MarketingSherpa Summit 2016 is in the books and we learned a ton. There’s a lot to digest in the two days worth of live blogs. So, I highlighted many of the key takeaways here. Hopefully, it will make you feel like you were there in Vegas with all of us … or at the very least will help you get a new perspective on marketing.

Flint McGlaughlin on The Marketer’s Blind Spot: 3 ways to overcome the marketer’s greatest obstacle to effective messaging

“There are no expert marketers, only experienced ones … the more expert we become as marketers, the less expert we become as consumers.” – Flint McGlaughlin

Of headlines studied in regards to point sequenced grammar, point-first headlines all ranked highest in testing.

  • Customer-Centric Logic:
  • Customer Logic: What I Get — ranked highest
  • Company Logic: What I Do — ranked lowest

Conversion Heuristic: Enables a marketer to invert their perspective and see through collateral into the thought sequence of the prospect.

  • Probability of Conversion
  • Motivation of the User
  • Clarity of the Value Proposition
  • Incentive to Take Action
  • Friction Elements Present
  • Anxiety Elements Present

Naked Wines Key Takeaway: Identify top drivers of customer quality and create process to foster desired behavior during onboarding

Tips from Dell: Don’t forget the bones of the email—a lot of business performance can be won or lost in the structure.

HomeAdvisor Top Takeaways:

  • Manage the lifecycle
  • Focus on engagement
  • Improve deliverability

How Humana’s Strategic Testing Drove a 60% Increase in Customer Engagement

When analyzing your marketing strategy, you may want to update many aspects. It’s important to test one at a time … and then combine what works later on into a “Super Funnel.”

Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author & New York Times Best-selling Author, on The Power of Habit

Takeaways:

  • Know your customers’ keystone habits. Which kinds of change seems important?
  • Look for opportunities to piggyback.
  • Find rewards that deliver emotionally.

Morgan Spurlock, Academy Award-Nominated Director, Super Size Me: The Greatest Lecture Ever Presented

  • Surround yourself with people who believe in you and your vision.
  • Have persistence of vision.
  • Own your derivative impact, but don’t be afraid to do things other people think are crazy.
  • Alignment of ideologies.
  • The more risks you take, the less risky things become. It becomes a part of your DNA.
  • Finding a good story is only the beginning. Getting it into the hands hearts and minds of your audience is the greatest accomplishment.

DonorsChoose.org Takeaway: Know that one out of every 10 tests will actually yield results—commit yourself to running those test to gain insights.

Sundeep Kapur, Educator, Email Yogi

Checklist to improve:

  • Personalization
  • Segmentation
  • Deliverability
  • Perpetual list building
  • Mobile (and mobility)
  • Feedback
  • Most importantly: Anticipate