My Top Six Marketing Lessons from Web Summit 2022

What is Web Summit??

One of the world’s largest tech conferences, Web Summit “brings together the people and companies redefining the global tech industry”. It has something for everyone, with a variety of talks, workshops and activities on topics ranging from digital marketing and content creation to blockchain and venture capital.?

I spent most of my time flitting between the PandaConf stage, which housed most of the marketing sessions, and the Creatiff/Content Makers stages for tips on content creation and graphic design, with a smattering of other topics thrown in there for good measure.??

Highlights/Key Takeaways?

Graphic Design?

Accessibility as Foundation of Design: Jane Geraghty, Global CEO at Landor at Fitch?

Accessibility is (rightfully) becoming a priority for many industries, and the world of design is no different. However, it is apparent that we’ve got a long way to go. This session delivered some home truths of why it is so important to be inclusive in design. 1/15 people in the world have a disability, whilst 80% of all product-related issues are to do with design. On a positive note, it is easy to change this, with the overarching theme of this talk being “small changes make a big difference”.??

Confessions of Modern Design: Yuhki Yamashita, Chief Product Officer at Figma?

Yuhki discussed how design is changing, but that the processes aren’t quite catching up, describing our current situation as a living work in progress (WiP). But how can we make progress in a WiP world? Yuhki suggested the following:?

1. Review work at a predictable cadence rather than the perfect moment?
2. The form that feedback takes is just as important as the feedback itself?
3. Be less precise about what goes out?

As a self-confessed perfectionist, the last one in particular sounds terrifying but he’s absolutely right. You can spend 8 hours on getting something 95% perfect, or 16 hours on something 100% perfect. And when is anything ever perfect anyway??

Branding?

How to Make Terrible Branded Content: Graham McDonnell, Global Head of Brand and Creative Strategy at Time?

This session took a back to front approach. Rather than tell us what we need to do, Graham told us what we shouldn’t do! He regaled the audience with hilarious anecdotes from his illustrious career and defined the top mistakes to avoid when creating branded content.?

This was also very helpful in reminding attendees that mistakes are normal and everyone makes them. What’s most important is that we learn from them.?

Strengthen Brand via Community: Gail Arnon, CMO at Fiverr?

We all know how much things have changed since the early 2000s but having key differences between then and now explained was sobering yet exciting at the same time.?

1. From 1 screen to 1,000s of screens – TV has shifted from the sole source of info to multi-streaming now the most popular?
2. Generational shift – Gen Z will be most of our consumers?
3. Measurements killing creativity – the way we measure now is different??
4. Creators are the new actors – thanks to micro influencers, the general public is now in a starring role?
5. Brands need a social agenda – brands need to represent something other than a marketplace?

The overall takeaway from this was that community is the new driving force, and brands need to adapt or risk being left behind. Power to the people indeed!?

Digital Marketing?

Digital Marketing Strategy for Startups: Soha Hohnecker, Head of Startup Marketing EMEA at AWS?

I was keen to attend this session as, despite having a good knowledge of digital marketing strategy, there’s always more to learn, especially when it comes to startups. I was not disappointed! I learnt some new concepts, and revisited others I was already familiar with.??

Soha segmented (see what I did there) her learnings into 3 principles:?

1. Customer obsession – utilise buyer personas and adopt a content marketing approach?
2. Deliver results –having a clear value proposition at the start and using SMART objectives??
3. Learn and be curious – learning from your data from platforms such as Google Analytics??

Search Beyond the Search: Neil Patel, Co-Founder at Neil Patel Digital?

One of my favourite things about digital marketing is to geek out over is analytics and data, so I was delighted to listen to Neil share his expertise on social media algorithms.??

His hot tips for optimising your social media content were:?

• YouTube – the first 24 hours are critical?
• LinkedIn and TikTok – focus on getting engaged comments within the first 4 hours of a post?
• Facebook – long videos are best, ideally over 5 minutes long?
• Instagram – utilise live content at least twice a week?
• Google – prioritise brand queries above all else?

Summary?

I could bore you for another 1,000 words with more details about the conference, and I haven’t even begun to talk about the beautiful city of Lisbon (and the fantastic food and wine)!??

This was my first international conference, and an all-round brilliant experience; thank you to Sunderland Software City for this incredible opportunity. I’m looking forward to putting some of my learning into practice, watch this space…??

Written by Laura Richards