This month we had the pleasure of attending the annual Cayman Islands Marketing Professionals Association conference.
The event theme focused on Futurementals – where the fads of today become the fundamentals of tomorrow and packed an impressive lineup of international speakers armed with the latest trends impacting the world of marketing today.
The two day event provided the Cayman marketing community with a series of engaging workshops, interactive panel discussions and inspiring presentations on marketing best practices from around the world.
The conference was carefully curated to provide local marketers from all backgrounds, with the latest innovations that can easily be applied locally.
With that in mind, here are some of our favourite takeaways from this year’s 2018 CIMPA Conference:
- Authenticity is key and should be at the core of your communications strategy.
It’s true! Today’s marketing professionals are constantly battling for consumer attention. A recent study by Stackla ‘The consumer content report’ showed a staggering 80% of consumers said authenticity was important when deciding what brand they support.
- Don’t jump on the social band wagon because everyone is doing it.
What’s worse than having no social as part of your marketing mix is having ‘bad’ social. Social needs to be nurtured, relatable to your audience and right for your business. Take time to map your customer touchpoints online to decide what the best platform for your business is.
- Humans now have shorter attention spans than goldfish
Yikes, that’s an 8 second window to reach your customer on the right platform in an authentic way. By the time you finish reading this, you won’t remember….. Wait, what I was talking about?
- Experience > cost!
We couldn’t agree more. Marketing is about how you make people feel and when people feel good about your business or brand they are more likely to drive brand advocacy for you. Take some time to see what role experiential plays in your marketing mix. You’ll be surprised how a small budget reallocation can go a long way.
- Brainstorming
Never has the expression two heads are better than one been more applicable. Got an idea? Share it with your team and find that insight that brings it to life for your customers.
- Tell a story…
Story telling is a powerful marketing content tool. It brings together relatability, authenticity and diversity to live happily ever after in your Book of Content. Stories should share an experience, be unique to your brand and add a human element to your content.
- Measure your success
Probably one of the most overlooked tools in marketing is campaign tracking and analysis. We can’t stress enough how important it is to set KPIs and objectives at the start of a campaign and to measure your marketing channels effectiveness against these objectives. Not only can you share your successes across your business but you can also take away key learnings on what works best for your organization.
- Don’t be afraid to include Facebook Live in your social strategy
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! The idea of Facebook Live can be quite daunting for some but the ever growing live streaming marketplace and its associated apps cannot be ignored. Utilising Facebook Live allows you to create unique content that directly engages your audience in the moment. It can be more cost effective than a video strategy and creates excitement around new announcements and releases. So, give it a try!
- The reality of virtual reality
In a world where content and experience has become king it is no surprise that virtual reality is becoming more common place in the market. The challenge however is using VR in a way that makes sense to your overall brand messaging and audience. While we haven’t seen this much locally yet it’s only a matter of time. Watch this space!
- I saw this and thought of you…
Don’t underestimate the importance of account based marketing. Trying to close that sale? Build better relationships with existing clients? We were blown away by the tool with an expert-centric approach to marketing developed by Passle. Check them out here.
A special round of applause to all our local marketers who took part in the CIMPA conference, whether by organising or speaking. It is safe to say it was a job well done and good times were had by all. Until next time!
