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#TheTimesTheyAreAChangin

 From my previous blog, you’d be forgiven for thinking I’m a bit obsessed with evolution. I do have a picture of Charles Darwin on my desk, but I also have a sock monkey, a toy skateboard, a gold Scrabble tile and a mini cactus – so y’know. Don’t judge me.

It’s fair to say however that in the past six or seven years, social media networks, especially the titans: Twitter and Facebook, have evolved rapidly.

Back in 2006/ 2007, each new channel had it’s own unique selling point. From my perspective, before I realised Twitter’s microblogging potential and long before I discovered @ messages or hashags, I saw it as a tool to send free texts to my friends. For my first year or so on Twitter, I only followed close friends, and only close friends followed me, so my tweets were mostly about arranging trips to the pub (I’ve since purged the internet of those mundane posts!). It was certainly social, but there wasn’t much of a network to speak of.

Facebook on the other hand, was a more ‘grown up’ version of Myspace that felt like a community (a retreat, even!) for those of us bored with animated backgrounds and obnoxious pop-songs on auto-play.

As time has gone on however, and more channels have emerged, with increasing numbers of users adopting them, the core purpose of each channel has evolved and their functionality has blurred.

With the evolution of status updates to open text (away from the rigid ‘Xenia is…’ format Facebook used to insist upon), users began microblogging on Facebook in the same way they once had on Twitter. But as Twitter grew and more companies and celebrities took to the channel, it too changed into something else – a forum for public conversations with brands and companies.

Then, as Facebook became more customisable, with cover photos and apps, it somehow started to resemble the Myspace of old.

Geo-tagging or ‘checking yourself in’ to places has also crossed channels, from Foursquare to Facebook, to Instagram and Twitter. Then Twitter let you upload photos and videos… And now Facebook has decided to incorporate hash tags – a technique that Twitter users have been adopting to categorise their posts for a number of years now.

So what does all this blurring of social media actually mean, and is there any real difference between channels anymore?

Twitter has, much to the chagrin of anyone who has ever experienced the backlash of ‘trolls’ or the annoyance of spam-bots, retained some semblance of anonymity. Users are still able to have pseudonyms and alternative identities – just ask Guido Fawkes.

But Facebook is, in many ways, the polar opposite – it contains a vast digital archive of identity and personal history. Graph search demonstrates this perfectly as it allows users to conduct highly specific searches using rich Facebook content (sometimes with amusing results).

It’s for this reason that brands are able to form lasting, personal relationships with consumers on Facebook – a highly attractive marketing proposition – whereas, arguably, those conversations on Twitter are more fleeting.

The recent introduction then, of searchable hashtags to Facebook is a particularly significant one. When it comes to Facebook, the hashtag is more than just a method for categorising posts – it gives implicit permission for the post to become publicly searchable.

This development – allowing highly personal content and conversations between friends to become part of a global search, is an interesting and significant one. By categorising their own data in this way, users will be helping advertisers to create more targeted and meaningful ads – essentially shaping their own experience.

As social media channels continue to evolve into a many-headed micro-blogging, geo-tagging, photo-sharing beast, users will increasingly be turned off by channels that don’t understand them, make use of the information they have made available and personalise content accordingly.

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It’s the taking part that counts…

Last week Man Bites Dog headed off to sunny Barcelona for the 2013 EMEA Sabre Awards.

The sun was shining, the room was abuzz with pan-European PR chatter and our team proudly picked up its silver award in the ‘Research for Publicity’ category.

On Monday, we hit the awards circuit again, this time heading into central London for the CIPR Excellence Awards. Matt Baker featured as reluctant compère, while Britain’s finest PR professionals mingled, ate and danced the night away.

Of course, awards dos make a great night out, and they are often pretty silly, but they also serve an important purpose.

At Man Bites Dog, we’re very proud to be the UK’s most award-winning B2B consultancy and continue to offer our best campaigns up for industry scrutiny.

And, what d’ya know, it works! We regularly receive enquiries from potential clients and employees based on our awards success.

I manage the awards process at our consultancy, and know better than most the hard work, stress and expense that goes into compiling an entry. Yet, once you’ve donned your glad rags and headed up to accept your well-deserved prize, that all becomes a distant memory.

In any industry, it’s important to be recognised as best in class. It helps motivate the existing team, drives recruitment and, above all, creates opportunities for new business.

Awards ceremonies also provide the chance to meet other professionals working in your field. The networking opportunity and the inspiration gained from hearing about other campaigns, is worth its weight in awards gold.

Yes, you have to sit through hundred of categories unrelated to your field, yes the food is regularly awful (chocolate and Vicks VapoRub flavour dessert anyone?) and yes, the presenters barely understand what we do for a living (bring on the advertising-related comedy).

But, awards matter. They matter to your peers, they matter to potential employees and they matter to clients. What have you got to lose?

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Would your supplier list pass the diversity test?

The question of how you select preferred suppliers might seem easy to answer. It’s highly likely that price will be a primary consideration, but you may take other aspects, such as reputation, quality or the supplier’s existing client base, into account.

So far, so fair enough. But have you ever taken a long, hard look at your supplier list and considered whether it includes the full range of potential businesses that could be servicing your organisation?

How well do your suppliers reflect your own customer or client base, for example? If your buyers are SMEs, does it make sense to favour larger organisations in your procurement process? Similarly, if you are reaching out to a specific demographic group then there is a strong argument for working with suppliers who are embedded in that community.

How about women-owned businesses? Does your organisation take the time to actively encourage and support the growing number of highly successful, ambitious female entrepreneurs in this country and around the world?

These were the topics under discussion at Monday evening’s launch of the Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Code of Conduct, held in the suitably impressive surroundings of Westminster’s Portcullis House.

Developed by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), and endorsed by non-profit organisation WEConnect International, the Code is ‘a commitment by corporate firms to provide a level playing field for women-owned and other diverse or under-represented suppliers, to strengthen marketplaces, promote competitive advantage and enable business sustainability’.

Adopting the Code is a statement of intent and a commitment to act, and is the first step in a process that includes developing a clear understanding of current policies, setting realistic goals and securing internal buy-in for firm-wide change.

As an SME led by our very own founder of the female variety, this issue is close to our hearts at Man Bites Dog. It’s one of the reasons we’re proud members of WEConnect, which exists to help build sustainable communities by empowering women business owners to succeed in local and global markets.

The benefits of encouraging a more diverse and culturally rich supplier base are easy to define. A concerted effort to encourage and support entrepreneurialism among a broader spectrum of the population will allow a greater number of firms to launch, survive and thrive, feeding directly into the UK’s economic recovery.

At a more micro level, the greater the variety of businesses you work with, the more ideas and insights you will be exposed to. This, in turn, may stimulate new and profitable ways of thinking and behaving within your own organisation.

When you consider supplier diversity in that context it becomes clear that this is about far more than quotas or positive discrimination. It’s about ensuring that organisations take responsibility for supporting entrepreneurialism in every form, by actively opening doors that may otherwise have remained closed.

All credit to RBS for taking a firm stance on this issue and paving the way for other companies to follow in those footsteps.

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Putting a Price on the Working Relationship

For the entirety of my working career up until last Friday (albeit still in its early stages), I have never had the opportunity to take part in a company away day.

Of course, there have been plenty of nights down the pub, afternoons out and extravagant Christmas parties. But there has never been a suitable occasion to step back and review the relationships and dynamics of the teams I have been part of.

Considering the amount of time we spend with our colleagues – more than family and friends in many cases – surely ensuring we get along is incredibly important?

I can understand why some business leaders may not want to spend money on what may seem like a ‘jolly’ in the current economic climate. But can companies really afford not to invest in team building and organisational development at a time when differentiation and clear goals are the key to success? It’s vital that teams are working creatively, dynamically and above all, collaboratively.

Last Friday, the Dogs took a trip to the beautiful Ridgeview Vineyard in Hassocks. Rest assured, Ridgeview was not chosen just for the opportunity to taste sparkling wine but because – like Man Bites Dog – it is a multi award-winning venture in the heart of East Sussex that is competing on an international scale. The day wasn’t solely about team building. It was also about everyone having the opportunity to share their opinion on how the company is run, in an equal, honest and non-judgemental environment.

Mardi Roberts, Ridgeview’s Marketing and Sales Manager, settled us into a meeting room with a glorious view of the vineyard and surrounding countryside. Facilitated by our very own work and life coach, Kurt (Pavlov) Rowe, we spent the day taking an in-depth look at our behaviours in the office, our hopes and aspirations for the company and our achievements over the past year, as well as a number of bonding exercises.

Sceptics may question the value of such ‘away days’. As a newbie to the Man Bites Dog team, I haven’t had much time to get to know many of my colleagues in a social situation, but that’s now changed. Our day at Ridgeview gave me the opportunity to spend quality time with the whole team in a relaxed setting, which meant I went home with a sense of confidence and solidarity.

It also left me with the clear belief that team building and company-wide involvement in business strategy is invaluable. Firms should create as many opportunities as possible for teams to interact with one another and have their say on the company’s broader vision and mission – an investment that can only reap rewards.

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The signs are on the wall: make sure you know how to read them as well as everyone else

 

I’ve seen some bad offices in my days. We all know the type: filled with lines of grey desks, lit by dingy tube lights and buzzing with the hum of old equipment and clapped out air-conditioning units. The air is stale, the atmosphere heavy, and the workers completely uninspired and counting down the minutes until the end of each day.

Too many workplaces fit this description – I’ve worked in a good few of them myself!

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to the ‘Workplaces Worth Paying For’ conference, held by fit out and refurbishment specialist, Overbury.

The conference, set amongst the spectacular views offered by Millbank tower, had many presentations to inspire thought. One that particularly caught my attention, and had me thinking of The Doghouse back here in Brighton, was that of Dr Alex Gordon, CEO of semiotics and cultural insight agency, Sign Salad.

Semiotics and Semioticians

For those unfamiliar with semiotics, it may at first seem a somewhat confusing world but, very simply, it is the study of signs, in all their forms, and the way we interpret them. In Sign Salad’s words it is: “How meaning is created and how meaning is communicated”.

Beyond the obvious, we have learned to interpret signs everywhere in life – in fact we’re experts in it. Subconsciously, we are constantly processing the vast amount of information contained in everything around us; from shapes and colours, to smells and sounds.

This isn’t major news; companies spend an awful lot of time and money making sure their logo achieves the desired effect. Each tiny detail is pored over in an attempt to communicate all the things their company wants to be – take Twitter’s explanation of their new logo as a prime example.

But why do we so often stop there?

From Ancient Rome to Google HQ

The office is the ultimate source of corporate signs for your employees. As Dr Gordon informed us, the word ‘office’ stems from Ancient Rome and the Latin, officium, meaning service, official duty, function or business. Those words paint quite a picture: a semantic field that conjures up the dull tasks we might associate with rows of uninteresting cubicles – pure monotony – and honestly who wants that?

No-one. And this is why we are witnessing the appearance of sleeker, more modern offices: Segways at Google, Space Hoppers in the boardroom and coffee shops for relaxing.

This kind of frivolity in a corporate environment may seem like madness to some – and anathema to hard work – but it begs the question of what companies want their office to really mean to their employees.

Do you want an office for work or for creativity?

I’m pretty new to Man Bites Dog but, from the moment I stepped inside The Doghouse, I was saturated with the personality of the brand. For those not familiar with our office, keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming feature about it in Director Magazine, or pop in and say hi!

Dog statues, a grass picnic area, beach huts, deckchairs and mini pebble beach, a pool table, vibrant brain storm room and a bar – colour everywhere and the Brighton sunshine lighting up the kitchen disco ball. It’s pretty hard to be downbeat in these surroundings; in fact it’s pretty hard to be ordinary!

When I think back to the offices I used to work in, it’s quite a change. The sullen slump through the office, dreading another day of officium action, was never going to inspire much more than the bare minimum. More than anything I feel I’ve now been given a chance to enjoy my work – and given the confidence that this is what the company wants me to do.

Getting the most out of your employees and driving your company forward is more important now than ever. Organisations need to be looking for innovation, creativity and energy from their workforce. Indeed, few firms can afford not to. And it seems we’ve learned quite a bit. A new breed of workplaces is cropping up, and with them a changing attitude from ‘towing the company line’ to working collaboratively.

Companies want, and need, creative and motivated staff. That’s something I’ve found in abundance in my time here with Man Bites Dog. I can honestly say I’ve not worked with such a bright bunch of hard-working people before. But before you brand me a sycophant (or lap-dog!) take a look around the website to see the good work done by the team here. A successful bunch of happy people, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Companies give off a lot of messages about who they want their employees to be, how much they trust them, and how they want them to feel. Dr Gordon’s rallying cry for the day was that everyone is a semiotician.  Next time you clock in at the office, take a look around and think about what your company is saying to you, and everyone else.

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Business Darwinism: Survival of the fittest

At Man Bites Dog, part of our ‘London Career, Brighton Lifestyle’ is due to our prime office location. Not only is The Dog House just a stone’s throw from the sea but we’re also wandering distance from the centre of town and historic North Laines.

Two-streets over from The Dog House in Middle Street is The Hippodrome, which was built shortly before the turn of the 20^th Century. In its heyday it was an important Brighton venue, hosting wartime variety shows and, later, acts like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. However, after failed attempts to reinvent itself as a bingo hall in the early noughties, The Hippodrome closed down and today looks like any other dilapidated, boarded up building – covered with graffiti, security signs and evidence of a few generations of pigeons.

The local press recently confirmed rumours that the building is going to be converted into a cinema, which got me thinking about regeneration, adaptation and survival in business. At the peak of its success, the venue kept its finger on the pulse of society, adapting to and preempting the needs of customers. When it stopped doing this, the consequences were all too apparent.

We can draw strong parallels here with recent examples of high street giants that have failed to change with the times. Businesses absolutely must recognise and respond to the evolving needs of customers or face the music.

Even at Man Bites Dog, our traditional ‘B2B PR’ remit has evolved over the eight years since we were founded to include SEO, marketing communications and branding – to name a few.

 

Famous Failures

You don’t have to look far for examples of brands that have been overtaken by changing consumer demand.

Woolworths, for example, fell down because of its ‘everything under one roof’ approach. Failure to specialise in any one-product category meant that other retailers were able to undercut by leveraging economy of scale and supplier relationships. With neither a price advantage nor a product specialism, customers turned elsewhere.

More brands still have disappeared from the high street due to their inability to adapt to changing customer needs. From digital music downloads to online retailing and social media, technology has driven many of these changes. Other evolving societal norms, such as attitudes towards food and the ethical impact of products, have also played a role in the demise of slow moving retailers.

 

Survival Tactics

Many well known companies have identified and acted upon evolving customer desires and expectations with great success – Hunter Wellington Boots, a functional work-wear brand that tapped into premium fashion, for example. But how were they able to recognise and react to this shift?

First and foremost, successful brands listen to their customers. This is your most valuable source of information, so be sure to foster strong relationships, which will help you to identify needs and concerns before it’s too late.

Put yourself in their shoes; read the news and monitor your industry using free web tools. Make sure you understand the forces shaping your industry, whether this is technology, environmental issues, or a bigger societal shift.

It’s also useful to keep a weather eye on your competitors and what they are up to – but remember, what they’re doing may not be right for you or your customers. Trust your instincts.

Ultimately, you shouldn’t shy away from change. Adaptation and innovation are the keys to survival – but it’s important to understand that this won’t always be easy.

Things aren’t guaranteed to go smoothly and at some point you might find yourself with an empty bingo hall on your hands. But, true innovators learn from their mistakes, improving products and services incrementally according to the needs of the market. It takes an experimental mindset and obsession with success to not only survive but thrive.

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Fairy tales, myths and fables – the dark art of writing

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, a PR professional wrote a simple and engaging article. The article was free from basic mistakes, didn’t include any PR gobbledygook and what’s more, it was easy to understand.

Whilst the above may sound like a tall tale to many journalists, the reality of writing in PR can often be a very different story.

In an industry full of jargon and buzzwords, being able to write clear, concise and engaging copy is an important skill. A well-written article stands more chance of being used by a journalist and is much easier for the reader to understand.

So why is it, that so many working in the industry, insist on wasting their word count with unreadable waffle?

 

The battle of good vs evil

Using clear, direct and simple language sounds easy, but it’s actually much harder than you might think. Social and content marketing also make it easier to be lazy in your writing. If there’s no journalist go-between, who’s to say if your copy is interesting or not?

In PR, there is often a tendency to overcomplicate our language and alter our writing style when talking about complex topics – even though this is when we need to be as clear as possible!

Cue the hero of our story: Alex Blyth – journalist and copywriting extraordinaire – who visited The Doghouse this week to deliver his training session on ‘How to write copy that journalists will actually use’.

Alex encourages the idea of creating copy that is clear and understandable. But he also stresses the importance of bringing your copy to life with a good bit of old-fashioned storytelling.

“If you think about the classic fairy tale format”, says Alex, “they all have very similar constructs”. These include:

• Characters and action

• A plot

• A setting

• Dialogue

• Context

Bringing these concepts into your article can turn the most dull and boring piece of writing into an exciting piece of copy that journalists will want to read, and share with their readers.

 

Magic rules

Alex also reiterates the famous words of master storyteller George Orwell and his six rules of writing from his well-known essay:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech, which you are used to seeing in print

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous

Whilst this is all sound advice that is still clearly relevant to today’s writers, it is also important to consider the questions Orwell poses earlier in his essay:

“A scrupulous writer, in every sentence’” he writes, “will ask himself at least four questions. These are:

• What am I trying to say?

• What words will express it?

• What image or idiom will make it clearer?

• Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

And he will probably ask himself two more:

• Could I put it more succinctly?

• Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?”

 

Happily ever after

So whilst the current economic climate with its triple dips, fiscal cliffs and Eurozone bailouts, can at times make it hard to avoid saying anything ugly, we should all consider the above questions before we start a piece of writing.

By thinking about what it is we actually want our writing to achieve and whom we want to read it, our approach to copywriting can become more targeted and focused. And by making every word count, your writing will become tighter, your points will become clearer and your audience will become better informed.

Writing in the world of PR doesn’t have to be a dark art: everybody likes a good story; it’s just our job to make sure it’s always a story that everyone wants to read.

The End

 

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Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson: The Master of Personal Branding

Another day, another Boris Johnson PR disaster is skilfully transformed into swathes of positive media coverage for the man seen by many as PM in waiting.

Following an embarrassing BBC appearance, where Eddie Mair questioned the politician about a handful of his past transgressions, Boris responded to the subsequent negative news reports with a typically light-hearted response, admitting that the interviewer ‘did a splendid job.’

Let’s face it; this is hardly the biggest political, journalistic or personal public relations issue he has faced. But, as ever, one simple, charming comment from Boris, and the public forgets or forgives the incident.

BoJo, the blustering, bright-white fright-wigged, Etonian-of-the-people is the master of personal brand.

Regardless of what you (or indeed I) might think of his politics, a closer look at the genius of the personal brand he has created reveals some interesting lessons about how to get the job you want and progress to where you want to be – whether that’s the next leader of the Conservative party or the head of communciations.

Be a fabulous version of yourself

Boris is a toff, and proud. Unlike so many of his Westminster colleagues, he doesn’t try to hide his privileged background and, as a result, the public (who are essentially his employers) respect him more.

Moreover, he’s not afraid to express his true thoughts, even if they aren’t necessarily popular opinion – after all, he can always charmingly change his mind later when there has been a backlash.

Being memorable and interesting is key to marking yourself out from the competition during the recruitment process, as my own successful application to Man Bites Dog attests. And when it’s time to apply for a promotion, you’ll be at the forefront of your employers mind.

Plan your ascension to the top

As Boris shows, if you aim for the top job, you can reach great heights. As Paul Arden would say ‘it’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be.’

Even before his days as head boy at Eton, Boris surely dreamed of being PM, and now after years of planning and progression, there are now only a few more steps to take.

Embrace now

Despite his lofty ambitions, Boris hasn’t forgotten to keep up to date with what’s going on in the greater world.

Look at his adoption of social media. Of course, his Twitter feed is engaging and irreverent, in line with his brand, but he is also happy to engage in 1-2-1 conversations, something many people in positions of power are scared to do. George Osborne, take note.

Align yourself with the bigger picture

Finally, be open to change. Boris’s vague views on gay marriage have adapted as public opinion has shifted.

Nobody can be right all the time but, in my experience, those that are wrong the most are the people who are incapable and unwilling to take on board new ideas.

Change is not failure; it is development. And if you can adapt to represent your organisation, you will smooth your rise to the top.

Who knew we could learn so much from Boris Johnson?

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Time to regulate?

“Hacked Off in the room as the talks unfold, 


Westminster’s about to make the media’s blood run cold


now they slappin’ backs and clappin’ 


it’s a tad bit late


Clegg, Miliband and Letwin had to regulate…”

 

Well, it’s been a big week for Warren G. Who would have thought his gangsta-funk rap genius would have inspired so many headlines? I personally can’t wait for the David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Hugh Grant and Ian Hislop Youtube mash-up.

Aside from Warren G’s triumphant week however, the prospect of the government brandishing a ‘watchdog with teeth’ at the press has certainly ruffled a few feathers. And so it should.

After warning that we should be ‘wary of any legislation that has the potential to infringe free speech’, Cameron has agreed to introduce a new press regulator backed by royal charter. Despite suggesting that such a measure would become ‘a vehicle for politicians’, the new regulator will be underpinned by statute and have the power to dole out million pound fines, demand prominent apologies, corrections and retractions, and threaten exemplary damages in civil cases for newspapers, magazines and in fact any ‘relevant publishers’ who don’t sign up.

Not only does this tar an entire industry with the same brush as the minority of unscrupulous journalists who took part in illegal phone-hacking, but bloggers could also unwittingly find themselves threatened with exemplary damages from a regulator that was never intended for them.

Breaching privacy and libel laws remains just as illegal as it was before the phone hacking scandal, so if the threat of criminal punishment was not an effective deterrent back then, how will the new regulator prevent such crimes from happening in the future? And why should bloggers and the rest of the law-abiding media be punished for the crimes of others?

At a time when internet access is the only requirement to become a ‘relevant publisher’, the lack of clarity around who will be regulated and how suggests the announcement was somewhat rushed. I can’t think of many decisions I have made at 2.30 in the morning that I’ve been particularly proud of the following day, but at least none of mine have attracted the attention of the OSCE, an international organisation set up to police human rights.

There’s always something slightly unnerving about the three parties reaching unanimous agreement, but it seems that this time it is their common enemy, the press, that has united them. As Fraser Nelson pointed out, ‘H.L. Mencken said journalist is to politician as dog is to lamppost. This week has been about the revenge of the lamppost.’

We may have to wait for several weeks for further details of the new regulator to emerge, but judging by the reaction of the press this week one thing is clear: the dog will bite back.

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Internal marketing – taking stakeholders with you

It amazes me how frequently marketing and PR can be undervalued by key organisational stakeholders. And often it’s those that spend the most on delivering fantastically effective communication campaigns that spend the least time communicating and marketing their successes internally.

More often than not, it’s because marketers are naturally more focused on external audiences than those who either hold, or influence those holding, their purse strings.

This is only natural during uncertain times – when everything is focused on ROI and the bottom line, marketing ‘guns’ are often trained on bringing in the new business at the expense of all else.

But, putting a little effort into building internal awareness of PR activities can go a long way to protecting and growing budgets, securing repeat projects, gaining investment of stakeholder time in projects and, of course, raising the profile of marketing within the business.

With this in mind, we’ve outlined some of the most effective internal marketing tactics to engage key stakeholders in marketing and PR success:

1.Play the fame game

Especially in partner-led businesses, boosting their profile is a sure fire way to gain interest, time and monetary investment in your projects. Creating a ranking of top spokespeople by media mentions – either on your website, intranet or via a monthly blog or newsletter – is a great way of tapping into their desire for exposure, whilst promoting the great broader business you are creating through PR.

2.Market your content:

If you’re in B2B marketing, you’re probably producing a lot of content. Think about how this can be shared internally as well as to your external audiences. You might create an internal ‘thought leadership magazine’ or maybe an online flipbook to show off the ideas you are generating.

3.Talk turkey:

Many internal stakeholders will be worried about just one thing – ROI. Work with sales to develop a clear attribution programme for your campaigns and report on them monthly. Don’t blind people with figures but pull out the best stats, both in terms of measurement and potential revenue. For example, how many new contacts has your content marketing generated, what is the potential revenue stream of your new opportunities?

4.Get commercial:

If you aren’t already closely aligned with sales, why not? More than ever it’s vital to have an eye on the prize. Sales alignment can help you do this, as well as being a great way of gathering insight about the effect of your marketing activity.

5.Get visual:

You’re likely investing in great visuals to spice-up your external marketing, so why not use them internally? Think about producing a campaign summary as an infographic. This approach can be much more engaging than a list of statistics and will allow you to demonstrate the innovative approaches you are applying in your external marketing.

6.Become a film star:

There aren’t many opportunities to get in front of internal stakeholders, so why not produce a summary video of what you’ve been up to? If you have the capability to create video graphics then use this to convey key statistics and achievements of your campaigns.

7.Let it all hang out:

If you can muster the interest, you might want to take this one step further, presenting a webinar or organising a Google Hangout to tell the internal world what you’ve been up to.

If you have any other successful ideas you’d like to share, add your comments below.