Are you networking or not working?

Face to Face networking can be one of the most powerful tools for any business if used properly but how can you ensure that you are getting the best out of it?

With hundreds of different networking groups in any area, finding your networking home is key.

If early mornings are not when you are at your best and you wake up looking and feeling like a member of Kiss then perhaps try a lunch or evening event. If you are a new start up with time on your hands, then attending daytime events may be the best use of your time.

Ask yourself … do you prefer to simply chat to individuals or do you prefer structured 60 second roundtable presentations, do you want to hear a topical guest speaker?

Sometimes, the fear of walking into a group of unknown people can have you heading straight to the bar, but remember you are representing your business and unless you are selling hangover remedies.. you could be damaging your reputation.

There are events to suit all and below we have listed a few of our favourites in the North West:

www.fbeonline.co.uk – Breakfast Networking events for the property and construction sector

www.gmchamber.co.uk – Chamber of Commerce events attract senior business people and are always well located with good attendance.

www.4networking.biz – 4N breakfast events which allow you freedom to visit different venues.

www.networking4business.com – Also known as Simply Networking, these are informal and well attended daytime networking events held in central Manchester.

www.networkcheshire.co.uk – With events held at places like Panacea in Alderley Edge attracting a high level clientele.. what is not to like!

Remember: If you are networking out of normal working hours in your own time, make it enjoyable, make it worthwhile and set yourself goals for each meeting so that you come out having achieved something.

People buy from people and putting your personality on your brand is key, so as you are reaching for that 5^th glass of Chardonnay… remember why you are there and if you have achieved your goals.. then cheers!

How to write good PR content for Business to Business industries.

Here at the whalepod we are passionate about creating great content which will engage with B2B audiences and will inform and entice them towards our clients products/services. Although all pieces of PR tend to follow the same rules of content; there is a different focus applied to B2B than B2C PR articles.

For any B2B company knowledge & information is key. B2B decisions are made through a different thought process than B2C they work on the basis of getting to know all the keys facts to help them make a decision on whether a product/service is for them. Whereas consumers make snappier decisions on whether the offer is right or whether it is supported by their favourite celebrity.

Businesses will want proof that a product/service works before investing their time or money into it. This is an important factor to consider when writing PR as you need to think about whether you are providing the reader with all the information that they feel is relevant. You need to ensure content has substance that engages with, informs and influences your audience, but at the same time keeps both your audience and of course your clients satisfied.

You need to understand the industry and its audience. Most B2B companies are serious about what they do and will not appreciate mistakes when it comes to knowledge within their trade. Make sure you check all spelling of people’s names, places, products and technical references. Who will want to do business with someone who can’t get the basics right?

It is also important to provide comment and opinion but to make sure that it is based on fact. The last thing you need is someone commenting back that they disagree with your comment; which is something we see happening within trade press.

But also let’s not forget that just like B2C you’ve got to make it interesting. Try and think of different topics to write your PR on. It is great to showcase recent projects you have completed but why not think of other ways that you can showcase your business through interesting feature pieces on subject matters that will engage with the reader and show them that you have influence within their trade.

How important is Social Media for B2B Marketing?

With over 30billion pieces of content shared on facebook and 95 million tweets each day it is hardly surprising that we keep getting told that social media marketing is integral to any marketing campaign. The benefits of using facebook and twitter to target teenage girls about a new make-up range is pretty obvious but what about business to business marketing, can social media really help?

The big difference between B2B and B2C is that with B2B you are not trying to convert a million individual consumers to become your customer you are trying to reach a smaller number of large companies to invest their budget in your products or services. This may make you think that social media will therefore play a less important part in trying to target this audience but this is incorrect as a study has shown that over 86% of B2B companies are using social media in one way or another.

This means that if you are not participating in social media yourself you are missing out on an opportunity to reach a wide percentage of your target audience.

One main thing to consider when thinking about social media for B2B is that interaction is not going to lead to automatic sales. Social media is about moulding relationships, providing an opinion and attracting attention to be recognised. Businesses use other businesses because of their expertise and a bigger decision making process is involved than B2C; this is why using social media platforms is so beneficial to B2B companies as you are able to showcase your expertise and knowledge.

One main advantage of utilising social media platforms is that it will increase your SEO ranking, as by appearing across multiple platforms you are increasing the chances of your search terms being found. Research has also shown that people are now turning to social media platforms instead of search engines to find out the information they need.

B2B companies are more likely than B2C to maintain a company blog and participate on Twitter so make sure you don’t get bogged down with the perception that social media has no place in your marketing strategy as you just might be missing out on the quickest and cheapest way to reach your target audience.