Notes from Content Marketing World 2011 for UX People
Carol Smith of Midwest Research attended Content Marketing World 2011. It was a great success and she learned a great deal at the conference. Her notes from Day One of the Conference are here with links for reference. The conference was held in Cleveland, Ohio September 6-8th, 2011.
The Power of Story
Sally Hogshead opened with a great talk about stories. Her energy and enthusiasm really set the stage for a great day. I was most interested in her discussions of the word Fascination - meaning an intense emotional focus. I thought about this in the UX environment and how I become fascinated by the people I am conducting research with and about.
- How can I get my clients to be fascinated by their users?
- Who is my user?
- What does my customer want?
- What would fascinate them?
Emotional Storytelling
Next up was Regina Brett speaking on “Emotional Storytelling: Growing Your Small Business/ Non-Profit by Pulling the Heartstrings.” Her comments were both fun and helpful for those of us who need to tell stories on a daily basis.
For storytelling Brett recommended:
- Making the story personal – have your audience in mind
- Put a human face on it. Make it memorable
- Tell one story at a time
- Include only one start, one ending
- Take out the junk-“Divorce your darlings”
No Theories Allowed: Content Marketing for B2B Brands
Gary Spangler, Marketing Manager, DuPont, Michael Procopio, Social Media Strategist, HP Software and Arnie Kuenn, CEO, Vertical Measures joined forces.
I was very interested in Kuenn’s claim that for Search results it was better to be in the seventh search result position than the second search result position for a head phrase search. Someone doing a head phrase search (1 or two words) is looking for quick results and/or may quickly realize that they have made a mistake. They are unlikely to look past the search result in the first position if they don’t get what they want. A long tail search has many keywords and his reasoning is that someone doing a long tail search is invested in their search and is more likely to continue looking. Read Kuenn’s recent blog entry for more about this interesting topic.
Spangler made a fun play on the “Content is King” saying – now content is the whole Deck of Cards. He works with a lot of Web stuff and now refers to the manage of web sites, social media sites and other content as “web properties.” In large organizations with many content creators he recommended setting up a Website Editorial Board (WEB) and that they have regular meetings with an inspired coordinator and he recommended that everyone be invited including: CSR, marketing, communication, leadership, etc.
The next Blog will Cover Day 2 of Content Marketing World 2011.