3 Big Takeaways from Salesforce World Tour

Earlier this week, I attended Salesforce's Boston stop of their World Tour. The event was exciting, overwhelming and very informative. The design and decoration of the conference was exceptional. You quite literally feel as though you are in a technology forest. Although, the software's content and tutorials were the real show. As a marketer, I noticed three distinct and reoccurring messages across the sessions that I attended. I believe that these three focuses will help fellow marketers like myself keep their eye on the prize.

People Expect a Personalized Experience

This may not seem like a novel concept and it isn't. However, it is important, nonetheless. In exchange for offering up information in the form of user profiles and transactions, consumers expect a tailored product delivery in return. In a timeline perspective, messages began as a mass market view, then moved into segments, and now is moving into personalized experience.

Transparency is Required at All Levels

Some very concerning data breaches and misuse cases have erupted over the course of the past year. Therefore, it is no surprise that people are more concerned than ever about their data's privacy and security. Brands must communicate which data they use from their customers and how they use that data. Through conversations at the conference as well as my own observations, third parties seem to be a major area of contention on the topic of this subject.

Real Time Information Usage Is The New Norm

People nowadays don't want to wait more than a day for a package from across the globe. As a result, they certainly don't want to wait a few days to have their information updated in a company's CRM. It is important more now than ever before to be using the most current information that you have on a customer to present new messaging and advertising. Otherwise, you risk alienating that person less than a week from their most recent transaction. This is a result of the increased amount of exposure that we now have with companies coupled with our awareness that data can easily be captured and updated in real time. The average person sees roughly 5,000 company messages per day. If you'd like your brand to stand out from that swarm, make sure that you're speaking to their current interests, needs and situation.

Final Thoughts

I had high expectations for the Salesforce World Tour and I wasn't disappointed. The staff was friendly, the session topics were as abundant as they were diverse, and the takeaways were applicable to every industry and company size. I exited the Hynes Convention Center with more ideas and motivation than when I entered. Thank you, Salesforce.