Didn’t make it to Digital Summit 2018 in Tampa this year? Didn’t make it to any digital summits this year? Are you just now, at this moment, crawling out from summer hibernation to greet the fall breeze?

Chill. We’ll catch you up to speed with our key pointers from Digital Summit 2018 and beyond.

1. Tell Good Stories & Do Good Things

Inundated with the dark side, your viewership will appreciate stories of integrity, teamwork, excellence or inclusion. Many DMOs have “voluntourism” opportunities throughout their organization — where planners and their groups can volunteer together to contribute to a local or national cause.

Also, it is becoming increasingly imperative for organizations to show they are do-gooders with millennials in the workforce with goodwill as a priority for working for a company.

2. Be Human, Say Human Things

A humanistic approach can be helpful in developing content for your website, social platforms and especially your DMO’s tradeshow prep and follow-up emails. Planners are looking for correspondence that doesn’t waste their time and shows that you recognize their needs and have taken the time to really speak to them. Speaking to planners as if they’re human on your correspondence will help garner loyalty, trust and comfort for your organization.

3. Make Audio Available

Audio can come from unlikely places. Someone from your DMO giving a presentation? Record it. Does someone in your organization spout genius things on a regular basis? Capture it. Audio is notoriously easy to upload to channels such as Apple, Stitcher, Overcast or Soundcloud and can be passively consumed by those working or on the go. It can also be multi-purposed and paired with video or image overlays on your social channels.

4. Print It

Is there an opportunity for you to give your leads a semi-annual dispatch of pertinent information? With companies increasingly favoring the digital duchesses, surprising them with a printed piece of relevant and well-designed content could be just the ticket. This could also be used to give shoutouts for successes your organization or planners you’ve worked with have achieved (see No. 1). Could you make it fun? Throw in a crossword puzzle? See this newspaper printed goodie that the company GoodGoodGood sends out.

5. Pearls of Wisdom

Involve outside experts. (Hi!)

Lay off the sales pitch.

Be a thought partner-Be a partner with your clients.

The easiest way wins.

Make it easy to connect to your DMO.

Make planners lives easier and provide services to assist.

Think big, start small, act fast.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s the job of the scientist to experiment.

An insight is always a number. Insight can be an anecdote, a quote.

Brands go to research companies for research. Experiment like a creative scientist. Do whatever it takes to know your audience best.

6. Make It Easy For Your Customers on Your Website

Lynne Adams from Johnson and Johnson sums this up perfectly, so we’ll let her do the talking here: “Users want to get in and get the hell out.”

7.Get an Axe

If your destination video is remarkably lengthy, reduce the probability of viewers tuning out by creating a separate Part 1 and Part 2 video. The viewer is more likely to cut away right from the start as the video length increases.

8. Analyze the Data You Already Have

In general, we are spending too much time collecting data and not enough time utilizing what data we have found. Research the best programs to cut down on time spent collecting data. Find the best channels that perform well for clients and talk to them about how to maximize their ROI.

9. Segmentation is Excellentation

Are you still grouping all of your customer bases into the same email sends? Don’t do that. Segment your audiences. Going further, test emails against others to see what images or headlines work best for a particular group. Take note of this data and adjust. Experiment with your email marketing.

Learn Some Things About Video

Be genuine, share stories and connect with people
Compel people to take action from your videos
Suggested video lengths:
Destination Overview – 1 to 2 min long
Event – :30-1 min
Planner Testimonials – 1 to 2 min

Read more about video for your DMO.