Digital Marketers Australia Conference 2019 Review (For 2020 Attendees)

This is my full Digital Marketers Australia Conference (DMA) review based on the March 2019 event in Melbourne. I’m providing my honest opinion so that you can make an informed decision in 2020. There’s no affiliate links here nor financial rewards or input from DMA, so be rest assured there’s no ulterior motive at play.

This blog of mine has been running for a number of years, and has recently grown in popularity. When DMA targeted me on Instagram and Facebook, as I’m sure they did to you, I was a bit apprehensive. I’ve never been to an actual marketers conference. Sure – plenty of pitch-fests under my belt, though primarily to learn info marketing and selling, than to actually learn anything from such speakers. More about my story here.

I am writing this review on the Digital Marketers Australia conference simply the day immediately after the event finished, so my knowledge, thoughts and opinions are fresh. I’ll cover both the good and the bad right here. I hope this is of value to you.

The DMA Conference Venue

The conference was held in Melbourne’s Convention and Exhibition Centre, directly beside DFO. This was super handy for food options, but also for public transport and Uber access. Finding the event was super easy, and check-in was a breeze as my in-bound flight from Brisbane was delayed.

What I didn’t like about the venue was the bathrooms – quite untidy. This was partly due to a school children’s conference also being held at the venue. That said, the center is definitely in dire need of renovations, as the bathrooms haven’t been touched since the 80’s. I hope that Digital Marketers Australia chooses a cleaner venue in 2020.

The Digital Marketers Conference review

The conference itself was excellent! I was simply blown away by content, and was able to fill 2 whole notebooks. I literally didn’t realize how much that I didn’t know, despite 7 years now in the affiliate marketing and content creation game.

Particularly, I liked the following topics:

• Defining your ideal client
• Seriously handy tools and apps
• How to create featured snippets on SERPs
• SEO strategies that are whitehat, and sometimes grey… 🙂
• Building massive social media followings on limited budgets
• Complete blueprints on how to start, build and scale a marketing empire

What I really loved the most is that the conference is designed for both marketers and eCommerce sellers. I sell on Amazon and eBay currently, with a solid aim to start on Shopify. This was highly beneficial, and there were 2 panel discussions particularly on eCom.

There were a further 3 panel discussions by marketers. They covered SEO, brand building and the like. Plus numerous presentations. None of the speakers re-covered what others had previously spoke about. That was well planned by the DMA team. I don’t feel that I missed anything at all.

The crowd at DMA

I estimate that 80% of the attendees were self-employed in the marketing space, in eCommerce, or sometimes both. The other 20% were employed by others, but now have some serious tools to eventually go solo if they wish in the future.

Better yet – no one in suits! There weren’t any corporate people here, it’s not a conference for corporate marketers. B2B sure, but not corporate. One thing I didn’t see either were Gary Vee shoes…I should’ve brought mine. 🙂 The majority of individuals were 25 to 40, and almost everyone was dressed well. The crowd was around the 250 mark and approximately 50 no-shows, since my flight was delayed and I saw approximately 50 badges upon my 10am registration at the event.

The check-in and event staff appear to be university students, as opposed to actual marketers. That wasn’t of concern though, and is probably the case with most events. What I did notice in the event room, is that 10% of the crowd was on laptops and phones whilst presentations were in progress. I guess we’re marketers after all and need to stay in constant contact. As I sat in the front row most of the time, it wasn’t a distraction.

The speakers at DMA

The speakers were MINT. Most of them aren’t professional speakers at all, and some even mentioned this within their first few words. Very few stumbled, and most communicated so perfectly that you’d think professional speaking is actually their gig. I’ve been to a lot of conferences in the past by way of comparison. Best of all – they all used humor and crowd engagement.

Two months prior to the conference I was promised no pitching upon commenting on their Instagram post. No one really pitched anything. Sure – most of the speakers had ‘something’ you could buy, but it wasn’t put in your face.

Furthermore, there were 10 sponsors such as SEMRush and AHREFS with booths in the foyer, of which you weren’t pressed to visit and could easily avoid. I visited none, but somewhat kicking myself now. These speakers were seriously a nice bunch of people.

Digital Marketers Australia 2020 pricing

The cost for DMA 2019 was $497 (earlybird), and we were offered a very low price of $297 if you registered for the 2020 event at the Digital Marketing Australia conference. The thing was – date and location TBA.

Unfortunately, none of us know where we’ll be in 12 months at all. I travel often to US and China for my eCom business. Plus, given that DMA19 was the 1st, the lack of longevity makes me nervous as to whether DMA2020 will actually run again. I hope it does!

The pricing does represent great value for money. I was slightly apprehensive at first, especially as marketers, we know that $497 is a fabricated price. We use it all the time, we just don’t want it used on us. 🙂 But, they delivered the goods!

What isn’t worth it, is the VIP price-point. I easily got front-row of ‘economy’ with empty seats next to me. If you’re a front-row engagement person like me, you’ll do just fine on the general tickets. VIP gets you a table, and tap water at your table. Plus slightly faster registration. Out of 250, approximately 15 were VIP.

The only thing was – in our notebooks was the above upsell. A full-day SEO workshop for $1,997 or the next day, a full-day PPC workshop for $1,997. You could have the 2 for $2,997. If you’ve got the cash – sure! But for many of us bootstrapped, the price is quite out of reach. They didn’t really pitch this one on stage, and I’m not sure if many people took them up on the offer. I’d rather do an online course by Ryan Deiss personally.

Summarizing my thoughts

I hope this Digital Marketers Australia review has provided you some greater insights. I’ll attend again in 2020. I do believe the event offered excellent value for money, with solid content and a chance to network with some really cool people that do what you do. There weren’t any ‘secrets’ withheld, in fact guys like Jared Codling freely shared funnel hacking strategies which the crowd loved.

I flew in from Brisbane on the morning of the event (5am flight….!) and flew out the evening after. I likely won’t do this again, instead flying into Melbourne and the evening prior so I can be fresh, prepared and ready to go. My in-bound flight was delayed due to bad weather in Melbourne. Should’ve seen that one coming!

If you decide to go, feel free to come up and say Hello. I won’t bite… 🙂 For those with questions about my experiences and this review, you’re most welcome to drop them below.

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