Networking – Tell Your Story

June 3, 2016

in Social PR News, Interesting Things, Events, Business Marketing Association

5 Takeaways from #BMA16

I had the pleasure of attending my 4th BMA National Conference this week at the Hilton Chicago. Every year the conference seems to grow and change, this year with the ANA partnership front and center. Regardless, I can always count on the BMA Conference for great networking, quality content and a wealth of insights and ideas to bring back to my job and my clients. Some of the most common themes from this year’s conference included how marketing can and should drive business results, ways to build compelling brands through storytelling, and making marketing more important within organizations. There were plenty of great B2B insights to choose from, but I’ve narrowed it down to my top 5 takeaways over the 3-day event. It’s not B2B or B2C its B2H= Business to Human. While this isn’t a new idea, it bears repeating. Linda Boff, Chief Marketing Office at GE, reminded us that business...

May 29, 2015

in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association

by Nicole Benzer

Be More: Top 5 Themes from #BMA15

“Be More.” Two words, countless nuances, depending on whom you’re talking to. For the hundreds of B2B marketers that attended BMA15, this slogan invariably implies how we must continually adapt and evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of a world guided by technology and innovation. B2B’s potential is overwhelming, yet promising, as we continue to strive for improvement in all areas. After attending dozens of sessions and combing thousands of posts on Twitter over the past few days, these 5 themes seemed to rise time and again for marketers looking to Be More. Customer experience and satisfaction is the catalyst for all marketing initiatives, but great customer service isn’t enough anymore. Experiential marketing is becoming the norm and successful brands are learning how to deliver exceptional experiences to their customers. Employees are the foundation and support system for customer loyalty, acquisition and retention. Every brand, regardless of industry, should make employee...

May 28, 2015

in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association

by Amanda Pollard

Top 10 Takeaways from Day 1 of #BMA15

[caption id="attachment_3175" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Google's Jim Lecinski presents at #BMA15 Photo Credit: DejaViewsUSA.com[/caption] The Tell Your Story team proudly joined more than 950 fellow b2b marketers for Day 1 of the world’s biggest and best b2b marketing event, BMA15. In addition to staffing the press room and managing press for the conference, our team soaked up a plethora of valuable ideas, insights and takeaways that we can apply to our b2b marketing programs and careers. The conference has our entire team inspired and energized to “Be More.” Here are our top 10 takeaways from Day 1 of BMA15: [caption id="attachment_3177" align="alignright" width="325"] The number of B2B searches has tripled in the past two years. Photo credit: DejaViewsUSA.com[/caption] Millennials now make up almost half (46%) of b2b buyers. Reach them via mobile and video, or get left behind. Data, data, data! We don't need more dashboards, we need insights to guide decisions. There’s much disconnect between...

September 12, 2014

in Blog, Events

by George Rafeedie

Let’s Just Call It Marketing: Content Marketing World ’14 Recap

Watch Our Video Recap of Content Marketing World 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gro1xK66wIE Read Our Recap of Content Marketing World 2014: For various reasons, some people hate the phrase “content marketing.” To me, after attending the 4th annual Content Marketing World, it is clear that content marketing is just marketing. And always has been. So let’s drop the word content and call it Marketing World. What do you think? Anyway, the name aside and with the spotlight shining on what we love to do as communicators, there is a golden opportunity to get back to concentrating on the fun and impactful side of marketing – developing and telling great stories. The themes that resonated with me the most were around developing stories that are emotional, inspirational and aspirational. We heard about developing an editorial mentality, and to think like TV producers and film directors. We were challenged to think about the elements of a great story. And although one...

May 29, 2014

in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association

by Erin Neal

The Art of Social Selling #BMA14

[caption id="attachment_1976" align="alignleft" width="233"] #SocialSelling expert Jill Rowley[/caption] Dispatches from BMA14: Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago Social selling expert Jill Rowley rocked the #BMA14 crowd this morning and discussed how we can do a better job communicating with prospects using social media. Her presentation was excellent as she kept emphasizing, “It isn’t always about closing, it is about always being connected.” The biggest change in the market is using social media channels to engage with your audience. Stop trying to be a “quota crusher,” she implored sales professionals. Rather, connect with your audience in a meaningful way. She supported this with a great stat: 78 percent of sales professionals who use social media to build connections outsell their peers. She also reviewed a bit of research that shows that it takes approximately 8 cold calls to reach a prospect, and of those people reached, only 2%...

May 28, 2014

in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association

by George Rafeedie

You Should Be Proud of Your BMA Chapter Leaders

Dispatches from BMA14: Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago On the eve of #BMA14, we had the opportunity to attend BMA Chapter Leader Day in Chicago as a pre-conference event. There must have been nearly 75 chapter leaders in attendance from cities across North America. Some were there to figure out how to start a BMA chapter in their city. Others were there to share their knowledge on what has worked and what hasn’t. Everyone was there to learn to make their chapter better and more valuable for their members. Bottom line is that we should all be proud of our chapter leaders. Long time national board members Elton Mayfield (Kansas City) and Greg Olson (Colorado) stressed time and time again throughout the day (and at previous chapter leader days) that the chapter is the heart beat of BMA. Without strong chapters, the national...

February 4, 2013

in Blog, Brand Communications, Social PR News, Events

by Amanda Pollard

5 Ways to Maximize Trade Shows with PR and Social Media

Let’s face it. Trade shows are expensive. Between renting the booth space, paying for your team’s travel expenses, creating an attractive booth, printing literature, and purchasing giveaway items, trade shows can be a major investment and eat up a large portion of your overall marketing budget. So why not maximize your spend by using public relations and social media at the show? Here are 5 of the ways that we support our clients at tradeshows— before, during and after—with “SocialPR.” [caption id="attachment_1370" align="alignright" width="200"] Amanda facilitating media interview atGreat American Truck Show for clientOnRamp Transportation Services.[/caption] 1) Meet the press. Journalists in your industry are attending your trade shows and looking for new content to write about. Ask the show organizers for an attending press list and reach out to those journalists to set up appointments in your booth. Designate a subject matter expert to tell journalists about everything new happening with your company and...

August 28, 2012

in Blog, Business Marketing Association

by George Rafeedie

Back to School Means Back to Networking

I had a great last several days of summer. I was fortunate enough to stay flexible with my work schedule while spending a lot of time with my 7-year-old son who was in between summer camp and the start of school. A portion of that time was called “Daddy Camp” and I hope it will be an August tradition.

Although you may think all good things must come to an end, I couldn’t be more excited. As my son embarks onto a new adventure to 2nd grade, I get to rev up my networking engines. And I started it last night by attending the Chicago Business Marketing Association (BMA) membership event on a rooftop overlooking a Cubs game at historic Wrigley Field.

Yes, the Cubs lost, but it was still a great night. Networking with marketing folks energizes me and helps me prioritize my professional thinking and goals. I meet new people and connect with old friends. We catch up, talk, make connections and hopefully walk away with that something extra that can help us take the next step in our professional lives.

Whether it’s BMA, an alumni association or any other formal or informal group, back to school means back to networking. Take advantage of the buzz in the air and make it work for you.

P.S. I’m biased, but the Chicago BMA is the best place to do marketing networking in the city. Check out www.bmachicago.org for a schedule of events.

April 16, 2012

in Blog, Social PR News, Events

by George Rafeedie

How to Make the Most of Trade Shows & Live Events

Our team is gearing up for back-to-back trade shows this week and happened to come across Hubspot’s timely article, “Getting the Most From Live Events: A Guide for Attendees, Hosts & Participants.” The article reported a shocking statistic – 80% of companies don’t even follow up with leads after trade shows.

How can that be? With every wise business person shouting, “NETWORK!” from the rooftops, how are marketers ignoring this advice when it comes to the biggest networking opportunity there is — face-to-face live events.

If you jump on over to Hubspot (link above) they’ve outlined in detail how attendees, exhibitors, speakers, and event hosts can take full advantage of these opportunities. Here are three quick tips we’ve developed:

How to remember people: If your goal is to network (which it should be) it may be hard to remember all those faces and names once you’ve got a stack of business cards in front of you. Jot down notes about who you’re meeting or what you spoke about on the backside of their card in order to jog your memory later. Be prepared for high-tech folks with digital business cards – here are 8 free business card apps suggested by Mashable.
How to stay on task: It’s extremely easy to get caught up in the commotion of an event and end up getting sidetracked. Don’t waste the money you’ve invested to attend the event by ending up in the corner catching up with old friends. Make sure you define your goal before you step through the front door. Go in with a purpose and don’t forget to follow through.
How to break through the noise: No doubt there will be many other individuals and companies with the same goals or agenda as you, so you must go in prepared to stand out from the rest. Be ready to market yourself competitively. Give out free samples of your products or services to drive traffic towards your booth, or come up with some other creative ways to set yourself and your booth apart.

How are you getting your ROI for live events? We’d like to hear your methods of maximizing your investment of time, money and energy by fostering relationships that last past the showroom floor.

Let’s Just Call It Marketing: Content Marketing World ’14 Recap

You Should Be Proud of Your BMA Chapter Leaders

Back to School Means Back to Networking

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