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.
B2B Influencer Marketing Q&A with Tim Williams
We share with you seven questions about influencer marketing and answers of Tim Williams, CEO at Onalytica. The blog post was created from thelive interview with Tim during B2B Influencer Marketing Chat Series. You will find the link to the interview below.
Q1 – Do you consider yourself an influencer?
Well, since we said in the iterview that everyone’s an influencer, then yes, but I don’t. I asked people. I went down the South Bank in London and I asked some random people that walked past I said ‘What is your definition of an influencer?’ and they said, people with hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram or something like that. And so, obviously, the definition of an influencer is very ambiguous.
We define an influencer as because, obviously are journalists, politicians, analysts. Those are the kind of traditional forms of PR or marketing. So I suppose when people are talking about influencers, they’re talking about non-traditional people who are delivering an impact on a target audience or changing behavior or helping them make a decision in your target audience.
So that’s our definition of an influencer. And, of course, I can influence certain people, but I would not expect the brands to hire me as an influencer unless they’re trying to get into the influencer marketing space of which I would hope to be more influent.
Q2 – Is it too late to start?
What would be your piece of advice for a person who is well known within the industry, but does not have social media profiles? It was not necessary in “normal times”. This person has just started using LinkedIn and Twitter. Is it too late for her? Or does she still have a chance to catch up and influence my audience online?
Tim: I think that’s a really good question. We provide advice to a lot of employees that feel like this. Because they’re trying to develop their own personal brand, as well. And a lot of senior execs are influential people, but not on social media. So I think it’s important to know what your passion areas and what your focus and what your routine would be on social media, you could post once a day when you have a coffee break or something like that. So you got to find your routine. And then you got to find the communities that you want to be influential within.
And if you start following the top influencers in those communities, and following their content, and adding value to their content and starting a conversation, you can quite quickly build up an influential account. And so it doesn’t take years and years, you can get the benefits from this in three months if you’re strategic about it. But you’ve got to put a bit of effort in so I don’t think it’s late, or like too late for people.
But I think it’s important to not just post random content onto social media and expect to get lots of engagement because it just doesn’t work like that. Thankfully, there are a lot of people who are influential already that you can co-create content with them. And then you can gain followers from their audience that are very relevant. So I think those are the few areas where you can accelerate your influence from a standing start.
Q3 – What social media platform shall I choose to influence people on social media?
What would be your piece of advice for a person who is known in the industry and says which platform should I choose? Whether should it be TikTok? We know that`s not right, probably. But would you choose a LinkedIn or Twitter or…
Tim: Well it depends upon the context of course, in B2B, you know, we analyzs platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Podcasts, YouTube, Forbes Channels, that’s really where we focus on saying whether Instagram Stories or Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, what impact they’re going to have on B2B, who knows, in 10 years time in two years time, you know, we obviously need to see how the marketplace evolves. It just depends on where your audience is showing up.
But what I think is an important point, though, is you can create video content, we’re creating video content here, you’re going to be repurposing this, I think, into podcasts and blog posts. And so the ability to create quality video content, and then repurpose it across different channels in different formats, is absolutely vital. So you don’t have to obsess over the channel. But equally, you don’t want to post something on 10 different channels, because that’s probably going to be more of a diluted strategy.
Mariska: When I think of the MICE industry, I think Linkedin is still the place to go because it is a platform of the most opportunities and but indeed, it’s part of your, I think it’s the big word is consistency within social media. I think as you said, you need to be part of your strategy, need to be part of your weekly routine. I don’t say you have to post every day on LinkedIn. But at least check it every day. If people comment on your posts or engage with others or say people have a new job, congratulations. Because I think that’s also something a lot of people underestimate. It’s not just only sending, but it’s also engaging with other people.
Q4 – What type of content an influencer shall produce for social media?
Today, when you want to start Instagram, you have Stories, Reels and many other options. Your account doesn’t grow organically, like before, you need to pay for your ads. Thu world of social media is totally different now. Would you advise some people, rather than focusing on the text, so they could just focus on actions that do not take so much time? Could they focus on video or podcasts, so they don’t have to write long blog posts? For example, would you say that’s a good approach?
Tim: I think, when we speak to influencers, actually, what they love to do is they love to write blogs and articles, a lot of them love writing. And I suppose it just depends who the audience is. If their consumers want snackable images and videos, if you’re looking at the travel industry or leisure industry, I think that probably the video and images would be the way to go.
When you’re looking at tech, then there’s still, you know, blog posts, articles. They’re in massive demand, and the influencers love writing the content, not necessarily in long white paper formats, because, you know, I think that they’re evolving, and there’s a modern approach to a white paper. But I just think it depends upon the industry, it depends upon the audience. Blog posts and email marketing and traditional forms of communication are extremely effective in B2B marketing. Still, if you get them right.
Q5 – What are good B2B influencer campaigns?
Could you please share with us some B2B influencer campaigns you have recently noticed?
Tim: We have a number of clients that run successful campaigns. I think we work with a lot of global tech clients and we’ve seen with some of their marquee events, the 30% of the social traffic has been driven by influencers.
On marquee event, it could be IBM Think, for example. And, you know, I think that’s a great result to see the influencers showing up like really driving the mindshare in the industry and the awareness around events like that. So, I wouldn’t pick any particular brand out, that’s just an example.
But we’re just saying the results sharp around your virtual events in a big way. And there are other ones where brands are just starting off doing LinkedIn lives with a subject matter expert and an external influencer. And we see some really great engagement from that, but they’re just starting out on their journey running a pilot program and then just learning from the results and scaling up there.
Q6 – How do you see TikTok evolving for B2B influencers?
Mariska: I would like also to have your vision on TikTok. How do you see TikTok evolving for B2B influencers? Do you think it will be a potential way to engage with people or with potential clients?
Tim: This is obviously just a very personal opinion. I’m trying to run a business focusing on all the channels that clients are asking about. And people mentioned TikTok, but they mentioned it in a jokey way. Like they did Snapchat, and I go to B2B, social media marketing conferences, and actually, that they aren’t just B2B.
There are the social media marketing conferences that happen in San Diego and content marketing world and all of those conferences and people joke around about TikTok, but until people are actually wanting to put budget behind it, then I don’t invest too much time in actually thinking about it from a business standpoint.
I think that anything which is video based, which can convey the message, is going to be really valuable. And so I think that maybe in a couple of years, we’ll see more campaigns. I’m starting to see people talk about Instagram Stories for B2B. But, you know, maybe in like 0.5% of cases, it’s really not something that anyone is putting some real budget behind that we’ve heard about. So at the moment, I’m just staying focused, but I expect in 2022, it’ll be part of a B2B campaign. When it becomes more mainstream than I think within employee advocacy this could show off in a lot of cases.
Q7 – Are social media giants trying to suppress all of the data?
Have you noticed that some of the platforms, such as Facebook, Linkedin, don’t want to share the data and they want to close access for the third party companies which analyse data?
Tim: Because we are a third-party vendor that wants to analyse platforms like that. So, we have to crowdsource, and we got a semi-automated way of analysing Linkedin which is just through significant investment that we had to make because they are not open. But obviously, we are crowdsourcing publicly available information and we are respecting GDPR rules, but it’s a big challenge.
Twitter is more open that’s why it’s easier to get information, Facebook is all anonymised and very very private. So yeah, it’s a big challenge, and that’s why we focused on B2B to make sure we get the channels right for B2B.
Companies that are trying across every single social media platform are being hit by all the changing rules, when Instagram dropped their API fee a number of business went burst in the influencer marketing space.
There are also some slightly, potentially, illegal ways in which some companies are getting instagram data. We have not gone that route, but we think it’s a threat to the industry. And Facebook and Instagram are trying to suppress all of that data because they want to build products themselves and obviously earn money out of influencers advertising promotional content. I think it’s a real danger, especially to the B2C industry.
Podcast with Tim Williams
Tim Williams is the CEO of Onalytica, an Influencer Marketing company that provides influencer relationship management software and supporting professional services. Onalytica provides influence marketing software, the company focuses on advocacy. In case you missed our live session with Tim Williams, listen to our conversation on your favorite podcast platform. We uploaded the whole interview to the following podcast channels:
Do you prefer reading over listening? You can read most of our conversation with Tim Williams in blog post How to measure influence on social media.
#AssociationsSpace – one of its kind in the MICE industry
Guest post by Nadia Rubtsova – Associations Space emcee and Helsinki MICE Ambassador
We started the #AssociationsSpace on Twitter Spaces in May 2021 with the goal to engage with associations on a different level. During the pandemic, a lot of associations were going through difficult times on different levels.
We wanted to connect and to maintain the relationships with associations. A place where they can share their knowledge and insights, and not to forget to a place where they can learn and interact with other associations. Because many associations were facing similar challenges. A simple tool, a place with easy acces and conversations which are short, engaging and snappy. The ones that everyone could listen to on a break or when having a walk. And more over, a virtual safe place to meet and to connect.
What are Twitter Spaces and how do they work?
The audio format of Twitter Spaces gave us the perfect solution for a 20 minute chat for this particular audience. Easy to use for the participants, no subscriptions, no camera. With one click you can join the conversation and with one click you can leave the conversation without disturbing the audience. These chats are the equivalent of a networking break at an event, where you exchange ideas and pick each other’s brains.
The three roles in Twitter Spaces for participants in the audio of the Twitter event. Each participant has different options:
- Host – Has the highest level of privilege. The administrator starts and ends the session in the room and has the ability to speak independently. Additionally, it can add new participants, mute and even remove participants.
- Speaker – You can add up to 10 speakers at the same time in your spaces. Of course, it is not recommended that everyone talks at the same time. To become a speaker in a room, the administrator can invite you, which you can approve or reject. Second opportunity to speak, you can request a role that the Twitter room host must approve or reject.
- Listener – a guest who may listen to the speaker and respond by sending emoji. Currently, there are no restrictions on the number of listeners.
One competitive advantage of Twitter Spaces over Clubhouse is that Twitter offers an opportunity to continue the conversation after the talk ends. Anyone attending can also tweet, share a link, or chat, and you can invite anyone to join as a listener.
If you already have a Twitter community, it’s easy to promote your talks on Twitter Spaces and invite participants to various conversations. It’s a winning tool to use for the destinations and event professionals to position themselves as knowledge experts and leaders in the market.
The future of associations
My top key learnings from my conversations with various associations representatives on Twitter Spaces are:
- We received insights from the associations that we would have never received otherwise, such as how virtual events have transformed the associations’ engagement with their members.
- Associations will play an even bigger role in the near future if they manage to keep up with the digital transformation and add value for their members through various activities.
- Building a community of engaged members has the central focus. People don’t want to lay bricks, they want to build a cathedral. They want to create or be part of the legacy of the association.
- Destinations are ready to host safe events and the associations are planning hybrid or in-person events for Q4 2021 and 2022 onwards.
- Sustainability in events will be the NEXT big thing that everyone will focus on and will talk about. This will be a must-have not good to have. Sustainability will become the cornerstone of the association’s strategy and its events (online and offline).
Eventprofs and destinations on Twitter Spaces
Me and the speakers, industry experts and association executives, absolutely loved the format of the #AssociationsSpace. Along the way, I also learnt a thing or two about how to moderate them in the best possible way and how to keep the conversation going in a very natural way.
A piece of advice I can share: prepare your notes and schedule conversations upfront with your speakers, but give it a natural flow. Addressing a spontaneous question or sharing your own thoughts would only foster the discussion and it will be easier for people to listen.
I was extremely concerned about the audio experience that our listeners would have. Making sure that there are no long pauses, that thoughts are expressed in a clear way is key as people don’t see you and they rely entirely on one sense- their hearing.
We were promoting the series every week on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. The best response was through the target channels, which are Twitter and LinkedIn. We could see how easy it was to create a community of followers, and some of them joined us every week.
Additionally, we could pre-schedule the Twiter Spaces beforehand which made it even easier for people to tune in. We kept the conversation going in the tweets section after the session.
By running the #AssociationsSpace,I managed to grow my Twitter account. This tool is amazing for cross-promotion and to grow your online presence. On LinkedIn, thanks to the initiative, I built stronger relationships with the associations who were engaging, which is the main purpose.
?️ Thank you all for joining #AssociationsSpace talks every Wednesday with @NadiaRubtsova & her special guests?️ @antti_lumi @cgoradesky @BlomsterPaula @iamronlim @healthandthings @charlottejotten @MayKingTea & Paulus Torkki
➡️ https://t.co/emWWbgk89P… #eventprofs #associations pic.twitter.com/0hLyjbftJi— wordofmice (@wordofmice) July 30, 2021
As we were collaborating with Helsinki Marketing, we managed to boost visibility and created tremendous exposure for the city of Helsinki in a different and unique way, positioning it as one of the most sustainable MICE destinations. This format helped to stay in touch and engage with the target audience in a very authentic way.
All in all, I’ve received many messages from our listeners saying that it was a great initiative and a niceexperience. To be continued…
About the author
This blog post has been written by Nadia Rubtsova, the creator of the Business & Events Academy, an online platform for personal and professional education for event professionals. Nadia has more than 10 years of experience in the events industry and for the past years she was working for the European Health Management Association as the Events & Partnerships Manager. Nadia is 2021 Helsinki MICE Ambassador.
Influencer Marketing on TikTok – the interview with Nyomi Rose
Welcome to the second edition of the B2B influencer marketing chat series. Today our guest is Nyomi Rose.
Who is Nyomi Rose?
Nyomi Rose is a final year Events Management student who has flourished during this COVID-19 era through leveraging her social media skills and to spread positivity, passion and love for the events industry. In six months Nyomi has transformed her skillset and developed a status as a young professional woman within the world of events, becoming a prominent figure in the pursuit of diversity, sustainability, social media optimisation and youth empowerment through her Instagram and LinkedIn pages.
Nyomi Rose empowers and provides impactful insight to individuals and SMEs to optimise their social media and marketing strategy. Nyomi is a Tech, AI and Data enthusiast and aims to bridge the digital gap through sharing her knowledge and insights.
We talked with with Nyomi about :
- TikTok from personal account to professional influencer
- Numbers, influencers, demographics and terminology used on TikTok
- The voice of the young generation (Generation Z, also called GenZ)
- Misunderstanding of TikTok
- Is the MICE industry ready for tiktokers collaborations and B2B influencer marketing campaigns?
- TikTok B2B influencer campaigns
- How to use TikTok in the era of Covid-19?
n case you missed our live session with Nyomi Rose, tune in on your favourite podcast channel:
Do you prefer reading over listening? You can read most of our conversation with Gen Z in the MICE industry – Nyomi Rose below. Enjoy listening and reading. Read the full blog post below.
Global pandemic as an opportunity for the MICE industry
Nyomi: Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in today, I’m really excited to talk about TikTok, it is something that I absolutely love. When lockdown first happened, and all the way back in March, I can’t exactly remember the month, it seems to be a bit of a blur. And I started using social media to grow my personal brand, and to really reach out and get into the events industry, because so many opportunities were closing initially. And I thought, why not try and get my own opportunities and use social media to help me do that. And so I really focused heavily on becoming aware of the sort of virtual hybrid elements and also how to ditch the market myself.
And within about two months of really focusing on social media, building my personal brand, I was then able to have opportunity to speak at events like this (webinars, podcasts, online events, Instagram Live). And also, and really get opportunities I really want. Being able to work with some incredible clients, and specifically on TikTok campaigns, and also on social media campaigns as well as both digital and events.
So it’s been an incredible journey to say the least, and TikTok has definitely influenced my journey as well. And just in terms of understanding a completely new platform, with an incredible amount of young people that just something I am most definitely passionate about, which is empowering people to get into the events industry, and talk and have such a large majority of young people and. But it’s growing with other people like Mariska Kesteloo and Jaroslaw Marciuk. Tiktok is an aging platform, which is great to see.
How to start on TikTok
Mariska: Okay, well, thank you Nyomi so much for joining our B2B Influencer Marketing Chat Series. The lockdown had a huge impact on the way you were using TikTok and now even get collaborations out of it. Can you remember when you put your first post out on TikTok, when was that?
Nyomi: Yeah, so my first post on TikTok was literally when lockdown just happened. And it was still when the platform was quite young. But it still had millions of people on that, but not as much as it does now. I was exploring my journey of who actually am, and participating in a show organized by Irina Graf. And there have been pioneers talk conference. There was a conference in which pioneers spoke about one of their challenges. Originally I just used TikTok as a personal account, where I just honestly I did some really shabby dances, and just have a mock about with my friends. And I didn’t really see the true value of how important the platform, to show your personal brand, but also to really showcase your knowledge, your expression, and different insights as well.
And then I think I did a couple of cooking ones. And this was first back when I went onto TikTok, but then obviously it’s completely evolved and changed during the last couple of months. So that’s how I really started my TikTok journey.
But it was mostly when Instagram added Reels as their new feature. And it kicked me and I started thinking, gosh. People are trying to be like TikTok and but I feel like a lot of other platforms couldn’t properly imitate how TikTok was. And I don’t really feel like Instagram Reels really has its full potential yet whereas TikTok has been able to completely overwhelm the younger generation. So it’s continually growing. And yeah, that’s how I really started when I saw the true potential of TikTok.
Should eventprofs consider to use TikTok?
Mariska: We are talking about the true potential. This was part of the collaboration Word of MICE TikTok Challenge for eventprofs. And to be honest, I was also not a huge fan of this new platform, but I never explored all the opportunities of TikTok. And I started using TikTok thanks to you Nyomi, because of your posts. You shared with us how to create first posts on TikTok. So me as a middle or older person, I also created my first TikTok.
Now I understand why TikTok is so addictive, fun, and why it’s so growing and so popular. I must say it showed me also the misunderstanding that parents might have when their children are all day on TikTok. So there’s a lot of misunderstandings about TikTok. I know you also educate a lot of other people about TikTok. What’s your opinion about this, because it’s a very educative platform as well.
Nyomi: I’m using testimony we did in our challenge as the lead up to this session. And the actual dare to challenge was for people to share their misconceptions about TikTok. And that’s originally what I thought the whole platform was, you know, just dancing all the time. And then people like Sammy, she also shared that it was you know, more than just make-up, lips, and those sort of things. Irina Graf also shared her thoughts as well, so that people were showing all of their different misconceptions.It shows how many people haven’t really actually understood taking the time to look through the platform and see what the potential actually is a platform, and Michael was saying it, people think TikTok is for dancing.
TikTok is not only for dancers and singers
Nyomi: Sometimes, well, it’s a great platform to dance. And people forget that, as event professionals, we get a lot of entertainment to come to our events, we bring in dancers, musicians, artists, we bring in everything to really create that whole event experience. So when I hear a lot people saying: “Oh, TikTok is just for dancing” or “TikTok app is just for singing” you can bring all those different elements together for an event.
So I always think, try TikTok before you’re going to give those misconceptions. When you go onto the platform you’ll see all the different types of content created by young, creative people that’s on there. And even when you go into the Discover page on TikTok, and you have the opportunity to look through all of these different brands who are all wanting to reach out and to get young people to understand that they are a future forward-thinking company. And you can really see that how even these brands also are trying to fight those misconceptions as well on that platform.
So I always say to people, try the platform, have a look through, engage as well with TikTokers. It’s really easy, just scroll through, here they are. See whole TikTok platform, the way it’s all designed. The more you interact, the more you’re engaged, the more you like, and TikTok algorithm will send content that you are interested in, which is not what a lot of other social media platforms have been able.
It’s Day 2 for the #wordofmicetiktokers… a TikTok Challenge to share your misunderstandings of TikTok! Join in with @MariskaKesteloo, @JaroslawMarciuk and I, this is your time #eventprofs to show your creativity & inspire the #NextGen… watch the VIDEO & get involved? pic.twitter.com/CduR0TnoTz
— Nyomi Rose? (@whatnyomidoes) December 8, 2020
Use TikTok to educate
Mariska: I didn’t I even didn’t know that. But it also has apparently also an educating part, which Irina put on during the TikTok Challenge. She even said there’s education part, which I was also not aware of, to be honest.
Nyomi: Even when I go for job interviews, or even when I’m trying to bring on a new client, I actually search on TikTok how to bring in clients, how to do an interview. And all content from all these other professionals is also on there as well. We can actually go on there and learn a kind of like LinkedIn learning, but actual in-house learning that you can do on TikTok is phenomenal. You know, it’s absolutely crazy, the things you can learn.
TikTok`s dictionary and facts for beginners
Jaro: Could you share some tips with us and people who would like to start using TikTok? Please tell us about facts, numbers from the platform, and some special terminology used on TikTok.
Nyomi: I think facts and statistics are really important for people to understand TikTok, especially if you are wanting to go on and build your brand, whether that’s your personal brand, or your company’s brand, 14% of the TikTokers is between the ages of 16 and 24. And I feel like that’s obviously really important stat. Because obviously, it’s a really great demographic, you understand the age groups, and that percentage of people who are on that. But it’s also important when people create TikToks, especially when I see people saying, who are trying to share their brand where it’s, you know, email me, give me a call and let’s book a session. 16 to 24 year olds are probably not going to send you an email, they’re probably not going to give you a call. You know, that’s just not the way Generation Z works. We like everything to be automated, we like chat boxes. That’s how we work as younger people.
So that’s a really interesting if you are thinking of wanting to go on that and how are you going to really make sure that you create that content, specifically for that demographic. But even things like people, go onto the actual minimum amount of time that people on TikTok is 52 minutes a day. And I can definitely come down to two minutes. And I know for sure that I spent more time on TikTok.
What actually that means is when people are going live, or when and they’re showing ads, that there’s even possibilities for you to even actually make money off TikTok. Actually TikTok is reaching out to a young, more niche and tik tokers as well to help them grow their platform. So their user time spending is just rapidly increasing because more brands and more people creating content that they want to find more niche so they can, you know, go into different markets as well,
Demographics
I also think is a really interesting statistic. And it’s from 150 markets, 75 languages, 50% of the TikTok audience is global, and they’re all under 35 years of age. And I find that so incredible, because what a lot of other platforms haven’t been able to do is make their content diverse or inclusive by a variety of languages.
You can scroll on TikTok, and you don’t necessarily have to understand what they’re saying. But you can relate because of the music, or the facial expressions are even the filters that have been used, whereas a lot of other platforms such as Facebook, that they really can’t get into that audience. And things like even like Instagram, if you really wanted to build yourself on Instagram, you’ve really got to master the art of hashtags and consistency. Whereas on TikTok that’s just something that isn’t necessarily needed. So I find those sort of statistics really important, especially for when you’re trying to leverage yourself on the platform as well.
Engagement
Another sort of interesting point is that there’s 29% engagement rate on TikTok, which I find is really interesting when you look at things like Twitter, where their engagement rate is way below 10%, even Instagram engagement I think it’s something like 14%. So all these other social media platforms, they haven’t been able to specifically target that content to that particular use. Whereas the TikTok algorithm works I mentioned before. The more you go on the platform, the more you use it, the more you like that content it will target that content towards you, which is why that engagement rate is so high. That’s why people, you always hear these huge stories of people being able to blow up on TikTok, and they’ve became well known people or even millionaires. That’s the way that they’ve interacted on their platform as well.
How to use TikTok in a professional way
Nyomi: What I would definitely say is you need to make sure that your account is a professional account so that you can really see like was saying before the optimal times of posting understand who’s watching what, when you can find out if your content is interesting, if it’s got low engagement, there’s a reason for that. And if it’s got high engagement, there’s a reason for that as well. And but then even trying to film your tik toks as well.
We’ve got to make sure that all our tiktoks are vertical. The whole reason that the platform is so gorgeous, it takes up the full space of your phone. There’s not a lot of chance for you to look at, you can’t even see that the time and everything you know, in the top bar, your actual phone, it completely covers everything. So definitely, I’m adopting the vertical PDF formats as well. And it’s important that if you are going to be using this as a professional count, that I’m actually it was interesting before this, I am diverging from the question. But we were saying before everybody joined that, and Jaro doesn’t really want to necessarily use tik tok to show his face, he wants to kind of show some of your architecture.
Authencity and influence
That’s just not the way that Tik Tok works, the way that you can really create good content on Tik tok, and really showcase that content, is by making it look as least advertising as possible. It’s got to be so authentic, it doesn’t need to be professional, you know, it doesn’t need to be this high quality production team standard video. It really, honestly, it really doesn’t, the more that your videos look like tiktoks than advertisements, the more that you’re going to be able to grow on that. And the more that people are going to be able to see the huge impact that the MICE industry has on the entire economy, you know, and I feel like that’s how important it is for the MICE industry to get on there.
But in terms of predictions, I feel like people are talking about the misconceptions, people just need to realize that maybe we can’t do everything. So let’s open the doors to people who can do this. And who can put our brand out there. I feel like that is really important. I can say you just give it a go and not get so caught up with the misconceptions. Because this is a growing platform that young people are using.
And even if TikTok dies next year, they’re be something else, that will be coming up. But the key thing is that you’ve missed that key demographic way of being able to create content for them. And for them to get to know who your brand is, get to understand your event, how you put it all together, you as an event professional, and that’s what people will miss. We put in like event description at the younger people who will become a business partners that require employees, require customers, they’ll become competitors. It’s important that we recognise that and we adapt to it.
I don`t want to show my face on TikTok
Nyomi: Lots of people still don’t really want to show their face on TikTok, which is completely fine. And that’s where you can be a lot more creative, where you can even use photos that you’ve taken from an event. And if you go on the event you can create a post, and you go into templates, there’s already 50 plus templates that are already up there, we can use images to share and to create sort of photo reels, and kind of show transformational journeys as well.
Define your strategy
Nyomi: I would really like to say that, if you’re wanting to become Tiktoker and use TikTok, you’ve really got to be authentic with yourself, you’ve really got to understand why you’re going to share on TikTok. Your business or personal profile is to inspire others, to be entertaining. So you’ve got to understand your ‘why’ and have a clear strategy. Make sure that your content is all coming off different aspects of that. Because what is really sometimes difficult is that people just kind of try and do everything. And sometimes that can even be more confusing, as well for the audience, whe you are creating different types of content.
The whole importance of TikTok is your niche. So when you’re creating content, it’s specifically for event education, you know, you’re trying to get people to get into the industry, or you’re trying to get people to be more aware of your business, you got to make sure that content is all around that because all those hashtags that you’ll be using all the people that have been watching, they’ll be pushing more of your content to your directed audience. So it’s important that you choose your niche.
Mariska: Good point, it also has to do with a good strategy actually. So finding your niche, finding your why and then focus like you’re using any other social media platforms is creating a good strategy, and posting in a consistent and professional way and analyse your data.
Jaro: What I like about Tik Tok is the thing that it is in it`s starting point. I remember when I started my Instagram 10 years ago. At the beginning, all people were asking me what is this thing, Instagram? Now Instagram has become a major social media platform. So I think you should at least try and check TikTok. Who knows what is going to happen in five years time.
@whatnyomidoesHow I grew myself as a ##youngproffesional ##GenZ ##millennials ##trending ##mystory ##NextGen ##wordofmicetiktokers♬ Mood (feat. iann dior) – 24KGoldn
Is TikTok a good platform for B2B Marketing?
Jaro: TikTok has been already by future employers to look for employees to check their activities ans passions online. HR agencies verify future employees on social media. TikTok and other emerging Gen Z platforms could be interesting tools not only for theses companies to commincate, and not only for B2C market, but also for B2B.
Nyom: TikTok is already a B2B platform, but people may be potentially haven’t had a chance to have a look at that opportunity. TikTok`s feature called create Marketplace where you can find lots of different creators who are selling their businesses, who are on there. Obviously TikTok brings great leads, so it is a B2B. But when we’re trying to understand that B2B environment is really part of that, and that content that we’re creating, on that b2b, on tik tok, that it’s inspiring, it’s not traditional, it’s not traditional things that usually talk about, you know, if you’re going to go on there, and you know, say ‘this is what we sell, you know, we do this, we do that, etc’, people probably not going to be likely to engage. So there’s, that’s why I’m saying there’s different ways that you can create that content by, you know, saying, Oh, we got a podcast where we talked about this, you know, like, you know, sign up now, check the link in the bio and stuff. There’s different ways that you can interact and build that b2b audience.
Mariska: I think we can talk for hours about TikTok, Generation Z, eventprofs and data. I think we need to invite you for another session. Well, I would say first of all, thank you so much for the participants for joining. And if you have any questions for Nyomi Rose, let us know.
Huge thank you to Nyomi (WhatNyomiDoes), thank you for sharing your passion because you’re definitely passionate about TikTok and I will continue on my personal and professional brand to make some great videos on TikTok. You can also follow Nyomi on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok of course.
