How to beat marketing fatigue
‘Unprecedented, ‘stay safe’, ‘uncertain’ and now ‘webinar’. Lockdown has made us pretty sick of what would, historically, have been some pretty innocuous terms. Webinars in particular have increased exponentially, as entire events have been compressed into hour-long episodes where attendees try to obtain the same insight as they would from week-long conferences.
Inevitably, they have become stale and ineffective for visitors. However, there are some incredibly underrated alternatives that have yet to be utilised by the masses, in the same way webinars have.
To gain a wide perception of options, we pooled our knowledge at Halston Marketing to give you some B2B marketing tips you may not have tried during the, ahem, ‘New Normal’.
Georgia: Podcasts
Podcasts are a great longform B2B content type that build the profile of your company and the champions within it. Podcasts give you the chance to go into real depth with a specific subject and showcase your knowledge in your specific field. Being interviewed by and industry podcaster positions you on par with other experts in your sector and goes a long way to elevating your brand and building recognition and trust. Nathan, MD at Imageco recently spoke to FESPA on their sustainability pledge which was a great platform for the Imageco brand and pushed their green agenda outside of their owned content. Andrew, CTO at Hark gave his thoughts to tech podcaster Liam Wilson for his series How AI Built this. Andrew used this opportunity to really showcase his personal skills and journey and also give the inside scoop on what it’s like to work at Hark, from one of the founders. We’d definitely recommend adding podcast coverage to your B2B PR mix.
Rosie: Customer Q&A Video Interviews
Putting your customers in the spotlight is a great way for potential B2B prospects to get an honest, trustworthy view of your company and offering. Ask them to discuss their initial problem, why they went looking for a solution, how they chose you, and what it’s been like working together. Pitch it to your client as a shared case study and an opportunity for them to also promote their services.
We’ve found this format is extremely effective with customers who are in the early stages of the sales funnel and are looking for additional guidance from someone who has already been through the entire process. The interviews can be done as a live Q&A or pre-recorded, which can then be distributed through different marketing channels.
Toni: Content Access
Dependent on your business, the majority, if not all content should be free and easy for interested parties to access. Consider building a library of expert interviews and showcasing your network, along with any other event collateral you’re able to make available – such as round-ups and insights. This could be as simple as a blog, posting the event slides on your company LinkedIn page or implementing a PDF document download onto your website. Also consider the various methods and formats in which you can range and re-purpose this content to extend its value.
Even if you’re not hosting an event, people may still show an interest in the work you’re currently producing as a company. For example, our Whitepaper is available free of charge with a small registration of your name and email required for download.
Sam: Awards
The accolades that come with being recognised as a leader in your field are second to none. Consider how incredible it is for customers to be affiliated with an award-winning brand such as yours. We have had amazing success with entering our clients into awards, their industry leading USPs have won them some great coverage within tight industry circles. Hark have had great success, winning awards such as IoT Project of the Year, hosted by Prolific North, which put them in front of some fantastic potential clients.
The benefit of entering these awards is that instead of just being a name, your brand becomes so much more. The entire industry recognises you as being one of the best in your field. In specific awards, such as Hark’s Prolific North Award it sent a message to the targeted individuals in the industry that their offering was deemed impressive enough to be project of the year. The award also served to highlight Harks offering to the awards visitors, helping Hark bring on a host of new clients.
Jess: Interaction
These webinars were at first something new and exciting and offered a chance to gain insightful information for a range of industries. However, apart from the comment section, there isn’t much interaction for participants, and it is more of a one-way conversation. With most people working remotely people are losing out on their office chats and networking events where they can discuss interesting topics and it can be important to try and recreate this atmosphere. Many people want to get involved with the conversation and join the debate so it may be interesting to think of innovate ways to connect with your client base.
Once possible option would be to host polls on relevant subject matters across social media to gain their opinion on important matters (which could also act as a great data gathering tool for future customer insight). Another option would be to create online networking events, so companies can decide on a chosen topic on interest and invite those in the field to attend. Although it is not entirely the same it does create a more two-way conversation where people are able to interact and have interesting debates. Another option would be to create collaborative blog posts inviting key companies to write their input on your blog, not only is this a great opportunity to network but it creates more interesting pieces that include a range of opinions.
Looking for a fresh take on your B2B marketing? Get in touch today!