Prior to joining Yelp in 2014, John worked for Macy’s as a Buyer. He is a graduate of Indiana University with degrees in Finance, Marketing and Art History. The son of two small business owners, he grew up in Boston and has lived in Hong Kong, New York and now San Francisco.

Presentation Details

Everything You Need to Know About Yelp and Then Some

In a post-Pigeon-update universe, a strong Yelp presence is an important component of a business’ online strategy. A complete Yelp page has benefits beyond Yelp – it also boosts your SEO.

A Bright Local study found that 91% of consumers turn to review sites to determine if a local business is a good business. With 9 out of 10 people turning to a review site before deciding to spend money with a business, it’s important to understand how to effectively set yourself up for success.

He’ll give a quick refresher on the basics of Yelp, dive into who is using it, how they’re using it, and what they care about. Go a little deeper and learn the best practices for a strong business presence. Finally, delve into reviews. You’ll learn how to garner more organic reviews as well as best practices for review response, including insights into leveraging responses to further drive more local traffic. Most importantly, you’ll learn why a business must respond to their reviews.

Don’t Miss John Carroll of @Yelp Keynote Speaker at #RocksDigital 2017! #Reviews #Dallas
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We’re excited to welcome Lex ten Veen, the CEO of Navads to the Rocks Digital Marketing Conference 2017 to the speaker lineup.

Lex is a serial tech entrepreneur specializing in geospatial and media technology industries. With over 16 years of dedicated experience, Lex has been serving various roles within mapping and Geo-IT related companies, after which he became CEO of Navads in 2012. This further strengthens his personal mission: to create a quality standard for publishing business locations on maps. Lex is also an active investment partner in various Geo and Media related companies, thereby further developing and supporting the Geo-Marketing Branch. His outstanding leadership efforts as CEO catalyzed massive growth at Navads – over 70% in the last year alone. Lex fuels his 50 fellow team members with leadership skills charged with determination and his contagious energy. He also collaborates with his business partners to improve upon and promote a healthy business environment.

Navads is the leading provider of quality location content for the top databases that power the navigation and mapping industry. Through strategic relationships with principal map development companies including Google, Apple, TomTom and HERE, Navads offers a one-stop service to ensure that all location content is pushed directly to their core mapping databases. With extensive experience in location marketing, Navads helps brands with multi-locations and resellers to better serve their clients in achieving optimal visibility in mainstream navigation devices and applications, today and always.

Presentation Details

The Road Ahead: Digital Mapping in 2017 and Beyond

The globally driven on-demand economy continues to make digital maps a pivotal component of today’s marketing mix, which is imperative for agencies and brands alike.

Over the last 5 years, there has been a paradigm shift in which national brands are increasingly competing with local SMBs, and vice-versa. This driven economy is based on consumerism and shaped by device-dependency in a world where physical location is the core of modern-day marketing and ad targeting practices.

Proximity to location enriches but also challenges the traditional marketing mix, as it now represents the number 1 ranking factor in the local SEO space.

The limits imposed by dependence upon handheld paper maps are gone, as people are paving their own way through the evolution of digital maps and now charting unexplored territory like never before. They are the epicenter of their digital footprint which drives freedom in location selection.

Digital maps not only make the world an easier place to navigate and change search behavior, they also provide a base upon which SEO and PPC campaigns will thrive or flounder. They will also make or break brands by generating consumer engagement through ratings and reviews – see the recent United Airlines snafu as an example.

Lex ten Veen of @Navads to Keynote on Digital Mapping at #RocksDigital 2017! #SEO
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Previously Sterling was a senior analyst for Opus Research and The Kelsey Group (now BIA/Kelsey). He was also founding editor at Allbusiness.com and a producer for TechTV. Sterling has a law degree and was a practicing attorney for roughly 10 unhappy years.

Presentation Details

Big Trends Shaping the Future of (Local) Search

Search and local digital marketing are changing dramatically right in front of us. A number of big trends will have a significant impact on how consumers find businesses and make buying decisions, and how enterprise and retailers will reach and transact with consumers in the future. These include:

• The continuing decline of the desktop
• The increasingly transactional nature of mobile
• The impact of artificial intelligence
• Location analytics
• Virtual assistants (as well as messaging and assisted search)

Greg Sterling will discuss these developments, what they mean, and how soon they’re likely to have a practical impact on marketers.

Explore #Trends Shaping the Future of Local #Search w/ @gsterling at #RocksDigital 2017
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Along the way, Dan worked in the Small Business Division, the Agency Partner Program, HubSpot International, and HubSpot for Startups, helping early-stage entrepreneurs adopt inbound sales & marketing technology and processes to scale.

Dan is an authority on inbound marketing and sales and has become a regular speaker, delivering weekly high-energy lectures on attitude to HubSpotters and business groups around the nation, demonstrating his belief that the chief component of success – be it personal or professional – is having the right attitude. He’s also a blog writer, mentor, and coach for those who want to harness the power of inbound marketing to improve their bottom line.

Dan believes in achievement but he also believes in service, acting as a trusted advisor to several innovative businesses in education, technology, and finance. He also serves as a mentor for executives and young people with heart & ambition (but with a limited professional network) through Kids@Hope, 1Mission, and other philanthropic organizations.

A graduate of Colgate University, Dan has deep experience at the intersection of sales, marketing, and technology. Over a 30-year career he has held positions as Area Director at Businessland; Founder & CEO of ALI Technologies; Co-Founder and VP of Sales at CelebraTech; Regional Manager of Groove Networks; and President of Helm Software.

He is married to Amy Tyre and they have two beautiful children.

Presentation Details

Welcome to the Inbound Revolution

Listen to Dan Tyre, Director at HubSpot, as he takes you through an overview of the transition in buyer behavior over the last ten years and describes one of the most significant changes to impact business in the last five decades. Tyre has spent millions of dollars on both traditional and digital marketing and can explain the underlying fundamentals of inbound marketing, inbound sales, and why this should be a priority for business leaders worldwide.

Welcome to the Inbound Revolution explains:

• What is inbound marketing?
• How is it different than traditional marketing?
• What are the specific components of inbound marketing?
• Which industries/companies have seen success with inbound marketing?
• How do you get started with inbound marketing?
• Updates to inbound marketing in 2017
• Q&A

Explore the Inbound #Marketing Revolution with @Hubspot’s @dantyre at #RocksDigital 2017
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