Zenith Digital Marketing Conference introduces new small business track – Duluth News Tribune
DULUTH — The 11th annual Zenith Digital Marketing Conference will be held at Greysolon Ballroom by Black Woods and the Zeitgeist on April 11.
The day-long conference is designed for marketing professionals of all levels. Attendees can focus on key digital marketing concepts, an intermediate to advanced integrated approach or take the small- and medium-sized business track.
Keynote speakers are Purna Virji, principal consultant for content solutions at LinkedIn, and Mike King, founder and CEO of performance marketing agency iPullRank. Virji will speak on making inclusion the default approach in businesses and organizations. King will discuss search engine optimization, content strategy and artificial intelligence.
The conference is a partnership between Aimclear, a digital marketing and communications agency based in Duluth and St. Paul, and the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce.
All proceeds benefit the chamber’s
Fuse Duluth
young professionals program that seeks to retain local college graduates and develop the next generation of business leaders.
Introduced this year is the small business track, which caters to businesses with up to 25 employees by demonstrating how to maximize the results of digital marketing, given limited resources and a tight budget.
“The small business track is a fun new aspect of the conference that seems to have local marketers really excited,” said Aubrey Hagen, Fuse program director.
Presenting on the topic alongside Hagen will be Andrew Weisz, CEO of Finden Marketing and co-owner of two
Chilly Billy’s locations in Duluth.
Since Finden was founded three years ago, the Duluth-based marketing agency has provided branding, website design and content creation services for clients ranging from the start-up phase to multi-million-dollar companies.
Andrew Weisz.
Contributed / Andrew Weisz
Aubrey Hagen.
Contributed / Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce
Likewise, since he and business partner Adam Daoust purchased Chilly Billy’s last fall, they’ve expanded the frozen yogurt shop to begin offering breakfast at their Woodland Avenue location, formerly home to Vanilla Bean. They expect to open a third shop in November on Superior’s Tower Avenue.
During the conference, Weisz and Aubrey Hagen will discuss how to create unique and successful events in a local atmosphere that tie into digital marketing.
“The breweries have done it really well with their trivia night,” Weisz said. “They’re doing something that you wouldn’t expect from a brewery, but it gets you there and you start to buy things over time.”
A business on a budget might use digital marketing as an affordable means to bring people in the door by creating a behind-the-scenes video, or an event page, then share it across social media platforms, their website or other local event pages as a free way to reach many people, Weisz said.
Zenith conference attendees can anticipate additional tips on how to sell more, generate valuable leads, boost online engagement, increase social market share and avoid wasteful online investments. Registration is available at
zenithconference.com.
Brielle Bredsten is a business and health care industry reporter for the Duluth News Tribune.
Send her story tips, feedback or just say hi at bbredsten@duluthnews.com.
