Rocks Digital Marketing Conference 2018 Highlights

We Had a ROCKin’ Good Time at the 2018 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference

What has 2 days, lots of local search and digital marketing information, fun networking and a ROCKin’ good time? The 2018 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference! If you weren’t able to join us this year, here are the highlights of the learning and the fun we experienced during the two-day conference.

Rocks Digital 2018

We had 2 full days which included 35 speakers, 9 workshops, 5 expert panels and a Vegas-style after-party event Friday night, filled with fun and even more networking opportunities!

Day 1 celebrated Local Search Day with topics ranging from brand marketing and social media for local search to mobile and web and SEO. All designed to help local businesses and entrepreneurs get on top of their local search game.

Day 2 shifted to our annual celebration of Social Media Day. Topics covered paid social, growing your brand on LinkedIn, Instagram stories and much more, including a panel of social media influencers to answer questions. Now let’s take a closer look at what happened in 2018.

The All-Star 2018 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference Speaker Lineup

Cindi Aldrich | Hugo D. Aviles | Lance Bachmann | Kate Buck Jr. | Denise Casagrande | Bernadette Coleman | Goldie Chan | Kevin Clark | Dave Davies | Dennis Dayman | Antoine Dupont | Lissa Duty | Chaz Edward | Shelly Fagin | Elayna Fernandez | Leah Frazier | Bill Hartzer | Collin Holmes | Sinan Kanatsiz | Erik Leist | John Marrone | Jesse McDonald | Robin Moss | Faith Murphy | Nicki Patel |  John Peterson | J. Schuh | Tyler Sickmeyer | Grant Simmons | Tanya Smith | Cynthia Smoot | Michelle Stinson Ross | David Szetela | Tony Wright

June 29th – Day One – Local Search Day Celebration

The Local Search Day celebration began with 2 speakers and our popular Rocks Talks TEDx style program all before lunch.

  • Click and Mortar: The Ultimate Roadmap to Winning Locally Online | Lance Bachmann
  • How to Create Brand Love | Faith Murphy
  • Rocks Talks High-Energy Big Impact Presentations: featuring industry experts Michelle Stinson Ross, Collin Holmes and Kate Buck Jr.

 

Afterward, everyone took a break for lunch on-site and attendee networking opportunities until it was time for the break-out sessions. The sessions were broken up by topics, and attendees could choose between Social & Content, Local Search & SEO, and Mobile & Web. Each topic had 3 sessions, and for those you just couldn’t get to, we had live bloggers making sure you didn’t miss anything.

Social & Content

Emcee: Heather Nichols

  • How to Create Video People Want to Watch | Antoine Dupont
  • How to Build a Community with Facebook Groups | Shelly Fagin
  • Human Needs Driving Content Strategy | Grant Simmons

Local Search & SEO 

Emcee: Joe Youngblood

  • Content & SEO in a Machine Learning World | Dave Davies
  • Improving Local SEO Through Off-Site and Technical SEO | Jesse McDonald
  • SEO Audits – Mobile Versus Desktop Audits | Bill Hartzer

Mobile & Web 

Emcee: Dan Sturdivant

  • How Blockchain Is Transforming Digital | Hugo D. Aviles
  • Why and How to Optimize for Site Speed | John Peterson
  • Navigating PPC in the New Frontier | David Szetela

The afternoon brought attendees another networking opportunity while they grabbed a quick snack before heading back to round out Day One with our final sessions of the day.

Rocks Digital 2018

Local Search Day Expert Panel 

Moderator: Bernadette Coleman

Cindi Aldrich | Kevin Clark | Chaz Edward

Closing Keynote

The Winning Secrets to Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age | Sinan Kanatsiz and Erik Leist

As the Local Search Day conference wound down, the evening was just getting started. The attendees were treated to a Vegas-style after-party sponsored by 1SEO Digital Agency that allowed everyone to let loose and have fun after a full day of learning. It was a great time to continue building newly formed relationships and make even more, as the party continued late into the evening until we all said goodnight to rest up for Day 2 of the conference.

JUNE 30 – Day Two – Social Media Day

We hit the ground running for our Social Media Day celebration with a morning filled with dynamic speakers and an expert panel of social media influencers.

  • Morning Keynote Panel: Lissa Duty, Michelle Stinson Ross, Dave Davies, Mary Davies and Tony Cecala took to the stage to tackle how social and local work together.
  • Buzz Builder: How to Explosively Grow a Personal Brand on LinkedIn | Goldie Chan
  • Influencer Marketing Panel: Moderator: Cynthia Smoot
    Elayna Fernandez | Leah Frazier | Nicki Patel

Rocks Digital 2018

After lunch we were ready to head into an afternoon of Rocks Talks, more expert panelists and informative speakers.

  • Rocks Talks: J. Schuh | Dennis Dayman | Tyler Sickmeyer
  • How to Leverage Instagram Stories to Get Highly Engaged Followers | Tanya Smith
  • Rocks Digital Marketing Q & A Panel: Moderator: Lissa Duty

Denise Casagrande | Robin Moss | Tony Wright

  • Closing Keynote – Get Inspired to Create the Ultimate Version of You On- and Offline | John Marrone

By the end of the second day of amazing learning and fun, attendees were excited to put what they learned into practice in their own businesses. Of course we couldn’t talk about this conference without mentioning the amazing sponsors that made it possible.

  • Advice Local
  • Buzz Tools
  • NosalCentral
  • OffBeat Business Media
  • ribit
  • SMU Continuing & Professional Education
  • 1SEO Digital Agency
  • Big Design
  • Biz Link Business Development, Speaking and Networking Association
  • Dallas/Fort Worth WordPress Group
  • Dallas Entrepreneurs
  • Dallas-Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association (DFWSEM)
  • DFW Social Media Marketing
  • ILiveInDallas.com
  • Social Media Examiner

This conference may be over but the next one is on its way. To make sure you don’t miss out on another ROCKin’ good conference, mark your calendar and make plans now to join us!

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    Here’s What Our Client's Have to Say

    Their Local Business Websites Rock

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital knows how to build local business websites that convert prospects to customers. Not only do I recommend them to work on my reputation management client’s websites, but they work on the Reputation Sensei brand, too.
    - Chris Snellgrove

    They Customize Their Solutions

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital customizes to meet their client’s needs. We needed our existing website optimized for search. We are now placing for more industry keywords and continue to improve. They consult with our in-house team on content optimization, manage our GMB listing & more.
    - Greta Valenti

    Highly Recommend

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    Rocks Digital manages not only the Association of Directory Publishers website, but our Trusted Local Directory. From helping us get our event information on the website to producing guides, blogs and new content, they have what it takes.
    - Cindi Aldrich

    Rocks Digital Is the Best Choice

    ★★★★★
    As a long-term client, when it was time to change the primary focus of my real estate business, and my website, I knew Rocks Digital was the way to go. They took my existing website, gave it a complete new look, and still managed to keep my existing content.
    - David Dorum

    Brought My Ideas to Fruition

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    Rocks Digital came highly recommended. Once I started working with them I knew why. They took my ideas for a beautiful website and brought them to the screen. From the design phase to content creation, each component was thoughtfully considered and addressed.
    - Clay Adams

    Conversions Are on the Rise

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages two of my websites. They produce our blogs, our service pages and manage our paid search campaigns. Conversions are up and new patients are coming in the door. I highly recommend their digital marketing services.
    - Dr. Thomas Chacko

    Agency Services Are Top Notch

    ★★★★★
    We shifted to Rocks Digital agency services earlier in the year. We are so glad we did. Our website sessions are up, page views are up, and bounce rate is down. Now we can easily see how many form fills we have had at any given time through their real-time reporting.
    - Kristin Schafer

    Their Local Business Websites Rock

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital knows how to build local business websites that convert prospects to customers. Not only do I recommend them to work on my reputation management client’s websites, but they work on the Reputation Sensei brand, too.
    - Chris Snellgrove

    They Customize Their Solutions

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital customizes to meet their client’s needs. We needed our existing website optimized for search. We are now placing for more industry keywords and continue to improve. They consult with our in-house team on content optimization, manage our GMB listing & more.
    - Greta Valenti

    Highly Recommend

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages not only the Association of Directory Publishers website, but our Trusted Local Directory. From helping us get our event information on the website to producing guides, blogs and new content, they have what it takes.
    - Cindi Aldrich
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