With a stellar line up of the region’s top social experts including Closer Marketing’s, Emma Bradshaw, specialist LinkedIn trainer, Charlie Whyman and Status Social’s Head of Social Media Management, Jamie Cernick, it promised to be an insightful evening.

Introduced by BMC co-founder Jason Neale and the evening’s regional BMC organiser Robin Bodicoat, we questioned whether social media was really working in a B2B world. Businesses need to get involved, but are not really sure why, how or what their social strategy is. Is it Lead Generation? Thought leadership? Brand awareness? Do people really have a clue?

The reality is, for real results every post should have a purpose.

Enter our experts.

Getting you closer to your B2B audience

Emma Bradshaw, a freelance marketer at Closer Marketing, graduate of the Digital Mums Academy, marketing lecturer at NTU and previously EON’s resident expert in digital optimisation and customer experience talked trends, top tips and setting social strategy.

Which channel is which?

Referencing the recent #DollyPartonChallenge, Emma highlighted the importance of a channel’s personality and how customers expect to be engaged with in the appropriate way. The Street Party, The Art Gallery, The Networking Event, The Water Cooler – where do you want your business to be and for what?

Key trends for 2020 – Trust and transparency

“It’s time to take Tik Tok seriously” advocates Emma, after watching first-hand how digital natives interact online in her role as university lecturer. The short-form mobile video networking platform (formerly known as musical.ly) is taking people by storm with everything from lip syncs to life hacks with its raw and unedited format. Video is winning. The filtered Instagram look is old hat.

Credibly moving conversation into the private space is essential. Tools such as chatbots seamlessly move people into a private conversation around specific topics, building direct engagement with your customer.

“Getting behind the curtain is going to be the most important thing for the next decade. Broadcast ‘spray and pray’ tactics are over, there is a move toward intimacy. You can’t ignore the private conversation. For B2B audiences it is important to focus on how you get invited to the House Party. That takes time and investment.”commented Emma.

Embedding engagement

Emma added: “Get good at stories – advertising in stories is on the rise, look at the way you are creating content and if it is fit for purpose. Rather than broadcasting, make sure your content strategy has engagement embedded within it, making use of polls, encouraging user generated content, Twitter chats, competitions and useful longer form content – such as webinars, videos, subscription models for specific subject themes.”

What can social do for B2B marketing?

With an estimated 20-500 digital touchpoints encountered before a buying decision is made, this presents a huge opportunity, as well as challenges for B2B marketers.

Opportunities exist in social listening, competitor analysis, influencing buying decisions and reinforcing your ‘Why?’ through brand awareness, not to mention benefits of enhancing SEO and attracting and retaining talent to your business.

The challenge is creating a genuine and authentic connection with your audience, where Emma walked through her CLOSER model which helps businesses do just that.

CORE, LISTEN, OBSERVE, SELECT, ENGAGE, REVIEW – Visit Closer Marketing for more details.

Emma left us with a final thought from Seth Godin: “Our job is to connect to people, to interact with people in a way that leaves them better than we found them.”  Simples!

Starting conversations which lead to sales

Charlie Whyman, LinkedIn strategist, influencer and former international sales and marketing manager for global businesses was up next. Agreeing about creating engagement, saying: “It is not about leads, it’s about starting a conversation with your market. Your potential customers need to know, like and trust you. And, you need to stand out from the crowd in a meaningful way – that is difficult.”

B2B or B2C it’s is still H2H

“The goal of marketing is to start conversations which lead to sales. Now is the time to talk with the people in your market, not just talk at them – invite them into the conversation. Negotiating and getting a response through LinkedIn gives a more human response,” says Charlie.

Citing a case study of a global laser measurement company, RIEGL, Charlie walked though their success on LinkedIn, talking about how social proof is the biggest motivator as their clients love their products and data, so will share, like, discuss them on line, ultimately giving them “free marketing”.

How to win on LinkedIn

“RIEGL took advantage of their fan loyalty and created a community of fans and advocates. They also empowered employees to showcase their skills, knowledge and brilliance – playing into their zone of genius. Lastly, they create content people really want to engage with, achieving 40-50.0000 impression per month with no advertising, but getting people to buy into the products and services. This proves the power of LinkedIn as the place to be for business development.“added Charlie.

Free marketing – Top tips for LinkedIn

Charlie shared a number of top tips for making LinkedIn work harder for businesses:

• Ensure content is within “The Zone of Relevance” for your audience, make people understand how it will help them with their job.
• Don’t assume – learn about your audience, take that knowledge into your audience, your pipeline and your social media content.
• EVERYONE needs a LinkedIn company page – It gives you the ability to get in front of people you wouldn’t normally. Make it accurate, representative and honest – (Spend about 10% of your time as a small biz, 20-30% if larger business and the rest on your personal profiles).
• Quality over quantity – It is not about the number of followers; it is about the quality of the content that you post and level of engagement you create.
• Amplify your personal profile – You are 19 X more likely to attract new leads from your personal profile because you are communicating with people.

In summary, Charlie shared: “LinkedIn is not a thing that you should fear, it should support you to create a dialogue with your market, social listening, build authority and credibility, create a community of fans and advocates. Magic is in the follow up, nurture, creating a community.”

Winning over your B2B audience

Head of Social Media Management, at Status Social, Jamie Cernik echoed earlier sentiments and warned against “digital leafleting” and forgetting the “social” part of social media.

Hailing from one of the first social agencies in the UK and having generated in excess of £2million of business through social media, Jamie ran through some practical examples of customer interactions that deliver results.

Jamie said: “If you want to sell, you need to inspire and create an emotional response. If you don’t prove that in social media content, you are not giving a reason to buy.” Citing two extremes “The Hard Sell” or “The Friend Zone” he suggested the sweet spot, the normal social selling space was somewhere in the middle.

Finding common ground

According to Jamie: “Everyone is hustling on LinkedIn, predominantly trying to achieve core objectives – lead generation or recruitment.  The advantage of advanced filters on LinkedIn enables you to use the “The Sherlock Homes” technique. People reveal social signals about themselves which you can capitalise on to avoid being stuck in the ‘friend zone’. You can use these signals to connect on a human level – flatter an alumni, find a human connection of the same school, university or football team of choice.”

Understand your audience…

…is the key to starting a conversation.

Giving examples of what was essentially social stalking, Jamie presented a no-bullsh*t approach to winning a social security and global hacking consultant as a client. He also shared examples of sharing blog posts via Twitter which led to a Blind Sports Equipment retailer making contact with the core decision makers via Twitter and subsequently getting into 11 premiership football clubs by getting out of the friend zone and being part of the buying discussion.

We have no content!

Many of Jamie’s clients feel that they have no content, but this doesn’t mean that they have nothing to say. Everyone is able to meet people at their level, chat informally on Twitter. By understanding who you are talking to you can match their tone of voice and generate authentic conversations.

Tips to generate content

Jamie concluded with some content creation pointers, make it:

• Entertaining – create a response in people, entertain them.
• Inspirational – emotive, life changing, give people a reason to champion it, can people get behind it?
• Add value – what can you give away for free? Are there tips, information, advice within your area of expertise you can share?

To summarise the whole session in a nutshell, “Humanise your content and you’ll go far.”

Any thoughts you would like to add on social media success for B2B marketers?

Business Marketing Club (BMC) events offer a great opportunity for both client-side and agency side to come together, share ideas and meet like-minded marketers, while socialising with a drink and bite to eat, in an enjoyable and informative environment.

To join the next East Midlands event visit: http://bit.ly/2Hwoc9s.

The post B2B social media – Posts with purpose appeared first on Big Old House.

BMC posed the question “Is B2B Marketing Boring?” to agency and client-side marketers from around the East Midlands

RIP ‘Corporate Video’

First up in the event’s cracking speaker line up was the ever-entertaining Neil Rostance, Partner and Head of Creative at Fat Free Media, a full service creative agency specializing in live action video and animation.

Having made over 2,000 films in his career as a filmmaker and ‘bus driver’, his passion for his work stands out when he talks about what he loves – telling compelling stories. Banning the phrases ‘Corporate video’ and ‘Corporate Communications’ from his agency some time ago, Neil believes that B2B has had a tough times over the years – although, after showing a comical selection of talking heads from the world of 1980s corporate videos, it was clear to see why!

Video killed the customer

Sadly, we haven’t left these style videos behind. Neil explained how B2B hasn’t fundamentally changed – the methods of storytelling are the same, there are just many more channels: “B2B marketing is littered with bias and assumptions. B2B marketers assume the world already cares that it is a good idea, then it bombs. It’s not that it is boring – it is that no-one cares. What holds back real human connection is trying to please their boss, peers but not their audience. The audience are humans and they want meaningful moments.”

Free your mind

Using a clever analogy about what your choice of seat on the bus says about how you want to be seen, Neil (the bus driver) went on to share different mind sets for visual marketing, including treating it like a first date and considering what you would put on your own TV channel for 24 hours. Pro tip: Don’t be a 24 hours news channels!

Be human, not boring

Neil wrapped up by saying “Successful B2B marketing content which captures attention needs to stop talking about what your business does. It needs to prove how much you love what you do and why in a human way. Everyone has a story to tell. B2B marketing is not boring, the bosses are boring. There is an expectation is that most of it will be dross, but it definitely doesn’t need to be.”
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B2B is more creative than B2C

Next up, a controversial lead in from Neil Berry, a B2B marketer with a decade of client and agency experience gathered at Capgemini, Fujistu and Affari Media, amongst others. His opening statement suggested that B2B marketing is naturally more creative that B2C, because sometimes it’s painful. Because you are limited by bosses, budget and having to sell the most boring crap. B2B is naturally more creative than B2C as you have to be more exciting.

Neil Berry presented the idea that B2B needed to have a heart and courage to have more impact and be less boring

From greyscale to colour

In a Wizard of Oz themed presentation, Neil discussed ideas, creativity, Account Based Marketing (ABM) and strategies for personalization of direct mail with wow factor.

The phrase “I just don’t have a creative brain” Neil suggested was an excuse and a myth.

He believes B2B has lots of great ideas but sometimes it is the content implementation that lets it down, adding that “If you are not evoking emotion in someone then you will not get the audience to feel anything – if you are not excited about it no-one else will be.”

For more on ‘Is B2B Boring?’ visit the BMC’s website. To read about previous events, check out ‘The Rise of the Humans – Are we experiencing purpose overload?”.

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Often asked, ‘How do you motivate yourself when you work at home?’, it’s honestly never been a problem. Until recently. Procrastination, fidgeting and feelings of isolation were beginning to creep in and, after celebrating a successful three years in business, it felt like time to refocus, think a bit bigger and ‘go to work’ again.

Literally and metaphorically, the old nursery space wasn’t big enough to build on. Clients and projects were getting bigger (and so was I due to lack of commuting!), the need for a meeting and collaboration space cropped up more frequently and also regular contact with like-minded people sounded like a good idea.

That’s why moving into shiny new coworking space Works Social this month is a milestone for Big Old House. As business has expanded beyond expectation and outgrown its back bedroom, it has its sights set on bigger things for the next few years. Not quite ready to move into a serviced office all of its own, Works Social offers the perfect solution.  With 24/7 access, high speed wifi, a dedicated desk with a secure locker and a ready made community of like-minded freelancers and small independent businesses wanting to create a relaxed, yet professional coworking community, it fits the bill very nicely.
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In just a few days it has already proved itself to be the right decision. Very happy that Big Old House has a big new home to grow.

Fancy popping in for a nosey round and a chat? Drop us a line.

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At the first BMC of 2019, the East Midlands contingent gathered at Accelerate Places in Nottingham for an evening of good food, booze and lively discussion. The evening’s exchange was kicked off by OpenWrks head of marketing and event organiser David Coghlan, who opened with the question ‘are we experiencing purpose overload in marketing?’.

Dave’s enthusiastic intro referenced Bloom’s Brand Ladder and explored the notion of ‘What is the meaning of the brand in our life?’. Giving examples of the Pepsi’s brand disaster and Gillette’s recent attempt to join the #MeToo movement, heavily slated by Mark Ritson, Dave pointed out that both brands have tried to move up the brand ladder but  used a purpose at odds with their product and positioning and as a result lost customers.

Positive purpose

To keep things on a positive note, the one brand who seems to get hearts and minds right every time was praised. Nike. With the recent Colin Kaepernick campaign they nailed it by making a narrative that resonates with the core principles of their brand. It also spoke specifically to Nike’s target audience, so even while there was some outrage online with people burning Nike shoes, that was an acceptable risk with non-core customers and actually strengthened the relationship with their core audience, thus making complete commercial sense.
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Mark Saxby talks ‘humanising social media’ at East Midlands BMC

So, how can B2B marketers translate purpose and make it relevant in our marketing?

In a series of insightful presentations, brand and language strategist Ben Afia gave an educational and entertaining overview of how language reveals your truth, can unlock doors and make brands more human.  Mary Harmon  lead designer from OpenWrks shared design insights from start-up land and top tips for being human in design. To close the show, Mark Saxby, founder of Status Social rounded off with a warning about robotic social media and the pitfalls of posting for the sake of it.

Couldn’t make it to the event? Read the full write up to learn more about how not to communicate and adopting the language of the tribe.

Fancy coming along to the next BMC event? To join in the discussion about ‘Is B2B marketing boring?’ Sign up here.

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Journalists want to get the best news stories for their audiences and companies want to get the best publicity for their business. Simple. PR experts (either in-house, agency or freelance) are often employed to act as the conduit in making that happen.

PR professionals and journalists can have a love ‘em or hate ‘em relationship, but the fact is that neither party can exist without the other. PRs can’t be successful without the coverage and support of news outlets. And, in an age where ‘content is king’, editors, reporters, bloggers and columnists would be stuck for a story or two if they were never tipped off through a press release.

Not every business has PR or media resources available. No need to panic though, whatever the size of your business, the secret to successful public relations is not actually that secret at all.

We’ve pulled together a few of our top press tips and included some insights from journalists we heard from recently at the ‘Meet the journalists’ event at Nottingham Trent University, courtesy of Enterprise Nation (which you can read more about here).

Seven press tips for businesses:

1. Create a plan

Who do you want to talk to? What do you want to say to them? When is the best time to talk to people? How do you want your business to come across? Where will you reach your audience?

Without a plan, your PR activity is scattergun at best and inconsistent when it comes to coverage and conveying your company message. Creating a plan for your media strategy will help answer key questions and give you direction so you can prioritise activity and talk to the right people at the right time.

2. Do your research

Ask your customers what they read and find out how they like to consume media. Is it via social channels? Is the industry trade mag a must read? Are all your products and services relevant to every sector or do you need to segment your stories based on the target audience?

Whether you, a team member or hired PR help does it, research is essential in finding the right target media for your business. Some businesses and agencies have the luxury of a media contacts database. However, if you don’t have the budget, setting regular research time aside to keep abreast of topical, timely news and contacts is a worthwhile investment for building future relationships.

3. Get to know your media

Once you know where your customers are looking, read and research the relevant publications. What articles do they run? What is their editorial policy? How do their editors/contributors like to work?

Build relationships with your target publications and the key journalists within them. You can’t get to meet every single person, as this would be a full time job in itself, but you can connect on Twitter, catch up for a coffee, drop them an email or make a point of seeking them out at an event.

4. Connect with contacts

As mentioned, media databases (such as Gorkana) offer unrivalled access to hundreds of thousands of journalist contacts, but not everyone has this benefit at their disposal. That doesn’t mean that making contact is impossible.

Contact us pages on publications’ websites and media packs have the relevant contact details, email addresses can often be found in Twitter bios and LinkedIn shouldn’t be underestimated for making and staying in touch with connections.

Don’t be afraid to get in touch either. A simple web search can return bloggers with specialist interests and social channels offer a great way to start a pitch. Hash tags #journorequest #PRrequest are popular searches which link those seeking stories with those with stories to tell.

Sometimes it’s better to do it yourself. The Assistant Business Editor at the Sunday Times, for example, prefers to speak directly to Business Owners/Entrepreneurs rather than PRs; something you’d only know by doing your research.

5. Be practical, punchy and polite with press releases

The first paragraph of any press release should include the What? Why, Where? When? Before even that, the subject line of your email should grab attention.

Journalists from BBC Radio Nottingham, East Midlands Business Desk, Heart and Notts TV all agreed that avoiding witty puns and catchy headlines was a good idea. They all want bullet points which tell them the story in a nutshell, states what has changed and gives relevant, interesting details with what’s new, different, better or never been done before.

It is worth remembering that Business Desk receives one press release every five minutes, BBC Radio Nottingham one release every minute and Heart Commercial radio one every 20 seconds. That’s a lot of news, so it is important to focus on one key aspect as a priority message and use embargo press releases for exclusives.

To make friends in the media, don’t repeatedly chase stories and don’t send to everyone in the same department. Also, it’s bad practice to send competing outlets the same exclusive story.

6. Learn the lingo

If your press release gets through the net and you find yourself in an interview situation, there are a few phrases that it pays to remember when talking to a journalist to protect you and your business from oversharing:

• “On the record” – OK to publish everything discussed
• “Off the record” – Want the content to be made public, but can’t be attributable to the source e.g. The BBC understands that…”
• “On background” – Completely off the record as there are sensitivities around the story

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For regular press spokespeople and senior team members, it is worth considering media training to give them a good grounding in how to handle media interviews, stay on topic and manage media interactions.

7. Live up to the lead times

Your best chance for PR success is to make yourself available. Long lead times and definite deadlines are what B2B journalists are working to every day, particularly in trade publications.

Saying that, the world of daily news is faster moving and for success with broadcast press, such as TV and radio locally or nationally, making yourself available when the press can make it is essential. For example, the TV crew won’t come to an event at peak times with all the public there, but they may cover it at 7am before everyone arrives.

As a guide, for events, a release/email notification one month prior and follow up again two weeks prior to the event gets the best response. For future features, you need to be thinking 6 to 8 weeks in advance of publication.

So, from broadcast to broadsheet, business to breakfast media, make sure you:

• Plan your media strategy
• Know your objectives and your target audience
• Do your homework
• Get to know your press
• Make friends with the media
• Know your stories
• Stick to deadlines

Need helping in developing your press plan for this year? Get in touch to chat through your objectives on 0798961082 or email hello@bigoldhouse.com.

The post Seven press tips for businesses appeared first on Big Old House.

Donald Ward, Head of Technical & Recycling at Ward said:

“We’ve recently made significant investments across our business and now is the right time to really showcase our capabilities through a robust marketing, PR and social media strategy. We are keen to build a stronger presence as national waste, recycling and resource management experts in key sectors such as construction and demolition, as well as raising our profile regionally.

“We were initially introduced to Rachael at Big Old House by our digital agency Cite, on a copywriting basis. We were immediately impressed with her ideas, writing skills, ability to quickly understand the different aspects our business and relevant industry experience.”

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Specialists in metal recycling waste management Ward prevents over 90% of the rubbish it collects from ending up in landfill from its four recycling, waste and metal processing plants in the East Midlands.

Big Old House founder, Rachael van Oudheusden, added:

“Working with Ward is a real privilege and I’m really excited to be getting more involved in helping grow the business. Dealing with everything from metal recycling, office waste and skip hire to hazardous construction waste and land remediation, there is always something new to discover and a different story to tell at Ward. We’ve got plenty to go on to shape and deliver a trade and corporate PR and social media strategy, in tandem with other digital marketing activity delivered by Cite.”

An ISO accredited, fourth generation family-run business, established over 70 years ago, Ward now has an annual turnover of £120 million, employs over 300 people locally and runs a fleet of more than 80 modern vehicles.

For more information visit Ward Recycling www.ward.com.

The post Ward Recycling wastes no time signing up Big Old House for PR and social media support appeared first on Big Old House.