PSMGConf 2014 - the Ahead of the Curve Marketing: What's Now and What's Next was an all day marketing conference put on by the Professional Services Marketing Group-North Bay on Oct 16th.
The event was one of the best marketing conferences I have been to in a while. Yes, I was in charge of AV, and social media – but I had nothing to do with the amazing speakers that were at this event. I learned something I didn't know and was inspired by every single one of the seven speakers.
#PSMGConf had a great mix of speakers: content & storytelling, body language & how your nonverbal communication tells a story as well, differentiating yourself from the competition, social media & learning from the strategy of SF bat kid, meaningful marketing measurement & learning from data, strategies to conquer media relations & becoming a thought leader, and last – how to create smart goals for your marketing efforts.
I was able to meet Ann Handley, a content marketer that I have blogged about before, and she is such a generous and kind person. I definitely look forward to reading her book during my honeymoon next week.
Here are some screenshots of some of my favorite presentations of the day (here's a link to all the presentations on the PSMG North Bay slideshare).
Ann came in from Boston just for our event and she definitely rocked the keynote. My favorite of her slides was this post about how there is no one way to write:
Kristy Sammis' image of the sales cycle. In today's digital world, the sales cycle is no longer a funnel with the end result being the customer buying the product. Really good products compel customers to talk to their friends online about their experience, encouraging others to buy, and so on, and so on.
Ryan Kelly's slide on mobile engagement, and how important it is for brands to be watching where people are coming from, and make sure that their website looks great from that POV.
Traci Stuart's slide on thought leadership and how to make yourself, or your client become a thought leader in whatever industry they are part of.
Jeanne Marie Grumet's slide on tips for nonverbal communication and speaking inspired me. The tip that I felt applied to me the most was to pause, and breathe while speaking. She explained that the pause allows the other person to take a mental break, and take in what you're saying.... Because if you continue to speak in a run on sentences, the other person will take the mental break on their own, sometimes while you are still speaking.
Kerry Rego's slide on smart marketing goals is pretty self explanatory, but its important.
Roy on being different and being first and differentiating your brand from the others - and showing off the slides for Dollar Shave Club....
