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As 2017 approaches, it feels like we’re finally at the doorstep of a future we’ve imagined for decades. Virtual reality and augmented reality are gaining popularity with major brands and are poised to make big changes to the way we interact with the world.

At the AIMA Innovation special interest group, held at Nebo on November 16 and moderated by Eric Holtzclaw, attendees got to experience these innovative technologies firsthand as digital pioneers from CNN, Delta and TRICK 3D spoke about how they are engaging with customers and growing their audiences using augmented and virtual reality.

Didn’t get to attend? Don’t sweat it. Here’s our recap of what went down at the event.

Although my digital marketing career started on the “driving website traffic” side of the equation (a noble task, to be sure!), over the past few years, my passion and attention has shifted to a “get more traffic to convert” viewpoint. (I outlined the reasons for my change in focus in an earlier post, Why More Traffic Is The Lazy Marketer’s Answer.)

In the process of building out a Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) team and evangelizing CRO to anyone who will listen, I’ve noticed some common mistakes that confront marketers who are just dipping their toes into the waters of optimization and testing.

Last week, I covered the first three overarching themes I pulled from ClickZ Live’s conference in New York. Here are the last three.

There’s no denying that technology and our culture have shifted tremendously in the past decade or so. The impending arrival of the Internet of Things and the rise of mobile and wearables means we’re always on, always connected, always able to gratify any whim or answer any question with a few clicks. There’s more everything out there—more videos to watch, more information to consume, more groups to join, more spotlights shining on events happening on the other side of the world. And everything’s evolving at a faster and faster pace.

As a consequence, our habits and expectations have changed. Heck, we have changed. The old models of marketing and advertising are gasping their last breaths while new business models, new approaches and new mediums are taking off.

Companies that don’t adapt to these technology and cultural shifts will die. Maybe not tomorrow, but I’d start administering last rites soon.

Which is essentially what ClickZ Live’s conference in New York last week had to say. The conference boasted an impressive array of speakers from quite diverse industries, yet several clear themes emerged. These themes may look familiar to marketers, but whereas they used to be talked about as something to strive for (with only a rare “real life” example cited), they are now becoming a means to survive and thrive in today’s world.

I’ll cover the first three themes today and an additional three next week.

I’m thankful every day that I’m a marketer. This industry is exhilarating. We have incredible tools and technology to use. We have new platforms, social networks, targeting options, and the data we have access to is beyond comprehension. It’s like being the proverbial kid in the candy store.

Yet, we don’t always take advantage of all the tools, data, and knowledge before us. Marketers (agencies and client-side) tend to take the hammer’s point of view where everything looks like a nail. And the nail is traffic.

Whatever the challenge before us, we create strategies and implement tactics to chase the traffic dragon.

This isn’t new. Back in the day, when the buyer journey was a little simpler, traffic was still our main focus. It’s always been about getting more people, more eyeballs, and more views.

We’re obsessed with getting more traffic, and there is always more traffic to get.

It makes sense, right? Our clients want to see the fruits of our efforts, so we expend tons of energy driving traffic to wherever they want (in today’s world, it’s typically to their website). Invest some time, throw in some money, and boom – job done.

Or is it?