4 DigiMarCon 2022 Takeaways for Growth-Focused Businesses
I don’t know about you, but I am getting tired of digital marketing webinars and virtual events. Now, donât get me wrong. I still think the info the presenters provide can be helpful. But when Iâm watching instead of participating, I tend to get easily distracted. The dog has to go out. An ant is crawling on my floor. Email notifications are screaming across my screen You name it! It can be very hard to keep my attention, especially when Iâm working from home.
For the first time in 2+ years, I recently had the chance to attend an in-person conference, DigiMarCon Mid-Atlantic held in Philadelphia, PA. (Yup – you read it right: âin-personâ!) They streamed the event live and recorded the sessions, but it was local, so I chose to attend it IRL.
When I got back to the office, I was so excited to share everything I had learned with the team. And now, I want to pass along some of this to you. Here is a quick recap of some of the most valuable learning experiences during this 2-day conference.
Gaining Insights through Data-Driven Digital Marketing
The conference kicked off with a session about âCrazy Effective Ways to Increase Your Leads through Contentâ. This was my first session so, needless to say, I was hoping for the best. And I got it. While the speaker did talk about connecting the dots to digital marketing content, I found myself thinking more about the data you get from digging into content that helps pave the roadmap.
One takeaway was creating online tools to offer true value. People are always searching for easy ways to calculate or provide insights to their problems. Why custom-develop a tool just for your audience?
For example, HubSpot has a persona builder to help create a profile in a presentation-ready manner. Wondering how much you should be spending on Paid Advertising (PPC)? Check out our calculator that helps show you potential ROI on Google Ads. What tools could be beneficial for your customers?
Another insight from this session is about using behavioral intelligence. This data uncovers the psychology behind how people interact with your content, such as:
- Where they place their cursor as they read
- How they read through a page
- How far down a user scrolls down a page
- What areas that users click on
There’s a lot of information that can be dissected based on the way in which a user engages (or does not engage) with a web page.
Telling a Story through B2B Content Marketing
Another session presented was âAdvanced Storytelling for Marketersâ. This presentation was conducted by a wife and husband team: Ginger Shimp, Global Content Lead for Industries, SAP and Ed Shimp, Writer, Narrator, Video Creator, Master Storyteller.
Think about this for 15 seconds: what is the definition of a âstoryâ?
If you Google it, a story is âa narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader.â While this is true (of course itâs true because Google says so), a story is so much more for B2B Content Marketing.
We need to think of a story as a form of communication that consists of a series of reactions that take place over time. Itâs an engaging piece of content that pulls your reader through an experience and makes them feel something.
All digital marketing stories have a beginning, middle, and end, but there is a lot more in between. Letâs plot it on a typical X-Y graph to better show what Ginger and Ed spoke about as it relates to Aristotle:
Every story starts with a primary stasis, or topic in marketing-speak. Consider kicking it off with a question or setting the stage for whatâs to come in the rest of your story. As the story progresses, keep the action moving but never lose sight of the message you want to convey to your audience.
This rising action is the bulk of your storyâs plot. Itâs a series of events that build on the topic or initial question, increase the userâs âfeelingâ, and send the story racing to the end, or climax, of your story.
As the action rises, just before the reader gets to the climax of the story, a user will experience an “anagnorisis.” In a literary work, this is the startling discovery that produces a change from ignorance to knowledge. It is the AHA moment for your user!
As the climax is reached, the question is answered and the theme becomes apparent. After the climax, you reach the end of your story where all matters are explained or resolved. And finally, tie your story up with a nice little bow and your secondary stasis which basically is an ending call-to-action (CTA) with where you want to lead them next.
Using Content Marketing to Build Better Relationships
A final session I want to share with you is âCreate Credible Connections – Use the Tools of a Trial Attorney to Persuade Your Clients / Audiencesâ, presented by Heather Hansen – CEO, Advocate to Win. At first I thought, she is an attorney, why is she at a digital marketing conference? But as soon as she opened her mouth, she captured my undivided attention.
The theme that ran throughout her presentation was the importance of the 5 Câs: Creating Credible Connections with Curiosity and Compassion.
She likened forming a connection to the jury as marketers do to an audience. And we must pique curiosity and compassion with great content. But the most important of all⌠is Credibility.
Without credibility, you cannot form that connection and they will not believe your story. In attorney-speak, if they do not believe you, you cannot win. There are 3 parts to building credibility:
- Believe You – If you make a promise, make sure you keep it; if you set and expectations, you meet it; and most importantly if you canât meet expectations or promises, you own it! The best marketers will run towards their mistakes and use those not-so-proud times to build credibility
- Believe in You – You canât prove it until you believe it yourself. And once you do, others will come along for the ride.
- Believe That You Can Help Them – And be careful of the âCurse of Knowledgeâ that may stand in your way. Just because you know it so well, donât forget that others may not know it. Remember to clarify and ask for understanding when needed. Does that make sense?
The Most Valuable Learning Experience
These were only 3 of the sessions during a jammed-packed, 2-day conference. But, if I had to choose what was my #1 takeaway from this event, it would be this. No matter how much valuable information was shared with us by experts around the nation, nothing compared to the face-to-face interaction I had with others from around the globe.
The ability to connect on hot digital marketing topics, discuss our struggles, share our accomplishments, and just hang out during breaks was beyond enlightening. I heard that you donât know what you got until itâs gone. Over the past 2+ years, a lot was taken away from us but we can get it back when you are ready to do so. Whether in big groups or small gatherings, nothing can take the place of human interaction.
At Creative MMS, we work in a collaborative environment and form partnerships with our clients to create that bond and build a lasting relationship. Check out our B2B marketing services and if you feel we can help you with your business needs, drop us a line.
