0:00
Jennifer Gutman
Hi, everyone. Welcome to the art of B2B social media, the on demand webinar that's going to be exploring how to chisel a strategy out of stone. My name is Jennifer Gutman. I'm the director of social strategy here at Oktopost. And joining me today is my colleague and my team member, Olivia Messina. Olivia, I'm going to pass it over to you to introduce yourself.
0:24
Olivia Messina
Hi, everyone. Thank you so much, Jen, for having me today. I'm so excited to dive in. So I am the social media and community manager here at Oktopost, and I am the woman behind the scenes. I create all of our social posts and I also create posts for our advocates as well. So I handle all of our social. And a fun fact about me is, well, it's no surprise that I love social media, but I also do social media for my personal channel. So I have a YouTube channel, a lifestyle blog, and I am also very active on Instagram and TikTok sharing my love and passion for fashion and other things. So you can find me on social media sharing all things that I love.
1:08
Jennifer Gutman
I love it. So what's really exciting is as we get into this, right, B2B brands have a reputation for being boring. And one of the magical things Livia has been able to bring is the spice of B2C. And we'll get into that later on in the webinar. Our last guest I want to introduce, who loves to join all of our on demand webinars is Lil Ochte, our CMO or chief Mascot Officer, so you may see him throughout the presentation. So for today, here you have a man with a crystal ball. And I feel like if any of us could read the future, none of us 20 years ago would be able to have predicted how social media would have changed how businesses essentially do business, how sales, how marketers reach their prospects and their communities. So what we're going to focus on today is really understanding what we know today, how we can chisel out that strategy and what we can learn and take with us for the future. So, Olivia, please help us understand the art of B2B social media.
2:17
Olivia Messina
Yes, definitely. So social media, there is no rulebook to this thing. There aren't any rules that we can just follow to be successful. So social media is truly an art. There's no right way to do it, and it's up to the social media artists themselves to kind of craft their masterpiece, to use the right tools, to have trial and error, to just try things out. So it's truly an art. There's no way to do it. And it's up to the social media manager to kind of craft their masterpiece the way they want to be perceived.
2:50
Jennifer Gutman
Makes. Makes a lot of sense. I can definitely see it could also be quite challenging. I know that when you came on board, Olivia, you had kind of this concept of the art of B2B. And how did it come to life at Oktopost in terms of this concept of. Right. Painting a masterpiece?
3:11
Olivia Messina
Yeah. So we were kind of putting our heads together, thinking about social media, and there's so many challenges. There's so much to love about social media as well, but there's so many challenges. And we kind of came up with the idea of there really is no right way to do social. And for every company, it really looks different. And that's kind of how the art of B2B came to life, because it's truly an art. Just like when you are painting or creating something, there's no right or wrong way to do it. And the same goes for social media. And there's so many tools and different ways you can create your masterpiece. And that's why we have social media artists.
3:46
Jennifer Gutman
I love it. Let's dive in. So the art of B2B social media. Right. Help us. You mentioned social media managers are artists. You mentioned that really there is no playbook. But can you talk us through why is it so important to create this masterpiece? Does everyone need a masterpiece? I mean, talk us through that.
4:15
Olivia Messina
Okay. Yes, definitely. So like we said, social media is an art. No right way or do to do it. And every company is going to be different. What you need to think about is what do you want people to know about your brand? Why should they care about you? You have to get. You really need to know how you want to paint the picture of your company. So what you want people to know about you, how you want to make them feel? So you have to get. You have to really know and be concise about what you want to share. And that will help you kind of craft how you showcase your brand on social media. And like I said, every company is different. Every company has different goals, different things they're trying to achieve through social. But once you know who you're trying to reach, why you're trying to reach them, and that's when you can kind of get creative and kind of chisel out your own strategy for your audience.
5:07
Jennifer Gutman
I love that. I love that. Now, there's a topic that we often talk about at Oktopost, and it's kind of geared towards millennials, about millennials and there seems to be a running joke on social media when it comes to millennials in general, from the kind of B2B organizational side. Right. A lot of times people will joke, oh, you need someone to make your social media amazing. Hire a Millennial. They'll. But the tables are kind of turning where millennials are no longer the folk who are just out of university at the bottom of the marketing teams. Right. They're now the ones making the purchasing decisions. How does that knowledge, knowing that the demographic out there on social media is largely millennials, how does that impact your masterpiece or your sculpture or how you're mapping your strategy?
5:59
Olivia Messina
Yeah, definitely. So I think this really changes it all, because now we know exactly who we are targeting. We're targeting millennials. They're the ones in the buyer's seat, and they represent 75% of the workforce. So that's who we're trying to target. So that's when we have to think about how do millennials act on social media? And we know that they go to social media to make their purchasing decisions. That's where they do their research. So having that insight, we know that millennials like things quick and easy. They're not messing around. They. They like to get in, get their information, and get going. So having that information, we can craft our social media to make it easy for them to digest content. So having this information has helped me. For example, I've made videos. I know videos are so easy to digest, and that's just one thing that I've done in addition to other things. But that's just one example of how millennials, they like to get in, get out. So you have to really focus your content, knowing that that's what you're trying
6:59
Jennifer Gutman
to reach makes a lot of sense. And we're going to dive into the types of videos that you've done. And I know videos do play a huge role, especially for this specific demographic. So when it comes to sculpting your masterpiece and bringing together social media managers, how would you recommend that we think about starting our sculpture or starting our art? What needs to be taken into account to make this pop, if you will?
7:29
Olivia Messina
Yeah, definitely. I also wanted to mention that your social media has to paint a beautiful picture because you. For B2B, we're using it in a way that we want the buyers to come, and they kind of like to do the journey themselves. So millennials like to do their own research on their own time. So your content has to paint that beautiful picture. So you need to have a really Strong strategy and you have to think about what type of content you want to make and then reaching the right audience. So I think it's important to first identify who you are trying to target, really understand what they're coming to social media for, what are their problems, how can you be helpful to them and then that will help you kind of create content because you can't reach someone that you don't know anything about. So it's really important to be clear on who you're trying to reach. And then another part of this whole art of social is being human. And that's the one thing that has really changed over time is especially in B2B, there's a huge push on being human and it's not really business to business, it's really human to human. And that kind of plays into there's no right way to do it. But we see the trend moving towards more of community, more human. So showing the human aspects of the brand and knowing what resonates with your audience is really going to help you sculpt out that masterpiece.
9:00
Jennifer Gutman
That makes a lot of sense, Olivia. And you know, social media, it's in the, it's in the title, right? Be social, be human, meant for human beings. So I really like that takeaway. I want to challenge you now and if you can, if anything is top secret, you know, we respect that. But for the sake of really understanding and getting inside your head as a social media manager, when you started here at Oktopost, we've seen engagements go through the roof, we've seen our channel take a whole new form. Can you talk to us about the ever changing masterpiece that you are currently creating and what are some of the tactics that you are using to increase engagement, to reach your target audience, your target buyers and to build your community?
9:45
Olivia Messina
Yes, definitely. So as a community manager and just my personal philosophies and beliefs, I think that social media is really great when you can showcase the people behind your brand and really humanize it. So when I started, I had a few ideas on how we can really humanize ourselves and showcase the people behind the brand. Because brands are nothing without the amazing people behind it. So for example, I started in Octoposter Spotlight because we also have an employee advocacy platform and it encourages our employees to share out content. Just thinking about the concept of people are more likely to interact with a human than they are brand. So that's kind of how employee advocacy feeds into that. But I wanted to take it one step further and I wanted to people to actually get to know our octoposters. So in order to do that, I showcased, I'm showcasing someone every single week and I'm taking it to a place where we're talking about things you wouldn't know just from their LinkedIn channel. So I'm asking our octoposters and sharing with our audience where they're located, where, what they're doing at Oktopost, why they chose Oktopost and then sharing something that they wouldn't be able to know. So for example, Erin shared with me that she likes to quilt. And you would never be able to understand that just from her sharing an advocacy post or just going to her LinkedIn. So really going and diving deeper into who we are, why we're doing it, and letting people in on the beautiful faces behind our brand. And that also is something that I'm doing with my Tip Tuesdays, because as a social media manager, I think it's helpful to have tactical tips. I love tips. I love getting them from other creators as well. And I wanted to share that with our audience because I know we have an audience of social media managers. So I wanted to create a way to share tips but also humanize it. So I thought what better way to do that than to make a video and show me an actual social media manager sharing tips for other social media managers. And it's not just, you know, it's useful tactical tips they can take away. It's different than the Oktopost or Spotlight, cause that's getting to know someone. But this is, here are tips, you can use them in your own. So it's very tactical in an easy way to provide value because value is going to be at the heart of your content no matter what. You always have to be providing some type of value. And then another thing that I've been doing is showing how amazing of a place Oktopost is and why our October love to work here. So I did a little campaign about how it feels to work at Oktopost. So I just tweeted out, hey, octoposters, let me know in one word, how does it feel to work here? So there were no secrets, no behind the scenes. I tweeted it out and they came and they tweeted and answered me. So it's a way for our audience to kind of zone in and see in real time what people are saying. But then I also repurpose that content one step further and shared it on LinkedIn and Instagram. And just a little secret here, some of the tools that I like to use. So if you can see all of the tweets with the colors. I love to use Canva, so I think Canvas a really easy tool for other creators to use. And then for my tip Tuesday videos, I'll mention that I use VEED. So it's a really simple way to create video content. I know video content is really big now. There's a very big push to it. So using VEED, if you want to create video content, it's a simple, easy way to add subtitles and images and stuff. So just a little tip for all the social media managers out there and
13:44
Jennifer Gutman
then, you know, I'll just throw out. Right. Using Oktopost to post your posts as we're on technology, but that is for a different conversation for a different day. I'm going to hop over to the next slide, but I think this one might be my favorite. Can you talk about what we're looking at?
14:00
Olivia Messina
Because I think it's genius. Definitely. So when we were coming together and talking about social media, the one thing that came up is we are so tired of seeing stock photos, stock photo after stock photo. It's so cold, it doesn't show personality. And especially when we are trying to humanize our brand, we thought, what better way to do that than use our familiar face? So, so that is me right there. This is actually the COVID of our ebook of our Mastering the art of B2B social. So it really just plays into that whole there's no right or wrong way to do social media. And we decided to try and test something new and it looks like it's working pretty well. But yeah, we were so tired of seeing those stock photos. So, you know, social media is an art and you have the ability to create it any way you want. And that's exactly what we did.
14:56
Jennifer Gutman
I love this. And just seeing you on the COVID of the ebook, it's almost as if we've created our own quote, unquote stock photos. But there is a creativity to it. It draws attention and I think that's a really creative way. And I think, as you said, there's no right or wrong way to do it. Everybody's going to do it differently. But this was very well done. So kudos, Olivia. This was spot on, I think, with creativity. So I want to pull back from the masterpiece that you're creating. And, you know, especially with 2020, 2021, there's constantly challenges, if you will, being thrown at social media managers. Whether it's, you know, a pandemic we had in 2020, you know, Black lives Matter movement, you really have to Keep your pulse on the times, on current events, to know when is it appropriate to post, when is it not appropriate to post, how do you create these messages that will make sense. But overall, adapting your social strategy over time is something that you need to be able to do. You cannot keep doing the same thing years and years and years and expect the same results. In fact, you probably, on social media especially, will go obsolete. Twitter posts, the shelf life of those are like less than five seconds. So you really have to be thinking on your feet on how you can adapt your strategy and what is your mindset going into that and how are some of the ways that you are working with the times and moving so quickly to adapt it.
16:33
Olivia Messina
So as a social media artist, if you want to be a good one, you really have to embrace changing and being able to adapt over time, because what's working right now is probably not going to work in the future. Just like what has worked a few months ago is changing. We're constantly changing. And you have to be taking action and trying to do little things every day to improve. Because like you said, social media is so quick, constantly changing. And I think it's really important to not be afraid to take risks and try out new things. You know, I've tried things that haven't worked and that's okay. And I've tried things that have worked. And if you never try, you'll never know what, what's going to work. So playing around with, testing out new channels, but also focus on what's your best channel, where is your audience hanging out? I think it's important to realize that you don't need to be the loudest person on social. You also don't need to be on every single platform, but you need to know where your audience is and that's where you should be focusing most of your content. So, for example, our audience hangs out on LinkedIn and Twitter, so that's where we are putting most of our time and effort in. But I really love Instagram, so coming on board, that's one thing that I wanted to kind of start utilizing more. So I've been also working on that on the side, but it's not our main thing. So just doing small things every single day to kind of help your strategy move along over time. And yeah, just keeping making sure you're sharing relevant news. And don't be afraid to go out and see what people are talking about. You know, you know your audience the best. So don't be afraid to go out and see what other content they're engaging with what problems they're facing. Having that insight will help you create content or create your art to best reach them. So I think it's important to realize that there is no right way to do it like we've been saying all along. And it's okay to try something and fail because social media is quick and, you know, we just keep moving along. So just try to do little things every single day to help your strategy over time.
18:51
Jennifer Gutman
I think that's a great piece of advice, Olivia. And I think one of the biggest challenges is being able to look at this piece of art that you're working on and maybe you need one more stroke to call it a masterpiece, but perhaps current events changes that stroke and you have to re approach it from the beginning and not having that fear to acknowledge that, okay, this may not have worked as well or maybe we need to switch here. I think that's really shown to be working on the masterpiece side of what we're seeing, what you're doing with the Oktopost social channels. And hopefully for everyone tuning in, this could be inspiration for, you know, when you go back to the drawing table, if you will, on some ideas and ways that you can go about creating your own masterpiece. So what I want to ask this is our last question of the webinar is we know social media moves ever so quickly. You've shared with us some of the ways that you're preparing for the future, some of the things you're doing that works now. What are you doing right now to prepare for what I'm going to call the next normal, which is a bit unknown.
20:01
Olivia Messina
Yes, it is very unknown. But we have a few things to hopefully help you out and craft your own masterpiece. One thing that I wanted to kind of talk about is your content needs to be diverse. And something I'm going to dive into a little bit is how to humanize your content and start that conversation a little bit on your social channels, but realizing that it's important to diversify your content and share about your actual employees, share about your product a little bit, don't be too pushy, but it's important to paint the full picture. So that's something that I've been trying to do, is include a lot of diverse content, but then wrapping in that human aspect. And I think that's what really sets a brand apart. So to humanize our social a little bit. Like I've said, I've done the tip Tuesdays, I've done the employee spotlights and celebrating and showing milestones and Introducing new employees to the team, I think that really helps humanize the brand and showcase the amazing people behind it. And then one thing that I personally believe really makes a difference, and this is just my personal philosophy, but. And as a community manager, I think it's very important. But I think that talking to your audience and engaging with your audience is one of the most important things you can do on social, because social media is meant to be social and it should never be a brand just shouting at you, telling you why your product is so amazing. It should just be a conversation, offering solutions, really talking to your audience and getting to know them, because that's what social media is all about. So something that I've been doing is responding to every single content share and really trying to engage with our audience and start that conversation and think about how you want people to feel after they interact with your brand. I think is really important. And especially with when you're trying to humanize your brand, an easy way to do that is to showcase the humans behind the brand and then also talk to your audience as well.
22:07
Jennifer Gutman
I love that it's essentially right, don't be a megaphone, but rather have a dialogue. And I think that is key. So I want to thank everyone for joining us today on our On Demand webinar. Olivia, it's been a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you for sharing with us some of the tools and the tips and the techniques that you're using to create this Oktopost masterpiece. If anybody has any additional questions or they would like to reach out or potentially even brainstorm with the Maestro, if you will, Michelangelo of Oktopost, over here, Olivia Messina. Feel free. Our emails are here and you can always find Olivia on LinkedIn, on Twitter and on Instagram. So thank you so much for joining us.
22:50
Olivia Messina
Thank you so much, Jen, for having me. And if you would like to dive a little bit deeper into the art of B2B social, we actually publish an ebook. You can find that on our website. And there's tons of great art and great ways to get examples there about how to craft your own B2B social media masterpiece. But it's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me, Jen.
23:10
Jennifer Gutman
Of course. Bye. Bye, bye.
