B2B Content Marketing Summit 2024: Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways from the B2B Content Marketing Summit 2024
Discover the essential insights from this year’s CMA Content Marketing Summit, featuring expert discussions on AI, content creation, data, and team development.
On June 6th, 2024, B2B leaders, specialists, and professionals from around the globe gathered at Group SJR‘s headquarters at Southwark Bridge, London, for the CMA Content Marketing Summit.
The event delved into the latest trends and challenges in the industry, from the impacts of AI to innovative approaches in data and content creation.
Whether you attended the summit and need a quick refresher, or you couldn’t make it and want to catch up on what you missed, we’ve compiled the key takeaways from our distinguished B2B content marketing experts and panellists.
A Day Filled with Inspiration, Innovation, and Insight: Summit Recap
Following last year’s summit, it was excellent seeing so many familiar faces mingling with new people as the room filled with energy before the official talks began.
Here is a brief overview of how the day lined up and what it involved:
Marketing’s Dark Star: How Stories Bend Brains to Change Minds – Matt Potter
With 25 years of experience and a career spanning various industries, including journalism, marketing, and advertising, Matt Potter gave us a powerful and passionate talk about the importance of storytelling and how content creators are facing a crisis of creativity and authenticity.
In the wake of generative AI content creation, such as ChatGPT, Jasper AI, and Midjourney, Matt Potter provided some refreshing reminders of the transformative power content can bring and why so many brands get it wrong.
Key takeaways:
In B2B content marketing, don’t forget to treat your consumer like a human being.
Don’t fall for the measurement trap. It’s not all about the format, platform or vanity metrics. Emotional connection with the audience should be your main incentive.
Getting Creative with the Evidence: 5 Ways to Inspire Ideas with Data – Chris Bosher
As the head of Strategy at Borne, Chris Bosher provided inventive insights into data interpretation, with how we can apply data to form better ideas and judgments in our content marketing strategies.
We can have no doubt modern marketing needs data. But Chris shows how your business can use the numbers it needs to understand your consumers and market to form better ideas and bridge connections.
Key takeaways:
The nature of ideas is changing with data.
Data should drive decisions, but remember that people inspire people more than information.
The New Digital Experience: Our Changing Relationship with Content – Selena Cameron
Leading the inquiry on whether our current relationship with website content is outdated, Global CEO of SJR, Selena Cameron provided an ambitious outlook into a future where AI has shifted how we interact digitally with content through a generative operating model.
Her discussion covered what she envisions as the next generation of AI-powered digital content to deliver conversions, connections, and trust at scale.
Key takeaways:
Website content still demands that less is more. Make it better!
Try not to be transactional and aim to make content that meets the moment of an experience.
Global Voices: Content Marketing Perspectives from Around the World – Andy Seibert | Martin MacConnol | Munni Trivedi
CMA tries to go beyond UK borders with a Global Voices community to see what we can learn about our industry from other parts of the globe. Agency Founder of Wardour, Martin MacConnol, provided insights from England. Andy Seibert, Founder and CEO of Imprint, gave accounts from the States before Munni Trivedi, MD at Indigo CPO, gave her views from India.
All Q&As were coordinated exceptionally by another agency owner, author, and FRSA, Mark Hannant. While interviewing the panel, he helped enrich the discussion with thought-provoking, challenging, and stimulating questions that generated conversation from the panel and responses from the audience.
Key takeaways:
Small B2B businesses continue to need quality content but are too busy. Overwhelmed brands can’t cope with the demand worldwide.
Brand purpose had to pay its way. Authentic content and branding have become more important than purpose.
B2B: It’s about the Buyer Group – Mimi Turner
MBA-trained marketing specialist and communicator putting brand strategy at the heart of business growth, Mimi Turner delivered an impactful discussion highlighting the perspective of B2B buyers with detailed psychology, statistics, and behavioural research.
As the leader of B2B marketing strategy at the LinkedIn B2B Institute, Mimi brings a wealth of understanding for marketing and communication strategies that support challenger brands to aim high and make significant impacts in their industry.
On top of this, Mimi went on to help our audience understand the intricate dynamics of buyer group behaviour while showcasing the power of making a customer promise that delivers results.
Key takeaways:
You can’t replicate group dynamics. Understanding the buying group sees B2B decisions made by groups, not individuals.
Branding is more important in less distinguishable industries without easy customer promises.
Building a Future-Ready Team: Strategies for Success – Rupert Bedell
Chief Marketing Officer Rubert Bedell has over 25 years of permanent and interim experience across multiple multi-national finance divisions. Rupert gave us a refreshing overview from the client’s perspective with a poignant reminder of how the sales funnel should structure our content, strategy and team dynamic alongside measuring performance.
With some inspirational advertising examples of how he worked on changing the narrative after the economic collapse in 2008, Rupert also emphasised the essential metrics of cost per acquisition versus lifetime value while showing our guests with first-hand experience how not to just catch up with competitors but take the lead.
Key takeaways:
Cost-per-acquisition versus lifetime value is the most critical metric for B2B businesses.
How is the content you’re producing and the people you’re paying to create that content relevant to your sales funnel?
How AI is changing content marketing – Chris Stokel-Walker
On the back of his book, ‘How AI Ate the World’, Journalist, lecturer and communicator specialist Chris Stokel-Walker opened our eyes to AI in the content marketing industry.
Touching on the concerns, possibilities, and overall impacts that don’t just affect our industry or society but even the environment, Chris delivers a balanced comparison of the advantages and disadvantages AI may bring to the world of B2B content marketing.
Key takeaways:
Although impressive, artificial intelligence is not intelligent.
AI can lead to biasing issues with content generation favouring Western world culture and ideals.
Stay in the B2B loop with CMA
The CMA is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting, enhancing, and growing content marketing as an effective marketing tool.
With a wealth of members worldwide, from contract publishing and branded content to SEO and PR, we use all our experience and expertise to advise and promote brands in our sector while hoping to generate growth in the industry.
If you’re interested in joining our community and becoming a member, we invite you to explore our CMA Membership page.
And hopefully, see you next year for the CMA Content Marketing Summit 2025!