Design Influencers Conference Recap

Spread the love.

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to fly out to Atlanta with my girl Katie to attend The Design Influencers Conference. 

Truth be told, I didn’t have high expectations flying out. From my experience, it seems influencer marketing is new to the interior design community, so honestly, I thought it would be a lot of 101 information. While there was some 101 info, there was so much new content and things I learned that and was blown away by. They catered to all levels within the marketing industry which I appreciated.

Hands down, it was one of the best influencer conferences I’ve been to in a long time. Some of the speakers they brought in weren’t even in the design industry, but rather marketing and catered to a much larger influence strategy. They were brilliant and the reason why this post has taken me so long to recap for you guys is that I’m still soaking up all the information!

One of the keynote speakers was Carson Kressley, TV personality from the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. And oh my word, my face hurt from laughing!

We also got to hear from Sandra Funk, from House of Funk, chatting about exploring the ins-and-outs of well-structured local search engine blogging tactics that will help you get found through Google search and increase your bottom line. Learn how to create blog posts that highlight the towns where projects and products occur.  Build local authority with the search engines. Sandra and Nicole will share their success stories that will help you demystify local search and leads. Follow their road map and referrals are no longer the only dominant local lead source.

Adam Japko, who is the founder of the design influencers conference talked about The Evolution and Power of Influencer Marketing in the Design Industry. And this topic and the way he described watching this industry transform was fascinating!

In 2017, global marketing circles widely recognized the year as the beginning of the Influencer Marketing Era. Digital tools and social media have emboldened niche influencers across all industries and market sectors. The Design Industry has organically progressed as brick and mortar retailing lagged, and e-commerce and digital marketplaces thrived.  Founder of the design industry’s cutting-edge marketing conferences (Design Bloggers Conference and Design Influencers Conference) Adam will share his findings on a decade-long progression and viable emergence of influencer marketing in the home furnishings and design industry.

And my absolute favorite, Joe Nord, CEO of Fohr. His topic was, What Can Design Pros and Brands Learn From Fashion and Beauty Marketing?

James Nord, CEO of Fohr, has watched and contributed to the changes in the marketing and PR landscape of the fashion and beauty industries. He has participated in those industries’ dramatic marketing metamorphosis over the last five years when working with influencers has gone from experimental to critical. James Nord, the founder of the influencer marketing company Fohr, has been a spectator and accelerator of this change and explained the similarities and differences inherent in those industries and what the future of influencer marketing might look like for the design community.

As you know, we’re big advocates of Pinterest and talk often about the value it brings to c2s, so hearing from Kyla Herbs from House of Hipsters was so enlightening! Her topic was, Don’t Sleep on Pinterest! Keys to Board Organization, Optimization, and Increased Web Traffic.

A few years ago, Kyla put all her energy into Pinterest and grew her following from 2,000 to over 190,000. Pinterest is now the biggest traffic driver to her blog. You can do this knowing the right steps to take. Kyla gave us the keys to master Pinterest in her packed and practical presentation. We learned how to attract the ideal audience, grow our following, gain social authority, and ultimately increase traffic and sales to our website. The session included Pinterest 101 and why you need Pinterest in your life, as well as how to set up a business account and manage SEO for your boards. Beyond the basics, the session made advanced strategies and scheduling simple.

There were so many other great speakers, but my other favorite thing about this conference was that there were just enough brands there with booths. Sometimes you can be overwhelmed when it comes to meeting brands that want to work with you, but for this conference, there was just enough to really get to know each of them. And it actually felt like they had all worked and wanted to build these influencer relationships, so it didn’t feel awkward or a waste of time.

And best of all, we got to meet so many other talented creatives at this conference! There was no clique-ness if you know what I mean, and everyone was there to meet one another, and have purpose and intent for being there.

We were so sad to say goodbye, but once tickets go on sale for their next conference in March 2020, we’ll be there!