This year’s LMA Fest focused on revenue, sustainability, and collaboration, all vital concepts for the continued growth and expansion of both local and large-scale businesses. A deep emphasis on locally targeted marketing was the driving force of many conversations during the three-day summit.
The 2022 LMA Fest in downtown Chicago was a unique and modernized spin on the traditional yearly summit hosted by the Local Media Association. Insightful collaboration between some of the most influential big brands created buzzworthy energy that successfully inspired and challenged those in attendance. RevContent was incredibly grateful to be able to join in on such a valuable collaboration in the heart of Chicago.
The primary focus of this year’s event is going local, which we have a personal affinity for. Specifically, large-scale brands are emphasizing their focus on content marketing locally in an effort to increase both their revenue and reach.
The keys to any successful content marketing are consistency and relevancy, which summarize their primary efforts. Below are the most powerful takeaways we gathered from this year’s LMA Fest.
Focus on Connection at Local Levels
We’ve all heard the saying, “It takes a village”, and at this year’s event, the concept of partnership, collaboration, and good old fashion human connection in a digital world was on full display.
One suggestion proposed at the LMA Fest this year was to artfully connect with local media outlets. Although this may feel trepidatious, it proves vital to the amount of reach your brand can get.
Deloitte has suggested focusing on authenticity, which they plan to put into action as they work with Atlanta-based media outlets. The same can be true for any metropolitan area, as larger media outlets share their reach into smaller, pocket-sized communities.
At RevContent, we understand the importance of building lasting relationships that feel organic simply because they are. Trust is one of the key elements we focus on with our targeted marketing strategies. We acknowledge that though these intentional relationships take effort to build, they are vital to your brand’s ability to scale.
Collaboration is Key
Let’s be honest; there are always going to be people or companies that can take on aspects of the job and do it better.
Maintaining humility and understanding this is not a weakness but a strength that can drastically change the trajectory of a business. Keeping things in-house shuts the door to any collaboration that could expand a company’s reach.
Collaboration is absolutely crucial when it comes to reaching the local level, especially for well-known, large brands. Making connections with smaller brands that have reputable relationships in local communities is beneficial for both you and their brand.
Another critical element to ensuring collaboration is successful as intended is to diversify the brands you choose to work with. This is not the time to focus on a niche, as your brand seeks widespread reach. This further perpetuates the feeling of relevancy and connection, which is the ultimate goal.
Get To Know Your Audience on a Deeper Level
If you’re noticing a theme, you’re not alone. This year, there was a lot of talk focused on creating a deeper connection within the industry, but more importantly, with the audience. Especially within a turbulent market, it can be anxiety-inducing not to know what will resonate or forge a bond with the audience at hand.
A way to not only ease this anxiety but to deepen the local connections your brand is working so hard to build is to actively seek to understand them. Getting to know individual consumer markets can provide peace, especially in the wake of significant world events. Cultural variations are one vital element to consider, as empathy is translatable to all humans.
Again, focusing on humanizing is relatable to everyone, regardless of cultural background. Genuine empathy and connection in content marketing have the ability to create a radical impact.
RevContents Roadmap to Achievement
Here’s the best news of all – At RevContent, we’ve already been focusing our energy on elevating and reimagining the content creation and native advertising landscape way before LMA Fest.
Here’s what we already knew: RevContent is the most powerful and forward-thinking advertising content platform in the industry, hands down.
With our targeted and intentional focus on building brand reputation, it comes as no surprise that we feel our presence is essential to the success of the mission these large-scale brands are embarking on.
One of the most significant takeaways from the LMA Fest was the need to prioritize human connection from the local level and up. With content marketing, it can be all too easy to go for a broad approach in an attempt to gather as many potential clients under one umbrella as possible.
The problem with this is that it removes the relatability factor, which is what makes customers and clients truly feel seen. By focusing on humanizing the entire marketing experience, you are ultimately humanizing your brand. Truth be told, the smaller-scale community connections become the most valuable of them all.
Onwards and Downwards
By honing in on local-level marketing, big brands can scale their businesses by getting into the hearts and minds of the most vital consumers in the market.
Increasing relevance, humanizing content, and intentional collaboration have the power to completely transform the company’s experience. Although it may have even sounded counterintuitive initially, focusing on climbing down to the local level has clearly moved to the forefront of all our minds.
We eagerly look forward to this conversation at the next LMA fest in 2023.
