Our Marketing Club partnered with the Alumni network to host a networking night in conjunction with our normal Thursday Night Out. We had over fifty attendees at FATE Brewery to learn more about current marketing trends.听
Our talented group of panelists included:
Chris Deardorff, Leeds alum, CEO and Founder of .
Jen-ai Stokesbary, Leeds alum and Marketing director at
Molly Lane, Leeds alum and Founder of Brandspell, Inc听
What do you think is the biggest marketing trend right now?
Chris: Video marketing
Molly: Voice technology; like Amazon Alexa
With the trends towards artificial intelligence and machine learning, how can human marketers stay relevant and provide value?
Molly: Focus on the strategy in understanding the consumer experience.听 Use technology to enhance the user experience; this human element can鈥檛 be replaced.听 For example, we worked with Nestle to develop a hands-free cookbook experience that utilized Alexa; it is controlled by your voice.听
Chris: 听AI is a utility tool that enables efficiency for marketers.听 We can work in tandem with AI; AI won鈥檛 be able to ideate like a marketer.听 Marketers need to think outside the box and learn skills to tell great stories that machines can鈥檛.听
Jen-ai: No amount of AI can tell the story.听 At Boulder Organics everything is human right now!
Let鈥檚 talk about email automation.听 What鈥檚 your favorite tool?听 How do you stay up to date?
Chris: 听I have a love/hate relationship with email automation.听 I鈥檓 most familiar and experienced with Hubspot.听 It鈥檚 got really robust functionality, but that鈥檚 also a challenge鈥攊t鈥檚 almost too much functionality.听 The best advice I have is to pick a tool that is a good fit for the organization.听 Don鈥檛 just pick the 鈥渂iggest鈥濃�攔ightsize.听 Try it out before you commit; it has to fit the company.听
Jen-ai: Every business case is so different.听 People get so many emails every day, it鈥檚 rare to read past the first sentence.听 It鈥檚 overwhelming.听 We use MailChip鈥攊t works great for us.听 Most of our sales are B2B, but we do market to consumers.听
Molly: The best tool depends on where you鈥檙e at.听 If you have more data, use automation.听 Most of our clients use Hubspot.听 It鈥檚 got sophisticated lead scoring, and maps to the consumer path and how they are moving along the sales funnel.
Make an incredibly bold prediction about marketing:
Molly: Job lines are becoming more blurred. Big data is an important part of marketing now.听 Marketers need to know how to crunch data.听 Disruption in market tech in how we create and distribute content.听 Right now it鈥檚 messy鈥攚e need better collaboration.听 Right now we lack a market leader in this area.
Jen-ai: Food isn鈥檛 very bold. Right now the center of plate is meat, but this is changing.听 In less than ten years, the center of plate will only be about 30% meat and 70% plant-based/alternative meat stuff (not animal derived).
Chris: We will see a decline in paid advertising.听 Paid advertising is perceived as annoying and intrusive.听 Top research in 2018 indicates a decrease in paid advertising and more of a push towards content and organic marketing.听听
