The final day of INBOUND 2017 kicked off with a keynote featuring Pixar Animation Studios co-founder, Dr. Ed Catmull. Catmull shared his success and failures at Pixar, as well as his insights about creativity today. He discussed the importance of change, responding to challenges, listening, empathizing, and making mistakes. The goal when founding Pixar was to build a sustainable culture. He enlightened the audience on the struggles of each Pixar film, and shared that Pixar “does not make movies for kids. They make them for adults – kids live in an adult world and are trying to figure it out.” He encouraged everyone to keep trying new big projects, because even for Pixar every film struggles before being good. Ego must be removed for creativity and “magic” to happen, and “it is easier to correct errors than to try and prevent them altogether”.
The breakout sessions I chose today focused on marketing strategy, SEO, and what B2B customers want. Marketing is the pulse of the business and it’s important for marketing plans to be strategic, tactical, forward thinking and aligned with business goals. Marketing is customer focused and the message you provide to your audience is more important than the type of content you provide. SEO has been one of the hottest marketing topics the past few years, and it’s constantly changing and causing frustration for marketers. My key takeaway about SEO is to keep in mind that it is knowing which levers to pull and when (and that it is not the and all of marketing). B2B buyers have identified 7 shifts in behaviors that make them want to buy from companies:
- Buyers want to be involved in the decisions, and to participate in the seller’s process.
- Buyers want a seller who engages in two-way dialogue and not a diagnostic “conversation”.
- Buyers want a seller who answers their questions without evasion (that includes the big question about price).
- Buyers want a seller who follows through every time.
- Buyers want a seller who communicates internally and provides a cohesive process among all internal groups that interface with the buyer.
- Buyers want a seller who dignifies their decisions, and makes them feel confident in the decisions they make.
- Buyers want a seller who encourages them, and provides appreciation and support.
The day, and conference, concluded with a keynote from WWE superstar, John Cena. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard he was taking the stage for the final keynote, and I must say I was incredibly inspired by everything he had to say! He talked about inspiration, application, fear, failure, and listening to your customer/ audience. Fun fact: John Cena is the most requested person for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. He talked about loving what you do, and about embracing failure to appreciate success.
The final keynote of INBOUND continued with the theme I have mentioned every day this week – inspiration. The conference started and ended with a bang, and I can’t wait to take back all I have learned to share it with my colleagues and customers!