Marketing Insights Learned, Myths Busted at SWAY | LIVE

Sheri Fitts’ SWAY | LIVE event in Milwaukee this week didn’t disappoint, with lots of wide-ranging great content over three days wrapping up Tuesday night.

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Tuesday’s session lineup included plenty of great (and often shocking) insights to help attendees improve their marketing reach via email, video and LinkedIn. While acknowledging that the speakers went into much more detail, here are a few quick highlights:

Email remains effective

Attendees learned how to use email more effectively with tips from subject matter expert LeeAnn Marie Webster of Webster Enterprises, who put forth a convincing argument that email is far from a dinosaur and remains the most reliable way to consistently reach people.

In a world where algorithms shift and platforms come and go, Webster noted that an email list remains a constant. Webster showed how a consistent, authentic newsletter can deepen relationships, build trust, and drive meaningful engagement. 

She focused on how to craft emails that resonate, reflect your brand, and become a cornerstone of your marketing strategy.

Among her insights? She told the audience why to use social media in addition to your email, not in place of it.

She dispelled three common “lies” about email:

• Email Lie #1: “Nobody reads email anymore.”

Webster pointed out email has 4 billion daily users, while Facebook and Instagram have around 3.3 billion daily users.

• Email Lie #2: “People hate getting email.”

Webster said people don’t mind getting email—they mind getting BAD email (spam or blatantly promotional that don’t offer value).

• Email Lie #3: “I need a big list to make email work.”

Size doesn’t matter. Engagement matters—it’s about how many people engage with your email, Webster said. She also advised to write emails first and then craft the subject line—which you can easily optimize with the help of AI.

Among her extensive list of ideas for email newsletter content? Industry updates, tips & tools, events you are hosting, your own personal stories, or a segment like “The Least Boring Thing That Happened Today.”

Video is having a moment

In a session titled, “Find Your #Finfluence: Using Video to Build Authority + Grow Business,” Laura Garfield, co-founder of Idea Decanter, noted how financial advisors are increasingly turning to video to build their brand—and social-media friendly short-form video in particular.

Garfield cited a 2023 survey by Forbes Advisor and Prolific showing that 79% of Americans between 18 and 41 have gotten financial advice from social media, and a Hartford Funds survey showing that 50% of investors say social media influenced their choice of advisor (with 20% saying it was the sole deciding factor).

Garfield, who started her career in broadcast journalism, recently released a book titled, “Find Your #finfluence,” as an advisor’s guide to standing out with video. “You don’t need to go viral. You need to stop being invisible,” Garfield said, explaining that her focus is on helping advisors show up, stand out and speak directly to the clients you actually want to work with.

While conceding there is plenty of questionable or outright terrible financial advice being doled out on social media, Garfield emphasized that the real opportunity for advisors lies not in spectacle, but in showing up with clarity, consistency, and confidence. Her book is intended as a roadmap for how to do it, and she shared many of the strategies with SWAY | LIVE attendees.

You’re doing LinkedIn wrong

During her session, “LinkedIn Mastery: Adapting to the Digital Age,” renowned LinkedIn strategy expert Lia Bliss opened attendees’ eyes as to how they may be leveraging the key business networking app all wrong.

She aims to transform how users leverage the platform’s algorithm for measurable business growth, delivering implementable strategies that convert digital presence into revenue opportunities while revealing the systematic framework top performers use to drive results beyond conventional LinkedIn wisdom.

Bliss explained how LinkedIn differs from Instagram and Facebook, which make most of their money via advertising, by generating most of its revenue (80%) through paid premium subscriptions. Because so many users pay to be on LinkedIn, Bliss said LinkedIn takes extraordinary measures to protect user experience.

“They’re not ever going to turn it into Facebook for work,” Bliss said, adding that the platform cares most about generating conversations between professionals.

“When you make a post on LinkedIn, your post will go to 10% of your followers,” Bliss said, adding during the “bad news” portion of the presentation that when you make a post from your company page, it only goes to 2% of your company’s followers, “and there’s literally nothing you can do about it.”

The Tuesday session—which Bliss admits was a three- to six-hour presentation distilled into 30 dense minutes—focused on how LinkedIn tests content to gauge whether it is interesting enough to start a conversation, and how comments from one criteria-meeting post are the secret to guaranteeing your next post will get at least 1,000 views regardless of how many connections you have.

This is merely a small sampling of the kind of marketing insights SWAY | LIVE attendees received on Tuesday afternoon alone, while the entire the three-day event was filled with immersive sessions delving deep into developing a personal brand voice to open doors, create opportunities and establish thought leadership.

During the event, Fitts also announced that the next SWAY | LIVE annual event will be held in Boulder, Colo., in August of 2026.

SEE ALSO:

• SWAY | LIVE 2025 Heads to Milwaukee
• Previewing SWAY | LIVE 2025 with Sheri Fitts