Conference testimonials
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You think you're on top of what’s happening in marketing? You think you know what's cooking in the digital marketing world? Then don't come to Fusion Marketing Experience. I go there to listen & learn from great people that are DOING it. I know a lot, but I keep learning at Fusion Marketing Experience, every time.
The Fusion Marketing Experience conference is what it says: a real experience with probably the strongest program of all marketing events in Belgium. I am a big fan and will be there again. Top speakers, top content, a special atmosphere and excellent networking, Fusion Marketing Experience has it all. After just two events, Fusion Marketing Experience became the place to be.
Marketing conferences are usually more of the same: the usual suspects as keynotes, the obligatory panel discussion and more of that. Fusion Marketing Experience was a relief: knowledgeable speakers with real content at an unusual location. And what attracted me most was the atmosphere, the feeling that participants were not present just for a chat and a drink, but actually wanted to use the insights into their daily business.
Fusion Marketing Experience is the only event in Belgium that really joins the channels together. A perfect fusion between top notch speakers, great networking opportunities and possibilities to share ideas with other peers in your industry or expertise. An event not to miss... I like! (or + or pin....).
The Fusion Marketing Experience events are a great opportunity to listen to and learn from subject-matter experts, no commercial pitches, only top speakers with top content. In a fast-changing business environment, my challenge is to keep learning and sharing with other peers in our industry …..that's exactly what the "Fusion Marketing Experience platform" helps me with.
When I saw Olivier Blanchard was giving a two-day workshop in Belgium in May 2012, I didn’t have to hesitate to enroll. As you can assume, I already knew Olivier. I have read his book Social Media ROI, and I found it to be one of the best Social Media books. When I noticed it was organized by J-P De Clerck, I knew the workshop would be good value since I already attended several seminars and events, organized by J-P and the Fusion Marketing Experience he launched. And I always came home with valuable insights and inspiration. Why Olivier? He is really focused on how to integrate social media into business. He starts from within the organization, not from the social media. It all comes down to grow your business. Don’t start building a social media program before you find an answer to “What will social media do for my company?”. As I’m working into B2B, understanding the business value of social media, the ROI is a real must. Once you’ve got that straight, once you have got your targets, you can share it within your company. Than the process starts of sharing, listening and educating. Olivier really helped me during the workshops how to sell the social media program to my management and how to start the process. I will never forget his story about the ‘culture of dudes’. If you look for inspiration on how to overcome objections, he is the man. During the 2 days many key topics on how to set up and execute a social media program were discussed. The organization of the workshop was - as usual - flawless. The location and the infrastructure were very good. I had a pleasant and inspiring two days.
Bryan Eisenberg: How Social has Impacted Content
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Bryan Eisenberg at a previous edition of #fusionmex
Content is ‘hot’ and it should be after having been neglected for all too long. It is so ‘hot’ that these days we even talk about content marketing. Obviously, we shouldn’t focus too much on the content itself but on the value it offers, both for people seeking information and preparing their buying journey, as for the bottom-line. Context matters more than content.
A while back I interviewed Bryan Eisenberg – in May for the second time a keynote speaker at the event – and one of the topics we talked about was content, more specifically how it is affected by the whole social media evolution.
Why people create content
Bryan said the most obvious thing is that social media have shown the content gap that companies have neglected for so long. An important effect of social media is that people now create content themselves.
According to Bryan, consumers create content for two reasons:
- The company failed to adequately answer the questions they have.
- Consumers are excited (positively or negatively) about the company’s offering.
Bryan Eisenberg: “That’s why consumers are more credible than the company. It is only because companies have spent so many years hyping up their ‘value’ that the consumer BS meter has gone into overdrive, and we count on advice from others like us that we can trust. The fact is companies that learn how to leverage social media or voice of the customer effectively can see increase their conversion rates”.
I also asked Bryan what he thought about the evolutions regarding content in a ‘social age’.
Bryan Eisenberg: “The one main change has been the length of content has changed. We’re in a world that loves micro blogging and status updates. In the 60s, copywriters used to say that copy should be like a woman’s skirt, short enough to be interesting but long enough to cover the essentials. I think that skirt would be mighty short today”.
Content across channels
Finally, I asked Bryan about the role of content in one of the many channels marketers still often use, despite the rapid increase of other interaction channels; email. What is the main differentiator to achieve better conversion with email marketing?
Bryan Eisenberg: “Email marketing is the mule of Internet marketing. It may not be that sexy any more, but it continues to deliver results day after day. You should continue to focus on developing great content and make it easy to share”.
Content and sharing. Both require an action from your « audience », whether it’s on email, social, the mobile Web, etc. So: make sure your content is valuable and touches those little triggers inside people’s mind that make them want to share it and act upon it.
