Takeaways from the CXL Live conference in Austin

Medium Giant creates great work for our clients because of our people — specifically their ideas and expertise. 

Because marketing evolves constantly, it’s critical that we stay on top of what’s happening in our disciplines, in the industries we serve, and with our peers. That’s why Medium Giant is committed to continuing education and networking opportunities. 

Recently, Medium Giant team members went to Austin to attend CXL Live, an event for marketers focused on growth and experimentation in areas such as conversion rate optimization (CRO), search engine optimization (SEO), web design, user experience, and analytics, among others. 

CXL is unique in that it creates intimate, relationship-driven experiences by pairing roles in small groups to workshop challenges and discuss upcoming trends. We learned a ton, networked with incredible talent, and had a blast at CXL Live.

A high-energy conference in The Live Music Capital of the World

More than 300 marketing professionals from across the globe descended on Austin for the annual CXL Live conference. They came to learn, debate, discuss, commiserate, and connect. 

The moment the Medium Giant team hit the doors of the opening event, we could tell it was going to be a good week. People were brimming with excitement. Many were catching up with friends and acquaintances they hadn’t seen in years. 

It had been awhile since this powerful industry event took place in person. The attendees were ready to have some fun and expand their knowledge set. 

It was our first time to participate, and we were a little nervous, to be honest. Would we be able to contribute to the conversations in a meaningful way? How was Medium Giant going to stack up against some of the other organizations in attendance? There was some heavy anticipation.

Luckily, we felt right at home once we started interacting with everyone. The energy of the conference was curious, collaborative, and genuine — so it was right up our alley. We wondered what it would be like to network through collaboration with strangers, but everyone was really engaged and friendly, and it worked. 

It also felt like a reunion — not only because of the post-pandemic vibe that you feel at almost any conference now, but also because many of the attendees, some of them from other parts of the world, have been attending for years. Austin felt like just the right scene for that sort of casual worldliness. It’s a place where big things can happen, but you feel like you could make friends with anyone.

Networking and relationship-building

Sessions began Tuesday morning. Immediately we were thrust into different tables, sitting with individuals we didn’t know. 

We were forced to close our computers, to encourage focus and communication. The breakout discussion groups were carefully cultivated; each person leaned into the topics, offering their strategies, questioning some of their challenges, and, in some cases, brainstorming solutions as a group. 

The space was like no other conference space that we’ve encountered. We spent both days of the conference in a covered, open-air rooftop area on the top floor of a building on Austin’s Sixth Street. They served breakfast tacos — and Advil — both mornings, which felt just right. 

It was the first time that we had attended a conference that had this much intimacy built into the programming. It was amazing!

Top takeaways from CXL Live 

Each speaker offered dynamic, thought-provoking information based on their experience. These ideas had been battle-tested and bruised. The speakers were honest about their past missteps and generous in the stories of how they overcame.

A few learnings struck us. 

Dave Gerhert shared that marketing teams’ responsibilities have expanded: 

• Marketing teams should think of themselves as the leadership department, supporting the vision and strategic priorities of the company holistically.
• Always show your work and share your plan. No one should ever have to ask, “What is the marketing department doing?”
• Take every opportunity to present to the organization.

Casandra Campbell encouraged marketers to maximize growth in your organization by creating a culture of experimentation:

• Develop an assumption.
• Validate through testing.
• Debate assumption and learnings with others.
• Expose to the greater group.
• Determine potential impact and decide to test again or put into wider practice.
• This accelerates a business through incremental but consistent change.

What even is a marketing funnel anymore? That was a big discussion; the linear funnel is being rejected. Yes, you need your sales funnels and flows, but how someone interacts and engages with your brand looks different these days. It feels more like following a noodle through a bowl of spaghetti than the nice, clean, upside-down pyramid.

Medium Giant was well-positioned with the other attendees

Most of the participants hailed from the martech space, individual/manager contributors to a brand marketing team, or agencies with more focused offerings. We were one of the only full-service agencies and definitely the largest due to our more than 165 employees. 

We also have a different kind of business model — using outbound efforts more than some of the other traditional models.

Medium Giant fit in, but we’re different. We offer a lot of the same capabilities as others, but the depth of our disciplines gives us the ability to be a holistic, full-service partner to our clients.

How conferences and events help develop Medium Giant employees

It’s been a minute with the COVID restrictions the last few years that have put a lot of in-person events on hiatus. That allowed for us to focus inward on our team and our clients. 

Being at events like CXL gives us the gift of perspective. We were able to learn. But the rock star experts from our inbound marketing team, Rachel Maynard and Andrew Dutcher were teachers. It was confidence-building. It helped support and validate some of the POVs we’ve developed for our different disciplines, as well as the business model we have created. 

It’s tremendous professional exposure that keeps us growing and developing as individuals and lifelong learners. It also keeps us connected to the marketing industry and our clients’ industries in a way that sharpens our skills, exposes us to the real-world challenges companies face, and enlightens us to the tools and tactics they’re using to meet those challenges head-on.

It’s always nice to know that in the space of just a couple of days, you can fully live the portion of our brand truth that talks about deepening connections, expanding influence, and scaling success. 

Overall, we were awed by the talent at the event. We were welcomed by the hosts and other participants, and we came away a better marketers.