Marketing Strategist Lorrie Thomas Ross Delivers Keynote Address at Missouri State University's Culture of Connectivity Conference

May 01, 2012

Each year, Missouri State University hosts a Public Affairs Conference, and during this year’s conference, with the theme being the Culture of Connectivity, web marketing expert Lorrie Thomas Ross, Web Marketing Therapy’s founder and CEO, delivered one of five keynote speeches and participated in panel discussions during the four-day event. Considering the conference’s history of inviting participants with such a wide array of backgrounds to participate on panels that initially may appear to be outside of their area of expertise, Ross’ depth of knowledge and experience as a marketing strategist, author, speaker, educator, and mother made her an ideal candidate to address the conference as a whole on the topic of how marketing with an educational twist (aka markEDing®) is today’s most successful strategy, as well as to share her insights on panels that addressed the effects of technology and mass media on democracy and consumer choice.

“I’ve spoken at a number of conferences and participated on countless panels, but there was definitely something special about MSU’s Public Affairs Conference,” remarked Ross. “This year’s topic on the Culture of Connectivity was so relevant. Being a plenary presenter to share my perspective about marketing as well as being a panelist on topics outside of my area of expertise really gave attendees a thought-provoking perspective as we all approached topics from a totally unique angle.”

On the afternoon of Thursday, April 19, Ross presented her keynote address, “MarkEDing: Marketing’s New Connective Success Strategy,” to an attentive audience. In her presentation, Ross discussed what she has dubbed the concept of “markEDing,” which is marketing with heavy emphasis on educational content. She explained how people truly connect through informative and educational content, and how this content has impacted marketing, branding, social media, and a host of other mass media platforms.

“In this culture of connectivity, more effective marketing strategies have been forced to evolve,” said Ross. “A company’s image is no longer solely in the hands of the company or a big budget, as people (not just businesses) now have the ability to manipulate a business’ brand through mass media; however, the company can set the tone and fine-tune its image by paying attention to the virtual venues that host the educational and informative content, like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and others. MarkEDing isn’t just more effective, it’s more ethical.”

In her plenary talk, Ross addressed how businesses can manage and monitor the informational and educational content to maximize their brand and their online presence. A similar subject also arose in the panel titled “http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebMarketingStrategistSpeaks/LorrieThomasRossKeynote/prweb9462209.htm