The 2nd “Leaders in Tech” Digital Marketing Innovation Forum was hosted in New York City on January 20th. Dedicated to bringing together marketing professionals from all ends of the U.S and China, the conference hosted a diverse collective of creative discussion and aided in building meaningful network growth through:

• Discussing the latest in cutting-edge MarTech tools that marketers can leverage
• Exchanging innovative strategies from advertisers, publishers and agencies

Leaders in Tech(LIT) is an organization bridging the technology communities from the United State and China, fostering meaningful connections for tech professionals from these countries. The community comes together to discuss insightful topics in the tech industry, such as digital marketing and product innovation, entrepreneurship opportunities, and developing trends in technology.

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John Katzman, the founder of Princeton Review and 2U was the keynote to share his story as a serial entrepreneur and speak on marketing innovation opportunities in education technology.

Wang Liao, a billion-dollar hedge fund investor, shared the flywheel approach to investing in e-commerce companies using Priceline, GoDaddy and JD.com as an example to show marketers which metrics to optimize from an investors perspective.

Ruiwan Xu, the conference chair, a tech entrepreneur and former Marketing Manager for Amazon, discussed how marketing technology is swiftly shaping the future of the trillion-dollar fashion industry, along with how the quick response to market changes by forward-thinking tech entrepreneurs is helping bring fresh life to the table for consumers and investors alike

Over 20+ speakers from major companies such as Amazon, Adobe, Spotify, MongoDB, Grubhub, Casper, BMW, L’Oreal and CommonBond discussed the top marketing trends to watch in 2018 according to the top CES themes and career opportunities riding the wave in digital marketing, marketing analytics and mobile product design including:

Artificial Intelligence in the New Age

Marketers are already incorporating A.I. powered chat tools to reach out to customers, and as the technology continues to improve, more brands will embrace the benefits of live A.I. chat support to provide better service to their audience.

Improvements in Personalized Content

As account-based marketing becomes a mainstream method of connecting with target audiences, newly updated platforms providing content tailored to specific accounts is on the rise contributing to better customer satisfaction & loyalty.

Machine-Learning Platforms Take Over

New machine-learning platforms are changing the way ads are managed for businesses, replacing digital marketing agencies with promises of optimized ad spending through advanced algorithms set by the marketer’s campaign parameters allowing the platform to identify ideal audiences.

Instagram Changes the Game

After outdoing Snapchat with their own brand of stories only a year after release, Instagram is reporting higher engagement rates compared to other social outlets- with its easy to use advertising tools putting it at the frontlines of social media marketing.

B2B Marketers are Rethinking Lead Routing

Thanks to advancements in predictive lead scoring technology, marketers are better equipped in identifying possible prospects. With little personal information needed these tools are able to watch over buying signals, identifying qualified leads and bringing the right opportunities to sales.

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