Category: Uncategorised

By Natalia Kaczmarek, Digital Content Creator

We’ve all heard the saying ‘cash is king’. And it certainly has been for a long time. While some people still largely rely on notes and prefer them for everyday spending, others have permanently shifted to credit cards. Whatever the preferences, we can’t ignore that the financial system is changing, with mobile payments on the rise and a boom in crypto and digital currencies.

In fact, the Bahamas is the first country to issue central bank digital currency (CBDC). Launched in October 2020, the sand dollar is a digital iteration of the Bahamian dollar and one of just two fully operational retail CBDCs worldwide. The second one is electronic yuan (e-CNY) backed by The People’s Bank of China. The blockchain-powered e-CNY is China’s response to the declining role of cash, aiming to eventually and completely replace it.

But will more countries follow China’s footsteps to kill cash?

Perhaps.

CBDCs are currently a hot topic, with many governments running initiatives and pilot schemes to explore the applications and impact. In July this year, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced it was approaching the next phase of its digital euro development project. However, it explicitly stated that the digital euro will complement, not replace, cash. The Bank of England has also set up a taskforce to coordinate the exploration of a potential UK CBDC. Sweden, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Ghana and Nigeria are all among 81 countries looking into digital currencies. Interestingly, while the race is hotting up, the world’s foremost economic power, the US, is quite behind. Could this be an omen?

Benefits of digital currencies

As an inclusive digital payment medium, CBDCs would be available to all citizens and businesses, offering an array of benefits in the future. Unlike unregulated cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, they’re issued centrally as digital tokens or deposit accounts, and have real values not set by the market’s supply or demand. That means they should be stable through the enforcement of monetary policies.

Digital currencies could allow financial service providers to improve efficiency and offer innovative, progressive services to us all. They could drive the Internet of Things payments forward. Your smart vehicle could pay for its own power or toll, or your smart home could sell excess electricity from solar panels to the next-door neighbour. And maybe finally we won’t need a coin for a supermarket trolley?

With CBDCs, local and cross-border payment transfers can occur almost instantly, with much lower fees. Faster, more convenient and cheaper transfers can promote economic growth and benefit poorer regions. People visiting foreign countries for business and pleasure could have easier access to local currency, encouraging them to spend more and boosting the economy. With digital smart wallets, we won’t have to check our pockets every time we leave the house. Just a small benefit for the forgetful.

Privacy considerations ahead

It seems like the future of CBDCs is promising. However, one of the greatest concerns with any digital currency and the transition to fully cashless banking systems is consumer privacy. Many businesses have betrayed our basic right to privacy in the past, so some might be more hesitant than others to permanently switch to this new means of payment. As central banks will be able to monitor every transaction performed through CBDCs, the culture of greater surveillance might be born. Banks could trace our whereabouts and create detailed personas of their citizens and spending habits, leading to unstable governance and highly dissatisfied nations. It could be argued that most of our moves are already being scrutinised, yet we’re still happy to geo-tag our latest Instagram posts…

Whilst electronic currencies are picking up and promise many benefits for the society of the future, it will take a few years for us to forget about good old cash. For now, I’ll personally keep hold of any coins from the back of the sofa. One day, they might be worth a lot of e-money.

By Jo Elliott, Senior Account Manager

Next month COP26, the 26^th United Nationals Climate Change Conference, will take place in Glasgow, uniting countries to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The lead up to this is an important moment for the communications industry to reflect on our role to make, and influence change.

Last year when the nation’s sweetheart and immensely respected nature broadcaster, David Attenborough, joined Instagram he had more than 200,000 followers within an hour of his first post and 1.2million followers by the afternoon.

His reason for joining the social network was clear, “Saving our planet is now a communications challenge”. 

Brands should be focused on reducing their operational carbon footprint, but the communications industry must also produce campaigns that measurably generate less carbon. A real driver for this change is the requirement for carbon footprint reporting to be included within company audits by 2025. Businesses, and the agencies supporting them, need to harness the power of communications to change consumer behaviour (for good), without greenwashing.

In recent years the marketing community has launched several initiatives such as Ad Net Zero but to make impactful change on scale, businesses need to understand the intersection of their brand, customer, and the impact they can achieve. Skincare company Kiehls is a fantastic example of a brand committed to transparent sustainability communications, including a glossary on its brand sustainability page giving consumers complete clarity on its environmental impact.

In the B2B world communicating the sustainability agenda and achievements of a business might seem more daunting, but there are three simple steps to follow:

Inescapably, you need to start by taking some action on climate change
Dependent on the business size and industry, this might involve reducing the carbon emissions of production processes, greener or innovating new products to help customers reduce their carbon footprint. The time to act is now and every change will make a difference to the future of our planet

Shout about it
This step shouldn’t be viewed as a PR opportunity to improve brand awareness, but a genuine action to motivate customers, partners and employees to join the journey. Explore how the action taken aligns with your businesses values, is genuine, and connects to the health of the planet. When communicating these stories think of the impact on business and/or society this change has had.

Back it up
Sustainability initiatives mustn’t be a one-time event, supply chains, production lines, product innovation, business operations, every corner of your B2B business needs regular and consistent reviews in place dedicated to constantly evolving the sustainability of your business. Many B2B businesses share annual sustainability reports with customers and partners, ensuring they are holding themselves accountable to meet the green objectives they set out with and measure impact over time

For decades conversations have taken place on the quickening pace of climate change, the melting glaciers, the extinction of species, and the death of coral reefs and yet as a collective, our behaviour hasn’t changed much. The role of communication, as Attenborough said, is now to spread the most important message we as a species have ever had to give or receive.

Get to know our Content Creator, Alex Eve, as he shares a snapshot of what it’s like to work at Whiteoaks:

By Emily Fishburn, Account Manager

This Sunday marks World Mental Health Day, a day focused on raising awareness about mental health, something which has previously had a massive stigma around and has been brushed under the carpet, It’s now being openly and honestly spoken about in both our working and personal lives. This support is important due to the fact that 1 in 4 people in the UK has experienced mental health issues.

At Whiteoaks this week, we honoured the day by having a cake and coffee session, which led us to get talking to one another about our most random facts and debating whether we’d like more money or more time. This gave us a chance to take a break from our usual workday and get to know each other better. Mixing from different departments within the company and most importantly, to lift spirits and have a laugh.

Other companies too are joining in on raising awareness for the day, for example, Spotify is encouraging everyone to ‘Take a Beat’. On their platform, they have re-introduced a ‘Wellness hub’ in which people can access various mental health resources from a yoga and exercise section to calming playlists and motivational podcasts. Moonpig is also encouraging the UK to reconnect with others and show someone they care by giving away free cards to honour World Mental Health Day. The NHS has an ‘Every Mind Matters’ campaign which provides expert advice and practical tips to help us look after mental health. Some of these including:

– Spending time in nature
– Getting enough sleep, having a balanced diet and staying hydrated (something I discussed the importance of in a previous blog)
– Exercising (this can be anything from walking, cycling to dancing)
– Spending time with supportive people
– Taking some time out for yourself to do something you like, for example, baking, watching a film, reading a new book or listening to some music
– Help someone else – giving something back can help give a boost to our mental health

The website also helps by offering a survey in which you answer five questions to get a free mind plan to help deal with stress and anxiety, improve your sleep, boost your mood and feel more in control, take the quiz here.

To keep up to date with what people around the world are doing to raise awareness for Mental Health Day as well as accessing materials for taking care of your own mental health and providing support for others, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is hosting a dedicated campaign on their website for everyone to access here. You can also follow the hashtag for the day on Twitter #WorldMentalHealthDay.

Trust forms the foundation for all relationships and in the B2B tech space, that’s no different. We wanted to delve into how brands approached trust building and customer loyalty as part of our The Question of Trust research. So we interviewed a range of marketing professionals from B2B tech brands to find out.

This is what Gail Cook, Head of Strategy & Insights at Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation had to say:

“We’ve been around for 70 years, so there’s a trust element there. We’re not a fly-by-night company. We’re not going to go out of business. That’s really important to us and building our brand and our reputation because you see it nowadays, particularly with this digital age and online, is the number of overseas manufacturers who are now able to sell into our markets. People can buy through Facebook and can buy through different channels.

They’re buying electronic equipment that’s maybe not tested, and they’re not up to our safety standards. Then you get counterfeit products. People don’t know any better, and we have a job to do to build trust with our consumers through our brand so that they know when they purchase our products, they are safe, and they can trust us as a brand.

I think more and more brand reputation is going to become even more important in the future, particularly for those end consumers”.

Q: What are the most important components of customer trust?

For us, customer trust is about building partnerships and relationships with people. That’s about us doing what we say we’re going to do, being open and honest, having two-way dialogues.

For us, we also see sustainability as part of trust building.

Many of our retailers, many of our customers are asking for specific credentials around what we’re doing to be more sustainable as a business. We have the full traceability of every product that we make and where those components and where those parts come from and where the raw materials come from, what factories have been produced in and what labour has been used. We share that information with them.

In addition, our factory is fully accredited from a health and safety point of view, and the manufacturing standards. Customers can be confident in what we say around the safety of our products, and that’s something we pride ourselves on. Safety is at the heart of everything that we make.

Q: Have you adopted any new approaches in building those relationships with customers?

Yes. Our industry is changing a lot and there’s a lot of legislation that’s coming into force and that causes uncertainty. We’ve taken the lead in understanding that legislation and supporting our customers and playing that back to bring value in that partnership with them. We’ve been doing CPDs and training sessions online. We would normally have those as face-to-face sessions. Actually, we’ve been able to get more customers coming along to those, and we’re giving those CPDs free of charge. We’re doing analysis that they don’t have time to do themselves. We’re helping them as a business. It’s some of what we’ve been doing in the past, but it’s in a different way of doing that.

Q: What role has PR and marketing played in helping you build that trust? Has it been more significant?

Definitely more significant. We’ve been supporting our sales colleagues. It’s typically our commercial colleagues who would have those direct relationships with the customers, particularly in a B2B environment. We’re supporting behind the scenes. We’ve been investigating the technologies that are available to help them have those communications. We’ve been on the sidelines supporting, making sure things run smoothly, troubleshooting for them because we want them focused on the relationship, not on the peripheral stuff around that.

We’re trying to position ourselves as a trusted expert, and that’s been received really well. We’re bringing activities that are added value to that customer’s business. We’re not just about pushing out our products to them. It’s that added value. How can we help their business grow?

Q: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for PR and marketing in building trust?

There has never been a more important time for brands to step up and talk about what they do well and build their relationships. In my 20 years of marketing, there’s never been a more turbulent time between Brexit, global supply issues, a global pandemic. This is really an unsettling time for everybody. As brands and as familiar brands, we have the rule to build people’s confidence back up that we’re still here, the world is still normal. We provide great products. It’s been unsettling, but we’re here.

Brands have values, we stand for things. As a brand, we do what we say we’re going to do, and we can communicate that out there. We have to now take that step up and bring that reassurance and that trust back to the markets in which we operate.

What does trust mean to B2B tech brands? How is it established? How is it fostered? And what challenges are businesses facing? As part of our The Question of Trust research, we spoke to marketing professionals from a range of tech companies to get their insights and experiences.

This is what Helen Aboagye, CMO at Imagen had to say:

Q: In your opinion, what are the components of consumer trust?

For me, it is that you have a quality product. It needs to do what it says on the tin. It needs to be fit for purpose, and it needs to address or does what customers need it to do. It needs to address and fixes their problems and pain points. I think that’s followed by validation preferably from external sources to your company, so customer validation, industry validation, whether that be in the form of case studies, customers allowing you to use their logos, testimonials, placement in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. I think a strong brand is critical to creating consumer trust. For me, that is a brand with a clear sense of purpose and identity. This needs to be brought to life through your marketing, your people and run through the DNA of everything a company does. I’m a big believer in people buying into you as well as buying from you. Finally getting your brand out there through brand awareness activity and PR,  so people can get to know your brand and see the customer’s validation for themselves.  If people don’t know who you are, they don’t know whether they can trust you.

Q: In the past, how have you typically built trust?

Like many companies, we used many different strategies and tactics. It was very much a multi-pronged approach. Wherever possible we reference our customers from logos on our website to testimonial usage and written and video case studies.

With so many people doing more than half their research online before they even get in touch and want to talk to a salesperson, it is more important than ever that we create the content they need, to arm them with the information they want, so that they want to ‘pick up the phone’. Content in all its forms is important, but creating content that talks to customer pain points, right the way through to independent research and data-driven, anything data-driven I think really helps to validate trusts as well.

And finally, our salespeople and account managers create a lot of trust through the relationships they build and the knowledge they have about our product and industry.

Q: How has that changed in the last 12 months?

We’ve really focused on ramping our digital marketing side of things. We’ve put more into paid search and we have been focused on developing our pages and communities across certain review sites like G2 and Capterra. We have also taken the opportunity to rethink our internal processes. We have focused on what more we can automate when it comes to our of our marketing outreach and communication.

But specifically, we have looked at how we can find the higher intent people that are essentially in the market for a solution. Historically we have put a lot of effort into really compelling pieces of content that many people will find interesting, but they are not in the market for a solution. This helps with brand awareness but doesn’t create leads that convert.

However, what we have been doing a lot more of is utilising new marketing technologies and platforms and sites like G2 and Capterra, as I mentioned, to understand who’s in the market for a solution, and then building much more tailored outreach and personalised account-based outreach.

We have also been doing a lot more videos. Short-form videos, human, a little rough around the edges. With so many people not being able to see or have contact with others during the pandemic, video is the next best thing, and people retain a lot more information from video than they do written content.

Q: Do you think your shift in focus to digital and ABM strategies will stay?

Yes, without a doubt. I still think there is value in the way we’ve done things before, but I think everyone’s moving in this direction, and the pandemic has just accelerated this, and not just in marketing.  The pandemic has also helped to blur the lines between online and physical, you just need to look at the event industry as evidence of this.  So I think we’ll just see more and more of that without a doubt. Also, we’ve been able to do a lot more with a lot less. Our budgets were cut massively, but our lead numbers are in the realm of what they were when we were spending a lot more money. I think our cost per lead has come down quite dramatically with the efforts that we’ve put into digital.

Q: From a PR and marketing point of view, where do you think the biggest opportunities will lie in building trust with customers and prospects?

I think there’s a real opportunity on the PR side of things. I mentioned the need for being genuine earlier, and I think there’s a real opportunity to hear individual voices on the PR side of things over and above like corporate press releases.

Content is still king, but I think it’s the type of content that people are consuming is changing. For example, there’s a real demand for longer white papers but people are so incredibly time-poor, they just don’t always get around to reading them. I think the more you can translate your efforts of white papers into bite-sized chunks and infographics and videos and podcasts and webinars and things like that, the greater the rewards you will reap.

We’ve seen a massive increase in video marketing and people doing lots of video content that is shot from their bedroom. Webinars and online events for thousands of people are being shot from people’s attics and that’s fine. I think people are much more accepting of less professionally shot videos, you don’t need a slick corporate video anymore when you can get your CEO to record something on her or his phone.  This makes your brand and company more human and will probably go a longer way to building consumer trust. All of which is great for a company like us that helps people produce and manage and them.

By Ellie Nash, Digital Account Executive

2021 has undoubtedly been the year of TikTok. Since the pandemic, the video-sharing app has blown up and allowed organisations across the globe the opportunity to see their business quadruple in growth all because of a 30-second video.

Most businesses would say that TikTok is just for B2C brands, but we’re here to tell you why your B2B organisation SHOULD be using TikTok and why it’s worth experimenting with.

What is TikTok?
Unless you have been living under a rock, you should know what TikTok is. But, if you’re still unsure, here’s a rundown of what the app consists of.

TikTok is a video sharing focused platform that was created in 2016. The videos have a duration of 30 seconds to 3 minutes and can consist of anything from dancing clips, comedy sketches to educational how-tos.

In my opinion, this app is a playground for creatives and allows the opportunity for people to sit back, relax and indulge in easy-watching content that takes the load off from the day.

Why should my B2B organisation use TikTok?
In a recent March 2021 Kantar study, it was reported that “30% of TikTok users in the U.S. said they have watched less TV, streaming and other video content since joining TikTok.” This creates a huge opportunity for B2B marketers to fill this empty mainstream media hole.

But… What shall we post?
It’s hard to know where to start when creating your TikTok account, but remember, this isn’t LinkedIn. You need to discover your business’s niche.

For the most part, this is a chance to show off the personality of your business, the talent of your team and the fun you have within the office. Most of the TikTok audience tune into the app to watch entertaining content that distracts them from the stress of their daily lives, so keep that in mind.

Understanding your niche is vital for the success of your videos. It will help you land on the correct people FYP (for you page) to optimise them engaging and resonating with your content.

Here are a few examples of content that we would recommend you post, depending on the type of business you are:

– How to’s
– Meet the team
– Product highlights
– Humorous videos (get involved in World Hot Dog day or April Fools!)
– Influencer marketing

… These are only a few examples of some of the content that could make your business go viral, be creative!

But… What if our content goes down like a lead balloon?
TikTok is all about experimentation. Do not let low views or negative comments dishearten you from pushing out new and creative content. This journey will help you understand your businesses tone of voice and what you want to promote. We recommend keeping trying and being yourselves because who knows what style of content will resonate with your audience, it’s definitely worth a try.

How do you become ‘TikTok’ famous?
Unlike other social platforms like Instagram and YouTube which is driven by followers and subscribers, TikTok is algorithm based so every creator has the opportunity to go ‘viral’ and have their content appreciated through likes, comments, shares and views.

How long will TikTok success take?
This success will take a little time and patience. TikTok success is not an overnight thing, (it could be but it’s very unlikely), your first 10 videos might only get 10-12 views but by staying persistent and keeping at it, you could become an overnight sensation and get millions of views just like mochi ice-cream brand, Little Moons.

Here are a few of our favourite examples of B2B TikTokers who have made it big due to personality and creativeness:

Adobe – Since starting their account, Adobe has curated almost 200K followers. Their highest-ranking video has a whopping 2.9 million views and contains a man ‘painting’ a grey sky to make it bright and blue. Within the video, there is no mention of the Adobe product it is promoting within the video itself but the hashtags in the caption give away that this is a feature of #AfterEffects.

Watch it here:

@adobe

Reach high and touch the sky with this edit from @curlykidlife. #Adobe #learnwithme #learnontiktok #AfterEffects #TipsAndTricks

♬ original sound – Adobe

Canva – Another great B2B TikTok account is graphic design company, Canva. On the platform, Canva, much like Adobe, are verified, which confirms that this is the authentic account of the business. Canva has curated 54.5K loyal followers with their highest-ranking video reaching 167.4K views. This video, unlike Adobe’s creative video, is a how-to video. It is showing the viewer how by using their service Canva, they can create a mess-free, organised desktop.

Watch it here:

https://www.tiktok.com/@canva/video/6961403177727986945?is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v1&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=7008124659314279941

Shopify – Shopify, as well as being TikTok verified, have an impressive 56.6K followers with a total of 852.3K likes. Their most popular video accumulated 1.6M views! It is interestingly all about the power of TikTok and how 1 viral TikTok video accelerated the searches and sales for cranberry juice brand, Ocean Spray.

Watch it here:

@shopify

in case you were thinking of skateboarding with a bottle of ocean spray #feelinggood #smallbusinesscheck #entrepreneurtiktok #fyp #didyouknow #info

♬ original sound – Shopify

So, what have we learnt from the above brands? What has shown them success?

– Be creative
– Show off your products but subtly
– Jump on TikTok trends
– Create how-tos
– Be educational and informative
– Have fun with it!

But why should we?…
If we haven’t convinced you to create a TikTok account by now, I don’t know what will!

Did you know that 62% of TikTok users are aged between 10-29. That’s not Gen Z… That’s a generation of young businessmen and women who could be decision-makers. To make that statistic even more impressive, that’s 62% of 689 million people (and this statistic was uncovered in January 2021 so you can imagine how many more people are now on board with TikTok)

Above all, have fun with it… Let your creative juices start to flow and let your marketers have a laugh and create funny or informative content that fits your brand’s message.

We wish you all the best with becoming TikTok famous!

By Susan Richter, Marketing Communications Manager

The pandemic has hastened the adoption of digital marketing. Those who were already firmly rooted in it had a competitive advantage, while slower adopters ramped up budgets and efforts.

In our The Question of Trust research, the increased adoption of digital marketing was a common theme. More content, more social, more webinars. That’s not surprising because we all lived it.

However, now, as we move to some form of equilibrium, the question is: do we keep this intense focus on digital marketing? Is it still the cure-all for brands?

If the answer is yes, then the next question is how do you fight digital fatigue? How do you make sure your brand stands head and shoulders above its competitors? And if the answer is no, is it really a case of getting back to “normal”? What needs to happen next?

Looking at digital fatigue – it’s real, we’ve all experienced it to some degree. How does your brand differentiate itself when everyone is using the same tactics? How do you continue to build customer trust? Much like other marketing and PR efforts it comes down to doing what you do well. That means creating content that is valuable and informative, that can be consumed on different platforms in formats that appeal to your different audiences. Creative needs to be eye-catching, relevant and distinctive — and importantly, integrated into everything you do.

It also means you need to know your audience; who they are, what their challenges are, what they are looking for, and (of course) where they are in the buying journey. That includes your current customers, knowing their objectives and how best you can add value to their business. Inherent in all of that is the implied promise to deliver what you’re offering.

On the other hand, if getting back to normal means a return to events and more face-to-face activities surely digital marketing can work in conjunction with those tactics? The market sentiment is very much a hybrid approach to events at the moment anyway.

But here’s a thought, what if instead of fully embracing getting back to so-called normal, marketers think more retro? Whatever happened to the creative desk drop? Surely something tangible to combat those 1s and 0s would be valuable and well received? Something well thought out, valuable and memorable?

For us, the answer isn’t as easy as a simple yes or no, one or the other. Rather, it’s continuing to meet (exceed) expectations forging a new path using a new strategy based on experience, current demand and future need. Something that can be effectively executed, measured and reported on.

It also doesn’t necessarily need to be all about digital marketing in isolation. Digital marketing is a key component in a wider strategy that can incorporate traditional marketing tactics as well as PR.

So what approach will you take? We think we know the answer!

Amber Chawner, Senior Account Executive

Last week’s announcement from Boris Johnson revealing the rise in national insurance tax to fuel health and social care has left promise for further investment in technology to help increase efficiency and allow for better resourcing. However, that isn’t to say that progress hasn’t already been made in this department, with exciting new developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and healthcare hitting the headlines every day.

As we wait in anticipation to see what is to come, below I take a look at some of the ways that AI is already being used to revolutionise the health and social care sector.

Using AI to detect dementia up to 15 years earlier
A disease that impacts more than 850,000 people in the UK every year, Cogentivity has partnered with InterSystems on a solution that uses AI to detect dementia up to 15 years earlier than conventional methods. Its Integrated Cognitive Assessment (ICA), teamed with InterSystems IRIS for Health data platform, tests how the brain reacts to certain types of images and detects the earliest signs of disease before the onset of memory symptoms. It has already been deployed at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust and is currently the subject of a UK government-funded study in collaboration with the Sussex Partnership NHS Trust and Alzheimer’s Research UK.

AI remote monitoring software to allow people to remain in their homes
Health tech company, Lilli has recently partnered with Dorset Council in a three-month pilot to help identify cost and time-savings in the care sector. With 100 people involved in the trial, sensors are installed in their homes which then track behaviour and electricity usage. AI then comes into play to analyse the data collected and spot any potential health problems. With additional strain being placed on the NHS at the moment, this kind of solution helps to keep people out of hospitals, while also allowing them the freedom to remain in the comfort of their own homes for longer.

Scientists are developing an app that uses AI to diagnose conditions by listening to their cough
Imagine having an app that can determine what illness you have just by listening to a cough?! For a lot of people, a cough is just a cough, but this group of scientists are recording millions of coughs and then training AI to identify what is causing the person to have the symptom. After the events of the last year and a half, this kind of tool could become instrumental in helping diagnose conditions such as asthma, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or even Covid substantially earlier – freeing up hospital space and increasing overall hospital efficiency.

AI-enabled software which allows surgeons to rehearse brain aneurysms procedures
Oxford Heartbeat has designed the PreSize technology – an AI solution that allows surgeons to rehearse brain aneurysms procedures. Currently being used by the NHS at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, the medical device software helps to plan neurovascular surgeries by predicting the behaviour of a particular stent in a patient’s anatomy. It then automatically creates an accurate 3D model of the patient’s vessel tree and indicates where a stent should start and finish in the vessel model, allowing the surgeon to select the best option from a library of all certified stents.

With these exciting new developments already well underway, keep your eyes peeled to see the other innovative ways in which AI can be used to revolutionise the healthcare sector.

Remember Facebook circa 2010? Brands took to the platform and it made a significant impact. Like all things digital, Facebook has evolved since then, in fact the whole paid and organic social media landscape has. What this means is with the algorithm changes (for Facebook specifically) reach, impact and engagement isn’t what it once was.

Don’t worry though – paid social media is here to save the day.

Or is it?

Let’s be clear: organic social still has a role to play in your digital marketing strategy. It is the ideal platform to tell your brand story, it’s built around community and it’s not necessarily about target driven results.

Tied into community management, something that’s become more of a focus over the last two or three years, is employee advocacy. Your employees can be your strongest advocates and when they take to social media to convey that, it has a positive impact on your brand in terms of amplification of content, visibility, shareability and share of voice.

Organic is also the ideal testing ground for the paid side of things because you can see what content resonates with which audiences and how they are engaging with your content. Those learnings, building up a clear profile of your audiences over time, can be applied to your paid strategy.

Why should you use paid social then? It’s not just used to boost organic content. It’s a lot more targeted than that. Those strategies are built around campaigns and specific objectives and typically across B2B are designed to generate an action.

So think about targeted content like eBooks, webinars and whitepapers, leveraging your best content. You can use these to fuel your paid campaigns across platforms, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. With LinkedIn specifically, there is the opportunity to be really targeted across things like personas, industry, job title, age, geography, company size… the list goes on. You can use it to find and engage with new audiences.

The key thing about these types of targeted campaigns is that they can be measured and you can determine your ROI. While paid gets the quick-fire results based on specific campaigns, having organic running concurrently building your brand story and presence provides longevity.

Using both paid and organic social media together makes sense. And when you’re using social as part of a larger PR and marketing strategy, they pack a powerful punch for reaching those objectives – be it lead generation, brand awareness or expansion.

If you’d like to chat about the opportunity that paid and social media can deliver to your business, please get in touch.