Conferences

Spring is here and the marketing conference season is in full-bloom. As marketing geeks who are driven by curiosity and the need to always be learning, we eagerly attend these things with excitement and optimism.

The SMB Digital Summit focused on digital marketing strategies for small and medium businesses. Our favorite session was presented by Todd Hartley, CEO of WireBuzz, who gave some great tips on using video to get more leads and close more sales. In this highly-energized 20 minutes, we learned the nuances of making personal videos as follow-up messaging after sales calls or presentations. If done well, and especially if competing with other presenters, a video thanking your audience for their time and attention can be a memorable final touch. We’re excited to try this with prospects and we recommend our clients try it too.

At the MarketingProfs B2B Forum, three different presentations got our attention. First, strategy-minded, results-oriented Creative Director, Nancy Harhut discussed the secrets of super-persuasive communicators (Hint: It’s not about presenting facts—it’s about using stories to help your audience draw their own conclusion, using certain words and phrases, and setting pricing in a value-perceived manner).

Marketing Strategist Nina Bell discussed ways to create demand generation on a budget. (Hint: it doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does take research, planning, and stick-to-it-iveness). As a bonus, Nina penned and performed the first ever Marketing B2B Sea Shanty, which was the most entertaining marketing-related 108 seconds we’d seen in a long time.

Closing keynote speaker Vinh Giang gave a memorable “Communications Masterclass for the Marketing Professional”. Through entertaining storytelling and intertwining examples along the way, he shared techniques on improving vocal image, increasing self-awareness, and improving influence. If you ever get a chance to see him “perform” (his word for “speak”), do not miss it!

Projects

Between conferences and vaccination appointments, our team has been busy working on a variety of initiatives for clients. The concepting phase of a massive video project for one of our specialty education clients is done and we’re moving onto production, which is super exciting and a little nerve-wracking.

Our financial services clients are keeping us hopping with a diverse mix of work, including creating educational content about budgeting, strategic planning, a resource document for minority and women-owned businesses, and a quarterly eNewsletter.

Getting found in search results is the challenge-of-the-moment for one of our B2B manufacturing clients, so we’re gearing up to help them improve SEO and launch a new PPC campaign to help get them noticed.

Forbes Agency Council

Megan likes to say we punch above our weight, and our latest endeavor proves her right. Forbes invited us to join their agency council and we officially became a member earlier this month. Not only will this help us grow our business, it will also help us server our clients better.

AFTER HOURS

With vacation days piling up, some of us are returning to travel and others are taking staycations. Danette took a road trip out west and knocked off a long-time bucket list item of mountain biking in Moab Utah. Megan retreated from work for an unprecedented two weeks away from the office, starting with a week of skiing in Colorado, followed by a week of lounging in Palm Springs. Sheryl went south and enjoyed a week of golfing, basking by the pool, strolling the beach, and sipping on tropical drinks in sunny Florida with her husband and friends.

Sam never left his apartment, but he and Lauren may have had his best spring break ever. Camping night started with tent setup (fort in the living room), followed by a crackling fire (on TV, enhanced by scented candles) and reading. After dark, they toasted marshmallows (on the gas range) and watched a scary movie. They moved to the guest room the next day for the tropical portion of their “trip”, where they donned swimwear, sipped piña coladas and listened to the ocean waves (relaxation videos) followed by a night under the stars (projection onto the ceiling). With no photos to prove it, we can only imagine how fun this must have been. On a scale of 1-10, he ranked this experience a 10. And we give him a 10 for creativity.