Zenith Digital Marketing Conference returns April 20 - Duluth News Tribune

DULUTH —The Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Aimclear , is hosting the Zenith Digital Marketing Conference on April 20 at Greysolon by Black Woods. Businesses of all sizes are invited to attend and learn how to better integrate digital channels into their marketing strategies as the industry undergoes substantial changes.

The event's keynote speaker, Marty Weintraub, founded Aimclear, a marketing and communications agency with local, national and worldwide clients. Aimclear grew from a one-person startup in 2007, to 24 professionals working from offices at 9 W. Superior St. in Duluth and in St. Paul.

Marty Weintraub

The event serves as the primary fundraiser for Fuse Duluth , raising thousands of dollars for the chamber-led initiative, according to Aubrey Hagen, director of chamber membership development and program director of Fuse Duluth.

"Zenith continues to be the single largest annual fundraiser for the Fuse Duluth program, with donations directly supporting Fuse's efforts to attract and retain young local talent in our region by providing a variety of networking, team building and professional development opportunities. We are proud to collaborate on this cutting-edge conference that provides attendees the opportunity to learn strategies and tactics from international, national and local wave makers in digital marketing right here in Duluth," said Hagen.

ADVERTISEMENT

This year's conference will cover artificial intelligence, privacy, rapidly devolving channels' transparency, audience targeting contraction, tech bubble layoffs, misinformation, Apple's mobile stance and other challenges.

Attendees can also expect to learn about topics like ChatGPT, search engine optimization, organic social media marketing, paid search, content marketing and more.

According to Weintraub, the conference will "demystify" the technological tools, vendors, practices, disciplines and costs surrounding today's marketing to help marketing professionals sell more, generate valuable leads, boost online engagement, increase social market share and avoid wasteful online investments.
"Not many marketers are going to lose jobs to AI, but many marketers are going to lose jobs to marketers who use AI. Human input is still required," Weintraub said. "We've been paying attention to this technology for years. Changes in the industry that seemingly occurred overnight (such as AI tools) will be put it into perspective over past 80 years."

There were 150 people registered in 2022, lower than previous attendance due to post-pandemic reasons, according to Hagen. The conference typically sees 250-300 attendees, she said.

More information and registration can be found at duluthchamber.com .

By Brielle Bredsten

Brielle Bredsten is the business reporter for the Duluth News Tribune.

She earned a bachelor's degree in Professional Writing & Technical Communication, with minors in Advertising and Creative Writing from Metropolitan State University, in addition to a two-year professional paid internship as reporter/editor of the student newspaper.

She is an award-winning professional writer, photographer and editor based in rural Minnesota. Over the past decade, Brielle Bredsten has contributed more than 1,000 articles, feature stories, non-profit press-releases, photographs and columns. Her work has been published in several community newspapers.

Send her story tips, feedback or just say hi at bbredsten@duluthnews.com.