Cindy Phan is the Senior Manager of Digital Marketing Strategy at VMware and this is her 3^rd time at Share15! Cindy first joined the company back in 2011 and since then has largely created her position. As the company went through organizational changes and shifted towards digital marketing, she found herself leading the digital marketing strategy for the group. We thought her insights into the industry and the ever-changing digital marketing space made her an excellent resource and we were excited to have the chance to chat before Share15 kicks off on 21 .

Excitement about Share15

BrightEdge (BE): What are you looking forward to most about Share?

Cindy Phan (CP): This is my third time attending Share. I have always tried to attend at least a few sessions and networking events each year because it is an exciting few days. I love having the chance to meet the different industry greats and exchange ideas at Share. Of course, the fantastic food and fun times at the parties do not hurt the experience either!

BE: What are you planning on speaking about at Share?

CP: I plan on sharing a case study that we did here at VMware. We focused on determining the value of our social and major components, starting about a year ago, and we have some exciting insights to share. I plan on diving into the information and explaining how we plan on putting it to good use and how to optimize and leverage this value at your own organization. Many people do not consider all the levels of optimization. For example, in-channel optimization is big. You can optimize pieces within your social media presence, such as your LinkedIn page or your Facebook page, to attract more traffic and enhance the value of these profiles. I really want to help people see the big picture and how all the little things they do along the way can come together to make their brands an online success.

The Role of BrightEdge in Digital Success

BE: How has BrightEdge helped you accomplish your goals?

CP: BrightEdge has always been the backbone of our website. When I was a part of the web team we were focused on going international and leveraging BrightEdge to make sure that all the pages had relevant content. Producing content for an international audience has its own type of challenges, including the struggle to understand the local audience and what they want to read. BrightEdge made it possible for us to monitor our websites closely so that we could see how they were performing. We used a number of the different components available on the platform: Share of Voice, keywords, traffic monitoring, recommendations. The platform allowed us to amplify our efforts and really grow our online presence.

Common Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

BE: What do you think is one of the most common mistakes of marketers?

CP: I think that people spend too much time measuring metrics that really do not matter at the end of the day. It is fantastic if a lot of people are reading and sharing your content, but that does not really put money in the bank. You have to see how much your material actually contributes to your pipeline and ROI. When you are beginning a marketing campaign you are given a budget, and you need to spend that money like it was your own. Chances are, you do not go out and spend your money without thinking about the consequences. You make decisions wisely about what will best serve you. When you start a new campaign you want to carefully measure and execute the campaign according to what will best serve the brand best financially. You need to choose the best tools and tactics and then track everything from a-z.

How to Become a Successful Marketer and Elevate Your Career

BE: What do you think makes a successful marketer?

CP: Marketers are an interesting bunch. Successful ones are hybrids. They have to be both creative and analytical. It takes a special type of person to be both. You have to really enjoy the field and be willing to always try new things. It will get boring very fast if you are always doing the same thing day in and day out. If you are willing to experiment and look for new things to try, it can be an incredibly exciting field.

The Fun Stuff

BE: Can you tell us something fun about yourself?

CP: I actually ran a tea shop for a about 4 years. I think that gives me a unique perspective on the role of a business. This really helps me remember the importance of being customer-centric. It is a lot easier to remember the customer when you deal with them every day as they come into your shop than when you are a large business locked away in an office building, but keeping the customer is critical no matter how big you get. It was fun having the opportunity to speak with Cindy before Share. We look forward to seeing her again in just a few weeks at the event.

If you have not had the opportunity to register for Share15, make sure you head over to our conference page and sign up. We look forward to seeing you there!

Conference Details September 21-23 Westin St Francis San Francisco, CA 

Share15, the leading content and digital marketing industry event, is now accepting speaker nominations. Over 1000+ digital and content thought leaders, brands and agencies are set to gather at the Westin St. Francis hotel in the heart of San Francisco from September 21^st -23^rd. We encourage you to book your place now as capacity is limited.

The Share15 theme: Share insights – elevate performance 

The Share15 theme this year is based around two essential elements fundamental to the success of marketers regardless of their discipline – the sharing of insights and the subsequent elevation of performance. BrightEdge invests heavily in the success of the digital community, and at Share15 this year the objective of peer-to-peer knowledge transfer is, once again, top of the priority list. The Share15 elevate program is being specifically built to focus on the key trends that fuel the new digital and content marketing economy and deliver insights and practical takeaways to elevate personal and professional marketing performance.

Tracks, labs, forums networking events and more 

Following on from the outstanding success of Share14 the team at BrightEdge has been collaborating closely with speakers, customers and industry thought leaders to shape an agenda that reflects how our industry is evolving. Key topics will focus on practical strategies that help marketers take advantage of the Content Performance Marketing Sweet Spot where owned, earned and paid media converge. This year Share15 will have three dedicated tracks focused on:

• SEO Evolution
• Content Marketing Convergence
• Digital Marketing Integration

Breakout sessions will include practical case studies and knowledge centric from brands, agencies and Silicon Valley technology partners. General sessions will discuss the latest trends and the leading issues across SEO, Content Marketing and Digital marketing. In addition to these three breakout tracks hands-on labs will allow you to interact with product experts who will provide guidance and best practices with the latest products, features and solutions from BrightEdge and our partners. Special networking events are also being planned, alongside the now legendary BrightEdge party, with more detail and exclusive invitations to follow.

Call for speakers now open 

Due to the overwhelming response and requests to speak at Share already we are opening submissions early. If you have an interesting success story to share, practical insights or performance-related case studies then we want to hear from you. In fact, the Share15 attendees and BrightEdge community of over 20,000 marketing professionals want to hear from you! See videos from our outstanding speaker lineup from Share14. To submit a speaking proposal or nominate a speaker, please fill out the speaking submission form. Identify the track and proposed topic. At this early stage we are open to your topic suggestions to help formulate and shape track topics of most value to the community. Because of the high expected number of submissions not all speakers will be selected. Over the coming weeks we will be adding topics to tracks based on speaking proposals and community feedback. Elevate performance and join the best marketers at Share15.

Read more about Share:

Share15: Shaping The Future of Organic Content Performance

Share Insights Blog Posts Share15 Website

Share15: September 21 to 23, Westin St. Francis, San Francisco

Following the outstanding success of Share14 and a record-breaking year of growth and marketing innovation at BrightEdge, I am delighted to announce Share15. This year, the industry’s leading, brand-driven, peer-to-peer content marketing and SEO event takes place on September 21 to 23 at the Westin St. Francis, right in the heart of San Francisco. 

Share15: the brand-centric, must-attend event of the year

This year at Share15, we are setting the industry bar even higher with a larger venue, multiple tracks, visionary keynotes and numerous networking events and opportunities that only a Share conference can provide. We expect more than 1,000 people to attend this year, and already have speakers lined up from the world’s largest brands. The organic content marketing industry is booming, and at Share15, global brands, qualified practitioners, and market thought leaders will join forces with technology pioneers to exchange insights into performance marketing strategies that shape the industry.

Building on the success of our peer-to-peer community at Share15

Share14 set a new standard in the industry event space. Over the course of 2 days, a community of more than 1,000 digital thought leaders, search and content marketing practitioners, and technology titans shared insights, case studies and visionary tales while making invaluable peer-to-peer connections to help power their success. At Share14, more than 60 experienced professionals from leading brands such as Macy’s, Adidas, 3M, Hilton, Marriott, Time and Experian shared the stage with search powerhouses Google, Microsoft and Bing, technology leaders like Adobe, and social titans Twitter and Facebook. Attendees and speakers discussed topics ranging from content to global and mobile marketing, scaling SEO, understanding the future of search, and much more.

“It’s confirmed my decision on pushing my company in this direction. Inspired to deliver performance for my company” -Thomson Reuters

Announcing the Share15 program

This year, Share15 will bring together the brightest minds, the biggest names and the best brands alongside the industry’s largest technology innovators. Over the coming weeks, we will be announcing key speakers, sharing key themes, adding new innovation-led tracks and unveiling some A-list keynote speakers. Share’s program content is developed in conjunction with our partners, client brands and industry thought-leaders. Our focus is not only delivering inspiring content, but also ensuring that every session is jam-packed with information, case studies, best practice guidance and actionable takeaways for peers.

Why Share15?

The Share program is built around three core principles that are fundamental to BrightEdge:

Inspiration and Innovation

Keep pace of change, stay ahead of the curve and help shape the future of your industry. From the latest trends to industry and product announcements, be the first to hear from an A-list of inspirational speakers at Share15. If you want to stay one step ahead of the innovation curve, then Share15 is a must attend.

• At Share15 practitioners learn not just from their peers, but also from leading search and content platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter and YouTube.

• Share15 is where news is made and shared. Leading analysts, publications and reporters across the digital, content and technology space come to Share to hear the latest from the BrightEdge community. Check out this event coverage here:

VentureBeat: BrightEdge Offers Free Plug-In Access to Its Data Repository  ClickZ: How Can Brands and Agencies Succeed Together? 

Community and Collaboration

Share15 brings together the highest concentration of brand marketers, thought-leaders and technology executives in this industry, and is the only event in the industry that focuses 100 percent on peer-to-peer learning and collaboration. Our networking events are where valuable conversations are had, business alliances are formed and new, innovative ideas are shared. Share15 is an investment that BrightEdge makes in the community. We are committed to delivering insights at scale, and with quality top of mind.

"The passion of the speakers plus the great networking conversations brings value you're hard pressed to find at some of the broader industry conferences" -Lauren MacPhail, Director of SEO and Organic Content, Macys.com

Insights and Action

No other event in the industry offers this level of insight for brands to implement ideas right away at their own companies. That’s because Share focuses on practical, hands-on insight, not theory, targeted to the challenges that your brand faces. You’ll get tips from big brands just like you that have experience and results implementing strategy. This is different from other events that put just “personalities” on stage. All content created at Share15 is objectively driven with a “zero tolerance” policy for subjective material. All content must be backed by results, data and valuable tips for practitioners in the audience. Only the best brand speakers are accepted to speak at Share15 with zero sales pitches allowed.

"I really like how Share provides real examples and stories that anyone in this industry can either leverage or relate to." -Ngia Vang, Senior Digital Marketing Manager, Experian Consumer Direct

You can find out more about the information you’ll learn from our live coverage of sessions in 2014, and our interviews with speakers, here. And check out videos and presentations from Share14 here.

Stay tuned!

Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing further information with regards to:

• Registration and pricing
• Sponsorship opportunities
• Speaking submissions
• Speaker announcements

Venue Details September 21 to 23, 2015 Westin St. Francis, Union Square, San Francisco Find out more about Share15, here. Hope to see you there.