Using the right tone of voice to suit your audience 10th March 2011 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

Using the right tone of voice to suit your audience

10th March 2011 Gifford Morley-Fletcher Director of Strategy, Inbound Marketing

I’m going to talk about

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

• Setting the scene: how things were and how they are today
• Your audience: the different ways to define it - there are several!
• The importance of knowing your landscape
• Understanding your resources
• The different tones of voice
• Summary

In the past - a captive audience

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

Tone of voice was often one sided

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

Today you’re a voice in the crowd

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Hey! Listen to me not them...

And we’re not so important

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So what do we mean by ‘your audience’?

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

Industry Job title Discipline Sales Funnel Channel Clients Influencers Press

Start by plotting your landscape

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Who’s talking? What are they saying? How are they saying it? Where are they saying it?

Now you know who you are talking to and where

Understand your resources - how much can you do?

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Twitter - needs daily attention Blogging - at least once a week LinkedIn - up to once a day Monitoring and responding - an hour a day? White papers - 2 per month PR - once a month

Now you know how much you are going to do

The 6 tones of voice

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Informative Authoritative Helpful Controversial Fun Personal

Informative

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Informative Authoritative Helpful Controversial Fun Personal

When to use it: safe, toe in the water, all the time Type of content: news, official announcements Channels: Twitter, blogs, PR, LinkedIn Resource required: Minimal - enough to distribute news

Platforms offer

Body text goes here

Title goes here

Authoritative

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Informative Authoritative Helpful Controversial Fun Personal

When to use it: When establishing your position in a subject area Type of content: Thought-leadership Channels: Twitter, blogs, white papers, LinkedIn, video, Slideshare Resource required: Part to full-time

Helpful

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Informative Authoritative Helpful Controversial Fun Personal

When to use it: When establishing your expertise - passive selling Type of content: How-to’s, responding to questions, direct customer service contact Channels: Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, forums, video, Slideshare Resource required: Full-time

Controversial

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Informative Authoritative Helpful Controversial Fun Personal

When to use it: Tactically - attached to a specific campaign, or when building awareness Type of content: Comments on current news, criticism of content or products Channels: Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, forums Resource required: On a campaign basis - full-time for a period

Fun

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

Informative Authoritative Helpful Controversial Fun Personal

When to use it: Tactically - attached to a specific campaign, or when building awareness. Ongoing depending on your audience Type of content: Competitions, quirky comments, videos Channels: Twitter, Facebook, video Resource required: On a campaign basis - full-time for a period

Personal

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

Informative Authoritative Helpful Controversial Fun Personal

When to use it: On an ad hoc basis, but social media is social and therefore personal Type of content: When interacting specifically with your audience. Often part of monitoring and responding Channels: Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, forums Resource required: Ad hoc but a full-time resource to be available

Summary

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

Different tones of voice for different strategies Different tones of voice for different audiences Different tones of voice for different channels Start with your landscape and strategy, and then work out the appropriate tone

• f voice

Don’t sell!

A message from a social media expert

B2B Marketing Seminar - Taking it to the next level

Greetings Tigers! Remember to think before you communicate and you will be winners like me.....