Looking for Performance Marketers? Head to La La Land.

During a call I had last week with a major marketer, she asked a surprising question. Where are all the great direct response (DR) marketers in digital? I immediately blurted out ... Los Angeles, of course! I've always thought of this as an obvious fact but apparently not every one has gotten the memo yet. So here's my public service announcement ... if you want to find the best and brightest in performance marketing, head to the sun and the sand of la la land.

LA has every kind of performance marketer you can imagine and we have them in abundance. I'm sure there are pockets of great talent in other towns but your best bet is to start your search in LA for digital DR talent and partners. Because of LA's unique history in digital we have people and companies that have built expertise in all things performance digital. Here's a small sample of the expertise and great talent we have aplenty in LA ...

• Want to learn how to get more out of your seemingly stagnant search marketing programs? LA has 1000s of search all-stars like Ryan Pabelona at Revolve Clothing and Jennifer Tan at Experian who are unlocking big value for their brands by leveraging new search opportunities like Product Ads and RSLAs and connecting search more broadly to their brands' overall marketing objectives.
• Searching for DR partners that have turned programmatic and native into more than just buzzwords? Angelenos like Mike Margolin at RPA and Nancy Adzentoivich at Resolution Media are working with some of the biggest brands in the world to help them drive true consumer engagement at scale.
• Looking to scale up true performance marketing efforts on Facebook beyond app installs? LA has loads of crusty old digital veterans like Frank Lee and Keith Wilson who are helping e-commerce companies scale their DR efforts across Facebook. 
• Striving to get past the sizzle and drive real ROI on the latest shiny objects like video, Snapchat, Instagram, etc? Digital data geeks like Aaron Dodez at RPA and Brian Kim at Dollar Shave Club are taking a results oriented approach to testing new ways to engage with those pesky millennials.

These digital DR all-stars just scratch the surface of what LA has to offer. The digital performance talent pool in LA is large and diverse because many of the most innovative performance ad businesses were developed in Southern California. Almost every category of performance digital was invented and/or scaled in Los Angeles ... Paid Search (Overture), Affiliate Marketing (Commission Junction), Lead Gen (LowerMyBills), CSE (Pricegrabber and Shopzilla) and programmatic (Rubicon, OpenX). Some of the best DR-obsessed digital agencies and advertisers have hired and trained up a ton of performance practitioners in LA including Resolution Media, The Search Agency, RPA, Experian, Match.com and Oversee.net. And just importantly, LA is a major hub of ecommerce innovation mixed with serious DR chops via brands like The Honest Company, Dollar Shave Club, NastyGal and Tradesy. These are just a few examples of LA ecommerce juggernauts that are combining innovative shopping experiences with crafty DR techniques (Dollar's viral videos are more than fun and games, they move millions of blades). Over the past 20 years, this LA performance ecosystem has built up organically and in the process created a giant incubator for hard core digital DR talent.

So, if you are looking for people or partners to help you navigate the wild and crazy world of digital performance, head to la la land.