Digital and Social Landscape

A key theme that was under discussion was the developments in the digital and social landscape. Speakers explored how consumer insights are shaping social media strategies and providing effective ways to build online communities and brand authority in a fast-paced digital world.

Girls in Marketing’s Olivia Mae-Hanlon was a strong example of this and provided fascinating insights into how she built and maintained engagement in her digital community. We learnt that community needs to be prioritised throughout the funnel and at all stages of conversion.

Shauna Moran from GWI provided further insight from an analytics perspective, emphasising the importance of consumer insights in satisfying the social needs of the consumer throughout the buyer journey.

AI applications

The application of AI was a common theme throughout and was a strong focus in the seminar and panel lead by Tim Bond of Network Sunday. Tim told the room of marketers to “Treat AI like an intern”, emphasising that AI is here to support us and if we instruct AI in the right way, it can be transformative in our marketing efforts. We learnt that AI isn’t going anywhere, so there’s a lot of value in learning how to use it effectively.

Brand Visibility & Organic Search

Each speaker had a different way of approaching brand visibility but settled on versions of the same point – you need to be visible to the right people to drive sales. 

Hallam’s Ben Wood provided engaging insights and showed us that consumers are diversifying the places they search online. We were told to think beyond Google and where you need to boost your visibility. In short, build visibility where your audience is. 

Alongside this, Niall Ratcliffe, founder of noticed, took a bold approach to the topic, telling us that we were being lied to and that visibility on its own will not help us meet our targets – we need to be relevant. We learnt that taking a consumer-first approach will help us to show up with meaning and will ultimately lead to better outcomes.

Rethinking B2B Engagement

Potentially the most important theme discussed; taught us not to ignore emotion in B2B marketing. Daryl Fielding, famous for initiating Dove’s enduring Campaign, was a strong ambassador of this and showed us that the highest levels of engagement in B2B marketing were driven through a company’s effective use of emotion in their campaigns. We learnt that good marketing is emotionally smart, story-led and human. Fielding even challenged B2B as a concept and opened the idea to the audience: “maybe we should start thinking of B2B as B2H (Business to human)”. Behind every 'decision-maker' is a real person, who prefers to engage with emotionally led content, including in B2B. 

There were many important takeaways from all the fantastic sessions on at B2B Marketing Live Manchester, from how to optimise brand visibility and maximise the use of AI, to reminding us about the importance of emotion in branding and to foster a community throughout the marketing funnel. The captivating speakers challenged the room to rethink traditional practices and embrace a more human, insight-led approach to marketing. 

B2B Marketing Live Manchester wasn’t just a conference - it was a call to action and a reminder that people need to be at the heart of everything we do.