This week I’ll be joining PRCA again to talk about B2B communications and how to create and develop engaging content, and whilst I couldn’t possibly share the content of a full morning’s session, I thought it might be useful to share some thoughts on the types of content you can develop for B2B PR and social media.
Just because you don’t have a shiny consumer product to show off, doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to say – in fact there is a lot of value you can contribute to your B2B audience in terms of knowledge, skills and insight. You just need to make sure you’ve taken the time to get to know your different audiences properly so that you know exactly what they are interested in and what concerns and issues they have in their lives.
Once you’ve done your homework and have a targeted SMART communications strategy in place, you could think about developing content in the following areas:
News & updates
An obvious one to start the list. Company news and updates are easy pickings, whether it’s new management, new contract wins, a new office opening, a new report you’ve released, a new partnership, an award win or simply your annual results, you need to communicate this – think about how you can do it with images, graphics, video and audio, rather than relying solely on a press release which gets posted on your website with a link shared on social media (link share posts get less traction than photo or video)
Media coverage and social media mentions/tags
Again, pretty straightforward, if you’re featured in a news story somewhere, or someone posts about you on social media, this is content you can then use. As with your news pieces however, think about how you can share the content in an engaging way, rather than simply sharing a link, retweeting, or commenting. Can you add additional commentary to the story, or an introduction, explanation? Can you do this with a video?
Team member showcase
Your staff are your greatest asset – in so many ways! Across the board, we are becoming more cynical and losing trust in institutions, according to Edelman’s Trust Barometer, including corporates and company CEO’s. We know the power and influence of good PR people and therefore tend to trust the everyday colleagues of a company more. Getting these staff members involved in your marketing not only develops trust and credibility with your audience, but also builds an emotional connection. We do business with people, not organisations, and if we can see their faces and know their stories, we can make that connection. Let’s be honest though, a simple picture with a name and number of years service and a meaningless quote doesn’t really do much for genuine connection. A video interview however, with a genuine difficulty they’ve overcome, and some advice, or a Q&A on a hot topic or FAQ, can be much more engaging and actually adds value to the audience at the same time.
Thought leadership
Whilst we may be less trusting of leadership in general, that’s not to say they don’t have a place in communications, just not in the promotional, ‘salesy’ way. They have achieved a leadership role and therefore would presumably have lots of advice and tips they could share from their experience, that would benefit others, whether they’re looking to enter the industry, or country, or develop their careers further. They could also share their recommendations – whether it’s business books to read, courses to go on, people to follow on social media, habits to develop, etc. The popularity of books, blogs and podcasts of business leaders shows there is a huge appetite for this kind of content, and if it can be localised to this region, even better.
Third party recognition
Your content should not be all about you. No one likes to talk to someone who only ever talks about themselves! How often do you give back to your community? Recognise your staff, clients, partners? As an audience we’re not not going to particularly engage with a simple shout out and link to another company’s website or social pages. We might sit up and take notice of a genuine recommendation however, that explains what the issue was and how that particular person/company has made a difference, what it is they do that stands out. You could do this for suppliers, venues, clients, government entities, and the products and services you yourself use for your business.
Problem solving
Whilst most people are interested in improving their lives (whether in terms of health, money, recognition, love, and lifestyle), content that offers advice and tips in these areas might be noticed but is often bookmarked, to read later (if later ever comes!) However human nature generally dictates that we are much more likely to stop and read something if it resonates with our fears, concerns and issues (ie tips to make me live longer, versus, tips to stop you from dying at the age of 60; 5 tips to write a better story, versus, 5 things you are doing wrong in your writing). Therefore we need to know our different audiences well enough to know what problems, concerns and issues they have – look at the most common client queries, the FAQ’s, their complaints, and the content they are asking and sharing, and what they are googling, and develop content around these areas – not focussed on your service, but on the solution as a whole.
Newsjacking
Not everyone is familiar with this term, but most of you are doing it! Are you planning on sharing content focussed on women for International Women’s Day next week? Do you create holiday greeting graphics and messages? If the answer is yes, then you’re newsjacking – taking topical news and hot topics and building content around those themes because it’s what everyone is talking about and searching for. The issue here is that when it comes to popular content, there is a lot of competition for the conversation – everyone’s talking about it. In order for your content to be seen or paid attention to, you have to be offering something different to everyone else, and in order to have an impact, it has to be relevant. Far too many people try to create content around hot topics that have no relevance to the product or service they offer, and this kind of click bait content just reduces your credibility. If it is a relevant subject, think about how you could add expert commentary or an opinion piece that is of value or particular interest to readers.
Asking for feedback and ideas
We’re so used to thinking about our PR and social media in terms of broadcasting our messages, that we often forget to invite conversation and ask for input. Our social media platforms are a great place for outreach and business development, not only for knowledge, contacts, but also for innovation and our own business development. How often do you ask your audience for their opinion. The very nature of human ego means we love for people to ask for ideas, suggestions and feedback (good and bad!) It’s flattering to be asked for our opinion, and more often that not we’re more than happy to oblige! This makes for great content, whether through simple question posts and Q&A’s, or through polls surveys and quizzes (and can lead additional content with the compilation of results).
You can extend this outreach by asking for audience participation (sharing images/videos). Questions might revolve around your product or service, the physical office appearance, the music you have playing while you work, or more generally subjects such as new year resolutions, christmas wishes, most important qualities in a boss/supplier, best example of customer service, most valued work benefit, etc. You can even incentivise participation by making it a contest with a prize.
These are only half the ideas we will be talking through in our workshop this week. If you’d like to discuss these, or hear any other suggestions for B2B content, please do drop us a line to sam@footstepcommunications.com
