Needless to say the conversation was illuminating.
Not only did Rebekah cull together some of the smartest minds across the PR and Marketing landscape, the entire panel took a hard look at how converging disciplines should work together so that both customers AND businesses benefit.
You can stream the entire exchange below, but just in case this week has you mired in madness, here’s a sample of some of the wisdom that was spouting off right and left:
On understanding the evolving role of the CMO (Sheryl Pattek, VP, Principal Analyst serving CMO Professionals, Forrester)
- CMOs know more about customers than any other C-Suite member and are uniquely positioned to bring the voice of the customer to the table to influence business strategy.
- Today’s CMO is being tasked with understanding and bringing together the data from all the customer touch points.
- Don’t Miss: Sheryl’s opinion on the one thing Marketing and PR can do to stay aligned (36:50)
On the role of PR and how its relationship to Marketing has changed (Emily Dunlop, Senior Vice President, PPR)
- The perceived line between Marketing and PR shouldn’t exist because their goal is the same: Reach the customer.
- The only difference stems from what channels Marketing and PR use to achieve that goal.
- Don’t Miss: Emily’s thoughts on the challenges and rewards of aligning PR and Marketing via her experiences with Dell (38:01)
On the core characteristics that every marketer must have (Adam Weinroth, Chief Marketing Officer, OneSpot)
- Part of communicating is listening and the core characteristic any marketer must have is empathy for who you’re trying to reach and who you’re trying to affect.
- Be sure to think through every experience, all the different touch points, and in what order potential customers will be exposed to touch points.
- Don’t Miss: When Rebekah puts Adam on the spot about drawing a hard line to define Marketing and PR + his brilliant response (41:30)
On how to operate like a newsroom, but think like a marketer (Marissa Aydlett, Chief Marketing Officer, Appboy)
- Marketing and PR strategies have to be rooted in what customers want and oriented around data, content, and human decision-making.
- Businesses also need to see what’s happening in the moment, and be nimble enough to react so that the content they serve is aligned to what people want.
- Don’t Miss: The 3 things Marissa believes any person in every organization should be focused on regardless of job function (43:59)
On what do PR pros need to know about contributed content (Andrea Huspeni, Articles Editor, Entrepreneur)
- Contributed content is great for thought leadership and expert positioning, but it needs to be genuine and authentic.
- Don’t say something just for the sake of saying something, provide learning opportunities and a unique point of view.
- Don’t Miss: Which tactics and strategies Andrea says are key to executing an impactful contributed content strategy that focuses on relationship building (32:19)