Ann Handley’s got the inside scoop from Denmark on LEGOs, Joe Pulizzi wants marketers to get in or get out, Michael Brenner prefers to digest content while sitting down, Chad Pollitt wants everyone to know that marketing will not solve sales problems, find out if you’re in Matt Heinz’s target audience, and more entertaining Q&A with speakers from Dell and Convince and Convert – all headed to Cleveland for #CMWorld.
We presented Content Marketing World speakers with a list of questions — both entertaining and serious — and put together this round-up to help all attendees get to know them. Now, you will be armed with the conversation starters and ice breakers everyone needs while networking at conferences. Your welcome and enjoy…
25+ Conversation Starters with the Speakers:
Joe Pulizzi – Content Marketing Institute: “I devour audiobooks”
Question: Lars Silberbauer from LEGO is a keynote presenter this year…What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever built out of LEGOs…OR [seen] built out of LEGOs?
JP: I built a perfect replica of the CMI logo with my two sons. We still have it in the office today.
Question: Favorite form of expression: hashtag, emoji, or meme? Use it in a sentence.
JP: #hashtag #for #sure
Question: The great debate: portrait or landscape oriented content/PDFs?
JP: For ebooks, landscape forever…everything else, portrait.
Question: Do you have a favorite source of marketing news, trends, and reports? In addition to CMI of course.
JP: Scott Monty. His newsletter is probably the best out there.
Question: What’s the most aggravating thing you see marketers doing (or not doing) today with content?
JP: Not developing a strategy. And then if they do, not writing it down. And if they write it down, not following through with it.
Question: In the land of content marketing relevancy and personalization are key. What does your target audience look like:
JP:
- Job Function: Touch content in some way for the enterprise
- Job Level: The do-ers, not the executives
- Company Size: $1 billion+ annual revenues
- Industry: All
- Geo: US for the most part, but about 30% of our audience is overseas
Question: If you could ensure marketers take away one key learning from your talk at CMW, what would it be?
JP: Make a choice. Either commit to the approach of content marketing, or forget about and focus on other things.
Question: If you could only attend one session at CMW, which one would it be? (not your own)
JP: Well, I love Mark Hamill, so there’s that. I’m really interested in Victor Gao’s presentation from Arrow on how they’ve built a content ecosystem through acquisitions.
Shelley Ryan – Dell: “Fascinated by PR & marketing convergence”
Question: What’s your favorite way to consume content: Text, Video, Audio?
SR: I’m old-school – I love text. You can quickly scan content, search for key terms and no ear buds are required. Of course, offering all three form factors of the same content is ideal so there’s something for everyone.
Question: Where do you most consume content: office, in bed, on the train?
SR: Stoplights… only kidding. I mostly consume content while multi-tasking on conference calls and during meetings. (Don’t tell my boss!)
Question: What’s the most aggravating thing you see marketers doing (or not doing) today with content?
SR: It’s so basic, but I wish all marketing content had a clear call to action. Good content should leave the reader wanting more, and it’s our job as content marketers to make it easy for readers to binge on content. Have a CTA!
Michael Brenner – Marketing Insider Group: “Answering round-up posts is hard #thestruggleisreal”
Question: What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever built out of LEGOs…OR [seen] built out of LEGOs?
MB: I actually had a motorized LEGO piece when I was a kid that allowed me to build moving things like cars, trucks and I even built a windmill with it.
Question: What’s your favorite way to consume content: Text, Video, Audio?
MB: While sitting down
Question: Where do you most consume content: office, in bed, on the train?
MB: I prefer to read on my laptop which goes with me everywhere but mostly at my desk
Question: Do you have a favorite source of marketing news, trends, and reports?
MB: AdAge is my favorite source of marketing inspiration. And that’s not a compliment.
Question: What’s the most aggravating thing you see marketers doing (or not doing) today with content?
MB: Please stop advertising. It not only gets ignored, it makes people mad. Or at least it makes me mad. If I see one more stupid car commercial with a bunch of millennials going “oh wow. that car is amazing.” It generally means your car sucks.
Question: If you could ensure marketers take away one key learning from your talk at CMW, what would it be?
MB: Stop spending money on marketing that angers your audience and doesn’t deliver results.
Questions: If you could only attend one session at CMW, which one would it be? (not your own)
MB: Crestodina gonna bring ‘da house down
Ann Handley – Marketing Profs: Ann Handley discovered LEGO masterpiece
Question: What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever built out of LEGOs…OR [seen] built out of LEGOs?
AH: I met with the marketing team at the LEGO factory/home in Billund, Denmark, in 2013. So much amazing history/structures to call out there… but this was in the foyer. Incredible.
Matt Heinz – Heinz Marketing: Matt and Mark Hamill have the same initials…#justsaying
Question: Favorite form of expression: hashtag, emoji, or meme?
MH: I use hashtags a lot, not just to tag things but also as subliminal commentary #kindalikethis #annhandleyisthemasteratthem
Question: The great debate: portrait or landscape oriented content/PDFs?
MH: I prefer portrait for myself, but increasingly I like doing content in landscape as it’s easier to flip through. I’ve found content consumers go deeper in content that’s landscape vs portrait.
Question: Do you have a favorite source of marketing news, trends, and reports?
MH: I subscribe to a ton of blogs, so my Feedly is a huge source for me. I also get a handful of SmartBrief newsletters which are always well curated.
Question: What’s the most aggravating thing you see marketers doing (or not doing) today with content?
MH: Failure to embrace revenue responsibility. Clicks and leads don’t matter unless they lead to a revenue event!
Question: In the land of content marketing relevancy and personalization are key. What does your target audience look like:
MH:
- Job Function: Demand Generation, Revenue Marketing, Sales Enablement
- Job Level: Director or VP, sometimes CMO
- Company Size: mid-market, usually between $10M and $250MM/year
- Industry: All types, but increasingly non-tech (including manufacturing, health care and others)
- Geo: North America
Question: If you could ensure marketers take away one key learning from your talk at CMW, what would it be?
MH: Don’t do the same boring content everyone else is spitting out. Make your content stand out and have an impact on your target audience!
Question: If you could only attend one session at CMW, which one would it be? (not your own)
MH: Mark Hamill’s keynote. Can’t wait to see Luke Skywalker live!
Zontee Hou – Convince & Convert: strategist, media consultant founder, professor, speaker, and more – Zontee practices what she preaches.
Question: What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever built out of LEGOs…OR [seen] built out of LEGOs?
ZH: Although I’m from NYC, I was blown away by photos of a model of London–complete with London Eye and Big Ben–all constructed out of LEGOs.
Question: Favorite form of expression: hashtag, emoji, or meme?
ZH: I’m guilty of adding commentary in the form of hashtags for the win #FTW #sorrynotsorry
Question: What’s your favorite way to consume content: Text, Video, Audio?
ZH: Audio.
Question: What’s the most aggravating thing you see marketers doing (or not doing) today with content?
ZH: Only talking about their own content or brand instead of addressing their customers’ needs and motivations.
Question: If you could ensure marketers take away one key learning from your talk at CMW, what would it be?
ZH: Even traditional, regulated industries can find ways to be creative with content marketing and build engagement with their audiences.
Question: If you could only attend one session at CMW, which one would it be? (not your own)
ZH: MOBILE MOMENTS: WHERE CONTENT MEETS PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS
Chad Pollitt – Relevance: Marketing will not fix sales problems…
Question: What’s the most aggravating thing you see marketers doing (or not doing) today with content?
CP: This kills me. . . Marketers’ heads are filled with helium. Ninety-nine percent of them. They believe that marketing will fix sales problems. Their heads constantly float up-funnel. If there’s a massive bottleneck at the bottom of the marketing and sales funnel, top-funnel solutions won’t fix it. The additional visibility and traffic will still hit the bottleneck. Sometimes the best solution for a lower-funnel problem is a Sales solution and not content.
Question: If you could ensure marketers take away one key learning from your talk at CMW, what would it be?
CP: Content marketers need to understand that their budgets and priorities are off. The fact is that our television ad executive counterparts are spending $5 on distribution for every $1 they’re spending on content creation. Content marketers have that flipped, spending $1 on distribution for every $5 they’re spending on creation. This has to stop and marketers need to fight for the proper budget. Nobody blinks an eye or thinks twice about the distribution budget on television commercials – it’s just accepted. Meanwhile, content marketers are expected to gain visibility through organic (free) channels. This was possible six years ago for most industries. However, today’s age of content-abundance makes it nearly impossible.
Ready, Break!
Thank you to all of the speakers that participate in this round-up…great to see a little levity and sarcasm to break up the rock solid intel from these thought leaders. You are officially prepared with go to talking points for networking at the conference, and now you know if you’re in Joe Pulizzi and Matt Heinz’s target audience.
Now, we are off to Cleveland for Content Marketing World. Come see us at the event to find out why we’re taking the K.I.S.S. approach to #CMWorld.
Plus, NetLine will be making a big announcement at the show – don’t miss it!
For live coverage of the event be sure to follow @NetLine_Corp @CMIContent and #CMWorld
Note: a version of this post originally appeared on Business2Community.