BroadBased attends Content Marketing World conference

More than 4,000 people attended the annual Content Marketing World conference in Cleveland to hear 225 of the industry’s foremost experts discuss the latest strategies, trends and technology. BroadBased Executive Vice President Chris Ramaglia was there for it all and left with some important insights on the current state of content marketing. Here are Chris’ key takeaways on how leading companies are incorporating new strategies to drive leads, sales and raving fans:

“Email is the only place where people (not algorithms) are in charge.” — Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

Facebook and Google are constantly adjusting how content is delivered across their platforms, and invariably these adjustments push companies into paid ad campaigns. Ann Handley, who was inducted in the Content Marketing Institute Hall of Fame at the conference, emphasized that email is the one medium that marketers still control, and she stressed how important it is to respect our audience’s inbox to achieve our goals.

“Quit blaming the goldfish. Our audience is capable of paying attention as long as we grab and hold their attention.” – Andrew Davis, author of the best-selling Brandscaping

Many commonly used marketing clichés poke fun at the fleeting attention of an audience, making comparisons to inanimate objects and small animals like goldfish. In his keynote, marketing guru Andrew Davis challenged the attendees with the notion that maybe the problem is that the content isn’t interesting, not that the audience isn’t interested. He then demonstrated how to grab and hold an audience’s attention with the use of a prop — a mystery box. As he explained his key principles of attention-based strategy, he would continue to postpone opening the box until the end of his presentation. His position is simple: too many marketers take the lazy route of giving away the end of their story in the beginning of telling it, blaming the technique of the audience’s poor attention span. By creating tension, and then building on it over time, we win over our audience and give ourselves the best chance of them converting on our content.

“There is no one right answer when it comes to creativity.” – Dewitt Jones, veteran photojournalist, author and film director

Dewitt Jones has spent 20-plus years as a photographer for National Geographic and has twice been nominated for Academy Awards for his work as a documentary filmmaker. His keynote presentation at Content Marketing World left some with tears in their eyes and the entire auditorium with a world of inspiration. As he spoke, his awe-inspiring photographs were displayed on massive projection screens to accentuate his speaking points, all centered around the power of creativity and its importance in marketing. At the center of his message, Dewitt challenged marketers to find possibilities in obstacles and imagine the extraordinary when faced with the ordinary.

BroadBased wasn’t the only Jacksonville company represented at the conference. Ashley DeLance, digital marketing strategist at Community First Credit Union, was there and had this to say about the experience:

“I absolutely loved my first experience at Content Marketing World! It was so refreshing to collaborate with other marketers who are trying to achieve similar goals while facing the same pain points. I especially enjoyed learning new techniques and best practices from industry leaders and left feeling inspired by all of the wonderful keynote speakers. I will be back!”

You can visit the CMWorld blog for a complete recap of the conference and can learn more about BroadBased’s work with content marketing on our website.