AMG Newsletter – Tips From NYC Marketing Events You Can Use

Published: Mon, 09/16/19

Heidi Cohen – Actionable Marketing Guide

Dear ,

When I woke up to a sunny 9/11, I remembered the
crystal-clear morning 18 years ago.

Back then, I was working at my kitchen counter (aka: home office). 

As the sun flooded into my 6’ high windows the phone’s ring broke my concentration.

It was my mother.

But her words sounded surreal:

Turn the television on to Channel 4. It looks like a Bruce Willis movie!

WTC by Tommy FlynnShe waited as I took the phone into the living room and turned the TV on.

When the picture appeared, I saw the reality of my mother’s words. As the NBC news team talked, I watched the planes fly into the World Trade Center buildings. 

After a while, my mother and I hung up.

But I remained planted on my couch mesmerized by the unimaginable images I saw. 

By midday, I realized that I had neither cash nor food in my apartment. And knowing that a mere sprinkling of snow causes panic at the local grocer, I raced out. 

At the Citibank on 86th Street and Broadway, the ATMs still gave out cash but  a hand-written note reading “Closed until further notice” was taped to the bank door.

A few blocks south, the grocery’s empty dairy shelves told a similar story. 

But what I remember most was the silence.

In a city filled with noise 24/7 the absence of sound marked a rare event. 


When I ventured down to Ground Zero a few weeks later, I remember the sunlight gushing through the empty space where the towers had stood. Like majestic concrete arms reaching to the sky, the World Trade Centers had cast imposing shadows across the financial district. 

Although city would never be the same, Wall Street returned to work. Hastily laid thick power lines nestled along the sidewalk. 

I was proud of my city then and I still am. 

As I did in the days following 9/11, I still thank and salute police, firemen, and first responders.

In an emergency, New York City is the one place I want to be. Because, when you’re in need,  no one helps you faster than than a New Yorker

Although New Yorkers go about busy their lives as usual, the city has changed. Military personnel still actively patrol the train stations and airports. Barricades now surround landmarks, government buildings, media entities and financial institutions to prevent vehicle entry while everyone must enter through by metal detectors. 

Despite these traces 9/11 can be another sunshine-filled day.

These thoughts went through my mind as I walked under the Citibank Building in Long Island City.  My friends and colleagues had gone to work here on that sunny day 18 years ago. Only to evacuate on foot and walk across the 59th Street Bridge to safety.

But now, I only changed from the M to the G subway line on my way to present at DMWF in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. (Hat tip to: Glen Gilmore and Rachel Reid.)

Heidi Cohen and Glen Gilmore

I loved that DMWF highlighted social media platforms that others overlook, namely Reddit and Medium. Although I would have included Tumblr, Flipboard and Slack since these platforms enable content creation, curation and communication.

Instead of senior executives, DMWF selected hands-on brand managers who could share real life examples and insights.

For example, Volvo Car USA’s Erin Silver made the point that brand influencers had to buy their Volvos so they understood how the car worked. Further, she didn’t want to pay influencers to show off Volvo only to go home to drive their BMW. 
RECOMMENDED READING:
My panel entitled: Going Viral: Taking Storytelling to the Next Level focused on storytelling and influencer marketing. Storytelling matters since your information must have a beginning, middle and end for your Voice-First audience.

Here are 3 take-aways from my panel:
  • Gravity Blankets’ Mark Wynohradnyk tests every form of marketing distribution and promotion. For example, he tried I Heart Radio and tracked it using a special code. 
  • Beano’s Stephen Murphy shared how his 80 year old British brand uses primary research to monitor the pulse of Generation Alpha (or the iPad Generation born after 2010.) Based on their panel insights, Beano created an early promotion on Fortnite. 
  • Talkwalker’s Milena Schmidt discussed the power of sentiment analysis to help brands discern issues and emerging trends. The sentiment analysis market is projected to grow to $18.3 billion by 2025. 
Heidi Cohen at #DMWF with new friends


Actionable Marketing Tip:
  • Test new opportunities BUT incorporate tracking to measure results. Include a call-to-action and a tailored UTM or product code.
RELATED READING:

On Thursday, I participated in SEMRush’s New York City Content Marketing Party panel at Bizzabo.  (Big tip of my hat to SEMrush’s Aleksandra Panyukhina for inviting me!)

This intimate event underscored the need to attend live events especially local ones. The entire SEMRush team was there! 


The best content marketing take-aways from my fellow panelists included:
 
  • Renovate existing content to meet audience segment needs. (Megan Leap of Convince and Convert) In the process, tailor your content to meet the needs of  specific audience segments. Then use ABM to maximize the value of this information. (Hat tip to Megan: For including my photo in Jay Baer’s Voice Column!)
RELATED READING:
  • Monitor the content landscape to ensure that your content continues to resonate with your target audience. (Alicia Esposito of  G3 Communications) Her team gathered insight based on talking to their audience to find what information they needed and when they needed it. 
RELATED READING:
  • Focus on content that drives qualified leads. Contently expanded their foundational information beyond blog posts. They’ve created 4 week content marketing coursesto engage teams and build on-going relationships.  Joe Lazauskas uses marketing automation to identify and  qualify prospects. (BTW—With Shane Snow, Joe co-authored The Storytelling Edge.)
RELATED READING:

Want to meet me IRL this coming week? Here’s my marketing event calendar. #IWantAPhotoWithHeidi!

I’m attending JumpShot’s Data And Drinks on Wednesday, September 18th. (BTW—It’s free!) JumpShot is the data company behind many of Rand Fishkin’s amazing data on search.



For those of you who want to build your professional network, I’ve got your back! Please meet me at #LinkedinGlobal, the largest Linkedin meetup in history with attendees from around the world. It’s focused on marketing, video, community, strategy and more. (Hat tip: Brian Wallace and Kate Skavish.) Disclaimer: This is a paid event but it’s not an affiliate. 

Also, on Tuesday, September 26th,  join me in New York City at Talkwalker’s Data and Drinks where Christopher Penn will discuss Social Media 2020. (BTW—It’s free and next to Grand Central Terminal!)

MarketingProfs B2B Forum, October 16 – 18 in Washington D.C.  I've got a brand-spanking-new presentation called, Marketing ROI: How To Talk C-Suite. This session is user-friendly. It's marketing math for the math-phobic. And, you can save $100 by using the code, B2BFriend19 when you register. (This is not an affiliate link.)
 
RELATED READING:

If you’re running an event that you would like me to speak at, please let me know. (Just hit reply to reach me.)
 

Shout out to new readers: Naqeeb, Hanna, Muhammad, Michelle, Petra, Pat, Noriaki, Delaram, Oleksandra, Kumar, Kristi, Gennifer, Debbie, David, Suzy, Joe, Gem, Aycha, George, Laura, Kim And Yulia. Welcome and thank you for joining our community.

Happy Marketing,
Heidi

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Heidi Cohen Around The Internet

Following this year’s amazing Content Marketing World in Cleveland, the following content smarties have given me a shout out in their conference content. And to show my appreciation, I’m including these articles so that you can become a better marketer too! 


 

Photo: World Trade Center ©2001 by Tommy Flynn, skiesofnyc.com, used with permission.

The fine print: