I was honored to be the opening speaker at the Insights Association Joint Chapter Conference in Las Vegas. It was a packed room of "gladiators of insights" and from there the theme was born. This meeting brought great minds from the Southwest, Northwest, SoCal, and Southeast chapters of Insights Association (formerly the MRA). Day-in and day-out, they are shaping the future of marketing research insights, so their thoughts about the conference are timely. I had a chance to debrief with some new friends and colleagues about great moments and actionable takeaways. If you couldn't attend, enjoy this event wrap-up we put together!
Many shared with me that they would love to get started on content marketing, and some had even started writing a few thought leadership pieces here and there. However, the struggle to get a marketing strategy in place, beyond wishful thinking, is tough. While many confessed their job in market research seems to produce a "fire" every day, this is really no different for any group I speak to. My key encouragement is that to be seen as an expert in one's field you must start small, and today is the best day to get started.
My presentation started from the deep conviction that marketing is cumulative meaning that no one social post, blog, podcast interview, or email will bring you more business. It is the cumulative effect of consistent social posts, blogs, podcast interviews, and email, over time, that build your company a marketing platform from which to be seen as an industry expert. To that end, I provided actionable steps both large and small to help those who are leading the industry to get noticed for their innovative methodologies and fresh thinking.
A few freebies for those who could not come include:
1. Jump on a Moving Bus
Instead of starting by self-publishing blog posts or thought leadership articles, find who is writing round-up posts on your subject matter. Type in your expert subject into Google with the words "blog round up." Use the tool to further filter these responses and find the most recent ones. Submit a piece of your thought leadership for consideration and inclusion– as this professional blogger has more reach than any blog you would start now.
2. Start Today
Having watched my entire creative studio burn to the ground and have to dream it all up again, I think I can say with authority, that there is no better time to start than today. It is, after all, everything you have.
3. Recycle
Some have a really hard time recycling their content. I prefer to spend time writing a solid long-format piece to use in a multitude of ways. If the article was good, to begin with, it should be good for at least 20 social media posts. If it is long enough, you might consider breaking it up into smaller short-format blogs. You can also take a small portion of a great piece and use it as a script for a short video. These can be used in social media, but consider the power of sending a short video via LinkedIn or email directly to someone with whom you've discussed the subject matter previously. Pretty powerful.
4. Don't Waste Your Breath
Every time you're asked to speak you should be pressing the record button. Then you should be sending that recording in for transcription. This is an inexpensive way to use your free-flowing ideas from your speaking gigs or even simple conversations for content, content, content. It beats staring at a blank page!
If you were there with us, enjoy the refresher. If not, enjoy this recap. Don't miss the opportunity to connect with everyone highlighted here so the collaboration can continue. Here are some key takeaways and reflections on the event from some key players and great peers:
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William PriestVP - Client RelationshipsMMR Research Associates |
"The Joint Chapter Insights Association conference in Las Vegas provided a great venue for learning, networking and making new friends."
Particularly insightful to me were presentations about the emerging area of cannabis research and the growing emphasis marketers are placing on the LGBTQ community. The rapidly expanding legalization and receptivity to cannabis-based products opens a world of possibilities around product categories, branding, co-branding, and the resulting implications – good or bad. Did you know there are well over 20 acronyms by which the broader gay and lesbian community identifies itself? If you have to pick just one for classification purposes, LGBT+ is currently the most inclusive and least likely to offend. All-in-all it was an energetic, insightful, and fun few days.
Julia EisenbergVice President, Insights20|20 Research |
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"What I love about the way the Insights Association organizes events is the true focus on learning."
The day-to-day chaos inside our own businesses always eats up time we might carve out to think and strategize. The chance to sit down and really listen to smart people discussing interesting things is a rare treat, and something the Insights Association facilitates beautifully. It’s this balance of efficient yet engaging content that made this conference worthwhile for me.
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Carlos GarciaCEOGarcia Research |
"This 2018 Insights Association event in Las Vegas was the Goldilocks event - just the right size."
There were ultimately several very well-received presentations that were interesting and stimulating, particularly by Thomas Roth and David Paisley from Community Marketing and Insights presenting on the LGBTQI market-- the "Q" for either Queer or Questioning and the "I" standing for Intersex.
This was eyebrow-raising because young people see sexuality so differently than older generations. They don't see sex as a simple binary issue. They play with identity and orientation as they would. How they interface with the issue is based on a whole new mindset. There were mouths agape and heads being scratched in the room. This is what is fun about research -- the world is constantly evolving.
Nancy HernonCEO + Co-founderG3 Translate |
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"It was the first multi-chapter collaboration between the Southwest, Northwest, SoCal and Southeast Chapters of the Insights Association— and boy, did they hit the nail on the head."
I had the pleasure of attending another successful Vegas conference this year. They covered research on one of my very favorite topics— TV! Additionally, our organizers had one of my favorite marketers, Ms. Priscilla McKinney, present her thoughts and tips for marketing. Listening to her talk really gave me and my fellow attendees some serious food for thought. We are all so into processing market research projects, that I think we sometimes forget to take some of that marketing advice into account in our own businesses.
I learned a lot this year– including when to give up and walk away from the Roulette Table when your number does not pop up after 50 spins.
Will we see you at an upcoming Insights Association conference?
Where are you headed next? Let's connect!
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