Editor’s Note-This week, Alain Thériault, writes to us from the B2B Content2Conversion conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Enjoy the sunshine, Alain!
B2B Marketing Exchange’s 6th annual “B2B Content2Conversion” conference is in full swing! This is a flagship event in B2B: 1000 participants, 40 sponsors with technological solutions specifically targeted at the B2B marketing industry. The place is just buzzing with activity! The goal for Exo here is to find practical ideas and work models so that we can apply them to our customers.
Encouraging discussion between participants
The event is organized in such a way as to encourage discussion between the participants (hence the title of the conference). “Topic Table discussions” are proposed and allow participants to choose a table where one can sit down to eat while exchanging with others on a predetermined subject. There are also many lunch conferences. Finally, the “b2bmXpert bar” will allow me to have 15-minute meetings with the industry’s top experts. I am definitely going to enjoy that! The strength of this conference is that it never loses sight of the fact that it is the human facet of B2B sales that remains the most complex. B2B requires that you to engage with an entire decision-making teams and not just an individual making an emotional or impulsive purchase, as is often seen in B2C. B2B really is an entirely separate discipline.
And what are the overall topics put forward by the organizers of B2B Content2Conversion? There are several familiar themes: establishing a list of target accounts, aligning your data, acquiring and maintaining new contacts, supporting sales, measuring and optimizing campaigns.
What’s “Hot” at B2B Content2Conversion?
Definitely ABM (Account Based Marketing). It’s THE buzzword of the moment. Exo B2B made the distinction between Account-Centric and Account Based some time ago and as such, we stand apart from the competition. What’s really cool though, is that the best players in the ABM industry are here today with case studies! My intention is to review the studies that are the most similar to Exo B2B customers’ reality.
The other popular theme here is the “tailored” use of media, content as well as marketing and sales messages for customers’ prospects.
Also promising is a section dedicated to sales. An approach involving targeted and consistent messaging in a B2B sales team environment. Exo B2B has advocated the integration of sales and marketing since forever. Just Sayin’…
New models for measuring and tracking leads have recently emerged as well. These will be the subject of live demos to be filmed on site. These new models are targeted at those who face complex decision-making teams in B2B. This should be useful, especially for Exo B2B’s large customers.
The type of account that Exo B2B caters to is growing. Fierce competition forces us to keep abreast of the latest innovations. For us, it’s not enough to make good content. It must now be innovative, and even interactive in some cases. Accordingly, several cases of interactive “live” content will be demonstrated at the B2B Marketing Exchange …
I open my “Swag Bag” and …
The atmosphere here is feverish but well-organized-feverish. It all seems quite promising. Just to give you an idea, I just opened my event backpack:
- Amazon is inviting me to an “A.I. And conversion ” event
- Dun & Bradstreet will be at a workshop on how to make contents conducive to “tracking”
- There’s a case study on “Interactive content”
- And yet another book on tactile marketing automation!
…to be continued!
