When I woke up on Monday morning, I was sad. The only thing I can think to compare it to is taking an amazing vacation in a warm sunny spot, and getting back home to blistery weather and cloudy skies. I had just spent a week with some of my amazing team members at the Disneyland of marketing conferences, the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum and it was time to get back to reality.
Ann Handley (or Mary Poppins for the sake of this blog post) and her team at MarketingProfs have created something truly magical. From the moment you walk in the door to the time you board your plane home, you feel like you’re surrounded by people that “get you” and experience the same B2B marketing struggles that you do.
Last week, we had the honor of attending the 10th anniversary of the forum and could not have been more giddy for the opportunity. We attended some awesome sessions, met amazing people, connected with some of our favorite clients and friends, hosted a TopRank Marketing fiesta (complete with a caricature artist) and dove head first into the experience.
For those of you who weren’t able to attend (although I would strong suggest attending next year if you can), we’ve put together some highlights from our magical adventure through the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum.
B2B Marketing Insights From Amazing Speakers
9 Sizzling Influencer Activation Tips from Lee Odden
What makes someone influential? Is it popularity? Is it celebrity? Is it the fact that they have niche expertise? And how do you identify, activate and continue to build on your relationships with influencers? In his session, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden delivered actionable tips, tools and examples that answered all these questions and more.
If you're not affecting a change in action then you're not doing influencer marketing right. @leeodden Share on XRead the full post here: Influencer Activation Tips
6 Truth Bombs Every B2B Marketer Needs to Hear About Creativity
The creative struggle is real for marketers. Creativity is necessary and intertwined with everything we do. But we often find ourselves aspiring to be more creative than actually harnessing what’s already inside us as creators. In this post, Jay Acunzo, founder, host and writer of Unthinkable.fm, drops a few truth bombs about creativity that will inspire new confidence in your abilities.
Our jobs are not to be creative. Our jobs are to create. @jayacunzo Share on XRead the full post here: Creativity Truth Bombs
Insanely Effective Content Marketing with LImited resources, Budget & Time
The C-Suite is becoming more and more frustrated with marketing performance. More times than not, marketing is seen as a cost center, not a profit center. Now more than ever, marketers have an opportunity to shift the perspective and hyper-focus on what really matters. GE Digital’s Chris Moody took a deep dive into what’s wrong with B2B marketing today, and steps that marketers can take to mend what’s broken.
The best way to get more resources is to get results first. @cnmoody Share on XRead the full post here: Insanely Effective Content Marketing
How to Build An Owned Media Empire with Epic B2B Content Marketing
We are creating more and more content to the point that our audiences are overwhelmed and having trouble finding the gems amongst all of the garbage. If you really want to rock your B2B content then Jason Miller of LinkedIn is just the person to listen to. Jason shared helpful tips on everything from building your strategy to creating big rock content and repurposing.
When you lead conversations that matter, you give audiences a reason to follow. @jasonmillerca Share on XRead the full post here: Epic B2B Content Marketing
Learn How to Turn Your B2B Content Marketing Into A Profit Center
When the Godfather of Content Marketing, Joe Pulizzi has a session that describes how to profit from content creation, it’s time to pay attention. Why? Who better to speak on the subject than someone who has built a content media company from the ground up, with enormous success?
I can’t show you how to make money from your audience if you don’t have an audience. @joepulizzi Share on XRead the full post here: Content Marketing Profit Center
Marketer or Mind-Reader? 3 Ways to Find Out What the B2B Buyer is Thinking
When it comes to creating quality content that informs, entertains, engages and inspires action from our target audience, we marketers wish we knew one thing: exactly what our audience is thinking. While that may not be exactly possible, Aberdeen Group’s Director of Content Strategy Matthew T. Grant and Research Analyst Andrew Moravick shared three options for getting closer to savant status during their session.
If you could write your customer’s mind, what would you write? @matttgrant Share on XRead the full story here: Marketer or Mind-Reader?
Learn How to Launch an Integrated Strategy for Account Based Marketing
The most successful account based marketing strategies integrate sales and marketing efforts. In this piece, Jon Miller, CEO of Engagio details the difference between traditional demand gen & account based marketing, and provides actionable tips on how sales and marketing teams can coordinate.
ABM is alignment w/ marketing, sales & current customers to engage target accounts. @jonmiller Share on XRead the full post here: Integrated ABM Strategy
Can Marketers Really Generate Sales on Social Media?
While social media marketing has existed for over five years, many marketers don’t inherently look to social as a means of driving revenue. In this session, John Foley Jr. and Karen DeWolf of InterlinkOne provide tactics for using social media as a prospecting tool. They also answer some burning social media marketing questions in a Q&A.
If you're using social media to drive revenue, prospecting is the winning strategy. @johnfoleyjr Share on XRead the full post here: Sales on Social Media
The Importance of Storytelling in Content Marketing
As content marketers, we need to be in the business of storytelling if we want our content to resonate and inspire. In his presentation, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of Contently, Shane Snow, dove into why storytelling is so important and provided a framework for telling those stories better.
When you engage in a story, your brain lights up. @shanesnow Share on XRead the full post here: Importance of Storytelling
Putting What We Learned Into Practice
I may have been sad on Monday morning but now that reality has settled in, I’m excited to put everything that I learned into practice with my team at our home office. You had better believe that we’re counting down the days until we get to return to the magical land that is the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum.
If you attended the event or just read the buzz online, what do you think was the most important takeaway from the event?
Disclosure: LinkedIn Marketing is a TopRank Marketing client.
