are ready to share.

You’ll hear 3 case studies from 3 of the coolest VR startups, and then join an interactive 30-minute panel discussion led by VB’s Stewart Rogers, where our panelists will reveal the lessons they've learned and break down what it takes to succeed.

Don’t miss out!

In this webinar, you'll:
* Avoid common VR strategy showstoppers
* Stay out of cockroach mode when the going gets tough
* Structure your testing and iteration platform
* Learn why performance wins over fidelity
* Prepare for VR at scale

Speakers:
* Amir-Esmaeil Bozorgzadeh, Founder, Virtuleap
* Danielle Dy Buncio, AP President, VIATechnik LLC
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Technology, VB
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VB

All signs point to the fact that both consumers and business prospects would much rather watch a marketing video than read your marketing copy. Four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it; 59% of senior executives would prefer to watch a video than look at your content.

Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter, all of which tend to have a pretty good handle on consumer interest and focus, have shifted to prioritizing video content, making it easier to post, watch, and share.

And here’s a fun one: Social video generates 1,200% more shares than text and images combined.

So if video marketing isn’t your top priority, you are leaving a lot of money on the table. Don’t get left behind — join this VB Live event to find out how to leverage the extraordinary growth and potential of video marketing

In this webinar you’ll learn:
* How to use video the right way to promote content to a targeted audience
* How to leverage video at each part of the funnel to move customers along the journey
* How to optimize video across social media
* How video fits into a successful overall content strategy

SPEAKERS:
* Jess Jacobs, Director of Marketing, Wayfair
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Digital marketing has similar challenges to software development, including long-term prep that can slow you down. The software development solution was Agile. It’s all about short sprints of development, reassessment, iteration, and innovation by adaptation, and it will completely transform your strategy with tangible bottom-line results.

Suddenly you’re responding in near real-time to your market. Your message is always relevant, and you’re continuously, efficiently, optimizing for the strongest results and the biggest bang for your buck, with dramatically reduced risk.

It’s an astonishing tool that produces astonishing results — but not every process is ripe for an Agile makeover. Join our latest VB Live event to discover which aspects of Agile make sense for your company, how to adapt, and how to integrate Agile seamlessly into your marketing strategy.

Don’t miss out!

You’ll hear about:
* Why agile marketing matters to successful CMOs
* How agile marketing builds stronger teams and better results than other models
* The role of data in agile marketing
* Common mistakes to avoid when implementing Agile

Speakers:
Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VB
Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VB

Increasingly, companies have turned to customer data platforms (CDPs) to help them run more relevant marketing campaigns using the large volume of customer data at their fingertips. Customer-focused software company Atlassian will discuss how they made that decision and the types of complex marketing campaigns that they can now run as a result. Research analyst David Raab will also be on hand to discuss how other companies can use CDPs to harness customer data to increase sales and loyalty.

In this webinar, you will learn:
* Key considerations when deciding to build versus buy a customer data platform
* How companies are taking advantage of CDPs for more relevant communications
* How data science can improve marketing efficacy
* The trends and market factors driving the need for customer data platforms

Speaker Panel:
* Jeff Sinclair, Product Manager, Engagement Platform, Atlassian
* David Raab, Analyst and Founder at The Customer Data Platform Institute
* Jeff Hardison, VP of Marketing at Lytics
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat

Sponsored by: Lytics

By 2020, five billion people will be online, with 25 billion devices and machines using the Internet. Many devices will share data and services, and the way we engage with them will fundamentally change. In a connected world, consumer expectations of executing transactions on a phone, tablet, VR device – or even a refrigerator – will be higher than ever.

As time goes on, devices will become smarter and make more and more decisions for us. We’ll be able to create rules as users to tell our devices what we’re comfortable with them paying for automatically. The use cases for rule-based payment are endless!

As such, the onus of creating frictionless download and shopping experiences while overcoming barriers between devices lies with each business. When it comes to recurring and subscription payments, the technology underpinning these user experiences across devices is critical. Seamless, simple, and secure are the watchwords of an IoT world.

Don’t wait until 2020 to address consumer pain points and overcome technological barriers to IoT adoption. Tune in to the latest VB Live event and hone in on the fastest, best ways to prepare for the IoT world. After all, it’s already here. Attend this webinar and find out:

•How companies are already dealing with device connectivity
•How the challenges posed by IoT are being solved for today
•Global consumer attitudes around payments made by devices
•How payments will become ‘invisible’ or ‘translucent’ for users
•Payment technology that will enable devices to make decisions

SPEAKERS:
* Kevin Gordon, Lead Innovation Architect, Worldpay
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by: Worldpay

Customers expect fully personalized brand experiences every time. And if you don’t deliver, they’ll walk. The good news: as they adopt an increasing number of digital channels, we’ve become privy to a sea of customer data. And that’s opened up the ability to not just understand what they do, where they go, and when, but what they actually want.

If you do it right, you can figure out what they want before they do, then deliver it and find yourself with yet another loyal customer.

Doing it right isn’t about how much you collect, but what you’re collecting. It’s knowing what metrics to track, what KPIs to watch, and understanding exactly what you’re looking at. Join our latest VB Live event to learn all of this — plus get insight into the marketing analytics investments you need to make, how to turn data into action, and more.

Register now!

You’ll hear about:
* Generating meaningful AND actionable data insights from marketing analytics
* The role of analytics in creating an engaged, loyal, and high spending customer
* The new segmentation: how analytics drives a more personalized customer experience
* How to prioritize investments in marketing analytics

Speakers:
* Helen Pan, Director of Marketing, Boxed
* Kelsey Cohen, Director of Marketing, FarmLogs
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VB
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VB

Artificial intelligence was Gartner’s top 2017 strategic technology trend, and the year isn’t over yet. But for too many companies, AI myths are persistent, use cases and strategies are still on the “shiny new thing” level, and expectations continue to hover in the spirit of Skynet/HAL, making it hard to determine whether it’s really right for your company.

As AI technologies multiply, how do you sort fact from fiction? Should you stop daydreaming about replacing your entire staff with chatbots — or can you start augmenting agent abilities? Most importantly, while AI undoubtedly has shown real-live ROI in case study after case study, where is the particular value in chasing the AI buzz for your own company?

Register now for our our latest VB Live event and find out. We’ll be tackling the AI legends and the AI realities, breaking down the potential AI has for your bottom line, and giving you a glimpse of the future of AI for business.

In this webinar, you’ll explore:
* Myths and realities of AI replacing vs. augmenting staff functions
* How to bake AI into your business strategy
* On- and offline use cases for AI
* The future of AI for business

Speakers:
* Avinash Gangadharan, Sr Director of Engineering, Walmart
* Allen Sebrell, Senior Manager E-Commerce Team, Amtrak
* Deep Varma, Director of Engineering, Trulia
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, Venturebeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

The smartphone is the world’s first three-foot device — the only piece of technology that’s never out of your reach, from waking to sleeping. It’s the first thing a consumer reaches for in the morning, the tool they rely on throughout the day, and the last thing they look at in the evening.

While some might argue that this has some troubling psychological implications, what it really represents is a huge opportunity for app publishers and developers. In-app advertising ad revenue is expected to generate $53.4 billion dollars by 2020.

To get in on a chunk of that pie, don’t miss our latest VB Live event. We’ll explore all the ins and outs of in-app advertising, including innovative monetization tools and tactics, pitfalls to avoid, and how to find out where the money is.

Don’t miss out!

You’ll learn about:
* Tools and tactics for publishers to monetize mobile apps (capture form, overlay, banner ads)
* The role of sponsors and partnerships in mobile app monetization
* Overcoming the challenges posed by technology fragmentation
* How to NOT leave money on the table.

Speakers:
* Alex Tarrand, VP of Marketing, Lucktastic
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

AI apps are shaping up to be an essential part of financial institution and fintech offerings. Yet these innovative solutions are only as useful as the data they can access. In our webinar, we’ll show you how to apply predictive analytics and AI to a massive scale of data to derive valuable insights and power more personalized user experiences.

From financial wellness apps that help your customers save money, to chatbots that assist users with making payments, the better you understand your users, the more relevant your solutions will be. Learn how AI technology and tools can help detect patterns in financial and transactional data, predict future events and even enable you to suggest a course of action for your users, resulting in a deeper and more meaningful connection.

In this VB Live webinar, you’ll find out how to:

• Drive customer engagement and loyalty with the next wave of financial wellness solutions
• Use predictive analytics and AI to deliver more personalized and engaging apps and chatbots
• Provide users with intelligent financial guidance based on past behavior
• Extract valuable insight from a wealth of data to measure users’ financial health
• Partner with vendors to develop the machine-learning based systems that constantly analyze data and derive insights to drive more meaningful conversations with your end users

SPEAKERS:
* Katy Gibson, VP of Application Products, Envestnet | Yodlee
* Dion F. Lisle, VP Head of FinTech, Capgemini America Inc.
* John Vars, Chief Product Officer, Varo Money
* Keith Armstrong, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Abe.ai
* Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Yodlee