Held in picturesque Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif. and anchored by a stellar speaking agenda, the 2018 ANA Digital & Social Media Conference brought together more than 700 of the industry's best and brightest marketers for three days of learning. Ahead, we'll cover the nine best quotes from the conference.

1. THE 9 BEST QUOTES
FROM THE 2018 ANA
DIGITAL & SOCIAL
MEDIA CONFERENCE

2. More than 700 of the marketing industry’s best and brightest
digital and social media marketers ventured to Southern California
for the 2018 ANA Digital & Social Media Conference. One of the
ANA’s most popular events, #ANADigital consistently delivers
a smart and engaging lineup of speakers to educate and inspire
their peers. Though there was a plethora of great content
to choose from, the insights from the following nine quotes
were largely responsible from leaving an already talented
audience a little more informed and a little brighter. Read on!

3. Ryan Riess, director of content strategy and earned media for the Reese’s brand at The Hershey Co.
“BE THE BRAND.”

4. To maximize the success of their efforts, marketers must have a keen
understanding of both the brand and its fans. If you’re going to properly
promote your product or service, you need to live the brand. In meetings.
At home. In the swag that you give out at events. Everything you do should
reflect the brand identity you’ve helped to cultivate.
4© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. Christina Miller, associate channel director of social strategy at VML
“CONTENT IS GOING TO BE YOUR BRAND’S FIRST IMPRESSION FOR MANY PEOPLE.”

6. Whether it’s a social media post, a short documentary, a more traditional ad,
or something else, the content your team produces is very likely going to be
the first impression someone has of your brand. Remember this as you create
your various pieces of content, and be sure to regularly ask the question,
“Is this the first impression we want to make?” If the answer is no, it may
be time to rethink the idea.
6© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. Daniel Abt, marketing manager for the Americas at Lufthansa
“WHEN YOU TRUST YOUR EMPLOYEES, YOU EMPOWER THEM TO PERFORM.”

8. In a digital world, trends come and go in the blink of an eye. For your brand
to remain relevant and be active in social conversations, it is impossible to run
every post through a rigorous review process. Instead, entrust your community
managers to make the right decisions. Doing so will make them feel happier
and more empowered, and it will set your brand up for digital success.
8© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. Geoff Ramsey, chief content officer at and co-founder of eMarketer
“MOVE TO THE HIGHER ROAD.”

10. When it comes to ensuring brand safety in the digital ad world, marketers can
afford to take no risks. Even one slip up can be a PR nightmare for the brand.
That’s why eMarketer’s Geoff Ramsey recommends deploying both a blacklist and
a whitelist for all of your programmatic marketing. Brands that have experimented
with this strategy have reported that whitelists do not reduce programmatic
ROI. So you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
10© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

11. Michael LaGuardia, SVP of digital at Under Armour
“WE ARE TRYING TO EARN THE RIGHT TO BE IN YOUR POCKET.”

12. Whether through social, a native app, or the mobile browser, brands are on a
constant quest to earn the right to be in a consumer’s pocket. To achieve this,
they must create fun, compelling content that the user wants to engage with.
Fail to entertain them and consumers will not hesitate to unfollow, delete, or worse.
12© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

13. Jordan Bitterman, VP of strategy and sales for Watson and Cloud at IBM
“WE ARE NOW IN THE THIRD ERA OF COMPUTING.”

14. Computing began with tabulating and punch cards. It then moved on to
programming and code. Now, artificial intelligence has led us into a new era
of computing. For the first time ever, machines, programmed by humans,
can program new machines. This creates endless possibilities, and we’re
now beginning to see the results of AI capabilities. Marketers not already
leveraging this new tech would be wise to start sooner rather than later.
14© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

15. Lynn Carpenter, VP of marketing at Visit California
“START WITH THE PUNCHLINE.”

16. With ideal video ad units reduced down to six seconds in many cases, brands
no longer have time to tell a long, winding story. Instead, content must cut
to the chase. Visit California’s Lynn Carpenter believes marketers should look
at their video content like a joke, and flip that model on its head, starting with
the punchline. Put your most important message up front, otherwise it might
be missed entirely, even in a six-second video.
16© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

17. Michael Miller, VP of creative experience and social media at T-Mobile
“BE AN ORGANIZATION OF MAKERS AND DOERS INSTEAD OF MANAGERS AND CLIENTS.”

18. This goes back to employee empowerment. If you allow every member of your
team to create things and feel personally invested in them, their performance
will drastically improve. Don’t divide people into order givers and order takers.
Instead, work to put everyone in the mindset of the maker.
18© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

19. Rachael Haley, global connections strategy lead at Airbnb
“MOVE FAST AND MAKE BIG BETS.”

20. You know how the old saying goes: go big or go home. Along with nimbly
moving at an accelerated pace, marketers must be willing to play all of their
chips on the occasional big bet. Take a risk. Veer from what your team would
normally do and try something different. Big risks come with big rewards, and,
at worst, you’ll learn a valuable lesson from any failures.
20© Copyright 2018 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. All rights reserved.

21. Want more insight from the 2018 ANA Digital & Social Media
Conference? Our Marketing Knowledge Center can help you with that:
Wendy’s Community Engagement Strategy
Designing Connected Fitness Technology: Under Armour’s Approach
A Digital Storytelling Platform
How Hilton Built a Global Social Media Strategy
#ANADigital