The Shoptalk recap email

TLDR:

Hitting 2m views on Linkedin
Shoptalk Recap
Tool: Privy

How I hit 2.1m View on Linkedin Last year

2 weeks ago I shared my 3 principals to building an audience on Linkedin and wanted to share it here as well. It’s the principals I learned while building brands and have been practicing building an audience on Linkedin. Dropped the. Link to the post here if you’re interested.

Before we dive into the eCom conference to rule them all, thank you to the 935 for riding along this crazy adventure with me.

So how was Shoptalk?

This past week, your newsfeed was probably dominated by Shoptalk posts because some, or everyone, you know was there. I’m still getting over, and recovering from how incredible Shoptalk was. If we got to meet in person it was incredible to see you. If I owe you an email. I’m still working on it.

Today, I’m going to run through my recap, why I think it’s worth going to, but to bring the real value I’m also going to walk through my playbook to get the most out of the conference as a Brand.

For a bit of context I manage the Events team at Gorgias, which currently organizes/sponsors ~40 events/mo. I bring that up only because we sponsor every event type (conferences, webinars, dinners) and all the major eCom conferences. I’ve seen see how most if not all the major eCom conferences shape up.

An est. 10k people were at Shoptalk this year, and it felt like it. I hadn’t been to Vegas in a while and forget how truly massive the big casinos are (multiple city blocks). It still felt the eCom community overran the Mandalay Bay.

The conference is so large at this point that everyone in the industry goes. At that scale there’s something for everyone. The sheer volume of people you’ll run into is incredible. It truly is everyone, from the Amazon, Walmart, Metas of the world, to companies announcing their launch at the conference. It really feels like the industry event of the year.

And yes there are the crazy thousand-dollar Vegas dinners, contortionist shows, parties, and Nelly performing the afterparty. Really Nelly performed at the official afterparty. There’s definitely enough to do there that if you didn’t want to sleep for 3 days you wouldn’t have to.

I feel like conferences always sell you on the presentations/speakers and booths. Don’t get me wrong there’s a lot of value in them, but for anyone who’s been on the circuit for a while, they know the real value happens outside those events.

Over more recent years I’ve found that using these conferences as an opportunity to establish meaningful relationships and knock out meetings is much more effective. At a conference the scale of Shoptalk it’s SUPER powerful if you have the stamina.

Since so many people are already there networking with other brands and vendors in a short confined time makes the travel + costs worth it. Especially if you get if you get Shoptalk to cover for your ticket + travel.

If you reach out to 10 US brands in your network chances are 3-5 are going to Shoptalk. Especially if they are at larger companies. And those businesses will know 3-5 other brands that are going as well. I’m always shocked that I see such few brands intentionally plan meetings with each other around these events when it’s one of the rare times they are all in the same room.

A little inside baseball on the vendor side is we reach out to our network 2-3 weeks out and check to see who’s going and plan meetings/events to see each other. Between the meals, nighttime activities and taking content breaks there are so many opportunities to meet other great teams in the space.

This also works for your vendors. There’s a high chance that your Agencies and Tech providers are there. You know where and when you can easily meet them and they’re excited to meet you in person. It’s awesome how many relationships we have that are 100% digital, but having more real conversations or getting in depth help is exactly what conferences are for.

Basically you can get 3 months of meetings done in 2 days. While exhausting during that time there’s something really energizing about that.

Tool that Needs to be on your radar

Privy. If it isn’t already. I figure you already know about it so I’m not going to give you the usual spiel. If you haven’t the link is right there for ya.

I wanted to take some time to give a shoutout to the True OG of the Shopify app space. Back when I started building Shopify apps it was a big deal when Shopify crossed the 250k store mark. Investors didn’t believe the Shopify market was big enough to invest in.

Privy was one of the first examples that you could build a real legit business as a Shopify app. And what started as an email pop up app has grown into a marketing suite that has supported 700k stores and had a meaningful exit to Attentive. It’s been really cool to see what Ben built.

Okay I’ve done enough schilling for Shoptalk.

Now let’s talk about the reason why most of you probably don’t want to go to large conferences. Being a brand at these conferences can feel like being cattle in a slaughterhouse. I remember it from my days at LuMee. And at Shoptalk’s scale it definitely feels like they are in the profit extraction phase where you are the target.

Since brands get in free (for the most part) it’s getting a lot more salesy. The way Shoptalk makes money is charging Vendors (primarily tech) more. Just like the old saying goes: If you aren’t paying for the product you are the product.

This year felt much more tech-heavy than previous years, and brands weren’t out and about as much as I remember. There were still plenty of brands going to the workshops and content, but they didn’t seem to come around the booths or hanging around looking to network as much. That’s the way every conference is but it definitely felt like a turning point this year.

That being said there was definitely a group of brand vets who have done it before and knew how to get the most out of the conference. You definitely should go in eyes wide open and I wouldn’t write it off completely. Shoptalk probably isn’t the best content event of the year, but if you are looking to network in the space it’s definitely in the Top 3.

So how can you make the most part of the conference next year?

Here’s my 5 step plan to make the most out of Shoptalk as a Brand.

1) The content is still great.

They’re still pulling in top notch speakers, curating innovative content, and providing something for everyone. Get the most out of it, but pick your strategy. Either sample from the full menu to find inspiration or pick 1-2 topics you want to go deep on and try to make as many of those specific sessions as possible.

Trying to drink from the firehose for 3 days straight will leave mentally fried, with a task 3 year list, and feeling bad you are a master of none. When really you listened to 10-20 experts across many disciplines share what they’ve spent the past 1-2 years mastering.

2) It’s still all about networking.

At a 10k person conference you’re going because everyone else is going. There’s nothing wrong with that if you play your cards right.

As I mentioned above tackle months' worth of zoom calls in 2 days. It’s always incredible how much async progress is made after some face time.

3) Brands are getting treated more like royalty every year.

Lean in and Treatyoself for a couple of days. Building a brand over the past 4 years has been navigating one “Once in a Lifetime” calamity to the other. Take some time to hangout with others who have been grinding away like you and commiserate.

If someone is willing to take you out for every meal (and they are nice meals), giving you the special treatment no one is going to judge you for doing it. Everyone there is doing it or wants to get in on the fun. Enjoy the crazy dinner or show you don’t have to pay for.

4) Make a research list of all the potential vendors for the next year and meet with as many of them as possible.

This is really just a rehash of #2, but with a different flavor. Instead of going through site demo booking forms and scheduling meetings over weeks to learn if a vendor (Agency or Tech) is a good fit meet them all in those 3 days.

They’re dying to meet you. They have big budgets (see point #3) to give you a better experience than a Zoom meeting. Knock out your list so you know waht to prioritize. If you just want to dip your toe in, take one speed pass through the main floor and get the info you need.

5) The events around the conference is where the real value is.

Yes, Shoptalk will put on welcome/after parties, brunches and more, but the real business gets done at the Breakfasts/Dinners/experiential events around the conference.

These happen ALL the time around these major conferences. Everyone is throwing a dinner/happy hour/pool party/Top golf you name it. Usually these are more intimate with a more targeted audience, and are designed to meet people. Most of my strongest relationships I’ve made from conferences come out of those events.

If you don’t already have the inside route to these events reach out to your agencies/tech providers to see what events they’re organizing. I used to not pay for any meals because I would do the meal circuit. At one event you hear about another one and the party continues. It was great for budgets and networking.

+6) What I’d love to see in the future

For the overachievers out there, organize your own event (Dinner, pool party etc) with other brands. So many of the “fringe” events are organized by vendors, it doesn’t have quite the same vibe as a brand event hosted by brands.

There’s such an existing infrastructure around these conferences that most of the work is inviting attendees. Brand hosted events happen a little bit already, but to me this is how to really build a name and network for yourself in the space.

Plus Tech and agencies will be more than happy to fund those events. Hope you come to me first 😉 so Gorgias can get involved.

🧠 The Takeaway

Shoptalk has become THE mega-conference in the space with all it’s wonder and trappings. Be intentional with what you want to get out of it and join the biggest eCom party of the year.

1. Content is still great, but networking justifies the time away from work.

2. Get months of meetings done in days. Both networking and vetting vendors.

3. Spend more time at the private events around the conference than getting sold to.

👷 What can you do about this?

At conferences this big there’s something for everyone. Make sure you get the most value out of a conference like this.

1. Target specific content, meetings, etc that provide value. Don’t drown trying to boil the ocean.

2. Ask your agencies/apps what events they’re organizing. Great way to meet other great brands. They can probably get you free stuff/access as well.

3. Start your own thing around the conference. There’s real value to be had in organizing a great group of people together.

As always. Stay confident, connect with your customers, and keep crushing it.

Jeremy Horowitz

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