The art of persuasion

Hey there camper!

We’re so glad you’re here 😎 All the info you need for today is below, so just pick your seat around the campfire and get stuck in.

Agenda

9.15 - 10.00

Register, pick up a snack, and chat to our exhibitors in the bar area.

10 - 10.30

SCREEN 2 | Welcome happy campers

SESSION THEMES

SCREEN 2

Persuasion: the foundations

How do you build a strong starting point for your marketing work?

SCREEN 3

Persuasion: the activities

How do you get people to take the actions you want them to?

SCREEN 5

Persuasion: the data

How do you know you’re persuading the right people in the right way?

10.30 - 11.25

  • Catherine Warrilow from The Plot

    “People buy from people” may be a cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason. Connecting with the humans behind a company can be much more persuasive for your audience than engaging with the wider brand, at least at first.

    So this talk will be exploring what having a personal brand really means (and what it doesn’t), how to personally build recognition and trust, and both the fundamental principles and outward activities you need to be thinking about.

    Whether you’re a solo business owner keen to be more influential in your industry, or you’re part of a larger organisation and want to help your CEO or other team members be better ambassadors for the business, this talk will give you the tools to get started.

  • Red Barrington from Red Star Digital and OXCOM

    Email is one of the most secure channels we have in our persuasive toolkit, because both the content and the data are totally owned and controlled by us. But with 347.3 billion emails being sent globally each day (!!!) it’s more important than ever that we stand out in people’s inboxes, creating emails they want to open, read, and respond to.

    So in this session we’ll start by looking at creative ideas for getting people to say yes to being on your list in the first place. Then we'll be learning how to send the kind of emails that people actually want to open and read – from practicalities around segmenting and creating workflows through to content advice.

    And finally we'll be nailing down ways to turn readers into buyers, with a ton of examples (both hot and not) along the way.

  • Ben Mumby-Croft from Imperial Enterprise Lab

    Great marketing starts with knowing your audience. And that means not just accepting what they think or say they'll do in the future, but understanding how they'll actually behave.

    Because all the great content and campaigns in the world can't help you if you're not clear about exactly who you're talking to, how your product is a fit for that bit of the market, and what they need to hear in order to be persuaded to buy in.

    So this talk will help you with exactly that, introducing you to a mix of interesting and super-practical concepts - like Pretotyping, Lean Startup, The Mom Test - that you can use to better understand your audience and drive your business forward.

11.25 - 12.20

  • with Paul Simpkins from Herd

    The average person spends less than one minute on a website. And it takes less than one second for them to form a first impression of any new site they visit. If it’s no good, they’ll leave. It’s a brutal world for websites.

    So this talk will offer up 10 key things to consider when building a site that converts visitors into loyal customers - from how it looks and sounds to how it works (in the back end as well as for your visitors).

    We’ll be focusing on the key things it takes to remove friction (anything that makes life more difficult for a user) and create compulsion (evoking a desire or solving a problem for them) with a whole host of real-life examples to keep things super practical.

  • with Becky Hopkin from Digital Gearbox

    Our social media feeds are busy places. So how do we cut through the clutter and stop the right people in their tracks - and then get them to take action?

    With a focus on the Meta platforms (Instagram and Facebook) this talk will be unpacking the entire journey of making a successful ad - from the auction process, how the algorithm works, and insights for choosing your audience to how to set and manage a budget and how to gather and learn from your data. Plus we’ll nail down how you make sure any ads tie in with your overall strategy, and how you can measure their wider impact as well as keep an eye on immediate ROI.

    We’ll also be thinking about how to make our ad creative as strong as possible. Partly by looking at some best-practice tips for each platform, but mainly by engaging with examples of ads - analysing the ones that have done well and the ones that have flopped, and why.

  • with Louis Lobban from Zest

    Figuring out which bits of our marketing are most effective is especially important when we don't have much money and time. But testing can be tricky, and it won't be much use to us if we end up monitoring the wrong things or not knowing how to properly interpret the results we get.

    So here we'll be exploring split tests, one of the most common ways of experimenting with marketing content. We'll look at the different types of split testing, how to know which kind to use when, and exactly how to manage it - with lots of examples along the way, and tips for avoiding the most common mistakes businesses make.

    We'll also learn how to properly analyse the results of our tests and make smart decisions based on what we find. And all without spending big money.

12.20 - 1.15

  • with Amy Kimber from Bottle PR

    There's no denying that the media has never been so saturated. But still the press offers huge potential for reaching people who might otherwise never come into contact with your brand. So this talk will be helping us learn how to overcome the challenges and embrace the opportunities of PR.

    We’ll be looking at what makes a creative, engaging PR idea – as well as how to know which media our stories would be a good fit for and how to get journalists interested. We’ll check out some handy tools for content creation too. And we’ll also be thinking about potential barriers you might face internally, and how to get all your stakeholders on board with your new plans.

    Then we’ll finish with several case studies of stereotypically ‘safe’ brands who’ve had some imaginative PR wins, taking inspiration from their creative approaches.

  • With Matt Eastland-Jones from Story Ninety-Four

    We all know the stats and the power of great video in marketing. But when we’re not experts, how do we make sure our videos actually are great?!

    This talk will help us tackle that challenge both creatively and practically. So we’ll kick off with some inspiration about the different types and formats of video we could be using in our marketing and what ingredients consistently make for an engaging watch.

    Then we’ll look briefly at the pros and cons of handling things ourselves, getting a videographer, or using a production company. Finally we’ll dive into the detail of things we need to think about before, during, and after making a video – from creating a solid brief to practical production tips.

  • with Ollie Hawkins from Zest

    Ok you've done your audience research and you've done some experimenting to see what kinds of marketing work best - but how do you know if you're really being successful?

    This talk will be looking at how to give yourself a good foundation for measurement by setting smart goals right at the start, with practical examples of the framework Zest use with their clients. Then we'll explore how to know which are the most useful metrics to keep an eye on - and how to accurately measure them.

    Then we'll end with some practical guidance for how to analyse and make sense of the data you get, and use it to inform your next campaigns and strategies.

Grab a mezze box and a slice of cake from the long hallway between the screens.

1.15 - 2.15

2.15 - 3.15

  • with Laura Hewitt from Imperial War Museums

    It's pretty hard for an organisation to be successful without marketing. But still it can be a real challenge to get others in our company to understand and appreciate the value of our work. So it can be tough to get the things we need - whether that's budget, sign-off of a creative idea, or support and input from colleagues.

    So here we'll be looking at how we can use our persuasive abilities internally, especially in situations where we don't have direct authority. We'll unpack strategies for influencing key stakeholders, as well as learn how to choose the right strategy for different situations. And we'll be getting into how we can track and show ROI for our work, as well as how to understand what different stakeholders care about and need to know.

    You'll leave armed with some clear tactical steps to make sure your marketing work and your input into the wider business is heard, seen, and respected.

3.15 - 4.30

  • with Colin Cather from Bottle PR

    The tools and techniques we use to persuade people are changing all the time. But people themselves? Not so much. The basic realities of the way humans think and feel are actually quite constant, despite our changing world.

    So here we'll be exploring some of those realities. Like what are Universal Truths – and how true are they? And what’s truth-ier – all the facts, or a good story that we can see ourselves in? How does the ‘Curse of Knowledge’ get in the way of marketing, and can ‘Cultural Imprinting’ really change people's minds?

    At the end of the day (literally, in our case) it comes down to this: if it's true (as smart marketer Jeremy Bullmore said) that “people build brands as birds build nests, from the scraps and straws they chance upon”, how can we as marketers make sure the nest-building sticks we're putting out into the world are persuasive enough to stick in people’s heads and hearts?

4.30 - 6.00

Join us in the bar area for drinks - first one’s on us!

Our practical sessions at the start of the day are designed to let you zero in on the areas most relevant to your day-to-day challenges. The sessions are split into three different tracks – you can either follow one all the way through, or hop between different tracks depending on what topics grab you. Then in the afternoon we’ll all come together for two brilliant keynotes, finishing the day by getting some big-picture insights and inspiration.

Don’t forget to stop by our exhibitor space

The fab team at 923Jobs are ready and waiting to chat about your career plans, writing CVs or job descriptions, and all things flexible working.

Outrageously friendly creative agency Herd are on hand to offer ideas for your website, branding, graphic design work, or online shop.

Business-boosting legend The Style Editor is offering free 1-1s if you want to find out how what’s in your wardrobe can help you up your game at work.

The growth wizards at Zest are all ready to be grilled on exactly how your company's digital marketing efforts can be making you more money.

And the always-cheerful Oxford College of Marketing are offering advice on practical resources and helpful courses to plug the gaps in your knowledge.

Some very good questions

  • We don’t want you getting hangry when you’re trying to learn! So we’re kicking things off with hot drinks and cinnamon buns, you’ll be getting a tasty lunch and slice of cake in the middle of the day, and your first drink at the after-party is on us. Plus there are a few snacks in your goody bag to keep you going.

  • The cinema has free, public wifi - it’s called ‘CURZON OXFORD FREE WIFI’ and you don’t need a password.

  • There’ll be people on the stands all day, from 9.15am-6pm - so you can wander around the exhibition anytime. But we don’t want you to miss out on the talks, so really the best times to engage with exhibitors are in the morning during registration (9.15-10am), at lunchtime (1.15-2.15pm), and during the after-party (4.30-6pm).

  • You’ll be happy to know that our commitment to the camping metaphor doesn’t extend to making you dig a hole in the ground. If you need the loo, just head down the long hallway that spans the entrances to the various screens. The Accessible toilets are closest to the bar, just before screen 1 where the walls are painted blue. The Men’s toilets are slightly further along, where the walls are painted green. And the Women’s toilets are a little further down again, just past screen 3 where the walls are painted yellow.

  • We know it’s a full-on day and you might need a bit of down time to re-charge. So during the lunch slot (1.15-2.15pm) we’ve designated Screen 2 as a quiet space. You can take your food in there and just sit quietly, away from the crowds and with no pressure to chat to anyone.

  • We’re staying put. All the sessions, including lunch and the after-party drinks, are happening in the Curzon. Easy.

  • We’ve decided not to. In our regular meet-ups we always steer clear of recording sessions, so we’re sticking to that same IRL ethos today too. But we’ll be emailing you next week with all the session slides, so you can at least look over all the content no matter which talks you choose to go to today.

    And we do have a fab team taking some photos and videos of the day, so hopefully the best moments will be captured. If you don’t want your image to be used in any promo materials for Marketing Camp events then just let us know on hey@marketingcamp.uk

Our partners in grime

For so many conferences, sponsorship is just about slapping logos on anything that stays still long enough. Not here. Our partners - the fab team at Oxford College of Marketing and the digital growth wizards at Zest - have contributed time and ideas as well as money, they’ll be sharing their knowledge in various talks across the day, they’ve offered some brilliant giveaways, and they’ll be around and keen to chat throughout the event and beyond.