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If you want to grow your online audience, start by creating great content.

Straight forward enough? Not necessarily…

Creating great content can be both time and cost consuming – and that’s before you’ve even figured out what constitutes great content for your brand. A quick google will soon tell you there’s no shortage of answers.

Ultimately, ‘great’ content engages, entertains and/or educates your target audience (If you can do all three, you’re on to a winner).

For the purpose of this article, let’s fast forward a few steps: You’ve created your shiny new piece of content and it’s approved for publication. Let’s say you’ve produced a case study to highlight a particular product or area of expertise within your business. You post it on your website and share a link to it on your social media channels.

Job…done? Not so fast.

You’ve put a lot of time and effort into creating your case study. Now it’s time to make the content work for you. Here’s how to turn one case study into multiple shareable content pieces.

Infographics

Go through your case study and extract the most valuable insights. It can be key stats, numbers, facts – even half a dozen can make for an impactful infographic design. Use it to grab people’s attention on your social channels and direct them through to the full case study.

Social proof

If your case study contains a quote or input from a happy customer/client; shout about it! It could be as simple as a graphic featuring the quote and their name/title or, time permitting, arrange to film 30 second video clip of them talking about your product/service.

Pro tip: If using a static graphic; include a headshot of the person attributed to the quote. Tag the person and their company in your LinkedIn post and encourage them to both share, like and comment on the post (the algorithm favours these interactions).

Create a video

A case study that is technical in nature, or perhaps describes a specific process/service, can benefit from a video or animation asset. It doesn’t need to capture everything; focusing on one aspect can be an effective way of introducing the product/service to your audience.

Pro tip: Boost your LinkedIn marketing – keep your video/animation to 30-60 seconds and where possible, add subtitles for optimal performance. Oh, and a square video format works best!

Create a deck

Distill your case study into a few slides and use it for your next client pitch, in-house presentation or annual review. That way you’ll always have a concise and presentable summary to hand should you need it.

Pro tip: Save your PowerPoint file as a PDF and feature it on a LinkedIn post. Why, we hear you ask? Because the LinkedIn algorithm loves PDFs and will give your post a boost as a thank you.

Paid advertising

Your infographic, customer testimonial, video or animation can all be used to support audience growth through paid social media advertising. Take LinkedIn for example; there are options to suit all budgets. Select your target audience/region input the length of the campaign. You’ll be presented with a list of prices and the results they’ll deliver – then simply adjust your spend upwards and downwards until you find a budget vs reach that suits you.

Media publications

Could your case study lend itself to a feature in a trade publication? Utilize any media contacts you have in order to reach a wider audience. You’ll also boost your own SEO by having your content feature on the website of a reputable publication.

Send an email

Email marketing is an excellent content distribution tool – so don’t forget to hit send! Share your case study with your database in the first instance. You can also maintain a steady stream of clicks by updating your email signature to feature a well-designed banner that links to the case study. Every little helps!

Create once, distribute forever

By re-purposing and distributing your content across a variety of channels, you can maximize its reach, engage a wider audience and ultimately improve your content marketing output. By turning it into multiple assets you’ll also extend the lifespan of the content, enabling you to spread it out across monthly and annual content plans.

Events serve as a powerful opportunity to raise brand awareness and increase visibility. By attending relevant industry events, B2B businesses can position themselves as thought leaders and industry experts, boosting their credibility. Whether it is a trade show, conference, or product launch, events enable your businesses to highlight your service offerings in an immersive environment, allowing attendees to experience the brand firsthand.

Furthermore, events attract a diverse range of attendees, providing businesses with the opportunity to tap into new markets, reach potential customers, and generate leads. When executed effectively, event marketing can create a buzz around a brand, spreading awareness through word-of-mouth and social media.

But preparing for a B2B event involves more than the stand logistics and event day itself. To maximise your attendance, it’s critical to take proactive steps to help ensure that your business achieves a higher return on investment (ROI).

When planning your event, here’re some actions to consider, to maximise brand awareness.

Harness social media

Use your company social media channels to promote your event attendance. Inform your network about the event and provide booth location details. Actively engage and comment on social media posts. Leave genuine and thoughtful remarks to increase visibility by asking questions, sharing insights, and tagging others.

Pro tip: Look for the official event hashtag and use it. Usually, you can find them on the organizer’s website or social media. By using the event hashtag, you will ensure that your post will be at the heart of the conversation around the event, allowing you to interact with like-minded attendees. Boost your reach!

Multi-channel event communication

Add a page to your website, share an event email signature banner for staff to use in the weeks preceding the event, issue an email update to key clients. There are multiple communication channels which you can plan to activate in the weeks before the event to share details of your stand.

Case studies

Sharing relevant case studies adds credibility and generates interest in the services. Have some case studies ready to share in the weeks before the event so that you have up to date discussion points with attendees. These success stories can also be displayed on screens at your booth.

Press and media

It’s not unusual for members of the industry or local press to attend key events. Do you have a news item you could share, or could you arrange an interview with a journalist and senior member of your team? Events are a good time to enhance your media relations and make announcements.

Demonstrations and Presentations

Providing attendees with a firsthand experience allows them to understand better what you have to offer, making your brand more memorable. Whether it’s showing your product on screen on physically, people love to witness the real thing.

We are all visual beings who learn from watching. Have high impact visuals or video content on your stand. But don’t forget to order the infrastructure to support the demonstrations. Nothing is worse than trying to do a live demo with a bad exhibition Wi-Fi connection!

Pro Tip: If your product is too large for a stand, then consider a 3D model. If a dedicated screen is unavailable, then grab an iPad which your booth staff can use in their interactions.

Audience engagement

At events you’re aiming to attract people onto the stand and encourage them to engage. As a result, consider ways in which you could do that – scheduled presentations, interactive quizzes, or even just coffee. It’s all about building a brand experience so where possible make it relevant to your brand.

Marketing collateral

The trend for having printed collateral on stands has shifted due to the environmental impact and lack of desire to carry them about / retain paper. However, marketing collateral can be a useful conversation or sales tool. So, consider having a limited number on stand for your teams to use and add QR codes so visitors can access a digital version if they want to retain the content.

Lead capturing and follow up

You are aiming to build a brand connection and follow up communications is a key part of that. Make sure that a pile of business cards doesn’t end up at the bottom of someone’s bag and nothing is done with them. Agree on how your team will capture stand visitor contact details and communicate with them after the event. A “thank you for visiting our booth” email after the show means that your brand will be brought back to front of mind once that person is back at their desk.

Get Ready

In a digital age characterized by virtual connections, physical events present unique opportunities for businesses to build connections, strengthen brands, and drive growth. By leveraging events, businesses can forge meaningful relationships, strengthen their brand, and pave the way for long-term success. However, to maximize the ROI of your event, it’s critical to start preparing in advance and consider all the ways to maximise brand awareness at the event.

In an increasingly digital world, where virtual interactions dominate our daily lives, the value of face-to-face connections cannot be underestimated. With its ability to bring people together in a shared space, events are powerful opportunities for us all to engage, create memorable experiences and drive personal and professional growth.

Building Authentic Connections

Unlike traditional marketing channels, events provide you with good old fashioned ‘work the room’ opportunities. Events also attract a diverse range of attendees, providing you with the opportunity to meet a range of different contacts, not only to generate sales leads but to create wider opportunities.

When it comes to building authentic connections at an event, here are some suggestions to help facilitate interactions and get the most from your attendance:

Business Cards

Yes, it seems obvious, but the classic schoolboy error is to show up with no cards. Show that you are prepared and interested in maintaining a connection beyond the event with professionally designed and branded cards.

Pro Tip: Embrace the shift from paper business cards to digital. With digital business cards, you instantly share your contact information. Tap your card against a smartphone and share your contact details. It can act as an ice breaker or as a memorable way to bring your conversation to a close. Check out TAPiTAG.

Research and Familiarize

Take the time to research and understand the companies who are attending and the services they offer. This knowledge allows you to identify potential partnerships or check in with better-known competitors. Create a plan for who you want to speak to and consider getting in touch before the event, to get some pre-agreed meetings in the diary.

Harness Social Media

Make sure people know you are going to be there. Share your attendance on your personal LinkedIn page and if you’re only there for a limited time then make that clear.

Pro Tip: Look for the official event hashtag and use it. Usually, you can find them on the organizer’s website or social media. By using the event hashtag, you will ensure that your post will be at the heart of the conversation around the event, allowing you to interact with like-minded attendees. Boost your reach!

Conversation Starters

Not everyone is confident to dive straight into conversations. Prepare some industry questions to help you initiate conversations. Engaging conversation starters can help break the ice and foster deeper discussions. Alternatively, kick-off by asking them to tap your new digital business card on their phone!

Show your expertise

Before the event, demonstrate your expertise by providing value. Share relevant content such as blogs, reviews, interviews, or industry podcasts highlighting your knowledge and making it clear what people can talk to you about. By positioning yourself as a thought leader and sharing valuable insights, you establish credibility and generate interest.

Company attendance

if your company are exhibiting then be familiar with what’s being presented. Speak to the stand organisers and ensure you’re familiar with what your company are doing, and focusing on, at the show. If you work for a larger organisation, then see who is attending from other offices or locations and build your internal network as well as your external one.

Event marketing still presents a unique opportunity to build authentic connections in an increasingly digital landscape. By activating some of these suggestions you can untap the potential of event marketing and forge lasting connections that go beyond the event itself.

Over the last few weeks the focus on a sustainable future has once again been pushed to the forefront of the agenda. As we all waited on positive news in relation to a sustainable climate future, companies in the heavy industrial sector are focused on the importance of the green transition.

Being closely aligned to the oil and gas industry we observe how often the sector hits the headlines and is demonised within the mass media. No one operating within the industry would claim that oil and gas production is “green” but with Reuters estimating that “Oil use will rise by 1.7 million barrels per day in 2023 to 101.6 million bpd”, the short term truth is that unless our reliance on oil and gas reduces, or alternative energy sources becomes more widely utilised, the production of hydrocarbons it still needed. Therefore, the important thing for energy companies right now is to focus on what role they are playing in contributing towards a more sustainable energy sector.

No one within the sector will fail to have observed, particularly over the last 2 years, a shift towards greener production. The focus and commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 is being seen across the industry as everyone strives to develop, deliver and demonstrate more sustainable options. Our clients, who are primarily located in Stavanger and Aberdeen, share a common goal; to be part of the solution. All our clients are addressing how they can be part of the green transition as new technologies are needed to develop the next generation of energy sources. From hydrocarbon production to carbon capture and storage, land and floating wind turbines and green and blue hydrogen, the need and desire to transform is evident.

With the green shift leading to innovation and investment in technologies which aid decarbonisation, our clients, and the wider sector are repositioning their communication to “talk greener”. However, from a communication perspective this can create a slight paradox; how to tell a greener tale without overstating your claim. We’ve seen many logos turn green and before this visual practise becomes overplayed, companies need to find ways to incorporate the green transition, while remaining distinctive. So how do we advise them to do this? How do we help them stand out from the crowd?

Here are our top tips for communicating the green shift:

1. Make a commitment; if you’re talking the talk, then you need to walk the walk. We’ve seen companies in the US face lawsuits claiming false advertising on low-carbon energy claims. So don’t make false claims or pretend you’re doing something you’re not. Make a realistic commitment and a plan to achieve it. Communicate your commitment clearly and simply so that everyone within the business knows the goal. Our client FourPhase has evolved their ESG&Q policy which is widely shared throughout the business.

2. Be transparent; show the journey; No one expects overnight transformations. This is a journey, so once you’ve set your goals, demonstrate how you plan to get there. You can also communicate progress to date. Our client Neodrill wanted to share their developments and also issued a call for others to change their standard practises to utilise greener solutions. As a result, we developed a “Do what you CAN” campaign for them.

3. Validate; benchmark, gather and use data. If you are not already doing so then start to calculate the baseline emissions resulting from your own operations (scope 1 and scope 2). While often overwhelming as a task, data is the key to credible communication. If possible, don’t just look at your data today, assess whether there is historical data you can identify and use that benchmark to demonstrate change. By benchmarking and establishing data your communication can be underpinned by fact, making it all more credible. If this isn’t something that can be done internally then look at getting external support. When our client Fishbones commissioned an independent study, we were able to use that data to communicate their impact.

4. Stay true to yourself; you don’t need to use the colour green to communicate your decarbonisation message. Ensure your communication reflects your business and values. We’ve supported our client Ace to tell their story in their own way.

We believe the focus on green credentials is only going to increase and “green” is likely to be a deciding procurement factor, along with HSE and risk, in the future. Therefore, make sure you give this topic the required focus and action. If you need help to evolve your communication in a credible, transparent way, that is true to your business values, then please get in touch.

Did you know that unlike a personal post, any content posted from a company page on LinkedIn will only be seen by the page followers? This is one of the the key reasons your marketing team are always asking you to like, share or comment on content. Without you the potential for company content is limited. Employee engagement and social amplification are the best ways to get your content seen and grow the page following.

On average, employees have 10 times more social media connections than their company has followers. In addition, content shared via employees consistently generates at least a 2x higher click-through rate than the post shared from a company pages. As a result, getting your team engaged and using LinkedIn can have a positive impact on the visibility of the company.

Why care about LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is all about building a professional network and the platform centres itself on building relationships. Engaging with even the tiniest segment of the 756 million LinkedIn users can have significant impact on your visibility as a company and individual.

Interaction is key

LinkedIn rewards interaction and engagement. LinkedIn’s algorithm takes interaction as an indicator that users are interested in a certain post and that the content would be valuable to share with a wider audience. Likes, shares, and comments operate as indications to LinkedIn that content is good.

In practical terms, this means that LinkedIn will feature the post in the feeds of those whose connections interact with it, or simply put, if I like something then my connections will see the post in their feed. In addition, the post may feature more prominently in relevant groups and hashtag search results. As a result, it’s through the initial and subsequent interactions (one of my connections then likes the post and it’s then shared with their connections…) that visibility grows. When done successfully it is also possible for posts to ‘go viral’ and break out of your immediate follower networks when interaction grows exponentially.

So how can we help make this happen?

Employee engagement is central to ensuring that you are maximising your potential interactions, unlocking new audiences and keeping your posts alive.

Not only does a strong employee response to LinkedIn posts demonstrate that staff are invested in the success of the team, but by interacting with posts, they in turn share the content with their own followers, thereby further widening the net of potential interaction.

So what can you and your team do?

• Encourage likes and comments on company posts from your team.
• When sharing, make sure you are adding text that indicates to your followers why you are interested and why they should be too.
• Demonstrate real interest in what your company is sharing. Was it ‘great to be a part of the project’ or are you ‘proud to have achieved such fantastic results’? Then share that with the community.
• Stage sharing amongst colleagues over the following days to extend the longevity of posts.
• Avoid cannibalising posts (sounds dramatic but it just means when engagement is drawn to a shared version of the post at the detriment of the original), especially in the first few days of posting.

By putting a real focus on employee engagement, you can make a significant impact on the reach and longevity of your posts without making any changes to content or diving into the realms of paid advertising. With these simple steps you can make the most of the valuable connections of your team as a springboard to greater visibility and interaction potential.

So why not have a talk with your colleagues and discuss the importance of engaging with company posts? Make sure you’re not missing out on unlocking your true LinkedIn potential.

Want to learn more about LinkedIn and social media marketing?

Get in touch: hello@project-neon.com