Co-written by Andrea Dunbeck and Justin Hastings

What a week! Now that the panels, discussions, presentations, chats, serendipitous introductions and nightly events have concluded, we attempt to wrap our week in Austin into four central themes that we brought back for HB to make our work (and our clients’ work) more successful.

As a reminder, you can relive all of the action here.

Trust

Andrea spoke about this a few days ago. Throughout our time in Austin, we heard discussions surrounding the idea of audience trust and authenticity. Only when content speaks directly and honestly to the audience will a brand perform well – and this happens over a long, incremental period of time, not in short, sporadic bursts. With the right campaign, trust can be measured through speed and reach – audiences will make quicker decisions through a trustworthy relationship.

“Trust can be measured in speed and reach. Vendors can make things easier in order to solve a problem – therefore, you can work more efficiently and make more money. Reach comes from sharing stories with your friends.” – Liz Strauss, founder of SOBcon and Inside-Out Thinking, from What’s So [Bleeping] Hard About Social ROI?

In fact, multiple presenters talked about getting out of the user’s way, allowing for individual brand experience and exploration. Technology should be calm and unobtrusive, using clean, simple design and user experiences to communicate messages. Continue reading →

Day 4 at SXSWi spurred many conversations around trust. Panelists, speakers and attendees alike agreed that one of the hardest parts of marketing is building trust. Trust between client and agency, between brands and consumers and trust with the media.

Given my work with HB, in which I only work with business to business clients, I was particularly intrigued by the premise of our last session of the day, Everything You Need to Know about B2B Marketing. One of the presenters, Lauren Vaccarello, proposed that trust is exceptionally important for B2B marketers, as these companies often offer products and services with much higher risk than many consumer products, putting more at stake for their prospects and customers.

Take her example, the T-shirt. How much is at stake for me as a consumer to buy a new T-shirt? Maybe the size won’t be right or I won’t like the fabric – I can always return it. Maybe the return policy at the store where I bought the shirt stinks. I could give it to my friend or donate it. In the worst case scenario, I throw the T-shirt away and lose $20. Not so bad, right?

But what about a several thousand dollar software package? Now we’re talking big risks and lots of stakeholders.

Given this, the pressure is on for B2B marketers to build a high level of trust with their prospective customers, and to maintain it with existing customers. But trust doesn’t happen overnight. It starts out small and only grows if you nurture it. This is why, the presenters argued, it is so important to exhaust every resource and tool you can to get to know your audience inside and out. Don’t just use social media to broadcast, leverage the conversations going on in tools like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to listen to who your audience is and what they want. Do some of your customers like what you do? Find out why and tell everyone you can about it. Better yet, let them tell others through social media and case studies. Don’t stop at email marketing and list building, invest in SEO and constantly research your competition. You get the idea.

The energy and inspiration builds at SXSW, and Justin and I look forward to Day 5, our final day, with both excitement and a bit of disappointment. It’s hard to believe the ride is almost over!

It’s day 4 at SXSW Interactive and there’s so much to digest… and plenty more that we’ve missed! However, there are few things worth mentioning about life in Austin this week:

1. The volunteer staff continues to amaze. Whenever you’re distressed, a helpful human donning a red t-shirt smiles and asks, “how can I help you?” A great team!
2. The improved weather makes for happier conference-goers. We witnessed a drastic increase in the percentage of smiles since the sun rolled in Sunday morning.
3. The Texas BBQ from Iron Works was fantastic. A down-and-dirty atmosphere combined with fast and friendly service made for a great meal. A must!
4. The night life and culture are other-worldly. For a city that isn’t too big, the number of available restaurants and bars within walking distance is impressive. And everyone is friendly!

We look forward to digesting much of the things we’ve learned over the past few days. I’m sure there will be a “SXSW hangover,” but the creative energy in Austin is sure to provide ample opportunities for myself, HB, and our clients.

Today the sun came out in Austin, lifting spirits and shedding both literal and figurative light on the many SXSWi sessions I’ve attended so far. I revisited my notes and tweets from the diverse set of presentations and panels, and identified a few reoccurring themes. I’ve selected a few of my tweets that best capture these themes below.

Truth

We are craving story that gives us new insight or some new way of looking at the world. Vision. #SXgetlit

User/audience first

What are the things you want to tell your customer? What do they want to know/hear? The intersection is attention hot spot #SXattention

Ad budgets may be better spent to do something FOR your audience, to entertain them #SXentertain

Onion storytelling

Says @jimbradysp we have to break pattern of traditional storytelling, use layers and multiple mediums to tell compelling story #SXstories

Perfect story storm brings developers, reporters and designers together #SXstories

Sustainable content flow

Challenge for brands in digital marketing is shift from one way conversation to active dialogue #SXvoice

Successful content can’t be one and done, must be a continued series, sustained and owned #SXentertain

Courage

When it comes to #SoMe, intuition can be more effective than best practices #SXsm4orgs

Brands afraid to leak details, publishers eager to do so #SXentertain

We asked John Whalen, Founder and UX Lead of Brilliant Experience, how does the UX team integrate into the workflow of strategy, design, and development?

Hey y’all. Today was a full day, packed with five sessions, a dizzying number of tweets and many new friends. Through it all, you better believe I learned a lot. To follow some of the gems I gathered from sessions on brands, new media and content generation and distribution, check me out on Twitter @ACDunbeck, or search for Twitter chats from the sessions I attended: #SXentertain, #SXsm4orgs, #SXCS, #SXlocalchat, #SXRainn.

Outside of these sessions, here are the top three things I learned about SXSW as a conference today:

1. SXSW staff workers and volunteers rock.
They are everywhere you need them to be when you need them to be there, offering directions, recommendations, jokes and local trivia. From the shuttle drivers who double as tour guides to the young woman who appeared out of nowhere on the street in the rain to say “can I help you find anything?,”SXSW workers consistently go above and beyond.

2. SXSW attendees are in a hurry. All the time.
There is a half hour between each session allowing attendees time to move between campus buildings. Unfortunately, because rooms fill up at least fifteen minutes before each session, it’s been pouring every day and this year may be one of the most highly attended Interactive conferences ever, most attendees watch the clock and shuffle out of presentations early. This causes a steady stream of distraction for the last 15-20 minutes of each session. I’d love to judge these people, if only i weren’t one of them, compelled to sneak out myself to ensure I nab a seat at my next destination.

3. There are no such things as meals, and eating is a race.
In the roaring sea of SXSWer crowds, one cannot help but constantly worry about the next meal. Whether running between sessions or navigating unfamiliar streets in the rain, there never seems to be enough time to find a restaurant, get there and enjoy food sitting down. Today, Justin and I waited at the Sheraton hotel after a session to grab a bite before heading to our next building. It was 1:30, and the bartender assured us he could start serving us food at 2. At 1:55 when we couldn’t bear the hunger pains and looming crankiness any longer, we checked again to see if we could put in our order. Turns out the bar doesn’t serve food until 2:30. So we hurried to the convention center to purchase and devour grilled cheese sandwiches standing up before hustling outside to catch a shuttle to our next presentation.

We carry fruit and multiple granola bars with us at all times to avoid total breakdown.

More to come as Justin and I tackle day three of SXSW! Are you having fun yet?

We asked Anthony Batt: how important is it for brands’ entertaining content to tie directly to their product or service?

We experienced several engaging sessions during day 2 of SXSW. Here are some of the best tweets that encapsulate each talk:

Rude Awakening: Content Strategy Is Super Hard

Content strategy should be extended to all communication channels, not just the web. #sxcs

— Staci Baird (@girljournalist) March 10, 2012

the #sxsw #sxcs panel is killing it. Content strategy is about getting business stakeholders and editorial teams speaking the same language

— Contently (@contently) March 10, 2012

Entertain or Fail

Think of audience first, brand last.Ask, what would my audience just love to see? #entertain #sxsw

— Chandler Chicco (@CCCVitalSigns) March 10, 2012

Best Practices: Native + Web Hybrid Mobile Apps

@CharlieTuna of Flipboard: First create a great user experience in mobile, figure out the web+native piece second. #SXSW #mHealth #NativeWeb

— Jim Dayton (@JimDayton) March 10, 2012

Your Marketing Sucks: Why You Need to Think Local

Large national brands should consider having a dedicated page for each of their locations. #localchat

— Mark Hayden (@MarkHayden64) March 10, 2012

Full of delays, twists and turns and unexpected rewards, day one at SXSW was particularly satisfying when considered in light of the pearls of wisdom Justin and I gleaned from the second session in our day. In this session, “Get lit: Why story matters,” speaker Jill Meyers of Austin’s “American Short Fiction” spoke about the fundamentals of a good story: voice, conflict, and insight. As Justin and I walked to a cab from our final event at 10pm last night, I reflected on the day’s events and realized ours was a truly good story. Let me show you what I mean.

Voice
In anticipation of the big event, Justin and I began crafting our voice early. Tweeting to followers in advance and blogging for friends and colleagues to enjoy the SXSW experience along with us, we developed an authentic means by which to tell our SXSW story.

Conflict
Despite our successful efforts to reach Austin early after a 90 minute drive from our San Antonio office in the rain, and to allow over an hour at the convention center to register for our prized SXSW badges (required for entrance into any and every event), upon arrival we faced a breathtaking crowd of people struggling to form a line up and down the multi-block-long halls of the building. We watched the clock tick precious minutes away until it was clear we’d missed our first session. Inching forward in a line that seemed to grow rather than diminish with time, we soon tensed as we feared we may also miss our second. For a real-time account of the suspense, check out Justin’s blog, Patience: SXSW Day 1 Video Recap.

Insight
After the two hour investment to receive our coveted badges, and 30 minutes to catch and ride a shuttle to our first session of the day, Justin and I were feeling a bit bewildered, and hopeful that the afternoon would show us why our experience would be well worth the wait, exhaustion, and aching feet. We were in luck.

While it didn’t come in our afternoon sessions or, more surprisingly, the cheeseburger I devoured after hours of grumbling tummy, we finally found it during the evening’s last event, 20×2. This event gathered 20 of new media’s most creative minds from all over the world and asked them to answer one question in only two minutes each: how did I get here? The impact was inspiring and, yes, incredibly insightful.

From stories of tragedy to triumph, depression to passion and pure epiphany, these speakers showed us why we endured hours of confusion, sore limbs and buckets of cold rain in anticipation of the sessions to come. We did, and continue to do all of this, because it is remarkable what can happen when great minds gather to teach, learn and surprise each other.

Welcome to SXSW, a story we surely will not forget. To be continued…

Stuck in line at SXSW? Running out of juice from all the tweeting, texting and GPSing? Fear not, fellow SXSWers! There are charging stations all over the conference. And not just any charging stations – bunches of colorful mini lockers in which you can charge, lock an leave your device. iPad’s at 38%, so I may be locking it up shortly.

Well, day one is off to an interesting start. Our journey started in San Antonio, where we departed for Austin and arrived at our home for the next several days. So far, so good.

Then, through the seasonably frigid temperatures, our late-to-arrive cab dropped us at the Austin Convention Center, ninety minutes before our first session. Plenty of time, right?

Now, we are waiting in a 2-hour-long line (hopefully no longer) and we’re sure to miss our first session or two.

Lesson learned: you can never be too early. Regardless, we are ecstatic to enjoy all that is SXSW. Welcome to Austin!