Call To Action Conference 2016: Mack Fogelson

Mack Fogelson at Call To Action Conference 2016

DISCLAIMER: This post is written as a live blog from Call To Action Conference 2016. There may be typos and grammar to make my high school English teachers weep. Please excuse those … it’s a fast=paced conference with back-to-back sessions and no time for proofing or even proper writing.

Next up is Mack Fogelson.  She starts by talking about how to compete with folks with huge budgets.  She uses Chipotle up against McDonalds.

Chipotle focused on messaging around changing food sourcing, community outreach, etc.  This drove HUGE gains.

So what drives growth in the digital age?

It takes more than being stellar at every touch point – that’s what everyone is doing.  You need to be authentic and human.  So it’s not about how you’re company is packaged and more about communicating who your company is.

We are challenged with unrelenting change and that change is impacting how people interact with companies and how companies need to respond.  They need purpose.

PURPOSE DRIVES EVERYTHING

Start by positioning around your purpose.  An ideal is a belief system that drives who you are.  Your purpose is where there is a challenge in the world and that challenge intersects with who you are and what you believe.

Dove’s focus into help women feel good about their bodies.  Their marketing strategy is aligned with this and has been for 10 years.  They have experienced a 1.5 billion dollar jump in sales.

Meet Real People – After building persona they found existing clients

You need to understand what could stop a conversion and go one step further – understand what else that person will be doing at the time and who else they may be looking at.  You need to understand what gets in the way of a conversion and address that in advance to help your visitor navigate to a conversion.

You need to get to know your users and make their experience personal.

Back to Chipotle – After making people sick they stepped up and outlined their food safety systems and sharing what they’re doing with others.  After building so much trust it’s actually working.  They are now set to dominate over McDonalds in 2017 forward.

And that’s what it takes to win today.  Authenticity.

Remember:

  • Purpose provides focus that drives business growth.
  • Growth comes from doing the work to connect with people.
  • You must continually prove you are a worthwhile company.