Key takeaways from PR Moment’s Social in B2B event

SE10’s digital marketing manager, Yasmin Abraham, recently attended the Social in B2B  conference hosted by PR Moment in London, UK. During this event, she gained valuable insights into why B2B currently stands out as one of the most intriguing segments of marketing communication.  

The conference featured enlightening discussions led by prominent speakers such as Charlie Ayling, Kinda Jackson, and Ben Smith, who delved into the evolution of the B2B communication landscape. For an extended period, B2B communication was characterised by its excessive formality, resulting in the creation of monotonous and overly serious content. But now we’re in a new B2B world thanks to enhanced data, an expanding array of digital channels, and a surge in creative approaches. The speakers highlighted the importance of personalisation in creativity, reflecting the evolving trends in B2B communication. 

 Insight-driven marketing  

 “Insight-driven marketing” is a shift away from traditional media and focuses on giving consumers what they want, which is personalised content. In fact, nearly 80% of consumers won’t even consider making a purchase unless the content is tailored to their preferences. AI can be a real game-changer in helping businesses become more insight-driven. One way it does this is by sorting through and organising a ton of unstructured data. This not only saves time but also makes it easier to analyse complicated datasets.  

The challenge for marketers is to keep up with the ever-changing preferences and behaviours of modern consumers and create campaigns that connect with them. This can be an even greater challenge in the B2B landscape, as businesses need to understand how to use personalisation when connecting with other companies. It is also important that we track the success of these campaigns for our clients and show them the data and metrics that signify a successful campaign.   

 B2B is human too! 

Speaker Kinda Jackson discussed the role of emotional engagement in both B2B and B2C marketing. In B2C, she has found that emotional campaigns that make people feel something or empower them are common and effective. However, in B2B marketing, the focus tends to be on product benefits, competitive advantages, and why a company should be chosen over competitors. This approach often lacks emotional engagement and understanding of the audience’s needs.  

Research shows that emotional factors play a significant role in purchasing decisions, even in B2B settings. Emotional campaigns can have a considerable impact on awareness and engagement. While B2B marketing may not need to make people cry, it should still aim to evoke emotions and empathise with the audience’s challenges, empowering them to act and engage with the content.  

She shared an example of a campaign for Vodafone, which aimed to humanise the brand to attract more engineers. The results showed the effectiveness of emotional engagement in B2B marketing. A key insight was how a longer campaign style video was snipped it up into a lot of shorter videos versions which were then pushed through paid social. This proved highly successful given the audience’s attention span on certain platforms.   

The key takeaways from this conference were how emotional marketing plays a pivotal role for B2B companies seeking to establish a deeper connection with their target audience. By prioritising audience-centric strategies, emotional marketing leverages human elements to create engaging campaigns. These approaches utilise a variety of tools, such as video content and collaborations with influencers, to effectively resonate with the intended audience and build a stronger rapport. 

 Contact us to discuss how SE10 can help achieve an emotional connection with B2B audiences on social media.