The conference always sparks new ideas and powerful ways to reach audiences. I couldn’t wait to get my notes (and a few photos) over to you. Here are some key takeaways to consider for 2019:
Realigning your audience will validate your ability to generate leads for your advertisers. What do you know about your advertisers’ audience? Do the audience demographics reveal an impending decline or have you done enough research to attract a new audience that will build a reliable future for your advertisers?
Innovation is going to take investment. Investment goes beyond simply purchasing new technology. Are you underestimating the human cost of what it will take to implement, execute and manage new tools and software?
Plan for disasters that aren’t natural. Have you considered how to backfill an aging salesforce? What plan do you have in place to take over accounts, track their conversations and manage current contact information? Do their customers know you?
Do not let a lack of data override your intuition on what is best for your customer. Do you have enough information to launch a new product? What are your customers telling you?
Focus on upselling or expansion as companies grow. The cost of upselling is 53% less than new customer acquisition. As your customers grow, there’s also an opportunity to expand the frequency or size of purchases from you at a cost of only 28% of new customer cost. Are you introducing new products to your existing customer base or focusing on expansion as they grow?
In the words of Justin Timberlake, “Bring Sexy Back”. What are you doing to create a loyal following for your editorial? Is your editorial team filled with top talent who know how to brand?
All events in the future should have a competitive water volleyball tournament. If you’re smiling now, congratulations for reading all the way through. Now get out and make 2019 your best year yet. Let me know how I can help.
