Today’s web isn’t just nothing like the web of 2001; it’s already nothing like the web of 2019.
Q1 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Elementor’s virtual Web Creators conference is set for June 16, and three of the biggest thought leaders of marketing - Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Swan Sit — will be sharing a stage to talk about the newest internet trends and their vision of a better web.
Godin is the godfather of permission marketing, and it’s no big exaggeration to credit him with having laid the foundation of today’s online marketing funnel. Gary Vee is a wildly successful self-made entrepreneur who introduced authenticity marketing and championed personal branding. And Swan is a super accomplished marketing star who built an unparalleled following on Clubhouse by sheer force of personality.
Together, they embody the building blocks of the modern web experience: user-centric, authentic, and connected. The perfect cast to discuss the recent changes, newest trends, and future evolution of the web experience through their individual journeys and contributions.
The new borderless web experience
Today’s web users are constantly swooping between channels, platforms, and devices, and information is coming from all directions, through social media, email, text messages, push notifications, in-app alerts; consumers are over-stimulated, over-targeted, and overwhelmed.
There’s never been more noise in the online public realm, and it’s never been harder to catch and keep consumer interest. Any discordance between one channel and the next creates an obstacle in your marketing funnel.
Today’s conversion funnel has to be flawlessly omnichannel, streamlined across platforms with nothing disturbing the experience, because whether you like it or not, your prospects are going to bring your brand to every channel.
They’ll discuss your products and ask for recommendations on Facebook and Twitter, share unboxing videos on YouTube or TikTok, post photos on Instagram, and check reviews on Google or Amazon. If you ignore it, you’ll end up with a chaotic, disorganized, inconsistent brand presence which confuses potential customers.
Brands need to craft a single brand experience which flows seamlessly from one channel to the next, so that the consumer experiences a friction-free relationship that breaks the boundaries of channel definitions.
Nobody said it would be easy.
Seth Godin: Shaping the permission-based funnel
You could say that Seth Godin is responsible for the website of today: permission-based, with opt-in popups, landing pages that offer lead magnets to convince visitors to subscribe, and meaningful content that communicates useful information rather than marketing fluff.
Godin shaped the modern marketing funnel by drawing a line under “interruption marketing” and redirecting us to “permission marketing.” He’s known for publishing concise blog posts that break the “rules” of blogging by being “too short,” because his principle is to say what you have to say in plain English and without fuss.
All our tactics for nurturing leads, personalizing content, and matching creative to the channel to create smoother native ads all stem from Godin’s concepts.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Developing personal branding
In a way, Gary took Godin’s permission marketing a step further and became the founding father of personal branding. Gary’s early solopreneur marketing videos, self-shot in hotel rooms, were unpolished, unretouched, and utterly authentic. He shared himself, wholly and completely, using his personality as the framework and backdrop of the meaningful information he conveyed.
Once Gary entered the scene, there was no longer room for artificial content. His lesson for the new web experience is that your content has to be experiential, meaningful, and genuine.
The fact that brands today need to inject personality and individuality into their communications, and make sure that the same experience flows across every channel, comes directly from Gary. And we have him to thank — or blame — for our influencer marketing culture as well.
Swan Sit: Creating a seamless presence
Clubhouse is the newest big social media platform and the ultimate manifestation of personal branding, and Swan is arguably its queen. As an audio-only channel, your “image” is far less important than your ability to make real connections with listeners and create content that they find engaging and helpful.
It all comes down to your ability to convey personality and share meaningful, useful content, the trends established by Gary and Godin, respectively, and expressed to perfection by Swan. You could say that she rides the wave generated by these two marketing giants.
Swan clawed her way up to 3MM+ followers on Clubhouse in an astonishingly short space of time through a combination of Godin’s professionalism and focus on useful content, and Gary’s authenticity and force of personality, and that’s what really summarizes today’s web experience.
Stay on top of the new web
In order to capture today’s consumers, brands need to understand and deliver the new web experience, which is seamlessly omnichannel and completely authentic. Three greats of digital marketing, Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Swan Sit, embody the mix of professionalism, personality, and personalization that rule the new web. There’s no one better to turn to to learn how to master the art of the web in 2021.
