The Direct Marketing Association’s DM Days Conference and Expo in New York this year is set to prepare marketers, customers and agencies for the complexity of navigating a digital era.
To be held in the Jacob Javits Center, the show will run June 19-21 with the theme “What’s Next?”
“DM Days is about uncovering and optimizing tomorrow’s marketing opportunities through each and every channel,” said Julie Hogan, acting vice president of conferences and events at the DMA. “The show will tackle how we as marketers need to monetize new digital channels to impact ROI and spice up that marketing mix.”
She said the biggest challenge is engaging customers who control content and the medium through which they receive content.
Ms. Hogan said the show aims to be more results-oriented than before. It will showcase new interactive technology and tips for achieving a balanced marketing effort across channels.
Similar to last year’s process, this year’s conference underwent a strategic overhaul to increase the digital marketing coverage and attract a wider variety of exhibitors. With these changes the conference drew a 20 percent increase in attendance last year. Ms. Hogan said she expected another increase this year.
“As a list manager, I use shows like this to keep in touch with my list brokerage contacts and make sure they’re utilizing all of our managed properties as best they can,” said Gerard Petrocelli, sales manager at Rickard List Marketing. “In addition, I like to roam the floor to meet list brokers we don’t get much business from to see if there are opportunities for us to work together.”
Besides having an opportunity to network, those attending DM Days will be able to select session offerings such as acquisition, relationship and loyalty marketing; online marketing and interactive media; list and database management; print and fulfillment; digital and beyond; strategies, forecasts and trends; brand and direct; management, metrics and systems; and creative strategies and execution.
“The DMA prides itself on our stellar educational content and each DM Days theme and focus is carefully constructed with input from experts within the marketing community,” Ms. Hogan said.
Attendees will have the opportunity to choose from 31 Ask-the-Experts roundtable discussions and question-and-answer forums.
Topics include advertising, lead generation, segmentation and search engine marketing.
While the show promises to touch on a mix of media channels, some attendees have expressed an interest in getting back to basics, particularly in light of the postage increases.
“We are hoping this year there will be more emphasis on the circulation and list side of our industry,” said Deana Burrett, director of list management at Estee Marketing Group Inc. “The role of the Internet is well covered, but we hope to see the critical, complementary role of lists get more attention. At the end of the day, despite all the technical advances in the last five years, lists are still the backbone of the industry.”
