As we finish out our Inbound Marketing Summit (IMS) coverage, we’re coming away excited about all the new tips, best practices, and industry contacts we’ve gained over the past few months. It may be an overwhelming time to be a marketer, but it is also a very exciting time to embrace the challenges, new trends, technologies and changing consumer behaviors.
To conclude our roundup of coverage from IMS Boston, we want to share our five favorite quotes from day 2. Enjoy, and thanks for following along with us!
- “A ‘yes’ from a customer is only a ‘yes for now.’” –Robert Rose, Senior Analyst at Digital Clarity Group. It’s no longer about “more”. We’ve spent the last 7 years as marketers trying to create more (customers, leads, followers, etc.) and spent little time on relationships. Consumers are about a click away from going to the competitor. Make your audience think and feel passionate about your approach to solving their problem and they will remain loyal.
- “Your website is your best salesperson – make it warm, personal, and impossible to resist.” –Karl Wirth, Founder and CEO at Evergage. These days, your website is the initial and main point of contact with your customers. Greet them with a firm handshake by offering content that is warm and relevant. Think like a customer, think likes a salesperson – be a good listener and get customers to stay.
- “Focus on moving at the speed of culture. Leverage the conversations your consumers are taking part in to engage in an authentic voice.” –David Oksman, Head of Marketing at Life is good. The best way to be reactive in your culture is to be proactive in your planning, so the more suited you’ll be when opportunity arises to take advantage of those real-time engagements. Because of the digital age we live in, consumers have more choice than ever and they’re choosing organizations that align with the things they believe in. You must authentically develop your content so that it is on brand and customer-focused.
- “Get out of spreadsheets.” –Eric Jones, VP Digital Marketing at r2integrated. Instead of trying to dissect every piece of data available, start visualizing and identifying triggers. It’s all about understanding vs. knowing. Pick a few metrics that are most important and that are driving business value. You can’t look at everything, but you have to look at something; make sure the data you’re analyzing make sense for taking action!
- “Marketing is the influence of opinion through content.” –Larry Weber, Chairman at Racepoint Group. The marketing game has changed immensely over the past decade. If there is an end game, it hasn’t changed (from creating revenue and business), but what has changed is that nothing ends anymore. Marketing is a constant process of the customer journey that doesn’t culminate in anything other than sales, and doesn’t end there. You want to create the best customer experience you can. Marketing is the influence of opinion through content. Customers don’t realize how much power they have; the era of companies thinking they can just spoon feed customers to drive business is over.
–Because we couldn’t help ourselves (and because we really couldn’t narrow this list down to just five quotes), here’s a bonus takeaway:
- “Being a leader is its own kind of inbound marketing.” –Dorie Clark, Harvard Business Review and Forbes Contributor. Blogging is not easy; it takes time, energy and a good command of the English language. But, it sets you apart. While other people are crafting tweets and snapping pictures on Instagram, you’re sharing ideas. People will find value in that. Creating content is no longer option.
