Crystal Clear Communications Blog

Fresh Ideas on Storytelling, Disruption, Messaging, Customers, Content & Analytics

Business Marketing Association (BMA) conferences convened hundreds of B2B marketers and marketing thought leaders. Here are quotes from the most thought-provoking speakers at one conference:

Linda Boff on storytelling:

“Be creative. Nothing will take the place of great storytelling. Nothing would matter if the material we create wasn’t interesting, contagious, and shareable.”

“How we want to sell, how customers want to buy: there’s a chasm in between.”

“Show up the way a person would. Not the way a corporation would.”

“Business leaders don’t log into a different Internet at night … The risk of not sharing your stories on social is much higher than the risk of being out there. Be where people are!”

“If we hand over the brand storytelling to our audience we, as marketers, aren’t doing our jobs.”

Steve Liguori on marketing as a disruptive force:

“Think big as a marketer. Think disruptive.”

“What was your favorite app 8 years ago? Eight years ago, apps didn’t exist. Now they account for hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“Go in and understand what your customer’s problem is.”

“Anything off the shelf is not going to work for you. It takes sweat.”

“Connecting digital and physical is hugely disruptive. Crowdsourcing brought 7,400 ideas to GE, none from an employee.”

“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable … It’s easy to say, really hard to do.”

Juan Corsillo on sales messaging:

“Tell your story on a napkin in 5 minutes.”

“Sales not only needs a new message, but new skills to tell a provocative story and start a different conversation.”

“What’s good for the customer is good for us, eventually.”

Robert Rose on the value created by branded content:

“Do we really understand the role of content marketing? We can reboot, rethink content marketing.”

“Make something worth subscribing to. Proclaim a new category. Then name yourself the leader.

“Build the value first. Then extract the value.”

“Start where it hurts the most. Create a unique differentiated experience.”

“Content marketing is not campaign marketing. Campaigns lead to a pile of disconnected assets.

“Stop looking at content as an alternative form of collateral to support demand generation.”

“Organizing content by type is like organizing a library by hardcovers and paperbacks.” ‪

“Content marketing got trapped, always having to prove that it’s more effective than advertising.”

Michael Brenner on what makes great content marketing:

“Marketing has a marketing problem.”

“Stop interrupting what people are looking for. Be what people are looking for.”

“Content waste is a $50 billion opportunity in B2B alone: 60% to 70% of your content is completely unused.”

“Stop doing the things that don’t matter. Stop creating content that isn’t used, isn’t read, and doesn’t work.”

“Behind every piece of bad content is an executive who asked for it.”

“Great content will break through the noise. Become the best answer on the Internet for buyers’ questions.”

“Content marketing requires empathy.”

“Ask: Why does this matter? What is the impact? How will it be measured?”

“Why create content as a brand? Content consumers spend 2 times more – and are 3 times more loyal customers.”

Andy Crestodina on analytics:

“How to win every marketing argument: Never bring an opinion to a data fight.”

“Does your website work with or against your digital marketing?”

“Google Analytics does not know what success looks like. You have to tell it.”

“The right way to do analytics: ask a question, find an answer, take an action.”

“Don’t put dates on your blog. They only tell readers your blog is old.”

“Use your search box as a listening tool.”

“Give people a path … Find every dead end on your site and destroy it.”

“Don’t send visitors to Facebook ever. Facebook is your competitor.”

“Google does not rank websites. Google ranks pages.”

“Data-driven empathy, that’s what analytics is.”

“When considering new platforms, ask: Is it good for traffic? Is it good for conversions?”

Tim Riesterer on how to sharpen up your message:

“When the products are the same, the better story wins.”

“74% of execs buy from the the seller who helps them see the need to change.”

“Create a why change discussion.”

“You need to tell a story that lives in the unconsidered need.”

“Urgency lives in the thing the customer didn’t know.”

“Value-added services just add cost and complexity.”

“The true competitor is the status quo … 60% of opportunities lead to no purchase.”

“Sales rejects a new way to tell a story like the body rejects a heart transplant.”

“If you tell the customer something surprising but don’t have a way to resolve it, you’re just a jerk.”

“Make people feel smarter for having met you.”

Here’s your bonus — the top Tweets from the BMA Conference:

With all these ideas, I hope that you feel smarter. Which new ideas will you put into action this year?