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October 4, 2021 Content Chat Recap: Content Marketing World 2021 Takeaways

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Last week was the hybrid Content Marketing World 2021 conference, which joined thousands of marketers and content professionals for one of the biggest annual marketing industry events.

In this #ContentChat, we debrief from our CMWorld experience and share how we will put our conference learnings into action. Read the full recap below, where we share our favorite sessions and takeaways so far, how we plan to apply our learnings to our work, and lessons for marketers planning a virtual or hybrid event experience.

Q1: Whose sessions did you love? What were some of your top takeaways from your favorite sessions?

There are 100+ CMWorld sessions, each PACKED with valuable lessons that can help you transform your marketing strategy. Early highlights from the community include Jay Baer’s session on How to Lower The Three DrawBridges of Content Success…

Jacquie Chakirelis’ session on Why Purpose-Driven Content Will Drive Your Marketing Strategy…

Andrew Davis’ keynote on Embrace the Constraints: Why Adding Constraints Sparks Creativity, Inspires Action & Creates Better Content…

Ann Handley… everything… including her keynote on The Art of Storytelling: Telling True Stories Well…

John Jantsch’s session on Rethinking the Customer Journey…

Rob Walch’s session on Podcasting – How to Start & How to Promote…

And sessions from our #ContentChat community! Including Erika Heald’s breakout on How to Conduct a Social Media Audit That Helps Your Community Thrive…

Carmen Hill’s session on Content Modeling for Marketers; Making Your Content Work Harder So You Don’t Have To…

Maureen Jann’s breakout on Leveraging Content To Build Connections (And Gain New Clients)…

And Shane Shaps’s breakout on How Employee Engagement Can Tell a Better Story.

Q2: How do you debrief from #CMWorld? What are you going to do to put your learnings into action?

Generally, it’s best to revisit your notes immediately after the conference while the content is still fresh in your mind.

Many of us capture session-specific notes that we later mine for takeaways and actions.

Consider having a lunch and learn with your team or a group of friends to discuss your learnings.

If you spoke at CMWorld, consider posting your script to your blog.

Many of us plan to create content based on our learnings from the event.

Q3: For those of you who attended in-person, how was that experience, and what learnings can you share for marketers planning similar in-person hybrid events?

Given the state of COVID, many in-person attendees were slightly hesitant to engage with new people. We anticipate that in-person events will feel awkward for many months to come.

To help address this challenge, we recommend that event planners offer badges or ribbons that provide visual cues of who is interested in engaging with new people, and their preferred level of contact. For example, we’ve seen some conferences use green, yellow, and red lanyards or wristbands to designate “Hug friendly,” “handshakes only,” or “no touch.”

A few other learnings for hybrid event planners: Ensure any in-person sessions are live streamed for an optimal attendee experience. At a minimum, post-session replays quickly.

Designate whether attendees are virtual or in-person to help coordinate meetups.

Clearly communicate what sessions are available to attendees of each type.

Q4: How satisfied were you with the online event interface? What advantages or disadvantages did you encounter? Was it easy to connect with other attendees, both during the sessions and for week-long networking?

The virtual event interface allowed attendees to quickly and easily download speaker slides. This was a major benefit to the experience.

I share a few of my highlights from the virtual interface, including the ability to switch the agenda to my time zone.

As far as drawbacks, some sessions ended early and immediately flowed into the next session. This means that some virtual attendees joined sessions partway through (despite the agenda saying they just started).

Erika wishes she could adjust the “possible meeting times” that the app provided. Again, we recommend designating attendees as virtual or in-person so people can arrange meetings.

Q5: Who is someone that made your #CMworld event experience special?

The community shares love with those that made our #CMworld event experience great. Who made your event experience amazing? Let them know.

About Alek Irvin

Alek Irvin is a content marketing professional with a rich history in social media management, executive thought leadership development, and media relations. As a consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, he creates human-focused content and thought leadership platforms that help brand leaders connect and engage with their communities. Alek has worked with a range of startups and Fortune 500 companies across the B2B technology and consumer spaces, including IBM, Dell Technologies, Hitch Works, Emtrain, Integrate, and Frameable. Connect with him on Twitter @AlekIrvin.

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