New Delhi Print Media Announces 4th Edition of ‘The Spotlight on Indian Electronics'

New Delhi Print Media has announced the 4th edition of its yearbook 'The Spotlight on Indian Electronics', which is due to be launched in May 2019.

As the electronics industry in India continues to rapidly grow and evolve, the 2019-20 edition of 'The Spotlight on Indian Electronics', delivers useful information to professionals about the state of the industry in India. The report provides a detailed study and SWOT analysis of the ecosystem for the high priority product markets, as well as identifying the future drivers of growth amongst various segments in the industry.

We think its great to see a media house providing such a useful piece of content, which allows professionals from across the globe to understand the complete picture of the Indian electronics sector.

 

by Hannah Wehrly

My Work Experience Week with Napier

Lily McIntosh, a Year 10 Durrington High School Student recently completed a week's work experience at Napier. Read her blog to find out what she learnt during her week at the Napier office:

My work experience at Napier gave me a chance to learn about what it’s like to be in the workplace and an idea into careers you could apply for in the future.

I am a Year 10 Durrington High school Student who is currently taking Business, Drama, BTEC Digital Information Technology and History as my GCSEs. Within my GCSE courses they have taught me how to set up a business, promote products and to target a certain audience. I decided to do my work experience at Napier Partnership in Chichester, because I thought it was suited to my GCSE’s and wanted to explore what working in a B2B marketing and PR company would be like.

Over the last week, I have learnt about researching and finding the right stories for the Directors' social media accounts, and how to publish and schedule Tweets using HubSpot. I also learnt about Inbound Marketing, and why it is so important for a modern marketer’s strategy.

Other opportunities I have had, include learning about ad design and video editing, with Napier’s graphic designer, Rob. Rob even showed me how a video is created through to the finished product. I have been shown how to use HTML coding for emails and websites, which is confusing at first but once you have your head wrapped round it all, it is not so difficult.

Overall, my experience here has been great, the Napier team has been very warm and welcoming during my time here. I have enjoyed learning new skills I could use in the future and in jobs that one day I might apply for.

Thank you to Napier for the insight into the world of work.

by Hannah Wehrly

A 'Napier Nine' Video... Get to Know Account Director Rhianna Bull

In our ‘Napier Nine’ video series, we’ve been taking the time to learn more about the team. In this instalment we introduce you to Rhianna Bull, Account Director at Napier.

Watch the video below to find out the four words Rhianna would use to describe herself, her strongest quality, and the fictional place she would most like to visit, as she answers her nine questions…

 

Missed the other ‘Napier Nine’ Videos in our Series? Watch them Now!

by Hannah Wehrly

A 'Napier Nine' Video... Get to Know Account Administration Executive Danielle Robertshaw

 Danielle Robertshaw, Account Administration Executive at Napier, is the latest to take part in our ‘Napier Nine’ video series.

Discover Danielle’s secret skill, her favourite quote and what she would spend her last £20 on, as she answers her nine questions…

Missed the other ‘Napier Nine’ Videos in our Series? Watch them Now!

 

by Hannah Wehrly

New Electronics’ Peter Ring Interview

We recently asked New Electronics’ Peter Ring to participate in an interview with Napier, to discuss the organisation of his events and the successful results he receives from all the hard work. Read the interview below to discover how many people Peter reaches through the events, and the reason why events such as the BEEAs and Embedded Design Show were formed.

How long have you been running events alongside New Electronics?
Since 2013 when we launched the Electronics Design Show. This year we added a one-day roadshow on PCB Design and Manufacturing which was well received, and it’s running again on May 9th 2019 at Silverstone.

Why did you start running events? What are the goals for the events today?
We felt there was a gap in the market for a design focussed event, as publishers of both New Electronics and Eureka we are in an ideal position to deliver the audience which is often the biggest challenge. Each year we get around 4,000 designers to attend over the two days. Adding shows/events to our channels to market has given New Electronics a much higher level of visibility.

How is revenue/profit split at New Electronics between the publication, the database and events?
Online revenues account for a third of New Electronics revenues with print, inserts, projects and PCB making up two thirds. The EDS revenue sits in MA Exhibitions a separate company to MA Business who publish New Electronics. EDS turned over £1.2k million in 2018.

Do you have a specialist team running the events? How much time do the events take from the editorial team?
We do have dedicated marketing teams for EDS and PCB, Neil puts a lot of effort into creating and running the EDS Conference content, but it creates good content for the magazine too as well as helping attract the audience for EDS.

How many people do you reach through your events?
4,000 plus visit EDS and 1,000 came to PCB Design which is co located with FAST an adhesive event and Engineering Materials Live.

How does this compare to the readership of New Electronics?
We send out 15,000 copies of New Electronics reaching the universe of UK electronics designers which is 53,914.

How do you judge the success of each event?
Year on year visitor increases plus we track the rebook during the Shows, at EDS 2018 we had an 80% on site rebook

Why do you run the BEEAs separately from the Engineering Design Show?
We prefer our Awards to be a daytime business event. BEEAs celebrates their 10th anniversary in 2019 and London offers a lot of choice on venues. We were in County Hall this year, taking it to Coventry to run alongside EDS is not in our current thinking.

What is the most fun for you: the show, the awards or the publication?
Actually we really enjoy all of it but EDS gives us all a lot of pleasure. Meeting readers that appreciate New Electronics creating a platform for them to meet 220 exhibitors in one day, plus exhibitors returning year after year as they get great leads from EDS is very satisfying.

by Hannah Wehrly

Napier Listed as One of the Top Digital Marketing Agencies in London

We are thrilled to announce that HubSpot has listed Napier as one of the top digital marketing agencies in London. With fierce competition, this is a great achievement that demonstrates Napier's consistently high standards and accomplishments.

Mike Maynard Managing Director says" As a HubSpot agency partner, it's fantastic for the Napier team to receive recognition after all our hard work this year, and we look forward to maintaining this momentum and achieving even more success in 2019!" 

by Hannah Wehrly

Winner of the Elektra Selfie Competition Revealed!

Congratulations to Alex Price, Marketing Manager at Vicor, who is the winner of the Napier Prop Selfie Competition recently held at the Elektra Awards. See Alex's winning picture below:

 

by Hannah Wehrly

Top things we learnt at INBOUND 2018

Earlier this year, I attended INBOUND – one of the best and biggest marketing conferences around.  I attended last year’s too and as always, I took full advantage of the advice and tips that INBOUND provided.

One of the key sessions I went to at INBOUND this year, was ‘Content is the key to the email Inbox’. An interesting session that covered what is really needed to build trust, generate leads and cultivate a customer’s loyalty.

 

Rules for Inbox Placement and Determining Optimal Cadence

The session was held by Liz Ryan of Mojo Media Labs, who has over 20 years marketing experience and specializes in email marketing and marketing automation. She believes there are 3 rules for inbox placement including: permission, cadence and content. In this session Liz also explained how to determine optimal cadence.

To determine optimal cadence, agencies should use preference centers to explicitly ask how often subscribers want to receive your email content and monitor campaign reporting by looking for thresholds when unsubscribes increase and/or click through rates fall. It is also imperative to segment your audience into groups based of behavior engagement and email them more often than the less engaged segments; consider your content – remember, emails need to create value for subscribers.

Monitoring campaign reporting and knowing to segment your audience is great, but it’s good to know things like when the best day is to send an email or how often you should send them. Within the session, Liz mentioned ‘Seventh Sense’, a provider of email analytics who have partnered with both Marketo and Hubspot. The partnership will empower users to optimize the performance of their email outreach which personalizes delivery times and segments their lists based on user engagement level.

Seventh Sense is a fantastic new platform to use as it builds profiles on every person to identify their engagement times – the time of the day, day of the week and the level of brand fatigue. Regardless of how many emails you are sending out, with Seventh Sense, every email will be automatically sent at the optimal time for each individual.

 

How to make content relevant

The next part of the session was about how to make content relevant and compelling. Liz provided the following tips and advice:

  1. Define value proposition – this tells prospects why they should do business with you rather than your competitors.
  2. Buyer Persona – Buyer personas disclose insights about your buyer’s decisions – attitudes and criteria that drive prospective customers to choose you.
  3. Create content for lifecycle stages – Have original content in order to boost SEO rankings, gain leads and have content for your website and blogs.
  4. Tailor content based on targeting  - Content needs to speak to a specifier person with a specific need .

 

Creating a content strategy

A content marketing strategy helps prepare and plan for reliable sources of website traffic and leads. A good starting point for this plan is to set out a mission statement to make it easier to focus on what is important and what’s not.  The strategy should reflect your goals and buyer personas.

Second thing is to segment your data by engagement levels and to have an ‘opt-out’ unengaged segment. Segmenting audiences is crucial as customers are more empowered than ever, making purchase decisions at a faster pace than ever before.

Finally, you should identify issues at specific domains and segment that data for sending in smaller amounts or to those who are super engaged.

 

Why not take a look at our other posts on INBOUND?

HubSpot's State of Inbound Report 2018

The Top 15 Things We Learnt at INBOUND 2017.

INBOUND 2017 Taught Me: The Importance of Look-alike Campaigns

INBOUND 2017 Taught Me: Topic Clusters

 

 

 

 

by Hannah Wehrly

Huthig Welcomes a New Member to Their Team

Martin Probst is the latest member to the join the team at publishing house Huthig, whose key areas will include Sensors/Sensor-ICs, Optoelectronics, Analog-Mixed-Singal-ICs, Power (Supply), Inverter and Battery-Technologies.

Here at Napier, we thought it would be great to learn a little bit more about Huthig's latest editor and Martin kindly agreed to participate in a interview with us. We were thrilled to receive his responses telling us a little bit more about himself:

  • How long have you been working within the electronics industry?

I’m quite new to electronics. I started volunteering in October 2016 at Hüthig and its electronic magazines. Volunteering is somewhat like an apprenticeship for journalists that lasts around two years. However, I became a full time editor at Hüthig since August 2018.

  • Why did you decide on a career within electronics?

Well, I wasn’t looking for a career within electronics, rather was I looking for a career within the media. I wanted to work for print or online and so I found the job offer from Hüthig. I hardly had any background with electronics back then, but I said to myself that I can do it and I have to at least try. The challenge was exciting. Two years later I am still here and still as excited as I was on my first day.

  • What are your key areas of interest within the industry?

I think sensors are super interesting. They are in a way the senses for a lot of electronic systems. They see, they smell, they feel, they hear. They also enable a lot of the current trends like autonomous driving or smart applications.

  • Do you have a favourite electronic gadget?

I guess my smartphone, if you consider it a gadget. It’s just fascinating how far they’ve come in the last decade or so. Nowadays you can do so much stuff on them like watching movies, reading newspapers, sending news out to millions of people and so on. And it looks like the technology will just keep getting better.

by Hannah Wehrly

ecsn Driving Innovation with ‘Powering Innovation Workshop’

The Electronic Components Supply Network (ecsn) have invited members to the ‘Powering Innovation Workshop’, in an effort to help them investigate how they position their organisation for innovation and revenue growth.

Presented by Dr Dave Richards, the workshop is designed to inspire members, and provide a framework to embracing a more strategic approach when leading innovation within their organisation. Aimed at the leadership teams of ecsn, the workshop will investigate some of the latest thinking and practise on innovation and how it may be practically applied to their organisation.

Dr Dave Richards is a globally recognised and published thought and practise leader, who has previously helped organizations achieve their full potential for all kinds of innovation; including new product development, technology applications, business improvement, customer engagement and open innovation.

It is encouraging to see that the ecsn association is providing support to their members, by trying to help them drive innovation within their organizations. With the workshop due to take place on the 29th November 2018, I look forward to hearing the positive feedback the workshop is sure to receive.

by Hannah Wehrly

Napier Competition - Can you Name this Industry Figure? - Winner Revealed!

Congratulations to Todd Bria, who is the winner of our competition 'Can you Name this Industry Figure?'

We can reveal that our industry figure is in fact a younger version of Johnny Waddell. Congratulations to Todd who guessed correctly!

by Hannah Wehrly

Napier Welcomes Jennifer Deroche as Account Manager

Jennifer joins the Chichester team bringing a wealth of experience from France and the United Kingdom, having developed her PR and Marketing skills in both agency and in-house. Her expertise includes public relations, strategic marketing, email campaigns and events. Jennifer’s previous experience covers a range of different industries, from academic publishing to agriculture. This year, Jennifer was awarded the Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma in Professional Marketing.

”Jennifer is a fantastic addition to the Napier team,” commented Mike Maynard, managing director of Napier. “Our clients will value her international experience and deep knowledge of PR and marketing. The growth of Napier is driven by our talented team, and bringing in experts such as Jennifer will help the agency continue to expand.”

by Hannah Wehrly

Napier’s Toolbox

As a marketer you are often faced with a combination of problems that are your responsibility to fix. The marketing world is filled with tips and tools that all promise to solve your problem instantly; but at Napier we know this is often not the case.

It can be overwhelming when faced with advice from several sources that all tell you different ways on how to improve your SEO or the things you must include when creating a persona. But what happens if you are given access to tools that allow you to find the solution for yourselves?

Napier’s Toolbox - a collection of the most important marketing tools is the answer to your problems.

We’ve created the best tools to help you in all aspects of marketing. From your website, to your ROI and even your MQL’s, we’ve got your covered.  Our toolbox includes:

Napier’s Marketing ROI Calculator

ROI is often a marketer’s top priority, and when creating a campaign, it is one of the most important outcomes to calculate. Our ROI calculator allows you to calculate the potential increase in profit and ROI for a campaign where you can estimate its impact on the sales funnel.

For three simple steps on how to use the calculator it to its full potential read our blog.

B2B Persona Creator Tool

As customers continue to grow and change, it can be hard for marketers to pinpoint exactly who they want to target. A persona is so important because it allows you to create a targeted campaign, with the right content and the right approach; ensuring the most successful possible outcome.

Our B2B Persona Creator Tool allows you to develop B2B personas for a specific campaign, and truly understand your target audience from the beginning. All you need to do is answer the questions provided, sit back and watch the tool do the work for you.

To understand about the value of personas, read our post ‘Buyer Persona’s – Why are they so Important?’

MQL and SQL Definition Tool

As a marketer it can often be hard to determine the difference between a MQL and a SQL, with the biggest question often being asked ‘when should I hand over to sales?’ With so many different versions of a MQL and a SQL, it can be hard to know what these terms mean for your company.

Our MQL and SQL definition tool allows you to identify what information and behaviour qualifies your leads for either marketing or sales.  The tool will then provide an easy to read breakdown of what information determines whether they are a MQL or a SQL.

For more information on how use the tool to its full potential, read our blog.

by Hannah Wehrly

Understand the difference between MQLs and SQLs with Napier’s Definition Tool

In today’s world of modern marketing, it can be hard to understand what behaviour determines a lead as a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) or a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL). Unfortunately, there is no one universal answer that states if a lead behaves a certain way then it is almost certainly a MQL or SQL.

Item Media define MQL’s as a “lead that definitely has value” and has been identified as a likely customer in the future. In comparison they describe an SQL as someone who has “clear and qualified buying intent” and is often already or nearly at the buying or decision stage of the funnel.

But how do you piece together what behaviour qualifies a MQL or a SQL for your company? At Napier, we have the answer with our MQL and SQL definition tool.  We know it can be hard to identify what type of a lead you have, and when working closely with sales, it can be difficult to know when to hand your lead over to the sales experts.

Our MQL and SQL definition tool allows you to personally identify what information and behaviour qualifies your leads for either marketing or sales.  The tool achieves this through asking select questions for each section, and then providing an easy to read breakdown of your information; which successfully defines the behavioural features you look for in a MQL and a SQL.

Try out our MQL and SQL definition tool now, and get in touch to let us know if our tool has helped you!

by Hannah Wehrly

Buyer Personas - Why are They So Important?

It is clear to see that the marketing world has evolved over the years, with online platforms now playing a significant part in targeting customers. But with so many options, marketers can often struggle to break free from the crowd and target the right audience successfully.

The solution? A buyer persona.

As a fictional representation of a company’s typical customer, a buyer persona is applied in the early stages of campaign planning to help marketers pinpoint exactly who they want to target. A persona provides a detailed background on a specific target customer; including their age, education level, skills in terms of using the internet and their understanding of the product, as well as a set goal or objective that they are trying to complete when visiting the website. These elements create personas that are representative for a business’ larger target audience, as well as providing the team with shared understanding of customers in terms of goals and capabilities.

An important purpose of personas is the ability to develop solutions, products and services based upon the needs and goals of your customer. This allows you create a targeted campaign, with the right content and the right approach; ensuring a successful outcome.

At Napier, we know how important a persona is to your campaign, but also how time-consuming it can be to create one. This is why we’ve built Napier’s very own B2B Persona Creator Tool.  Our tool allows you to develop B2B personas for a specific campaign, and truly understand your target audience from the beginning. All you need to do is answer the questions provided, sit back and watch the tool do the work for you.

In an easy to read format, the B2B Persona Creator Tool will then generate a report of your persona detailing all the information you need to create a successful targeted campaign.  You can then create multiple personas and easily compare their similarities and differences and work out how to best target their needs.

Why not try out the tool today? And let us know how it helped you!

by Hannah Wehrly

A 'Napier Nine' Video... Get to Know PR Specialist Clare Reader

In our 'Napier Nine' video series, we've been taking the time to learn more about the team. In this installment we introduce you to Clare Reader, PR Specialist at Napier.

Watch Clare's video below to find out what movie title she would give her life, the fictional place she would most like to visit, and her secret skill, as she answers her nine questions...

Missed the other ‘Napier Nine’ Videos in our Series? Watch them Now!

by Hannah Wehrly

A 'Napier Nine' Video... Get to Know Director Dave Ingle

In the latest installment of our 'Napier Nine' video series, we learn all about Dave Ingle, Director at Napier.

Watch Dave's video below to find out the Napier project he is most proud of, what he would spend his last £20 on, and the job title that really reflects what he does at Napier, as he answers his nine questions...

Missed the other ‘Napier Nine’ Videos in our Series? Watch them Now!

by Hannah Wehrly

Clarion Events acquire PennWell to Expand North American Presence

Clarion Events, one of the oldest independent event organizers in the UK, has acquired PennWell Corporation – a private B2B media, conference and exhibition company. The acquisition brings together two of the industry’s most respected companies, as it enables Clarion events to expand its North American operations, as they form one of the largest event companies in the world.

PennWell previously organised more than 40 exhibitions and conferences around the world. They also handled 130 media properties for many industries, including: oil and gas, electronic power generation and delivery, hydropower, renewable energy, fiber-optics and cable and aerospace. In the electronics sector they are particularly known for the title Military & Aerospace Electronics.

The acquisition will clearly benefit both sides of the table, as PennWell’s roster of market-leading events will enhance Clarion Events' portfolio whilst Clarion’s global network and depth of resources will no doubt strengthen PennWell’s offerings.

With an impressive presence across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Clarion Events' has the reach to enhance PennWell’s offers to worldwide customers, including their diversified portfolio of events, such as the POWER-GEN series, DistribuTECH for electricity distribution, as well as media brands such as the Oil & Gas Journal.

PennWell is the latest in a series of global acquisitions by Clarion, who purchased Urban Expositions back in 2015, and announced in February the acquisition of Hong Kong based Global Sources, a leading events organiser and online B2B marketplace operator.

It is interesting to see Clarion Events' making moves across the globe as they reinforce themselves as a widely established company in the industry. Their latest acquisition of PennWell presents their commitment to building a strong and competitive presence in North America as they continue to build their portfolio and the innovative events within it.

by Hannah Wehrly

Napier continues to grow with 2 New Client Wins

Napier continues to prove itself as a successful B2B PR and Marketing agency with 2 new clients wins – Redis Labs and NetSpeed Systems.

Redis Labs, a leading computer software company, has appointed Napier to help them increase their Brand Awareness through PR activities in the UK. Using Napier’s technical expertise and relevant experience, they will secure coverage for Redis Labs in a diverse range of vertical markets.

Napier has also been appointed by NetSpeed Systems, a company that provides scalable, coherent on-chip network IPs to SoC designers. Napier has been selected to run a pan-European PR campaign to increase the awareness and preference of NetSpeed Systems in Europe.

Napier are excited to be working with two such innovative companies and look forward to promoting their brands through high quality PR activities.

by Hannah Wehrly

Our Latest Competition - Winner Revealed!

Congratulations to Jacki Elwell from Vicor, who is the winner of our 'Tell us What the Teddy Bears are Saying' competition.

See below for Jacki's Winning entry:

by Hannah Wehrly

Google

Could Google’s New Rules Mean Death of the Welcome and Pop-Up Ads?

Google has implemented new ad blocking rules on its Chrome browser, in a move to improve what they think is an acceptable ‘ad experience’.

Chrome’s built-in ad blocker means that all advertising on websites that serve ‘annoying’ ads, such as autoplay videos with sound, full page pop-ups and some welcome ads will be blocked. This means Google won’t block all ads, just those that don’t conform with the Better Ads Guidelines.

Although this is a welcome improvement for users of the browser, it is understandable to see why online publishers are fretting about this move as they are the most affected by this change.

Many publishers use the Doubleclick for Publishers system (DFP) to display their advertising. As the system is owned by Google publishers are in a tight corner, as Google has the control to practically ‘dictate’ what ads can be run on their site.

If you run adverts that break the rules and cause a ‘Google ad violation’, this could result in Chrome blocking all advertising featured on the given site. This is potentially a huge penalty to any publisher.

Although the new ad blocking rules are currently only affecting USA and Canada, they are already affecting European publications who expect Europe to follow suit with Chrome’s built-in ad blocker.

Electronics Weekly, is already one key publication that is being affected by these new rules; they say they have no choice but to remove their use of ‘pop-ups’ that are no longer allowed by Google and ‘Welcome Ads’, which are now restricted in how they operate.  The publication has alre+ady removed these types of ads from their advertising in USA and Canada, and will eventually remove ‘Pop-up’ and ‘Welcome’ ads from their standard inventory altogether.

Although it is clear to see why publishers are worried about this change, there has to be positives to improving the user experience. The big question is whether the new standard not only decreases the number of readers using ad blockers, but if it will improve the experience of website users to such a degree that the effectiveness of “better” adverts is improved.

by Hannah Wehrly

Incisive Works Reveal Insight into B2B Tech Marketing for 2018

Incisive Works has released a report which provides valuable insight into IT decision-makers and the tech marketing that they respond to. Titled ‘B2B Tech Marketing: Are Tech Marketers Delivering What Decision-Makers really want?’, the report gains information from surveying 181 IT buyers, 153 business technology marketers and interviewing specially-selected IT buyers and marketers.

With opinions differing from across the industry on the best tactics to make IT decision-makers respond, this report has produced a definitive picture of the current state of the market, challenging previous perceptions of the industry that marketers may have held.

Probably one of the most surprising reveals in the report was the change within the buyer’s journey. In 2018, IT decision-makers will not focus on the features of the technology, but will direct their attention to how products help them achieve their goals to improve business effectiveness.

The report reveals that business drivers are now the key force in motivating IT decision makers, with 21% of respondents stating cost savings as one of their key reasons to be investing in new tech.

IT Tech buyers said that professionals, peer-level contacts and product websites are their main information sources, with buyers claiming that when they are interested in a product, they want to see cold, hard facts on what the specific technology can do, rather than a long drawn-out less than informative conversation.

A notable change in the industry is the importance of influencers in the decision-making unit. IT buyers commented that often marketers fail to be successful because they always approach the top of the chain, when many rely on their team around them to provide the information and research first before making any decisions. 55% of respondents disclosed that they were involved in the decision-making process, from inputting their opinions to contributing background information and research on the tech in question.

Although surprising, it seems that there are now layers to the decision-making process, and often this will start on the lower half of the business chain with some interviewees commenting that they will always hand their team the opportunity to research the tech, and will listen to their advice before making a final decision.

The report also features research on marketing tools which found that many tech marketers were now using marketing automation. 20% of respondents are using HubSpot, and 17% are using Marketo. This is not surprising considering how much marketing has changed in the last few years, with a firm focus on lead generation, conversion and revenue.

Although there is the worry that the customer is forgotten due to technology, there is no denying that IT buyers can benefit from these marketing automation platforms.

It is obvious to see that the industry is undergoing a change, and this report offers a window for tech marketers to seize opportunities and update their tech marketing to reflect the current state of the IT market.

Note this report is no longer available. Contact us for more information about how to optimise B2B campaigns.

 

by Hannah Wehrly

ETN to Organise the 2nd Annual Embedded Conference Finland

ETN has announced that they will be organising the 2nd Annual Embedded Conference Finland for 2018. The event will be held at the Lighthouse at Akavatalo in Pasila on April 12th.

The event will cover topics including IoT, but will focus heavily on Artificial Intelligence including a panel debate on the meaning of AI.

The technology industry is one of the most important in Finland, despite the fall of Nokia after it was acquired by Microsoft. With a newly launched artificial intelligence group which aims to help Finland accelerate the development of new businesses based on the use of artificial intelligence in Finnish companies, it is clear to see the reason why Embedded Conference Finland is using artificial intelligence as the main theme for this year’s event.

ETN has also announced their expansion as a digital magazine as they plan the first ever ETNdigi for the end of May which will focus on the IoT as well as different network technologies and their testing.

To find out more information please take a look at their website or contact either Veijo Ojanperä and Anne-Charlotte Sparrvik .

by Hannah Wehrly

Napier Feature in this year’s B2B Marketing Agencies Benchmarking Report!

Napier were recently invited to participate in the B2B Marketing Agencies Benchmarking Report for 2018; and we are happy to announce that we are ranked in the top 15 UK B2B PR Agencies.

Our Managing Director Mike Maynard was also asked to partake in an interview for the report where he discusses why Napier sees 2018 as a year of opportunity, and the latest technology on offer, including ABM and Chatbots.

Want to read our feature for yourself? Email us for a copy of the interview or click here to get your own copy of the full report from B2B Marketing Magazine… Don’t miss us we’re on page 72!

 

by Hannah Wehrly

INBOUND Taught Me: How to Win in the ever-evolving world of Social Media

During the time we spent at the HubSpot INBOUND Conference 2017, we attended partner day. As proud partners of HubSpot, we joined other agencies for the day, where we learnt the latest news about HubSpot features, and attended special sessions, not available during the 3-day main event.

One session that stood out, and stuck with me was the ‘How you can Win in the New, Ad Powered, Video Driven, Ever Evolving World of Social Media’. Although a mouthful, the session covered many valuable points; offering advice on how you and your clients can stay ahead with Social Media, and how HubSpot has rethought its approach to social, to lead a new and more modern charge alongside their customers.

Daria Marmer from HubSpot, and Ali Parmelee and Dawn Barson from THINK Creative Group, were the key speakers throughout this session. Drawing from their own experiences, they discussed amongst themselves and to their audience about the way to approach campaign strategies with social in mind.  The tips and information provided throughout this session is what I will share with you throughout the rest of this post.

Tips for Successful Social Media Posting

Whether we are aware of it or not, social media is beginning to drive and lead our campaign strategies, and with 30% of the world’s population on Facebook, companies are now selling their products through social media sites. Although organic reach on Facebook is very low, whether this is video, images or text. Paid traffic including banner ads, sponsored posts and boosted posts has been proven to be very successful.

The one problem companies are facing by selling through social media sites, such as Facebook, is that networks want people to stay on the platform rather than being redirected back to a website. There are many ways for companies to achieve this, by posting videos, or specific content, allowing companies to be able to target or retarget their audience without necessarily leading them back to their website.

Video has only become more important over the years, and today it is included in many campaign strategies, as it is considered greatly beneficial, whilst helping companies engage with their audience. Research has revealed that companies receive great engagement from their audience with videos up to 2 minutes, but often see a decrease in views in videos that are between 2 to 6 minutes long. Surprisingly, research has also revealed that the second ‘sweet spot’ where companies have seen increased engagement in videos, is between 6 to 12 minutes.

It seems the results for video engagement can vary, and often the best solution is to test, test and test again. Facebook Live is a good way to test engagement of video, and clients have previously been surprised to see how many people actually stay till the end of the video.

With 82% of Facebook’s revenue from mobile phones, a drastic difference from 10% in 2012. Companies also need to be aware of creating mobile ads which can successfully attract and engage their audience. Luckily, changes are being made to make mobile ads more effective for the B2B industry.

HubSpot and Social Media  

As promised, HubSpot has rethought its approach to social, leading their buyer journey alongside their consumers social strategy. For example, when pairing their buyer journey with the Inbound approach and Facebook Ads, it presents a successful plan to ensure potential consumers convert. As you can see below, (a photo of a slide shown in the presentation) video ads, brand awareness, reach and traffic are all components of the attract stage, which are top of the funnel content and draw in strangers to look at your products.

HubSpot also presented a significant awareness in improving and paying more attention to the delight stage of their funnel. The use of the delight stage in the buyer funnel, partnered with a social media strategy, means converted customers can turn into promoters by writing reviews, or talking about their customer service online.

ROI Calculator 

The HubSpot calculator has also been recently introduced, a new and beneficial tool for many B2B marketers.  This ‘calculator’ was established to help marketers work out their advertising ROI. By inserting key figures such as your projected monthly budget and your expected CPC, marketers can work out an estimated return on their ad spend. This is key to HubSpot’s new approach to social, as they offer the opportunity for their consumers to take less risk when it comes to their social media strategy, as they can now work out the ROI for specific ads, such as key Facebook ads.

At Napier, we created our own version of a ROI calculator, why not try it out for yourself?

A step up with Instagram...

HubSpot also revealed a new publishing feature for their HubSpot social tools. As Instagram has become larger and more popular, the platforms influence is beginning to create a significant impact in the B2B sector. Following this rise in popularity, HubSpot has introduced a new feature called Instagram reminders.

This feature will allow customers to create and schedule photos and videos on the HubSpot platform. When the time comes to publish, a notification will then be sent via the HubSpot mobile app, and from there you can open the app, copy and paste the text into Instagram and publish. As Instagram does not allow direct publishing from a third-party to their network, HubSpot has introduced the next best step to handling the demand of Instagram, something many marketers were pleased to hear, and are looking forward to when this goes live.

HubSpot Leads Ad Integration

The final and arguably most noteworthy reveal of this session, was the announcement of the lead ad integration with Facebook.  This update brings Facebook lead ad creation, tracking and lead sync to both HubSpot marketing free and paid. The integration is exclusive to Facebook lead ads, which were specifically built for an B2B audience.

The ads feature a strong CTA and use Facebook data to auto populate forms; and with the integration installed, immediately send leads to HubSpot. These lead ads are shown to the most relevant audiences across Facebook desktop, mobile app and Instagram. This integration not only offers a new and improved way to capture leads through Facebook, but also creates a place for the leads to land together and quickly be converted through HubSpot.

 

Why not take a look at other posts in our INBOUND 2017 Series?

 

by Hannah Wehrly