The starting point for many of cylindr’s engagements with its B2B clients is often the construction of a ‘strategic narrative’. And over the past year or two, it seems that these two words have become a hot topic – almost as much of a must-have as the better known concept of a ‘value proposition’. But what exactly is a strategic narrative? And why is it now perhaps the most important element of a B2B branding strategy? Continue reading
Storytelling
Why don’t engineers trust blogs?
A blog can be many things. Fashion, food and lifestyle bloggers saturate the internet with millions of posts daily. But in B2B, do engineers have the same love affair with blogs?
Why storytelling matters
As a librarian, I understand the importance and value of storytelling and, as a marketer, I know how convincing narrative can be – but it’s as a human, that I really get the power of a good story and its ability to inspire, educate and connect. Continue reading
How to create affordable testimonial videos for employer branding
Most marketing or HR directors would love to have several high-quality employee testimonial videos to support the company’s employer branding efforts – particularly when it comes to recruitment. They also say, however, that it’s one of those difficult and expensive tasks that they just don’t seem to be able to manage with available resources. Frankly, I disagree that producing testimonial videos for employer branding is difficult – or expensive. Continue reading
Branding workshops 3/3 – How to get great results
It’s either a CMO’s dream scenario or his/her worst nightmare: The entire marketing department gathered in a workshop and told they should put all their branding ideas on the table – and that every idea is welcome. But how do you extract really useful concepts from it all while ensuring everyone feels their input is valued? How do you get results from a branding workshop?
8 hot tips for creating direct mails that sell
A good direct mail can be worth its weight in gold. But you need to get the content just right. Here are eight hot tips to help you on your way. Continue reading
Please, no more propaganda
The disciplines and craft of journalism have changed corporate communications – for the better. New opportunities to cut through the noise and engage an audience abound, partly because so many companies still seem to believe that bragging about themselves in buzz words is the best way of making sure their target audience will understand the value of their brand.
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The ‘you’ in UX
Whether B2C or B2B, user experience (UX) is about building the customer-brand relationship. When we use a service or product, we don’t just interact – we connect. The experience you have can even become more important than the product and service itself. It’s all about the emotions. Continue reading
Powering up your value proposition
Is it time to get clearer on exactly why customers should prefer your company?There can be many attributes for which a product, service or entire company wants to be known: Fastest, cheapest, best quality, most features, most reliable, perfect for a specific situation, trusted, great customer service and more – the list of possibilities is endless. Continue reading
Build a great B2B corporate website: a model for aligning strategy with content (part 1)
How often do your colleagues complain about your company’s website? Like many website managers of B2B companies, you’ve probably had conversations with people who are reluctant to use it in their daily business. It could be that it doesn’t truly reflect the company today. Or maybe the content doesn’t support the negotiations salespeople have with customers and the conversations Executive Management have with key stakeholders.
But that’s not how it’s meant to be. At the very least, the website needs to support the business; at best, it should drive business opportunities. So how can you achieve that?
As with any marketing or communications initiative, website planning involves some level of strategic planning. But rather than being an academic exercise, it must be a targeted, pragmatic approach that aligns your online presence with the company’s strategy, brand, offerings and value propositions – what I’ll call the four strategic pillars of the B2B company website.
Long before even beginning to consider a website structure and content, these four strategic pillars need to be defined and documented. Don’t leave a strategic stone unturned until you’re sure. Not only will you save time creating and building your website, but you’ll be confident that you’re making good decisions about architecture, design, usability and content. Indeed, this strategic planning will be the foundation for the website’s success.