Last week saw PM Forum host their yearly conference in Soho, London. The event brought 150 professional marketeers from legal, financial, and other sectors for a day of engaging talks and educational group-sessions. The theme was "Tomorrows World", though sadly neither Philippa Forrester or Peter Snow were there to walk us through any inventions. However the day was a great look forward at what professional marketers can expect over the next few months (and years), and how they can better shape it.
History is a loop, but success is a change in thinking
Chris Yapp opened the day with some very big thinking. Having spent over three decades working in the technology field, he is now a respected futurologist who’s insight is considered key to organisations such as Microsoft and the BCS. In his brief 30 minutes, he outlined not only the inevitable, cyclical nature of markets, but how to take advantage of it by making sure you change and adapt pre-emptively, not reactively. Be sure to view his blog on Future Tech.
More impact needn’t mean more work
Steve J Martin gave some fantastic insight straight from the pages of his new book The Big Small, highlighting how understanding core elements of motivation will give you more power to both have influence and create impact with your audience. Citing great examples of how zero-cost, obvious-when-you-hear-them changes to tax returns forms, doctors appointment-making processes, and tipping in restaurants can yield millions of pounds of revenue/man-hours saved. He and his team have put together some great animations explaining how some of these so called “Small Bigs” work - Watch the first one on YouTube here.
Professional Marketers love chocolate
Of the countless HighQ chocolate bars we brought to share with the attendees, sadly we returned to the HighQ office with none…
Reaching your audience is easy, just understand them
One of the morning’s sessions was hosted by HubSpot’s Darragh Toolan who took the opportunity to talk about the importance of tailoring your messaging to your audience - not just in content, but also delivery. To truly reach your audience you must understand what makes them different and what makes them tick. Only then can you start to build campaigns that will be effective and really show ROI.
Trust is an equation, and a simple one at that
Trust = Credibilty + Reliability + Intimacy divided by Self-Interest. Charlie Swan & Joe Fredericks talked through the science of trust; both how to create it with your clients, and how important it is for success. Mastering a few key concepts in how to present yourself/your offering can have a huge impact on how much trust you can generate with your audience. Find out more in their article here.
Mindset determines success
Shona Rowan also spoke - her unique and energetic talk focused on accelerating success through changing your thought habits. Not only does this involve positive mental attitude, but self assessment for negative (and counterproductive) thought processes which can (once identified) be easily overcome. She discusses this and more in this interview on YouTube.
PM Forum's CEO Paul Lemon is a secret Marketing Rocker...
In addition to being part of a great day’s sessions and networking, Paul was first to be seen rocking out with HighQ’s own Marketing Rockstars:
