At TrendyMinds, we believe that powerful storytelling isn’t just nice to have, it’s essential to breaking through today’s noisy, fast-moving world. That’s why we were honored to speak at MARCOMiCON 2025, the University of Missouri’s first-ever marketing and communications conference.
Designed to foster collaboration and spark inspiration, the event focused on the unique challenges and opportunities facing communicators at universities, colleges, and related institutions. Whether attendees worked in social, web, events, or brand strategy, one thing was clear: the pressure to adapt, especially in the face of AI, is everywhere.
Representing TrendyMinds + Sharing What We Know
We were proud to represent TrendyMinds not only as a partner in Mizzou’s ongoing digital and data efforts, but also as a thought leader in content strategy. In a world where content is abundant and attention is fleeting, this session focused on how to give your story the best chance of being noticed and remembered. We shared:
Inspiring examples of high-impact storytelling across channels
Actionable tips to sharpen your message and make it more relevant
A distribution-first mindset that helps ensure content that performs
How to use AI to support authentic (and credible) content creation
How to gain visibility in an AI-driven search environment
Key Themes from the Conference
1. AI Is Everywhere—But It Can’t Tell Your Story for You
We could feel the influence of generative AI on marketing and comms work across sessions and conversations. While there’s enthusiasm around using AI to scale content operations, there are also anxious questions: How do we balance efficiency with authenticity? How do we build trust as a higher education institution while scaling content operations and without increasing budgets?
To address these hard-hitting questions during our “Content Strategy in the Age of AI” session, we offered a simple guiding principle: If AI can produce it, it’s probably not worth writing.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use AI at all, but it does mean we have to be vigilant about ensuring our content offers distinctive value, a unique human perspective, and an emotional connection that AI platforms can’t replicate.
2. Storytelling Looks Different Depending on Your Role
It was eye-opening to see how the idea of “crafting a standout story” sparked such different reactions depending on each attendee’s role. Whether it was a social media strategist, web content lead, or event marketer, each person approached storytelling from a unique angle. This reinforced the idea that effective storytelling isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s flexible, contextual, and rooted in target audience needs.
That’s why we emphasized storytelling as both art and infrastructure. Creativity certainly pulls its weight; however, practical frameworks and principles help teams deliver clear, relevant content across every touchpoint.
In our session, “Crafting Stories that Stand out,” we shared a three-part framework for thinking about differentiated storytelling:
Information gain: How unique and valuable is your content compared to existing content?
Human credibility: How trustworthy is your content based on first-hand experiences and POVs from actual people?
Multimodal elements: How does your story incorporate multimodal content elements (ownable videos, photography, data visualizations, infographics, audio, and more)?
3. Start with Distribution, Not Creation
One additional takeaway from our session on "Crafting Stories that Stand out" was the need for a distribution-first mindset. Many organizations invest in crafting beautiful, relevant, engaging content and then scramble to decide where to share it. We encouraged attendees to flip that thinking: Ask whom you’re trying to reach, where they are, and how they consume content. Then, tailor your stories and formats accordingly.
When you create content based on a solid distribution strategy, your message has a far better chance of being seen, understood, and acted upon. (Credit to Tracey Wallace via this Animalz podcast episode for her guidance on a distribution-first mindset.)
Final Thoughts: Why This Matters for Clients + Teams
We don’t talk enough about how disorienting today’s content marketing environment can be. Whether you work in higher education, healthcare, or technology, the pressure to produce content faster and more efficiently than ever is unrelenting.
Our advice? Start with the story, but don’t stop there.
Try something new. Carve out 10% of your time, budget, resources, or editorial calendar to test new tools, formats, and ideas without focusing purely on short-term ROI or vanity metrics like views or impressions. That's how teams stay ahead without burning out.
Every time you think about which content to produce next, ask yourself this: What story can we tell that no one else can?