Online Marketing Rockstars - The Rush

Nevertheless, anyone who was looking for me would have found me either at a keynote speech or rushing to one. Always with my smartphone in my hand and posting on Instagram (speaking of which: Are you following us on Instagram yet?). It seems like a lot has been building up at OMR over the past two years. I can't think of any other explanation for why so many exciting topics were often covered in just 20 minutes instead of being explored in more depth. Two days really aren't enough for so much content! Next time, I'd like to see an extra day with more in-depth presentations. Or maybe I'll attend more masterclasses next time.

But now to the content. Is it even possible to take anything in within 15 minutes? I was a little surprised myself, but yes! So much that I can't summarize it all in one blog article. So, over the next few days and weeks, I'll try to refine my notes on the various topics and incorporate them into our blog articles. If you concentrate and filter all the input, you can already gain some basic insights from the second day of OMR:
 

I can't even begin to describe how much was said at this trade fair about TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and moving images in general. The topic was often addressed directly, but every now and then – and now hold on to your hats – it was simply taken for granted! Anyone who has previously viewed videos of any kind as a nice-to-have will find it increasingly difficult in the future. Whether paid or organic content, video rocks. This applies across all target groups, but especially to the much-discussed and seemingly very mysterious Gen Z.

Videos increase engagement, and user-generated videos on TikTok even more so! If you're not careful, you'll accidentally sell a few more products thanks to an influencer's TikTok video. If you pay attention, you can even amplify this effect, reach a new target group, and make your brand awareness explode! Let creators create, but amplify the hype!

Since I first started looking into content marketing and organic reach in 2014, I've been reading the same thing online every few months: “Content is king,” “The rise of SEO,” “Why content marketing is so important right now,” “Twelve things you need to know about SEO NOW.” Many of these articles say that both topics are more important now than ever before. That you can now be successful with both! Woooow!

I was all the happier when Björn Dakko from the podcast SEOPRESSO  (Podcast in German) and his great guests Lea Manthey and Saskia Grote from Meltwater finally dispelled this narrative and said it like it is: "SEO is trendy? It's an evergreen!" Invest the time! Update and maintain your websites, create good and regular content! At the end of your hero's journey, you'll be rewarded with high and stable Google rankings and, as a result, a certain degree of crisis stability! Because if you're easy to find anyway, you'll spend significantly less on expensive ads.

Oh, my heart is beating faster and that tingling feeling from my first days of content creation is back!

Personalization is also likely to become a much bigger issue in the future. We all want customized products! As individuals, we are no longer easily satisfied with off-the-shelf goods. This also applies to communication. I want tailor-made solutions for my individual problems. Don't tell me how great you are! Tell me how you can solve my problem. And don't bother me with things that don't interest me anyway! Topics such as customer journey work, but not (anymore) with one-size-fits-all solutions, but with surgical precision and... friendship marketing!

This doesn't always have to be expensive! Even small gestures such as hand-personalized email marketing can have a big impact. And of course, there are hardly any limits at the top end. A showcase demonstrated how, in the future, clients will be welcomed two days after signing a contract with a personalized landing page that includes a video automatically tailored to their life situation and product! It's almost eerie when even the name is recognized by the system and integrated into the audio track of the video.

I found one sentence particularly interesting: “We could also do this in real time, but then our clients would get scared.”

We're back to marketing like it was 20 years ago! Get out your books, we're writing a test! No, of course not. But many of the current developments in the advertising market do indicate that the two original core disciplines of strategy and creation could become more important than anything else in marketing in the future. Ad hacks will become increasingly rare, partly because the data available is becoming increasingly scarce! Great content of any kind (but preferably in video form, of course) rocks, shocks, tops... and converts!

Data remains important, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to collect, both for website operators and for Google and its ilk. As a result, campaigns are becoming less and less rigidly data-driven and can get by with fewer creatives. The factors of psychology/empathy, strategy, and creativity will therefore define which campaigns are successfully clicked on! Honestly? As a psychology-savvy strategist with a penchant for good content (I love content marketing!), I'm excited about this development!

I immediately dug out my needs pyramid again!

Many of the trends discussed at OMR have already been heard in one form or another in recent years. Some were already known, others were just ideas, and now we have confirmation. I would have liked to have heard more in-depth information on many of the topics on the main stages! Due to time constraints, practical examples were often too superficial! Some presentations spent half their time explaining the topic and then, understandably, had to cram their approach, results, and outlook into the last few minutes. That's a shame and should be done differently next time. Nevertheless, it's good to see that many of the OMR topics had already been discussed at our strategy and creative meetings at Drive. This will allow us to focus even more on them in the future and continue to deliver top performance for our clients.

And damn! It was good to be at an “offline” trade fair again!

Bye bye, OMR! See you next year!