Read time: 3 mins
Written by Josh Westerman
Like most conferences this year, B2B Marketing Expo 2020 went virtual, bringing together the very best of B2B marketers. Across seminars, panel discussions and chat rooms, the latest trends and insights were shared at large through the power of online video streaming!
We’ve pulled together three of the valuable lessons we learnt from attending the event from afar.
1. Creating high-performance content without breaking the bank
Session: Using free tools to identify and fix website content
Speaker: Lee Wilson, head of services, Vertical Leap
A lot is said about having the right tools at your disposal to ensure your content marketing can generate the desired results, which is certainly a valid point. But according to Lee Wilson from Vertical Leap, getting access to that valuable insight performance data needn’t dent your bank balance.
The main lesson was looking at how we can find opportunities for any content being created through free tools and simple tricks. The starting place must be using three of Google’s tools: firstly, Google Analytics to see how current content is performing (in terms of pageviews and average time duration); Google Search Console to find out what non-branded keywords your content is currently performing for; and Google Trends to identity what your users are actually searching for.
These three free tools are perfect for finding those opportunities to not only create one-off content pieces, but also clusters of content relevant to a specific topic or subject matter.
Another point of interest from the session was discussion around the move to a more audio-centric audience – the “listen on the go” generation. Rather than paying the fees associated with producing a podcast or series of podcasts, opting for a simple audio recording of a B2B thought-leadership article or how-to guide can prove just as valuable, in terms of both user’s intent and search performance.
2. Getting more engagement vs being more engaging
Session: Cut The Crap – How Businesses Can ACTUALLY Utilise Their People To Drive Performance On Social Media (LinkedIn Focussed)
Speaker: Danny Windsor, head of brand and marketing, Sleeping Giant Media
Be aware of the self-proclaimed social media ‘gurus’, warns Danny Windsor, head of brand & marketing at Sleeping Giant Media. Taking the structure of an online webinar to the next level, dare we say making a mockery of the stereotype that he warns against through deliberately cringe story-telling, it’s Windsor’s take on social media engagement that had us nodding along, particularly when it came to LinkedIn.
The first piece of insight for social media is to look at how you’re posing the question ‘how can I get more engagement?’ versus ‘how can I be more engaging?’ because both, he rightly claims, can give you different answers.
It all starts with what your motivation is for wanting to use the platform in the first place and how to then be authentic while using it.
A/B testing is a great way to find out what works best, experimenting with using a variety of content types to engage and grow your audience and then narrowing it down to the most effective techniques used, while still being true to your business’s voice. After all, Windsor reminds us that LinkedIn started off as a recruitment platform that was all about people, drawing in businesses and professionals alike. It’s no wonder content on LinkedIn that performs best, then, is that which showcases a brand’s personality in an authentic way and is true to your brand voice.
3. All videos need structure
Sessions: What can video creators learn from TV
Speaker: Dan Gable, co-founder, ShoutOut
With the rising importance of video content across all forms of digital, ShoutOut’s Dan Gable offered insights into the importance of having a consistent structure across videos. The overriding message from the talk was that although there is no such thing as a “proven video content” which will work, there are proven structures to creating video content which enable user engagement.
The X Factor was used as an example. When a singer is in front of the judges, Simon Cowell will often ask them to choose another song, delve into their back story and thengive them a verdict – this is all part of the structure. The individual performers are the content – they are what makes each judging session different, but the rest of the structure stays the same. The seminar noted that the most effective approach for a video structure is a simple one to ensure the user intent is met: Problem – Solution – CTA!
If you’re looking for support in building a B2B marketing strategy that drives results, get in touch today for more information on how our team can help your business.