Search is Changing

Search is an ever-changing landscape. For many of us, that’s what we love about it! Over the past decade our roles as search marketers have become multi-disciplined to include copywriting, analytics, coding, link building, social media, and much more. Whether organic or biddable the industry has branched out into different specialties while still remaining the foundational tool for all digital marketers to have in their toolbox.

And SEMPO has changed over the past decade as well; doing its best to recognize new channels, platforms and specialized approaches. SEMPO has welcomed members from around the world and made great friends and supporters along the way.

At SEMPO events, we’ve found one common trend: In the heart of every search marketer a passion for data-driven performance marketing and search analytics.

2020 Will be a Huge Year for Data/Machine Learning/AI

As we embrace this new decade, we embrace the huge effect that these technologies will have on the search industry/community. We’ve noticed more and more that data, analytics, performance measurement, and search marketing work together in tandem, with the lines becoming blurry or non-existent depending on the size of the organization.

Exciting News About Your Membership

During the last few years there hasn’t been much growth in personal memberships and even a slight decline in corporate membership and sponsorships. That being the case, the SEMPO Board of Directors have arrived at a point where it has to make some tough, but forward-thinking decisions about how to best serve our membership base. To that end, we’re excited to share with you that we’ve found a solution where we can offer you MORE for your membership dues and introduce you to an amazing community of smart data-driven pros which we already have a symbiotic relationship with – the Digital Analytics Association.

About the Digital Analytics Association (DAA)

Our friends at the Digital Analytics Association (DAA) have been working their butts off to grow a solid organization that’s providing value to its members with local events, online events, mentorship programs, certifications, and more. Members also have access to the DAA Community and their Member Open Forum, a private channel where they can talk all things digital with a community of like-minded professionals. They’re a thriving organization that has graciously offered to provide DAA memberships for all SEMPO members for all of 2020, while also creating a search-focused special-interest group (SIG) in the DAA Community to accommodate and integrate SEMPO members into this thriving community.

Fear not: You’ll still have many similar benefits with the DAA that you did with your SEMPO membership –local events in select cities (AKA SEMPO Cities), online webinars, and networking options–but with the additional benefit of mentorship programs, a larger community, an active slack channel, and more. Read more about the DAA Membership benefits here.

A very sincere THANK YOU

You have been a huge part of supporting the search marketing community. SEMPO could not have been created and been as present and recognizable without the enthusiasm and passion its members have for the industry and for the organization. So, we, the board of directors look forward to continuing to work with you to grow an essential new area of expertise within the DAA. We’re all committed to remaining in our current roles representing the membership of the new group and that of the industry itself.

Your direct contact with DAA during the transition is: membership@digitalanalyticsassociation.org

Feeling nostalgic? Check out SEMPO’s day ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ in 2008.

Sincerely, on behalf of SEMPO

Mike Corak – President
Mike Grehan – Chair
Michael Bonfils – VP of Marketing
Marc Engelsman – VP of Research
Corey Morris – VP of SEMPO Cities
Cristie Reed – Treasurer, VP of Education
Tanya Wigmore – VP of Membership & Sponsorship
Stephan Bajaio – Board Member
Chris Boggs – Board Member
Michael Gullaksen – Board Member
Luis Navarrete Gomez – Board Member
Bill Leake – Board Member
Mike Moran – Board Member
Chris Morgan – Board Member
Christi Olson – Board Member