PORTLAND, Maine — Rich Brooks of Flyte New Media in Portland has helped companies with digital marketing for more than twenty years. He knows the industry and has navigated through its ever-shifting currents. He joined us on 207 to talk about some of the latest challenges and innovations. Here are the talking points he provided.
So, when we talk about digital marketing, what exactly are we talking about?
Very simply, all the marketing or advertising a company--or a non-profit--does online. That could include a website, search engine optimization, social media, email marketing, online advertising, and so on.
And from what I understand, there's been a lot of changes to your industry lately. What's impacting the way companies are trying to reach their customers these days?
Well, what's had the biggest impact on digital marketing has to be AI, something we've talked about on this segment several times before and has been covered by mainstream media on almost a daily basis.
We're seeing tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney being used to generate ideas, write copy, create email newsletters, and social media posts. It's also being baked into the marketing tools that businesses use every day like Canva, MailChimp, and social media platforms like LinkedIn. You can even have LinkedIn write your own LinkedIn post now.
Another big story--probably not covered by the mainstream press--was that Google replaced their analytics program they've been using for almost 20 years for a new version, and a lot of companies are still struggling to understand their website reports because of that.
It seems that there's a lot of concern around privacy, too. How are businesses adapting?
There's been both public and legislative pressure for big companies like Facebook and Google to collect less data about us online. That's probably good news for us as people, but it does make it difficult for businesses of any size to reach their audience. But, putting out high-quality content on your website or social media, and getting people to opt-into an email newsletter or SMS campaign are some ways that businesses can still find their audience online.
You've been at this a while. What are some of the mistakes you see businesses still making?
Probably people jumping in without any strategy. "Oh, they're doing Facebook Ads so I should do them. They got a new website so I need a new website."
I feel like they'd be better served by developing a strategy, and figuring out what makes them different, what makes them remarkable. I think once you figure that out, it's easier to decide who do I need to engage with, what platforms should I use, and any other tactical decisions like that.
You're bringing back your annual Agents of Change Digital Marketing Conference after a 3-year break. What's different, and what should people expect?
We've added some new topics, like AI and marketing, Google Analytics 4, and neuromarketing, which is basically a scientific deep dive into "why do people do what they do?"
We've also got a new location: We'll be having the event on Oct. 4 at Aura, and we're running a series of Deep Dive Workshops. These half-day, hands-on learning sessions, are on Oct. 5 at The Regency.
But we've still got marketing experts from across the US and Canada coming to share their strategies and tactics with Maine businesses, great networking opportunities, and a few other surprises. It should be a great day for any business looking to get a better handle on their digital marketing.