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Our Marketing Club partnered with the Alumni network to host a networking night in conjunction with our normal Thursday Night Out. We had over fifty attendees at FATE Brewery to learn more about current marketing trends. 

Our talented group of panelists included:

Chris Deardorff, Leeds alum, CEO and Founder of .

Jen-ai Stokesbary, Leeds alum and Marketing director at

Molly Lane, Leeds alum and Founder of Brandspell, Inc 

What do you think is the biggest marketing trend right now?

Chris: Video marketing

Molly: Voice technology; like Amazon Alexa

With the trends towards artificial intelligence and machine learning, how can human marketers stay relevant and provide value?

Molly: Focus on the strategy in understanding the consumer experience.  Use technology to enhance the user experience; this human element can’t be replaced.  For example, we worked with Nestle to develop a hands-free cookbook experience that utilized Alexa; it is controlled by your voice. 

Chris:  AI is a utility tool that enables efficiency for marketers.  We can work in tandem with AI; AI won’t be able to ideate like a marketer.  Marketers need to think outside the box and learn skills to tell great stories that machines can’t. 

Jen-ai: No amount of AI can tell the story.  At Boulder Organics everything is human right now!

Let’s talk about email automation.  What’s your favorite tool?  How do you stay up to date?

Chris:  I have a love/hate relationship with email automation.  I’m most familiar and experienced with Hubspot.  It’s got really robust functionality, but that’s also a challenge—it’s almost too much functionality.  The best advice I have is to pick a tool that is a good fit for the organization.  Don’t just pick the “biggest”—rightsize.  Try it out before you commit; it has to fit the company. 

Jen-ai: Every business case is so different.  People get so many emails every day, it’s rare to read past the first sentence.  It’s overwhelming.  We use MailChip—it works great for us.  Most of our sales are B2B, but we do market to consumers. 

Molly: The best tool depends on where you’re at.  If you have more data, use automation.  Most of our clients use Hubspot.  It’s got sophisticated lead scoring, and maps to the consumer path and how they are moving along the sales funnel.

Make an incredibly bold prediction about marketing:

Molly: Job lines are becoming more blurred. Big data is an important part of marketing now.  Marketers need to know how to crunch data.  Disruption in market tech in how we create and distribute content.  Right now it’s messy—we need better collaboration.  Right now we lack a market leader in this area.

Jen-ai: Food isn’t very bold. Right now the center of plate is meat, but this is changing.  In less than ten years, the center of plate will only be about 30% meat and 70% plant-based/alternative meat stuff (not animal derived).

Chris: We will see a decline in paid advertising.  Paid advertising is perceived as annoying and intrusive.  Top research in 2018 indicates a decrease in paid advertising and more of a push towards content and organic marketing.