Inbound Marketing Summit – Day One Recap

Inbound Marketing Summit Boston

Recap of Day One: Trusting the Conversation Strategy Deeper (Or, What Matters in Social Media and Terms We Hear Too Much)

Yesterday was jammed pack full of presentations and off shoot conversations about Inbound Marketing. We had probably about 20 different presentations from some very smart folks in the industry.

I am curious to see how this content will stretch for another very full day today!

Some pleasant surprises

Sometimes we get so excited about things happening in our little worlds (I know I do) that we feel like we may have run away from the pack. I was so happy to hear that the things I am most excited about are on the hot button list of things to watch in the future of Inbound Marketing. It is reassuring to me that I am perhaps on the right track.

Here are those ‘things to watch’ from IMS:

  • Using LinkedIn Correctly – Sometimes LinkedIn is picked on by its younger social media siblings, like Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn has stuck around for a long time (in social media/internet time) because it continues to deliver value for its users. I can not say enough kind words about the value in many LinkedIn Groups and the Question and Answer section of the site. Glad to see LinkedIn is still getting some recognition as a great tool for networking with other people in and around your industry.
  • Video is the best way to get your message across – A picture is worth a thousand words but a video is worth a zillion. We all have a story we want to tell or a message to get across, with video you can perhaps show it best. Adding screen shots or demos of your products appeals to not only visual learners but it gives your audience a better true understanding of what you could not have gotten across in words.
  • SEO is not dying – Fred and I have had this conversation for years now. Social Media is the shiny new penny but SEO is the bricks you need to build the house. People are going online for answers and you want them to find you. There was one man who was trying to make the movement to drop the ‘E’ in SEO. People should be optimizing ALL of their content not just for search engines but for every other place people may experience you on the web as well.
  • Content, content, content – NO matter your communication strategy you need to have the content and take-homes to back it up.

Words I do not want to hear ever again

It happens at every conference. Those words that you hope to never hear again. You heard them 40 times already. Unfortunately when you go home you realize you start slipping them into conversations too.

Here are the words I never want to hear again after #IMS09:

    • Conversation

– If you are serious about Inbound Marketing, Social Media, New Media, PR 2.0 et. al. you need to switch your tone from marketing speak to a conversational tone. You also need to be prepared to give more then you are going to get. Listening is the most important part.

    • Trust

– What we as consumers want whether it is B2B or B2C is to trust that our purchase is the right one. By letting your audience know more about you, your company, your products and what makes you unique lets them trust you. You can build yourself as ‘the’ online resource in your industry. You need to provide quality content, that is easily found and indexed and sharable.

    • Strategy

– It is unanimous – you should not dive into social media, video marketing, email marketing or any type of internet marketing without a plan in place. Figure out what you want to get out of it first, what policies you need in place and what is it you are trying to do in this space.

    • Deeper

– I don’t know if it is because we are past the ‘Intro to Social Media’ stage or what but everyone likes to make their points deeper. Make the conversation deeper. Listen to your audience deeper. This is one term I am not taking home with me.

Day one has winded down. I have a lot more notes I want to get down into complete thoughts. Again, if you want my full run down of tips and takeaways from this event email me and I plan on sending out a one time enewsletter review.

Today is another day of presentations but it will be challenging to not have too much overlap. I am excited to see Steve Garfield’s presentation on video and Greg Cangialosi’s email and social media presentation. I am hoping for some good surprises from some people I haven’t heard of yet as well.

See how Hall can help increase your demand.