Like a ferret on caffeine -> @StrategicGuy telling it how it is (quickly) at #ims13. Good lad. pic.twitter.com/mOwhcgg2ft
— Steve Gleave (@gleavieboy) July 31, 2013
This past Wednesday I hit the stage at the Inbound Marketing Summit (IMS) in San Francisco with a fury one attendee described as akin to a caffeinated ferret.
For me, the comparison is a wonderful and appreciated compliment. That’s because during the past few years I have honed a speaking style I define as real-world and practical information wrapped in a cocoon of entertaining enthusiasm. I energize a room with insight.
In the the past 12 months I have taken this brand of presentation to Eloqua’s North American User Conference, TEAM Polycom, Pitney Bowes Software’s Annual Sales Kick-Off, Human Resource Leadership Forum and now IMS.
Entitled “Driving Pipeline in a Field Sales Environment,” my talk was organized into four segments:
1. Set the stage with humor. I shared an entertaining anecdote from a new business presentation I gave last year to establish interest in my topic: how to align content creation and multi-channel promotion with measurable sales metrics.
2. Define the market environment for context and relevance. I dove into two significant trends – the enlightened buyer and a shift in influence to social networks – to establish why inbound marketing is such a meaningful endeavor.
3. Share best practices each attendee can execute. A conference presentation is absolutely not the time to sell Strategic Communications Group’s services. Rather, I talked through five steps each attendee to elevate the impact of their content marketing programs. -Build a user friendly blog or micro-site –Think like a publisher when crafting content -Promote through multiple channels (social, search and digital) -Align with sales -Study analytics for insight and intelligence
4. Illustrate with real-world examples. I referenced three client programs to validate the credibility of my suggested best practices.
–Engage Today for Pitney Bowes Software
–The Modern Network for Juniper Networks
–Transformative Health for GetWellNetwork
So…how did I do? The on-site and social feedback has been way positive. I added a myriad of new Twitter followers from the audience, as well as a set of exceptional LinkedIn contacts.
And the tweets…well…check out a few below.
Ready to be entertained by @StrategicGuy at #IMS13!
— SFAMA (@SFAMA) July 31, 2013
You gotta have an opinion and feature exclusive (not curated!) content like interviews with execs says @strategicguy #IMS13 #media
— Allen Bonde (@abonde) July 31, 2013
@technorati @c3pr @maxwelljunge took notes from @strategicguy for you! #5marketingwaystodrivesales #marketinggold pic.twitter.com/we6TKnAHTG
— Melissa Junge (@foreverjunge) July 31, 2013