Our Brightest Takeaways from Digital Summit 2019

One of our Hughes Media digital marketing specialists attended this year’s Digital Summit 2019 conference in Phoenix, AZ to confirm the latest trends as well as the expected breakthroughs in the coming months. Here, we share the most important takeaways from the conference so you can add them to your digital marketing strategy.

For more information or for experienced guidance in putting these actions to work for your company, give us a call or write us an email with your questions. We’ll be happy to assess how you can strategically implement these tips into your plans.

Connecting with Millennials

The most successful businesses have generated their prosperity not just through quality products and services, but through strong connections with their customers. Today, more and more consumers – especially Millennials – gravitate toward brands that align with their own purposes.

Accordingly, it is imperative that a company can articulate successfully its “Why.” That is, not what do they do; but why do they do what they do? What makes us enjoy life? How are we contributing toward a better world?

When consumers connect in a deep way with your business and its purpose, you will build an extremely loyal following of customers and fans.

What’s Your Story

Along with the “Why” statement above, telling your story garners a following quickly. Through stories about why your business exists, how you helped solve a problem, why one of your employees volunteered to help a charity, you become more human and more likeable to your potential customers. Storytelling has proven to be more effective than simply relaying facts and figures.

Though important in some situations, statistics and demographics come across as boring and do not necessarily convey the image you wish to present. So, when they support your stories, use statistics. But, we suggest avoiding them as a means to convince your audience.

Use Positive Language

In your storytelling or in any communication with your customers, be sure to use structure and language that puts forth a positive image. It may be important to point out challenges or negative results. Then, use positive language to turn your communicating into an inspiring message.

“And, but, and therefore” is a powerful combination. “And” makes a declarative statement of agreement and increases its importance. “But” inserts a conflict and a need for resolution. “Therefore” sets forth a resolution to the problem. Consider someone running for a local school board position. The message might be, “Our teachers work hard, and our bright children deserve the best education. But, despite our efforts, our children are underperforming. Therefore, I am going to bring focus to our school system and maximize our ability to meet our children’s needs and give them the best chance to succeed.”

Notice how the message identifies a problem and then turns it into a message of inspiration. Everyone wants to be a part of a winning team. Show your customers how you are winning.

Email Is Effective…

…when used the right way. Email should be a channel for action rather than a vehicle to distribute consumable content. The most effective email campaigns drive people to do something – renew a subscription, return to your landing page where they are challenged to make a decision, etc.

Keep your emails short. Avoid lengthy copy, and direct them to your web site where they can become more engaged with your online presence.

Additionally, avoid mistakes that push customers away, resulting in unsubscribe requests. Some of the most common reasons people unsubscribe are:

• Too many emails
• Emails look “spammy”
• Sending irrelevant content
• Didn’t know they signed up for emails
• Not compatible with mobile devices
• Always trying to sell

Remember, your main focus of your emails should be to drive customers back to your web site.

Don’t Discard the Phone

Many industries still succeed through aggressive phone activity and conversations. Online bookings represent only 20 percent of tourism reservations; and 100 percent of leads in the home service industry come through phone calls.

Consider tools that use phones to your advantage, such as CallRail.com. This effective service tracks online and offline campaigns for you. It provides unique phone numbers to different visitors based on their activity to aid in your tracking and categorizing abilities. 

Quick Hitting Tips

In addition to the more theoretical strategies above, there always exist some easy dos and don’ts. Here’s a short list to add to your strategy folder:

• Avoid cute, funny, and ambiguous headlines. Get to your point and use the same language that people will search for.
• Be patient with your online ads. It is rare that anyone converts on the first attempt.
• Use relevant tags for videos and images.
• When developing content, focus on what matters NOW to your target audience.
• Jump on the voice assistant bandwagon. 
• Understand the difference between stories and feeds.

Build Your Digital Blueprint

Digital Summit 2019 was a great experience for us. We hope this summary will aid in designing your digital strategy for the coming year.

If you want help weaving these concepts into your existing plan, or if you need to initiate a digital marketing strategy, give one of our experts a call today. We love making these techniques work for our clients!