Top Internet Marketing Tidbits from the 2013 MIMA Summit

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the 2013 MIMA (Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association) Summit here in Minneapolis. MIMA is an entire day of marketing geekdom, with many sessions on a plethora of different marketing-related topics to choose from, and 3 keynote speakers. I chose several sessions relating to content, user experience, and real-world examples of out-of-the-box marketing tactics and ideas. Here are my key takeaways.

"Respect readers' time and intelligence."

When morning keynote speaker Sarah Lacy spoke this phrase, I was immediately inspired. In order to create great content, you can't just write about any and every topic that you think might attract a visitor or two from the depths of Google. Searchers are sophisticated. They won't fall for gimmicks and keyword spam, and that's not the kind of thing you want on your website, anyway.

When your potential customers are looking for your product or service, they know what they want to see, and they have specific questions in mind. Really get in touch with how they're feeling during those pivotal moments when they're seeking you out, cater to those feelings and those questions, and you'll make great content. Make all content useful.

"Elevate the everyday." - "Make the commonplace new."

At last year's MIMA Summit, we heard Guy Kawasaki suggest that content should "surprise and delight" our website visitors. That phrase was out in full force at this year's summit, as was creating the new and exciting out of the old and mundane. To cut through the noise of your competition, you have to make your content stand out whether it's through design, the way you word something, or the way your audience interacts with your content.

Example: Target has groceries. So do all the grocery stores around Target. To market their groceries, Target knew they had to do something outside the box. So, they put their groceries in models' hands on a runway, and let Twitter fans interact with them during a live "fashion show". Crazy? Maybe. Did it make people remember Target groceries in a new way? Yes. They made the commonplace new, and elevated the everyday.

"Don't value your content over the job you want your content to do."

This is an incredibly important point to remember when creating content. When you're brainstorming about your content strategy and you think you've had a good idea, think "Is my audience going to find this useful and are they likely to share it?" Create a shared agenda with your audience. If you can give them what they want when they want it, you'll have a big advantage. For example, is there a point in your sales process where customers typically like to see some numbers? Are there questions most potential customers ask? Create graphics for these specific questions and give them to your audience during those specific points in your process. Give them what they want before they even ask for it.

"Focus on WHO you want to go viral with."

When I heard this nugget, I just thought "duh, why haven't I thought that before?" We can get so caught up sometimes with how many views something gets, or how viral it goes, that we forget what those views are supposed to be doing. Creating content that goes viral is great, but if it doesn't go viral within your target audience, then what's the point? Go viral to drive conversions, not views.