ContentTECH Marketing Conference 2019

INTRODUCTION

I was lucky enough to represent Massif at the ContectTECH Marketing Conference in San Diego this year. The conference was jam packed full of insightful information and centered around how marketing technology and content marketing intersect. We heard from industry leaders such as Robert Rose, Carmen Simon, Andy Crestodina, Megan Golden and Joe Lazauskas- not to mention brands Hello Fresh, LinkedIn, Red Hat, Contently and Autodesk! It’s safe to say my brain was packed full of information and I was left feeling inspired to apply my learnings to the Massif brand.

My key takeaways from individual sessions are noted below.

SETTLING OUR TECHNOLOGY DEBT Robert Pose

To kick off the conference, Robert Pose discussed that incorporating the newest technology doesn't always produce the best results. Many companies keep spending money on new technologies but are not utilizing it effectively. He urged us to look at technology differently and use it to develop more emotional relationships with our customers, rather than just automate their experience. Robert spoke of Emotional Data, and how it is the richest and most valuable type of data marketers can collect.

Emotional Data is gathered in a more authentic way compared to say, Big Data. It is more likely to predict why consumers are drawn to the brand. Marketing that is involved in emotional storytelling vs branded marketing is going to more accurately predict and drive consumer behavior.

All in all, Emotional Data leads to a better customer experience, which leads to better sales!

ANALYTICS AND TEAM COLLABORATION Andy Crestodina

Andy Crestodina is the co-founder and CMO of Orbit Media and he presented on the importance of analytics in content marketing. He explained content strategy to be, “the creation, promotion, and measurement of content.” The content strategy includes audience, mission, influencers, social/email promotion, measurement and ongoing optimization. The subject of measurement and optimization stood out because most companies overlook the power of these two.

There are two forms of optimization: one for traffic and the other for conversion rates. Every action we take will affect one of these numbers. Mr. Crestodina suggested utilizing the analytic data that is displayed on each social media platform because it's easily accessible and free.

I’m motivated to answer the questions below:

• What content performs best in which channel? Let’s do more of that.

• What inspires our target customer? Let’s create more posts to draw them in.

• Which types of visitors are most likely to take action? Let’s find more of them

“The best content doesn’t win. The best promoted content wins.” - Andy Crestodina

HOW LINKEDIN MARKETERS MASTERED CONTENT MARKETING Megan Golden

Megan is the Content Marketing Leader at LinkedIn and she gave us an inside look into how her team creates valuable content. One of the concepts that stuck out during her presentation was the concept of, originality. She explained that marketers are obsessed with employing the newest, hottest thing but it’s not usually what sells. What really sells is familiarity and relevance.

She related this idea to the first studio to make $7 billion in one year, Walt Disney Co. When you look back over the past year they really haven't introduced anything brand new. Megan explains, “they’re monetizing their back catalog by understanding what’s worked.” Disney knows what their audience likes and they were able to create sequels and spinoffs to drive sales.

CONVERGENCE OF CONTENT, EMAIL, AND MY BRITISH MUM Michael Barber

This guy was brilliant in how he presented his material. This session was one of my favorites because he used his British Mum as a theme throughout his presentation. Although email marketing isn't relevant to Massif now, it could be one day. Michael discussed some simple yet effective ways to avoid building subpar marketing emails. Many people view emails through their mobile device nowdays, so the skinny, single column layout is easily digestible. Contextual buttons, post purchase personalization, and frequency are all strong differentiators in email communication as well. He emphasized that the “little things” can go a long way.

“Email is alive and well but it's up to your team to consider new ways of engaging with subscribers to meet their expectations.” - Michael Barber

ORGANIZING FOR SUCCESS IN THE ENTERPRISE Dusty Dimercurio

Dusty is the Director of Content Marketing and Social Media at Autodesk and he spoke on the importance of ‘Content Councils’ within an organization. Content Councils were a reoccurring theme during the conference, but he went into it on a deeper level. The Content Council is where representatives across an organization (sales, marketing, finance, customer service, etc.) are in communication about the content priorities and strategies that will support overarching business objectives. The more integrated the content generation can be, the more successful the strategies have shown to be. Content creation isn't just up to the marketing team anymore. After listening to Dusty and how he balances his own content council at Autodesk, it made me realize that Massif could really benefit from this idea as well.

Most companies do struggle with getting sales on board with marketing strategies but more focus in this area would produce greater results.

THE NEUROSCIENCE BEHIND MEMORABLE CONTENT Carmen Simon

Dr. Simon is a Neuroscientist and she dove into the brain science behind providing content that sticks. She talked about the importance of “staying on top of mind to stay important.” Audiences forget about 90% of what you communicate, so deviating from a pattern that the brain expects will allow content to be impossible to forget. In order to create memorable content, we have to ask ourselves what we want to be memorable for and also make sure our messages are differentiated from the rest. A distinguished message will guard against interference between messages.

Carmen was the only speaker I introduced myself to because, let’s face it speakers don’t remember half the people they meet at these conferences. I asked her for some advice on training my brain to focus better. She said an exercise that she uses to improve her focus and memory involved focusing on one task for 90 minutes. It can be any task, but the challenge is to deviate away from distractions and zero in during the designated time block. Phew, wish me luck!

SECRET TO CREATING CONTENT THAT TRANSFORMS YOUR BRAND Joe Lazauskas

Joe Lazauskas is the Head of Marketing at Contently, and his session was formed around the art of storytelling. As humans our brains are programmed for storytelling, but why? Joe explains, “It’s how we evolved to understand our place in the world before we had written language, how we passed on lessons for where to find food, or what threats were coming for us, or how to build relationships within our families.” Stories activate different parts of our brains and trigger the release of the neurochemical, oxytocin. Oxytocin is widely known as the “love drug” or “love hormone” and also known for its release during female reproduction.

There are four elements to immersive storytelling: fluency, reliability, novelty, and tension. Fluency is key because people are most engaged when they can actually understand the content. Most U.S. adults can't even read at a high school level, so keep it simple. Content also needs to be relatable, ask your team, “If you didn’t work here, would you read this?” We respond better to stories we can see ourselves in.

The element of novelty is crucial because brains light up to new information. Make sure the story is something they haven't heard before. And lastly, tension. Joe mentioned that, “Aristotle said that the key to great stories is creating a gap between what is and what could be, and then closing that gap and opening it again and again, until the conclusion.” Tension will keep people on the edge of their seats. These four elements are worth remembering when telling your next story.