Monroe at DMWF 2025: How Our Team is Shaping the Future of Digital Marketing

A two-day learning sprint in New York

Monroe Systems for Business sent a three-person marketing team to New York City for Digital Marketing World Forum North America: Jason Marsdale, Director of Strategy; Jonathon Gregull, Marketing Manager; and Brandon Leip, Digital Marketer. By splitting across sessions, the team gathered perspectives on AI, customer experience, creator marketing, social media, advertising, and personalization.

The conference's value came from comparing ideas across tracks. A tactic discussed in an AI session often connected to a customer-insight panel; a creator-marketing example raised questions about brand trust; and a personalization discussion returned to the same foundation: reliable data and a clear purpose.

Lesson one: AI needs a defined job

AI appeared throughout the conference, but the strongest lesson was operational rather than futuristic. Teams get more value when they assign AI a specific role, provide appropriate context, and keep people responsible for review and decisions.

For Monroe, that means evaluating AI as part of an existing workflow—not as a replacement for product knowledge, customer service, or professional judgment.

Lesson two: useful people-led content builds trust

Creator sessions repeatedly returned to authenticity and expertise. A subject-matter expert with a focused audience can be more useful than a broad personality who lacks a connection to the product or problem.

This idea fits Monroe's business. Accountants, bookkeepers, service technicians, operations leaders, and long-time calculator users understand the details customers care about. Their demonstrations and explanations can answer practical questions in a voice that feels credible because it comes from real experience.

Lesson three: personalization is only as good as the insight behind it

Personalization does not begin with inserting a first name into a message. It begins with understanding what a customer is trying to accomplish. Surveys, service conversations, on-site behavior, product questions, and post-purchase feedback can reveal that context when collected transparently and used responsibly.

One Monroe takeaway was to create more deliberate feedback loops. A short quiz can help a buyer narrow a calculator choice. A product-comparison page can show which features matter most. Customer questions can guide future videos and articles. Each tool should make the experience easier, not merely collect more data.

Lesson four: video works best when it teaches

Short and long videos serve different stages of a buying decision. A short clip can demonstrate a single function; a longer walkthrough can compare models, explain setup, or help a customer solve a problem. The important measure is whether the viewer can do something useful after watching.

For Monroe, useful video topics include calculator key functions, model comparisons, ribbon installation, maintenance, and real workflows from experienced users. The goal is an accessible library customers can search when they need an answer.

What Monroe is taking forward

• Define specific, reviewable uses for AI.
• Build content around real customer questions.
• Invite knowledgeable employees and customers into the story.
• Improve first-party feedback with clear value to the customer.
• Test new formats in small, measurable steps.
• Keep human review, privacy, and accuracy at the center.

Innovation should make service clearer

Monroe has evolved for more than a century by listening to customers and adapting how it works. The most useful conference ideas were the ones that support that same pattern: learn faster, explain products more clearly, reduce friction, and make it easier for customers to choose and use the right tools.