To tell you how we felt during the two days of GPeC would be an understatement. So, we wrote this article about our experience and what we learned at the event.

We invite you to discover what happened at GPeC SUMMIT.

 

Welcome to GPeC SUMMIT

 

Welcome Kit, coffee from Nespresso, and hundreds of attendees eager for the conference to start. So, Welcome to GPeC. After two years of the online version of the vent, the expectations were very high. But we can tell you that we really enjoyed all the workshops, panels, and speakers, and we would be back to other GPeC editions.

 

Andrei Radu, CEO & Founder of GPeC, opened the Conference and presented the summit agenda, sponsors, and event partners. The Conference hosted national and international experts, entrepreneurs, and speakers, who shared their experiences and results and came up with various recommendations and practices in marketing & e-commerce. 

 

Cross-Border Trade

 

Oana Dumitrescu, Industry Manager at Google, Romania, presented some aspects of export trade and what affects consumer perception: 

• Country of origin of the brand
• Brand maturity in the domestic market
• Marketing (e.g. appeal to foreign roots) 
• Location of the website in the domestic market 
• Presence of physical stores

 

And the reasons for switching to export trade are:

• Expanding the market 
• Increased sales and revenue
• Year-round demand 
• Brand visibility 
• Competitive advantage.

 

See. Think. Do. Care. Digital Marketing Strategy to stay closer to consumer intent. 

 

The future of marketing depends on audience intent, fuelled by behaviour. Marketers need to shift their mindset from focusing on demographics and psychographics thinking about how to respond to audience intent with content is close to audience interests. 

 

What does this mean? It means a shift in mindset to focus on how focusing on "Content + Marketing + Measurement" can positively impact your campaigns.

 

 In this session, Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist and Author of the book Web Analytics 2.0, introduced us to a digital marketing strategy based on four key elements: 'See, Think, Do, Care', a strategy that responds to audience intent through creative content and key insights. 

 

 

The use of Google Analytics 4: Transition from Universal Analytics 

 

Google is showing its cards and letting us know about the latest Google Analytics updates. From 1 July 2023, PPC specialists will do the transition from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4, GA4.

 

Google Analytics 4 is the latest data model released by Google, which allows data analysis of a business's website or app. 

 

The presentation by Krista Seiden, an Experienced Leader in Digital Analytics, was about the changes and tools in this model and how we can use them to measure traffic and engagement on business websites and apps. 

 

Some of the features that Google Analytics 4 comes with are:

 

• The measurement model bases on events and metrics, where any action on the page can be considered an event (e.g. if you set page views as an event, analytics will include page title, user location, etc).
• Reporting interface - reports would be generated only after tracking a specific event set in the store.
• Create data feeds for web pages and mobile apps.
• Data storage of users and event data - storing data only for two months or 14 months.
• User code - Google Analytics 4 automatically embeds user code in all reports, analytics and statistics and does not require a separate reporting view.
• E-Commerce Tracking - GA4 provides information about purchases and ads.

 

Best practices for E-Commerce pages 

 

How do you analyze if an E-Commerce site is successful? Or if you have the confidence to buy the product you want from a particular website? 

 

Michael Aagaard, Senior Conversion Optimizer & Public Speaking Coach, structured his presentation on the four most important E-Commerce pages. These are: 

 

Home Page 

 

The first interaction with an e-commerce site starts when the user navigates to the home page. You need 5 seconds to form an opinion whether the home page is trustworthy or not, and most importantly, whether it will prompt you to take further actions on the site: to search for certain products, which you then add to your cart and make your purchase. 

Best practices for a Home Page:

• Communicating a USP.
• The site header should be sticky.
• Presentation of product categories and products.
• Presence of the search field.
• Presence of contact details.

 

PLP (Product List Pages) 

 

Best practices:

• Avoiding promotions and out-of-place features
• Separate product list items
• Presentation of images, product title, price 
• Clear filters are recommended to be sticky 
• PDP (Product Display Pages)

PDP (Product Display Pages)

 

Best practices:

• Must contain between 3-5 images of a high resolution
• Size/color buttons
• Delivery and return information should be close to the button
• Product description/details first, then cross-sell

 

Cart

 

Recommended practices:

• Clear presentation of the total number of items and total price
• Adjust quantity/removal of items.

 

UX Practices

 

At the conference, we met Erin Weigel, Senior Product Design Manager. She worked for eight years at Booking.com as a Product Designer and shared with the attendees in the room some tips on the importance of on-site product/service design from a user experience (UX) perspective. 

 

UX is how a user feels when interacting with a website, so Erin advised us to focus our attention on technical implementation, design, tracking, and testing to identify what the user experience is like on the site and what aspects can be improved. Also, Erin recommends adopting a clear, accessible structure with intuitive navigation and clear messaging. 

 

Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Courses, Workshops, and Masterclasses at GPeC SUMMIT

 

The second day of GPeC SUMMIT was dedicated to Digital Marketing & E-Commerce courses and workshops, presented by the best experts and entrepreneurs from Romania and abroad. Attendees could also choose the Marketing Analytics and Strategy Masterclass with Avinash Kaushik. 

 

The five courses on the GPeC agenda were about:

• Social Media Marketing Strategy Workshop with Alexandru Negrea
• Intensive Course - Google Analytics 4 for E-Commerce with Eugen Potlog
• Facebook & Instagram Ads Intensive Course with Raluca Radu and Robert Dumitru
• Intensive course UX & Marketing Tips to Increase Sales with Andrei Radu
• Intensive course - Sell more and profitably with Google Ads, course held by Anabela Luca.

 

Social Media Marketing Strategy Woskshop with Alexandru Negrea

 

 It was a tough decision to choose only one course out of the five presented in the summit agenda. So, we had chosen a workshop with Alexandru Negrea, Consultant and Trainer in B2B Marketing and Communication.

 

Alexandru gave us different insights in social media marketing and the tools we have to use when setting goals, building personas, setting topics and content plan, defining budgets needed for promotion and building sales funnels.

 

 

Finally, how was GPeC SUMMIT?

 

AMAZING! People, atmosphere, and the information. We got from the speakers and entrepreneurs. We know from previous GPeC editions how formidable the organization of this event is, but this year they exceeded all expectations. The organizers brought international speakers for the first time, who presented on stage the latest news in digital marketing and e-commerce and gave some positive vibes to all attendees. 

 

 Although it was two days full of information and consistent content, attending GPeC SUMMIT is of utmost importance in developing and sustaining networking with various industry specialists. 

 

Thank you to the organizers and all sponsors and partners involved in the organization of this SUMMIT, including: Fan Curier, TBI Bank, Postis, Base Linker, DWF, Innoship, Sameday, Emag, Banca Transilvania, Packeta, Easy Sales, Cora, Poșta Panduri, LImitless, Frisbo, MTH, Debonaire, Gomag, GTS, as well as many others.