Agility.
A gateway.
A business driver.
Surround sound.
A managed risk.
Attribution.
Advocacy.
Cross-vertical experience.
And storytelling.
These are the words my guests used in Off Script Q&A interviews about PR and marketing this year. If I were to add one more it would be this: timeless.
While there have been 44 published Off Script interviews in total, nine were completed in 2019. When these are published, I strive to call out one little nugget of wisdom. As I did at the end of last year, I’ve gone back through and bundled those in a single snappy piece.
It’s a good way to both say “thank you” to my interview guests – and effectively repurpose content and encourage readers to review each interview. Here we go, in chronological order.
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1) The long-term benefit of marketing agility
“A modern, agile brand approach has a long-term benefit of building more loyal customers through its authentic and methodical approach to listening, optimization and improvement.”
2) Marketing as a knowledge center
“Marketing is the gateway for customers to communicate, engage and share feedback with a company. Additionally, now more than ever, we can genuinely understand prospects, clients, and customers through segments, tracking, and cookies. Marketing is the center of knowledge to help a company grow.”
3) Marketing is a key revenue driver
“As a key revenue driver for any business, marketing should be held to a high standard. Marketers create the voice and look of the business – it’s essential to ensure that it’s appropriate and relevant. It’s also critical that it’s driving results. Not just in terms of mindshare, but in the form of opportunities and direct contribution to sales.”
Read more: Should Marketing Be Held to a Higher Standard? Off Script No. 38: Lacey Ford of insightsoftware
4) Social media advertising as surround sound
“By using social in combination with other traditional methods, you’re creating what I like to call ‘surround sound’ for prospects. Paid social is just one part of the surround sound, but it’s an aspect that is underutilized by most B2B marketers.”
5) Brand as a managed risk
“With CMOs growing in influence, organizations are realizing more and more that their brand itself is a business risk to be understood and managed.”
Read more: A Brand Is a Business Risk to be Understood and Managed; Off Script No. 40: Brianna Carroll Boyle
6) Associating marketing activity with sales pipeline
“We’ve gone from only running 3-4 campaigns a year, to having created 13 different segmented campaigns in just the first half of 2019. The biggest benefit Pardot will have will be helping us more accurately associate marketing activity with sales pipeline results.”
7) Advocating for a better workplace
“We must advocate to create better workplaces so that we can create a better world around us all.”
Read more: Advocating for a Better Workplace; Off Script No. 42: Tina McCormack Beaty of SHRM
8) Cross-industry experience of agencies
“I think the value that agencies bring that might fly under the radar with clients is the cross-industry perspective that agencies can bring. Our smartest and most successful clients want to know what sort of solutions we have built for our clients who are in different industry verticals.”
9) The essence of brand
“Storytelling is the essence of brand development. Customers are looking to understand WHY a brand is different not simply WHAT features are different and that’s the essence of the brand story.”
Read more: Storytelling is the Essence of Brand Development; Off Script No. 44: Jeffrey Crow, 2x CMO
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If you like to be part of the Off Script series in 2020, I’m always on the lookout for people with strong – and well-reasoned – points of view about PR, marketing and everything in between. Here are a few things to know and some tips for reaching out.
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
30 Pragmatic Marketing and PR Predictions for 2020
Image credit: Unsplash
