If you weren’t able to join me at the Bellevue Hotel for the Digital Summit conference in Philadelphia, don’t sweat it. I’ve got you covered. I was there, as these photos prove:
And I took copious editorialized notes on everything that mattered most to digital marketers. I also had my iPad record every session and then summarize them with Apple Intelligence, so there’s that, too.
Multiple presenters referenced not trying to boil the ocean when it comes to AI visibility efforts. Multiple presenters and attendees debated the success but ickiness of “best of” lists to help with AI visibility. Most presentations and conversations circled the idea of finding and using the humanity through the AI.
Let’s get into it. Because there is so much to cover over two full days of conferencing, I’ve broken sessions and topics into separate LinkedIn articles, all linked from here with the top takeaway. I hope you find this helpful.
Table of Contents:
- When AI urges you to speed up, take time to slow down. It’ll make you a better marketer.
- Directly actionable tips for B2B marketing.
- With AI search, brand is more important than ever. So get branding advice from the massive rebrand project of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- HubSpot worked really hard to figure out how to improve AI visibility. Now you can learn from their efforts.
- What can the Philadelphia Eagles and NASA teach you about building community? Turns out, a lot.
- You need better ROI. Two marketing experts guide you through how to get better ROI.
- You need more and better content and social activity. Two marketing experts guide you through how to improve your content and social reach.
1. Starting at the Beginning – the Opening Keynote with a Whole New Way to Consider AI-assisted Work
With AI allowing us to super speed up, let’s all take a moment to super slow down, and really consider and think through and analyze and be human. Sloth Mode beats Cow Mode. I promise that’ll make sense once you read a recap of the stellar opening keynote. But in short:
- Speed is easy. Cheap. Abundant.
- When speed is easy, judgement carries a premium.
Learn from Ann Handley, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author and Keynote Speaker
2. Lead Generation Advice for B2B
Several sessions (including two from the same person!) focused on how “70% of the B2B buyer journey is complete before your prospects ever talk with a salesperson.” That means prospects are discovering brands, weighing them against competitors, developing a short-list, hopefully adding you to the short-list, THEN finally hitting your website and taking an action.
Get multiple tips on how B2Bs can thrive in a world of AI search
3. Since Brand is So Vital with AI Search, Learn from the Rebrand of New York’s Most Famous Museum
Cynthia Round worked for Ogilvy before being recruited to help the Metropolitan Museum of Art rethink its brand. Did you know The Met is now the most visited tourist attraction in New York, beating out the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and my favorite hole-in-the-wall bun joint in Chinatown? The point is, Cynthia is cool, and here are her 4 key takeaways:
- Emotional bond is worth 2x customer satisfaction.
- How is YOUR brand significant in the lives of loyal users?
- Brand = relationship
- Engage/inspire/empower staff to build a 360-degree irresistible relationship.
Learn how The Met’s experience can inspire you
4. If HubSpot’s Doing It, You Should Probably Be, Too
Christina Clark of HubSpot’s digital marketing team shared what one of the most successful marketing companies in history did to win AI visibility. Her 3 most important actions to take right now are:
- Run your AEO KPI audit: Pick one metric you’re not winning and fix that first.
- Build your first 10 prompts: Start at the decision stage. What is your ICP asking AI the week before they buy?
- Do a citation spot check: Pick your three most important category prompts. Run them. See who gets cited.
Learn from HubSpot’s case study in AI search optimization
5. Even Massive Brands Struggle with Fan Connection
The SVP of marketing & Media for the Philadelphia Eagles as well as two members of the communications team from NASA spoke separately about managing fandom (and how to build fans even when you aren’t a billion dollar NFL franchise or…you know…going to the moon. They each separately came to the same advice of plan extremely heavily, and then also plan to have to blow up your plan and pivot pivot pivot. There is such great stuff in here, including Rise the stuffed moon guy in a hat developed by a middle schooler.
Learn how Eagles and spacecrafts are just like you
6. You Need Better ROI! Two Experts Show You How to Get Better ROI!
Two veteran digital marketers separately exposed how you can cut costs and increase sales to achieve better return on your marketing dollars.
One of the playbooks:
- Diagnose the business, not the campaign(s).
- Pick one business metric.
- Get click-based attribution you can defend.
- Test your best-looking channels for incrementally.
- Create a structured creative extraction system of what customers actually say and turn it into a fixed set of message pillars.
- Move the money upstream and measure the lift downstream.
7. Don’t Forget the Important of Social Media (Especially for Organic Visibility)
Two master Connectors (a term for social superspreaders coined by Malcolm Gladwell) share their tips for superspreading socially, and how that is so incredibly important for organic visibility.
According to one of them, strong AI-ready content strategies show:
- Defined content pillars
- Repeatable formats
- Voice documentation
- Guardrails for AI use
