actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

I’m most likely communing with my eyelids when you get this newsletter after an overnight flight back from California.

When possible I’ve learned to avoid red-eye flights that don’t allow sufficient time to relax into the in-flight experience before catching as close to a full night’s sleep as possible. I consider this a benefit of working for myself since I no longer need to pack as much as possible into limited holidays and vacation days.

But post-Social Media Marketing World in San Diego, I stopped in Los Angeles to visit my sister.

To improve my return travel experience, I chose to fly JetBlue out of the significantly less crowded and more passenger-friendly Burbank airport. 

Despite the external obligations you have including who you work for, your financial means, and/or personal commitments, you still have options to take care of yourself.

• Reduce travel stress by leaving at less busy times to avoid crowds. Although super-early flights can cut into your seep time.

• Arrive when it’s easy to get home. I learned the hard way that it’s impossible to return from an NYC airport on July 4^th night due to the fireworks.

• Give yourself a small treat. It can be a quiet coffee, a fun book or magazine or even a special service. On a February trip to Chicago, my husband treated me to a shoeshine for my snow stained boots.

Since I’ve been hyper-busy at Social Media Marketing World 2018 and on the road visiting my sister, you’ll have to wait until next week for detailed highlights of the event.

That said here’s an insider’s view of my post-conference follow up. As the veteran of 3 previous SMMW conferences, I’ve got this covered.

Use this list as the starting point for your post-conference game plan.

1. Check the conference social media feeds. Engage and comment on other attendees’ shares. Also upload any unshared content you have.

2. Write thank you notes, where possible do this by hand. Ann Handley does this for all of MarketingProfs B2B Forum presenters. Include everyone who helped you during the event. At a minimum, this means conference employees and people who took the time to meet with you.

3. Follow up with everyone you met. Don’t let contacts go cold. Reach out in a friendly way but don’t push for meetings or sales! For sponsors, this does NOT give you permission to spam everyone whose badge you scanned.

4. Expand your social media networks selectively. Reach out to people who will remember you and where possible include a personal note.

5. Schedule follow-up from meetings. This applies to current and potential clients. Don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach.

6. Write your conference content. If you’re late to the game and are only thinking about this after the conference you can still create post-conference content. Here’s how to create conference content.

7. Summarize your conference take-aways for co-workers and colleagues. Where appropriate hold a lunch and learn.

8. Schedule time to view the conference recordings. Ensure you’re up-to-date with the latest trends. (BTW—Here’s a link to a SMMW18 virtual ticket for those of you who want a copy.)

9. Assess the conference from a personal perspective. Conferences are key to business. Use attendance at each one to improve your skills. For your-eyes-only, determine what you did well and where you can improve for future events.

10. Give yourself some well deserved me-time off. Do something that’s not work related that gives you pleasure.

I look forward to getting back to my usual New York based work routine especially as the weather continues to turn to spring.

Happy marketing,,
Heidi

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

P.S. If you’re hosting an event, I love to participate as a speaker.

Conference Blog Post Content: 20 Types You Can Steal

What The First Facebook Usage Decline Really Means For Your Marketing

How To Attend Conferences: Ultimate Marketing Guide To Generating Business

Panic Proof – Book Interview

Heidi Cohen Interviews Jess Ostroff

New book – Panic Proof: How the Right Virtual Assistant Can Save Your Sanity and Grow Your Business

Q: What’s your best piece of advice for readers looking to improve their marketing?

A: My biggest piece of advice for readers is to identify what you’re uniquely qualified to do and what you love to you. Then, relegate, automate, or delegate the rest. This will allow you to focus on big, important projects, come up with great new creative ideas, and be the best manager, boss, teammate, and colleague you can possibly be for all the other people you work with.

This takes some time and some soul-searching, but it’s possible for everyone to get to a point where they are doing what they love or what they are great at at least 80% of the time.

Continue reading

While I’ve been laser-focused on Social Media Marketing World 2018 and all things social media for the past week, here are 2 tips all of my readers can use:

• Help A Reporter Out (aka: HARO). Started by my friend and colleague Peter Shankman, this 3x daily emailing delivers PR opportunities directly to your inbox. Astute marketers will not only check it for their own business but also use it as an excuse to reach out to their network.
  
  

• Muck Rack’s Newsletter. Though I’ve known Gregory Gallant from the New York social media scene for years, I recently subscribed to their newsletter and have been impressed enough to recommend that you sign up too.

• Fill your social media fields with Brand24's Top 100 Digital Marketers for 2018. Heidi Cohen ranked #17 for digital marketers beyond social media...
  
  

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  ... and 84th overall.

• Heidi Cohen was featured in Shane Barker’s massive roundup post on SEO. It’s worth your time since it covers many key challenges for marketers in 2018.