Founder at Word of MICE & Past-President at MPI Belgium
Mariska Kesteloo
Mariska Kesteloo is an expert in B2B influencer marketing. Her goal is to use social media as a way of adding increased value to events, mostly through micro influencers. In this interview, she tells us the ins and outs of her job.
Exploit the power of social media, create valuable networks and contact the right people to increase visibility of events. Today we talk with Mariska Kesteloo, founder at Word of MICE and B2B influencer marketing expert. She offers us a detailed look at the meetings and events industry from her perspective: marketing and social media. In a frank interview, Mariska shares the lessons she’s learned on her professional journey and this new paradigm of events communications.
Tell us about your career and what drives you in your day to day work.
Ideas are born from frustration, that’s the reason why I started my company. Working as a freelance event professional for years, I visited many tradeshows and exhibitions where I talked with different hotels, venue’s and DMC’s. When I raised the question ‘Why should I organize an event in your hotel, venue or destination?’,often I received an answer like: we have 500 rooms, 10.000 square meters meeting room and we are a four-star property. These are facts and figures I can find online. Isn’t our industry all about creating amazing experiences and connecting the right people? Tell me the story of your hotel, why should I organize my upcoming event in it, and not at the neighbor’s? What is your unique selling point, how do you differentiate yourself from the others, and more importantly, what is your target audience? One size doesn’t fit all! You can’t be an expert in all fields, right? How is it possible that in the Twenty First century we still use the same methods that we’ve been using for the last thirty years, if not more? It’s time for a change!
How did you start working in B2B influencer marketing?
I had been working in the travel industry for more than ten years, with so many active bloggers and vloggers. This made me think: how about we use this medium in our B2B industry? We could use the power of experts, people with a professional experience in our sector, and let them tell their stories in a creative, fun or unique way. It’s always better to be recommended than having to promote yourself. Peer to peer recommendation is extremely powerful. It’s still word of mouth, only that we’re using the online tools called social media.
Testing the idea at IBTM in 2016, I discovered it had potential and, in 2017, I started working full-time. It’s been a huge challenge since then. One little mouse can create a huge impact in your life, so can one micro-influencer, so what if the word was spread by more mice or micro-influencers? That’s when Word of MICE was born!
It’s always better to be recommended than having to promote yourself. Peer to peer recommendation is extremely powerful. It’s word of mouth, only here we’re using the online tools called social media.
What do you find most exciting about being a leader in the meetings and events industry? What are the main challenges you face?
First, I don’t see myself as a leader to be honest. My goal is to inspire others with my knowledge and experiences, to convince them of the added value of influencer marketing, and to use it to its full potential. Our industry is not really ‘early-adaptor minded’ if I was to describe it in marketing terms.
To convince potential clients to invest in influencer marketing is like selling a different mindset. Why? Because the budget that suppliers are spending on exhibitions, folders, flyers, and other activities and events, you want them to invest it in influencer marketing. We are used to doing our sales and promotions in a certain way and I must convince the CFO/CEO to change. That’s a major shift and challenge! It’s a completely different mindset that requires time and lots of patience.
In that sense, I see myself as a disruptor, a change-maker. My drive is to make suppliers more visible in the market by telling their stories through experts and to get in touch with the right target audience.
What would be the best way to dismantle these challenges?
In Dutch we love expressions and the best one to describe it is: If one sheep leaps over the ditch, the rest will follow. The only thing they need is time. As we work on new cases we have more results and it’s easier to convince them from several proven track records. Influencer marketing is not yet common in the B2B market, but it will come, that’s for sure.
Besides, I need to keep my focus, be patient and keep on working hard to continue my mission together with my team. I like challenges, and this is a major one.
Influencer marketing is not yet common in the B2B market, but it will come, that’s for sure.
When measuring the success of an event, which are the most important KPIs to consider?
First, it depends on the strategy of the client. Influencer marketing is a part of the marketing strategy. Do you want to attract a new audience? Do you have a new service or product to sell, or are you opening a new hotel? Do you suffer from a ‘misperception’?
We start from there and investigate the client’s profile, we see what their target audience is. We start with our research, as you can read below in the overview. We set the goals and we follow-up, adjust them and modify them when needed during the campaign. At the end, we collect all the data in a report and we present the full overview.
Tell us 5 tips to pick the perfect influencer for a campaign/supplier.
- Don’t focus on the number of followers but on the quality of their network and your strategy. Therefore, every client has different needs, is looking for a different market, etc. It’s a thorough process to find and to match the right influencer with the client.
- Influencer marketing has endless options, you can measure the impact and adjust it any time you need to.
- Influencers are not those who call your hotel for a free stay and dinner! That’s typical for the B2C market, not in the B2B market.
- The MICE industry is a very particular niche industry and you must be an insider to be, or to become, an influencer. In other words, work only with experts!
- Influencer marketing is a collaboration between the influencer, the client and, in some cases, the agency. Only in this way will the campaign be a success.
Our influencers are not selected based on the size of their communities, but on the quality of their network and published content. Besides, we consider their knowledge, their background, their relationships and their contacts in the industry. It’s an intense process to find and connect with the right person, someone who can create and spread the story of a product or service in an authentic way, and I always tell this to potential clients. We prefer to avoid the word ‘influencer’, as it only creates confusion about their job -it really is! – and their credibility.
So, how does it work?
- Identify needs: we analyze the target audience, preferred channel, timeframe and desired outcomes,
- Scouting & selection: we cast a wide net and we search for beloved personalities and thought leaders in today’s social media platforms from in our database, based on the client’s requirements.
- Briefing: WOM sits down with both customer and influencer(s) to align and coordinate the creative content and brand communication.
- Planning: WOM proposes a communication plan with influencers and a strategy.
- Marketing: the influencer broadcasts branded communication through their channel while WOM follows up closely. During the entire process, we keep our client up to date, delivering insights into the influencer’s performance during each phase.
- Final report: after the influencer’s branded communication comes to an end, we share a final assessment with all available figures.
Which social network do you consider the greatest asset to help spread the word and broadcast an event? What other communications channels do you consider essential?
The world of social media is changing rapidly, and a lot of people get confused when selecting which channel they should use. First, you need to know what social network your current or potential audience is using. Starting from there, you don’t need to maintain all channels. Focus on one or two channels and maintain them, be consistent and professional. That’s already a lot of work.
What advice would you give someone taking their first steps in the meetings and events sector?
Networking is key, this is, getting involved in an association. For me, this has given me the opportunity to get in touch with many people in the international sector. Plus, in the mean time you have access to education. You should also get a mentor. It’s always great to have the knowledge of a senior professional, who can support you in every step of your career. Important: questions which may seem more personal, don’t be afraid to ask them!
Looking towards 2020, where would you like to see innovation within the sector?
If I look towards my business, it would be great if suppliers used the power of social media influencers to share their stories, be visible and be online.
Next, I’m fan of sustainability and diversity in the broad sense of the word. We need to care about our planet, we only have one! I hope we can move towards a more sustainable industry, and innovation plays a huge role here. Also, although many women are working in our industry, the CEOs and GMs are usual men. We need to change that, bring more equality into the entire industry. Working with people with different backgrounds, cultures and experiences is very enriching. Only in this way will we be able to move forward in our industry.
Social Audio trend that has become a reality
Online events have become one way for the MICE industry to survive the pandemic. And for this reason, last year undoubtedly belonged to applications such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Clickmeeting and others. To communicate and organise events, mainly in the virtual world we had to adapt to the new tools.
Unfortunately, the MICE industry has not returned to business as usual yet and we still cannot meet for all kinds of events. Many of these online applications will stay with us helping participants join the conversation and to maintain the relationships. This is also why I enjoy using such platforms as Hopin, Swapcard and Hubilo during online events. Why? because also you can’t travel but still keep in touch with your audience, grow your network from a distance and learn and exchange experiences.
During different types of video meetings, the behaviour of the participants was different. It seems to me that the longer we have to work from home, the more often there have been situations where a participant has not turned on the camera during such events, even though others have activated this feature.
This can be more comfortable AND convenient as you don’t have to worry about the look and background in the frame. But are you sure this is polite? However, in my opinion, when taking part in a webinar or broadcast with an online discussion, you should show your face. When delivering online training myself, I rely on interaction rather than speaking to black screens.
Clubhouse found its niche
However, people want to engage with each other, especially if they have similar interests or want to know more about a particular topic. Why is Clubhouse popular, because you don’t show your face. Easy to connect, and interact, wherever you are. This has contributed to the popularity of the Clubhouse app, which admittedly has been around since early 2020, but It became more popular towards the end of last year.
Podcasts that we can listen to at any time have been popular for many years. But Clubhouse works a little differently, setting the standard for the whole Social Audio trend.What is Social Audio? It’s like a radio station that is co-created with the listeners.
In so-called rooms, the organiser can give voice to participants, who are only visible as profile icons. There is no video, no pictures, no texts, just the sound itself. Clubhouse gave its users the feeling of authentic conversations and a return to interpersonal relationships from before the pandemic.
Clubouse set the standard for the whole Social Audio trend.
In its initial phase, the application also gained popularity thanks to the effect of inaccessibility. To be able to create a profile, you need to have an invitation to join from another use.
Clubhouse used FOMO to attract users, a smart move. Conversations can’t be recorded, you have to join live like the radio. In January and February this year I spent a lot of time listening to and participating in various talks given by people in our MICE industry.
Clubhouse can be seen as an extra medium. The app is only available for Apple devices which undoubtedly limits its growth. The Clubhouse app has been downloaded by 13 million people worldwide. In December 2020 they had just 600.000 downloads.
Clubhouse for eventprofs
Is it worth investing time in acquiring knowledge and creating a profile in Clubhouse? The first destinations and MICE industry representatives have already created their profile on Clubhouse and take part in discussions, organise meetings and conversations with interesting guests. Some examples are:
- Ljubljana Talks by Conventa and Ljubljana Convention Bureau
- EventMB
- Inluencers from the MICE industry
? Top 10 Tech Trends for 2022 with @MariskaKesteloo at Knowledge Theatre @IBTMevents #IBTMWorld today.
? Would you like to know more? Send us a DM.#InfluencerMarketing #eventprofs #contentcreators #b2bmarketing #ibtm21 #ibtm pic.twitter.com/tpPJTDg7ZJ— wordofmice (@wordofmice) December 1, 2021
What is the future of Social Audio?
The app is constantly evolving and introducing new features for users. Clubhouse launched in October the ability to record and replay conversations. And what’s more? You are able now to download shareable 30-second clips.
I don’t know what the future of Clubhouse will be, but without a doubt social audio in general is already one of the most important trend in marketing 2021. The avalanche has started and nearly 30 startups have already used this concept.
Of course, the other platforms are following the trend: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (Microsoft). They are creating their own versions and plan to add new functionalities for their users. They are creating their own versions and plan to add new functionalities for their users:
- Twitter Spaces launched in spring 2021 – find out more about Associations Space on Twitter Spaces
- Facebook launched its own podcasts and such novelties as Soundbites, Live Audio Room or Sound Studio. Find out more.
- Spotify launched Greenroom
Facebook, Twitter and Spotify have the Clubhouse advantage in the form of existing users of the services, they will simply roll out additional functionality, it will be available on iOS and Android mobile devices.
Keep an eye on the market and see what happens in 2022 and how social audio will evolve. Jaroslaw Marciuk
The first season of the B2B Influencer Marketing Chat Series
Now more than ever suppliers in the meetings & events industry are struggling; we are all going through a difficult time due to COVID-19 pandemic. But how do you stay in touch with your target audience nowadays? And what kind of content do you post which is relevant today and for the near future? Have you thought of influencers? Perhaps not!
Therefore we want to give you insight, easy to implement tips on a shoestring budget. Because we have a wrong perception of influencers and we want to change your perception. We want to help you to go through these challenging times together.
Now more than ever influencers play a crucial role, they have an audience of followers. These followers trust the influencer and rely on them for tips and suggestions on how to go through these rough times. And it’s not about sales, it’s about trust and relevance.
What are the B2B Influencer Marketing chat series?
Welcome to our LIVE interviews where we talk about B2B influencer marketing in the world of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events). We speak with people from all around the globe about the role, the meaning, the impact and the possibilities of B2B Influencer Marketing on social media and networking platforms. We share case studies, discuss influencer marketing campaigns for destinations and other suppliers from our industry and beyond.
Our hosts for the first series of 10 episodes are Mariska Kesteloo and Alessia di Raimondo.
Who should join our LIVE sessions on Zoom
People from the meetings & events industry and beyond! Planners & suppliers are welcome. If you are working in a hotel, or for a destination, airline, DMC or at the other side as an event planner, join the session.
A practical interview where you get concrete tips on how to continue your communication together with influencers these challenging times, on a shoestring budget. It’s our aim to support planners & suppliers from the MICE industry with our passion and knowledge about B2B influencer marketing, to spread your story in an appropriate way during this pandemic.
How to join the B2B Influencer Marketing chat series?
Join us every Thursday at 1 pm CEST /12 pm GMT LIVE on Zoom. You can participate and ask questions to our special guests. This is the most engaging way to be part of our series of interviews.
Follow us on Eventbrite and sign up for the next live interviews with influencers, entrepreneurs, and many other interesting guests from the MICE industry and beyond. You can register and participate for free.
World of MICE – events on Eventbrite – free registration
What if you missed a live episode?
In case you missed our live session, listen to our conversation on your favorite podcast channel. We upload the whole interview to the following podcast channels: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Radio Public.
Blog posts
Do you prefer reading over listening? You can read the entire conversation from each interview on our website.
1. Alessia di Raimondo and Mariska Kesteloo
During this episode with Alessia and Mariska we will cover the following topics:
- How to set up a successful B2B influencer marketing campaign in 6 steps?
- How to find the right influencers for your company
- Budget friendly tips in these turbulent times of global pandemic
Listen to our conversation on Spotify podcast or read a blog post How to set up a successful B2B influencer marketing campaign.
2. Patrick de Pauw – Employer Branding
For our upcoming edition we have invited Patrick de Pauw, co-founder from Social Seeder, to talk about employer branding and of course influencer marketing.
What will you learn from Patrick:
- What is employer branding?
- Why is employer branding now more important than ever?
- What is the link between influencer marketing and employer branding?
- And how companies can benefit from the use of influencer marketing and employer branding?
- Receive suggestions and ideas what you can do to keep your target audience and employees engaged
Listen to our conversation on Spotify podcast.
3. Giovanna Lucherini – Destination Marketing
For our upcoming edition we have invited Giovanna Lucherini, director of the Napoli Convention Bureau in Italy to talk about destination marketing and of course influencer marketing. What will you learn?
- Why has Napoli chosen to work influencers dedicated to the meetings & events industry?
- The role of influencers during the campaign and after?
- The outcome of the Napoli Convention Bureau campaign
- The role and responsibilities of influencers during the Covid-19
- The future of destination marketing and the role of influencers
Listen to our conversation with Giovanna Lucherini on Spotify.
4. Ivo Franschitz & Henrik von Arnold – Ambassadors & Influencer Marketing
For our upcoming edition we have invited Ivo Franschitz and Henrik von Arnold, the co-founders of Enited, to talk about the role of ambassadors of tomorrow, and B2B influencer marketing. What will you learn?
- The current definition and role of ambassadors & influencers for destinations
- Why do play ambassadors now and in the near future a bigger role, especially during Covid-19 and after?
- What are the benefits of an ambassadors program on a short and long term?
- How can you adapt your current ambassadors program?
- How do you select the right ambassadors and keep them involved on a long term?
You can listen to our conversation on Spotify.
5. Keith Jenkins – Ambassadors & Influencers
For our upcoming edition, we will host Keith Jenkins, the founder of iambassador – the leading travel influencer network. In this edition we will talk about the challenges of the travel influencers, and the role of influencers now and in the near future in the travel & MICE industry. What will you learn?
- The role and impact of travel influencers before Covid-19
- How travel influencers have pivot their businesses
- How destinations and other suppliers can benefit from influencers and what are the reasons to work with travel or MICE influencers
- What the MICE industry can learn from the travel industry
- The future of influencers for the travel & MICE industry
Listen to our conversation with Keith Jenkins on Spotify.
6. Dries de Geyter & Dennis Lippens – How to measure the success of your B2B influencer marketing campaign?
For our upcoming edition we have invited Dries de Geyter and Dennis Lippens, founders of Deer Lord Games, and passionate digital marketers. In this edition we will talk about the challenges of how to measure the success of a B2B influencer marketing campaign.
A crucial question to ask yourself and your team: how will we know our B2B influencer campaign is a success? This question is often posed as “What is the ROI (Return On Investment)? The exact return is incredibly tricky to calculate, but there are different measures of success and you should be very mindful about how you will quantify success if you want to keep winning. And if you don’t measure your mistakes, you’re doomed to repeat them. What will you learn?
- How to structure your B2B influencer marketing campaign?
- How to define the outcome of your campaigns?
- What are the tools and platforms you can use to measure the outcome?
- The metrics clients and influencers can use themselves to track the data?
- Insights how and when to measure the outcome after the campaign
Listen to our conversation with Dries and Dennis about How to measure the impact B2B influencer marketing campaign.
7. Amanda Thurlow & Sabrina Meyers – How to work with influencers in the MICE industry?
For our upcoming edition we have invited Amanda Thurlow, Sabrina Meyers and not to forget Alessia di Raimondo, all passionate MICE influencers.
A question we receive a lot, how can an influencer contribute to my company? There are many options and possibilities and therefore we will talk with 3 passionate influencer from the industry to gain more insights about their work. Also to which projects they have contributed in the past, the tasks they have done, and of course how the pandemic has impacted their business.
In this edition we will talk about the work of the influencers, and what they can do for your company and the projects they have done in the past. What will you learn?
- Understanding the process; how to work with influencers?
- How to select the right influencer for a campaign?
- How influencers have changed their business during Covid-19?
Listen to our conversation with MICE influencers on Spotify.
8. Rupa Shah – Influencers & brands: what are we allowed to do and what not?
For our upcoming edition, we have invited Rupa Shah, owner of Hashtag Ad Consulting. She’s an authority in the industry and with her years of knowledge, we will dive into this important and often ‘overseen’ topic.
If you are a brand, what are the rules and regulations that you need to apply if you start working with influencers? Yes, there are rules that you need to apply. But some of the criticisms still levelled at it are that it is unregulated; it is the Wild West of the marketing world; that influencer fraud, fake followers and non-disclosure of paid-for relationships is rife. But is that really the case? And is it a global problem or are there just a few rogue states where this kind of marketing anarchy is tolerated?
What will you learn?
- Insights about the rules and regulations for companies if they start working with influencers
- What are the obligations for the influencers who are involved in the campaign?
- Important items about cross border campaigns
- Examples from professional examples who applied the rules & regulations
Listen to our conversation on Spotify with Rupa about ads and regulations for influencers.
9. Julius Solaris – Influencers in the MICE industry
We are excited to announce that we will interview Julius Solaris, one of the biggest influencers from the MICE industry. Julius Solaris is the founder of Event Manager Blog. During this interview we will gain insights about his journey, how he got started with blogging and where’s standing today being acquired by Skift.
What will you learn from Julius Solaris?
- Gain insights from the biggest influencer in the MICE industry; how Julius started with his blog and where’s he’s standing today
- The growing importance of digital marketing
- How to get started as a MICE blogger
- His vision on the world of B2B influencer marketing and influencer marketing in general
Listen to conversation with Julius Solaris on Spotify.
10. Tom Augenthaler and David Wing- B2B Influencer Marketing in different industries
We are excited to announce that in the final episode we will interview Tom Augenthaler and David Wing, both known in the world of B2B influencer marketing. During this interview, we will gain insights into how other industries have implemented B2B influencer marketing, what have they learned from their failures and successes. And besides they will share relevant case studies.
Tom Augenthaler is the founder of the The Influencer Marketer, speaker, consultant and trainer. David Wing founded Wing Digital Marketing. Two passionate founders and fans of B2B influencer marketing.
What will you learn from B2B?
- Gain insights how other industries have implemented B2B influencer marketing
- The failures and successes stories
- B2B influencer marketing case studies
- The role of influencers and thought leaders in a B2B environment
- Their vision on the future of B2B influencer marketing
Listen to our conversation with Tom Augenthaler and David Wing on Spotify.
Jois us
If you have an inspiring story and/or experience which could be relevant for our audience, please contact us: mariska@wordofmice.com
Meet Word of MICE
Word of MICE is the first and only global influencer community for the MICE industry. We inspire hotels, venues, destinations and other suppliers to employ Social Media Influencers as an integral part of their brand strategy and explore the true potential of influencer marketing. We create unique creative, tailor-made campaigns for all suppliers in the MICE industry over the globe.
Our B2B clients appreciate our years of experience in the MICE industry combined with an innovative product to bring their brand awareness to the next level.
How to set up a successful B2B influencer marketing campaign
Word of MICE founder Mariska Kesteloo and Alessia di Raimondo discuss all about destination marketing.
Introduction
Mariska: Welcome to the first edition of the B2B Influencer Marketing Chat series, I’m very proud to launch this new series of chats, which you can listen to every week on our podcast channel. I’m not doing this alone. I’m together with Alessia Di Raimondo. Welcome. She’s our regular host every week. Alessia, welcome.
Alessia: Thank you, Mariska. Hello, everybody. My name is Alessia Di Raimondo. I`ve teamed up with Mariska from Word of MICE. I’m a freelance marketing and sales consultant for destinations, planners and suppliers, professionals in the meeting industry and I’m also the vice president of communication at the Italian Chapter of MPI.
Mariska: Thank you very much for the introduction that reminds me that I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Mariska Kesteloo and I’m the founder of Word of MICE. We create B2B influencer marketing campaigns for hotels, destinations, venues and many other suppliers in the meetings and events industry.
This is our first edition and the first edition is all about destination marketing. I would say a very current topic because due to Covid-19, a lot of destinations and other suppliers, but mainly destinations are, of course, struggling. How do you stay in touch with your audience, but also what is the right tone of voice and with all the uncertainties that might still come up. We don’t know how to proceed.
Challenges for a destination in Covid-19 era
I’m happy to talk about this particular topic with Alessia because you have worked actually for a convention bureau in Sicily in the past. Could you describe what are the biggest challenges for a destination in these challenging times?
Alessia: Nowadays the biggest challenge for a destination is keeping clients’ attention high, save and replacing their wish lists and priorities and what will be, of course, to start again our business and to travel again and go back to our normal life and work. They have to save their brand protection and do not lose competitive advantage, even online on the site.
We are all online these days. I mean, those destinations which are creative as well as honest transparent with its communication, and they are communicating weekly or even daily with followers. They are getting lots of exposure, especially now. Many are working on building up trust, increasing the attention, creating and delivering spontaneous confidence by using their team members which have time nowadays and they don’t need any budget to produce to create such type of content. So why don’t you do it. For a destination as well for the companies in the supply chain the biggest challenge is to keep the staff motivated and involve the employees to collaborate all together to generate ideas and create new content. Not copying competitors, but being original.
Find the right tone of communication
Mariska: It’s easier said than done because it’s not easy to find the right tone of voice. What can we post, what not, what is appropriate. Some destinations are owned by the governments or some people are not allowed to work, even they would love to work. Despite that, they would love to continue with the communication, so I think that’s also a huge challenge.
Alessia: Some people think that being silent is sort of a way to show respect, considering the challenges we are facing together. But actually, it’s not because this creates a distance between the brand and the company, of course, on the users and suppliers on the other side. So there’s a way to continue communicating also in these times, but in a soft way, with the right approach. You just have to find what is the right message you want to share with your users and you will find the proper way to do it.
Maintaining relationships with your audience
Mariska: If you talk about the proper way we cannot talk about sales or promotion. You mentioned already earlier in one of your comments that you’re saying it’s about trust. Indeed, it’s like a marriage you also don’t stop communicating from one until the other day you keep the relationship, to keep it open and ongoing. So I think a lot of people think stopping is better than pulling out content. That is not right. But I totally agree with you. You need to maintain your relationship with your followers, despite it’s not easy to find the right content or the right topics. There are many things in our industry we can write about.
Alessia: The most important thing is to talk about authentic things at work, about the values which represent your brand. There are some destinations that are doing a great job. They are producing videos, wonderful videos, so very unconventional content as well. But if you don’t have the budget to work on a video, you can also use bottom-up content coming from your employees and use those contents on your channels – a website, blog, the social media to reach your users. They will be in the city as well as an original and fantastic campaign, which maybe would cost much more, but you don’t need to invest in it now.
Mariska: I think you already mentioned engaging your employees. That’s also a great way to create more exposure without using external influencers or external people to create content.
LinkedIn – personal profile and company page
Mariska: We’re talking about tips and suggestions you already mentioned. What else destinations can do? You mentioned already continue being out there to remain top of mind. Can you give us concrete steps that are on a low budget, of course, or with the possibilities of the convention bureau?
Alessia: A good idea and a good strategy would be to invest in your LinkedIn personal profile and company page. Why? LinkedIn, especially for the B2B market, is a very useful channel. They are improving the platform. There are many new features and also ads on LinkedIn work very well. You can work on the digital PR and on your personal branding and also your branding as an employee of a specific company, at no cost. Why don’t you invest your time in your profile, on your company page, on LinkedIn, on a group, on a LinkedIn community? We have time to do it now. We don’t need anybody to do it and that this is a different channel to reach the target audience.
Mariska: I think LinkedIn is a must for every company, especially if you work B2B. I mean, I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn, which I have been using for many, many years. LinkedIn still remains the number one platform to do business and to get in touch with people.
Alessia: The engagement on LinkedIn is very high. You have to consider also a KPI to choose the channel to work on. I would like to ask you Mariska if you can explain why influencer marketing now is more important than ever.
Influencer Marketing in B2B
Mariska: When I talk about B2B influencer marketing in general, I would say to stay and to remain top of mind amongst your target audience, that is for me the best description, what influencer marketing is. Why now?
We’re all in lockdown or some people might not be in lockdown yet, but we’re all restricted to travel. We are at home. This is the ideal time to reach out to influencers, even if it’s your employees. People who are from the same industry, you have the passion, the knowledge, the experience and more importantly, the followers to reach out and to remain top of mind. Because you cannot talk about sales, you cannot talk about promotion because no one knows how long it will take or it will last. Therefore it is important to remain top of mind and to be there online and like you said, and to continue also that communication.
A negative perception of Influencer Marketing
And a lot of people underestimate the value of B2B influencer marketing because they have a negative perception because they think it’s only the millennials. You don’t go to your neighbour if you have pain in your tooth. I mean, you go to dentists because they have the expertise. That’s the same with the influencer. Unfortunately, the bad perception that we have can be caused by the “Fire Festival”, a lot of campaigns managed wrong or used the wrong influencer. Because of that a lot of people have also the wrong perception in our industry. In the MICE industry, it’s more about the experience, about the knowledge that people have, and less on the number of followers.
The second thing is we do campaigns for the long term, six months, a year or even longer to connect with the specific sort of audience. I prefer to use the word ambassador, content creator, expert, or a mix of all those things. It is our role to find the right tone of voice and to remain in touch with the audience.
Planning Influencer campaigns
Alessia: You talk about influencer marketing campaigns. How to set up a good influencer campaign? What are the most important elements to think about and to include in your project?
Mariska: If we do a campaign, first of all, I think it stands and falls with a good briefing.
- What is your target audience?
- What would you like to get out of the campaign?
- And of course, if you have a budget, if you don’t have a budget, let us know as well because we are living in challenging times, people are willing to do something for free.
- What is the time frame?
- Which channel would you like to focus on?
If you find an influencer who’s focusing on LinkedIn and doesn’t mean that he or she is an expert or has the same followers on Twitter or on Instagram. So a good briefing about the company, about what would you like to get out of it?
What are your values? Because it’s not just someone picked on expertise and on the right followers, but also if he or she respects the values, the philosophy of the company. So I always call it’s more like a dating agency what we do. We need to find the right match, the person that respects your company and also the values, but also on a professional level. That is the first thing.
The second thing is that you have a clear briefing. As soon as you work together that the influencer receives a contract, knows what I’m allowed to do and I’m not allowed to do. Working towards an outcome and that is can be really challenging in these times or you need to modify or adapt. It’s constant collaboration, constantly in touch with the influencer of what can we do, or can’t do.
We planned the video for two or three weeks’ time and perhaps we need to change the content or it’s not appropriate anymore. It’s outdated already. So it’s constant communication, collaboration.
Please don’t forget the leverage, the experience, the knowledge that influences have. You work with the influencer because he or she knows her followers, he or she has the creativity and passion. So use it and ask the input. And don’t say you need to do this or need to do that. Now, it’s a collaboration and I say creating content together.
So I think those are the most important elements. And remind yourself that you will create a collaboration that will last hopefully not only during the campaign but even after the campaign.
B2B Influencer campaigns case studies
Alessia: Thank you Mariska. Do we have some best practices of clients who are already working with influencers and they are doing a great job, according to you?
Mariska: I think on a B2B level, specifically for our industry, it’s quite rare and we’re quite new, I would say. There are some interesting examples. I mean, you could also, as you said, you could also use your employees as your influencers without using or calculating a huge budget. There are great examples.
International Women’s Day
National Geographic did a fantastic campaign on International Women’s Day. It was not about sales, not about promotion. It was just about awareness. How can we motivate women and young ladies and girls to choose a profession in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Taking pictures of women working in these different professions all around the world and launching that on International Women’s Day was a major campaign. Just by creating awareness because we know that we will have a lack of women and a lack of workforce in the specific sectors. So that was a very interesting B2B marketing campaign and even some of the ladies were asked to do a presentation and talk about their professions offline.
Microsoft or National Geographic didn’t gain leads or bookings out of it. So this is actually a very strong example of how to work on awareness. And also for a long term goal. So how to motivate, how to change a certain perception or the changes in behavior.
I think that is also why it is a great example, especially now, because we can’t sell anything we can’t say come to my destination or join the fam trip because people are not eager to travel, and which I totally understand. Including myself, I’m also not eager to travel now. We need to find a campaign where I would say awareness is the focus. I mean many are hopefully during this crisis, many inspiring examples will come up. I think you can do a lot with a very I would say a very small or shoestring budget.
How to choose the right influencer?
Alessia: We talk about the employees as the first influencers we could involve for an influencer marketing campaign with no budget. But if we need to choose a professional influencer for a dedicated campaign, what are the things we have to consider when choosing the influencer to work with.
Mariska: Choosing the right influence is one of the biggest challenges for companies. With whom are we going to work, how do we select the criteria, etc. I think you have two ways.
Of course, you can choose your employees, but you also need to find someone who is active on social media, who is already perhaps creating or is a fan of graphic design or perhaps has his own website. I mean, there are many people who have side projects or perhaps have a side business where they already write a blog post or get involved in perhaps any charity or a good cause as a volunteer. I think there is a huge potential as far as being an employer, but you might not have discovered that yet. So I think you should first look inward in your own company what is the potential over there.
And I think now more than ever, everybody is eager to keep their job and hopefully, we can say going through this pandemic together. I think before you will recruit someone, an external person was not able to travel, was not able to come to your product or doesn’t know your product or is not familiar with it.
Internal or external influencer?
I would prefer to work with someone who is trustworthy because that’s what it’s all about now. An employee is already familiar with your product or service. Even an ex-employee could also be interesting or someone else related to your company or stakeholders or partners or board members and your advisory board you might have. So there is a lot of potential, not only within your expertise, but I would say also your circle around your company that you have and without using the budget and starting with an influencers campaign.
I hope the companies do have a dedicated influencer marketing budget. I can only imagine that you make now different choices and you hope you can keep all your employees. So why don’t you involve and engage them more and perhaps their perception would also change their product and by doing them something different within the company. So I think it’s an underestimated part of influence and marketing employees, partners, speakers, anyone who is related to your company.
Alessia: Thank you for this overview, which is actually an introduction to enter into the world of the influence of marketing, especially in the B2B and in the MICE industry.
Mariska: You are absolutely right. In the next episodes, we are going to talk more about different topics related with B2B influencer marketing, laws, about regulations. We’re going to talk with influencers themselves and we’re going to talk with Julius Solaris as one of the major influencers in the events industry. Many more interesting episodes are coming up. Thank you all so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed listening to our podcast. Thank you so much for being our host Alessia and see you next week.
Alessia: Thank you. Bye, bye
Welcome to the B2B Influencer Marketing chat series where we talk about B2B influencer marketing in the world of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events). We speak with people from all around the globe about the role, the meaning, impact and possibilities of B2B influencer marketing. Hosts: Mariska Kesteloo & Alessia di Raimondo.
You can listen to us and our guests on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts.
The second season of B2B Chat Series
We launch the second season of B2B Influencer Marketing chat series in November 2020. Follow us on Eventbrite and signup for coming chats with influencers, CVB`s representatives and many other interesting guests from the MICE industry and Social Media world. We start the second season with Instagram Influencer – Phil Gonzalez.