Last week, the amazing Ann Handley and her team at MarketingProfs put on a phenomenal conference for B2B marketers from all over the country. The information, networking, events and even the swag were all top-notch.
On the first day, Ann set the stage and asked everyone in attendance to find their squad of other marketers at the event, and to take their work seriously, but not to take themselves too seriously. I’m so thankful to have gotten to know some familiar faces a little bit better, and to make some new fast friends in a short amount of time.
This great conference inspired me to share what I thought were the top takeaways and words of wisdom from the speakers for those of you that weren’t able to attend.
Top Conference Takeaways:
Learn to Focus Your Digital Marketing on User Intent – Avinash Kaushik
Thinking about how your company can connect with people and execute process and structure will make you masters of marketing. It’s time that marketers begin re-thinking the traditional marketing funnel and follow a framework that is based on user behavior to determine what is most relevant to your target audience.
To learn how to focus on the think and not the ink, read: Digital Marketing That Focuses on User Intent
How to Add More Participation to Your Content Marketing Program – Lee Odden
The race to create more content, at a higher quality on a consistent basis is leaving many marketers out of breath. Trying to scale a content program that meets all of these objectives is no easy undertaking. However, did you know that your employees, customers, industry influencers and online community are prime candidates for helping your brand create content that resonates with your audience.
If you want to find a way to tap into the wisdom of others to co-create great content, read: If You Want B2B Content to be Great, Ask Your Community to Participate!
Tap Into Employees for Content Amplification – David Honig & David B Thomas
One of the most powerful and underutilized methods for content promotion may be the person sitting next to you. Working with employees to leverage brand content can help employees create a better connection with your brand and even grow their own online audience. For the organization, it provides a way to increase brand awareness, strengthen culture and drive leads and sales.
If you’re curious to know some best practices for including customers in your content promotion strategy, read: How to Tap Into the Social Media Power of Employees for Content Amplification
Create Better Landing Pages That Convert – Oli Gardner
Landing pages can be an incredibly powerful tool for moving prospects through the sales process but they are not all created equal. The most important element of any landing page should be the customer experience. If a customer is bombarded with too many choices or distraction, they’ll quickly bounce to another company that can better serve their needs.
Amp up the quality of your landing pages by reading: 13 Considerations for Creating Successful Landing Pages from Oli Gardner of Unbounce
B2B Marketers Need to Up Their Facebook Game – Andrea Vahl
While organic reach hasn’t completely disappeared, it is on the decline. That means that B2B marketers now more than ever need to find a way to better serve the followers that are seeing their information.
To win on Facebook, brands must to find a way to entertain and inspire their audience through a variety of different methods including videos, visuals and paid advertising. Are you ready to learn what you brand can do to improve visibility, track leads and improve Facebook ad targeting?
If so, read: How B2B Marketers Can Use Facebook to Drive Engagement & Generated Leads
How Reinventing Your Brand Can Change Perception – Deon Newman
IBM is one of the most iconic brands of our time. This year, IBM was celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of their most popular products, the mainframe. Unfortunately, when many people think of a mainframe, their heads are filled with images of big rooms filled with clunky equipment.
The team at IBM found a unique way to include some of their largest customers in a movement to bring the mainframe back to life and into the 21st century.
To find out how IBM accomplished this goal, read: Case Study: How IBM Changed Perception & Increased Revenue by 20% YOY
B2B Marketing Forum Words of Wisdom:
“The difference between great companies and those that die is understanding how to obsess about the THINK.” @avinash
“The secret to the clarity of your value proposition lies in the information hierarchy of your headlines.” @oligardner
“The wisdom of your community is a bank rich with useful marketing content.” @leeodden
“If you don’t teach your children to be alone, they will only learn how to be lonely.” @STurkle
“What would happen if you had your employees become the storytellers for your brand?” @davehonig
“The role of content is to build relationships.” @HanaAbaza
“The key to stories is conflict.” @petersagal
“Don’t wait for someone to tell your story. Own it, tell it yourself and then promote the heck out of it.” @JasonMillerCA
“For every piece of content that targets conversion you need 10 that don’t. Show you have experience & leadership.” @BrennerMichael
“Lead nurturing allows marketers to be the resource buyers turn to for answers.” @ardath421
“Runners gotta run.. Writers gotta write.. Yoga-ers gotta yoga 🙂 – there is something for everyone at #mpb2b!” @jjulian
“The role of marketing is changing to become the customer advocate within a company.” @KatieMartell
How do top B2B Marketers MAKE Marketing Magic?
To answer that question, we talked to four of the speakers at MarketingProfs B2B Forum to get their insight. Check out their interviews below:
- How LinkedIn’s Jason Miller MAKES Marketing Magic
- How Uberflip’s Hana Abaza MAKES Marketing Magic
- How Mark Schaefer MAKES Marketing Magic
- How Katie Martell of Cintell MAKES Marketing Magic
See You Next Year at the 2016 MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum!
Overall, the entire B2B Forum conference was a great experience. We’re already counting down the days to next year’s conference!
If you attended or were following along on Twitter, what was the most useful piece of information that you learned?
