Bright Ideas

Ignite your knowledge: The ultimate AI adventure begins

As the days grow shorter and the nights get cozier, there’s no better time to embark on a journey into the world of AI. To kickstart your adventure, we’ve curated a list of unmissable reads and listens that will light up your path to AI enlightenment.

For the bookworms:

Rewired – The McKinsey & Company guide to outcompeting in the age of digital and AI.

MIT study: Experimental Evidence on the Productivity Effects of Generative Artificial Intelligence – Examining the productivity impact of the assistive chatbot ChatGPT.

AI-powered marketing and sales reach new heights with generative AI – McKinsey & Company discuss how AI technology, particularly generative AI is transforming the fields of marketing and sales, impacting both B2B and B2C players.

10 Ways PPC Automation and AI Can Improve Your Campaigns – A look at AI and Automation in PPC campaigns from BrightBid.

Black Mirror meets marketing: the ethical implications of AI – A look at the privacy and ethical concerns around AI from Informa Tech.

Seven ChatGPT experiments content marketers should test now – Ideas from InformaTech on how to experiment with ChatGPT to create compelling content and improve market research and analysis.

For those always on the go:

The future of search in B2B marketing– Podcast with Kate Cox, CMO at BrightBid, which examines how AI will change Search Engine Marketing for B2B customers and B2B marketing.

AI will save the world with Marc Andreessen and Martin Casado – Co-founder of a16z, dives into the world of AI, aiming to quell concerns about its impact on humanity.

Which tool to start with?

With so many AI tools out there, here are a few sites that can help you decide which tools to get started with:

There’s an AI for that: https://theresanaiforthat.com

Futurepedia: https://www.futurepedia.io

TopAI.tools: https://topai.tools

And finally here’s a site which lists all the comparison sites!

Interested in hearing more about the capabilities of AI in marketing? Check out our panel discussion “AI in marketing: Unpacking the opportunities and challenges” for more insight, as well as helpful AI resources.

Happy reading from the Bright Team.

September 21, 2023 Alaina Roberts Marketing Effectiveness, Marketing Strategy

Developing a strategy for your website continuous improvement

What does Continuous Improvement mean to you?

Identify, plan, execute, review. Continuous improvement is a well-known process in the world of supply chain and business operations, but its benefits in marketing activity and website management are often overlooked.

It’s a common misconception that once a website is launched, the hard work is done, and we move into the ‘set and forget’ phase. In reality ongoing maintenance and continual improvement of the site and its assets is crucial to performance and success.

The role of your website in achieving business goals

Technology updates and trends move so quickly that it’s easy to fill up your task list with changes and reworks. However, a website is often the greatest go to market tool a company has, and a comprehensive website strategy helps to give your work purpose, map a path to reach your overall goals and informs how you measure results. Here are five things to consider when building out your continuous improvement strategy for your website.

1. Identify your current state

There are different considerations to make depending on the status of your website – have you just launched a new site? Are you aiming to drive new visitors or diversify and expand your offering? Understanding your priorities will help guide you towards your plan.

As soon as people begin visiting your site, behaviour data starts to build – what pages they’re visiting, whether they are on their phone or computer, what they like (and don’t!). This data helps you understand your current website and where potential gaps are.

Undertake a full evaluation of your current content. Having an aim to regularly update and refresh your content will ensure your website flexes and develops alongside your business. By analysing your content and identifying your strong and weak spots, your content plan will begin to develop.

2. Map your goals and objectives

So now you know where you are, but how does this align with where you want to be? Your website is an important tool for your sales, business development, and customer engagement teams. Aligning your digital goals with your overall company vision and purpose will help you unlock the potential of your platform and ensure the work you are putting in will be delivering for the organisation in the long run.

As your website continuous improvement and content development has no real end-date, it’s easy to get disheartened and feel overwhelmed, but by outlining clear KPIs for the short, medium, and long term, you’ll be able to celebrate those successes along the way to keep energy levels up and stay focused on optimisation.

4. Focus on your audience

There can sometimes be a gap between what your company thinks the audience wants and what your audience actually needs. To continue to build improvements into your platform, you need to think as the customer. Is it easy for your users to work out where they need to go to find the information they need? Optimise your navigation, page load times, and test different design elements and ways of using content.

5. Create your content

Keep watch for opportunities to create fresh content and ensure you are getting the maximum value from it by implementing SEO best practices and technology updates. In the same way that a Google Bot will trawl your content and learn to adjust its own algorithms, you can keep your SEO practices up to date to stay ahead of any changes.

When in doubt, use targeted survey questions and feedback forms to get a direct line to your audience and make changes based on their feedback.

Bonus consideration: Experimentation

Experimentation is a great way to drive your continuous improvement. Improving understanding of your audiences, user design, conversion and doing it quickly. Using clear, time bound experiments to increase the effectiveness of your website. When experimenting with your website think about:

Your experimentation shouldn’t be about vanity metrics – it needs to focus on where you can drive the most business impact. So, places to start are:
- Pages, sections or areas that have the highest impact
- Starting at the end of the funnel
Don’t just focus on A/B testing – think about big radical ideas that drastically improve the user experience. This is where you’ll see the biggest improvements

Remember to be agile – when it comes to continuous improvement it should be about spending your time where you can drive the best possible results – for your audiences and for your business goals. Test, learn and build on your findings.

Your continuous improvement journey

While website development and maintenance is a never-ending cycle, the benefit it can bring your business is tangible. By being purposeful and consistent in your continuous improvement strategy, you’ll drive better engagement with your customers and ensure you are well positioned to adapt quickly to an ever-changing digital environment.

September 15, 2023 Sian Heaphy Marketing Effectiveness, Marketing Strategy

The power of an engaged social community

Building connections that drive success

Social media has become a cornerstone of communication, connection, and business growth. We’ve seen its growth in e-commerce, as a search engine and its use a channel to reach target audiences.

Gone are the days when your follower count would suffice. The quality of engagement matters just as much as the quantity of followers. But an engaged community isn’t just a mere collection of likes and comments either, it’s a vibrant ecosystem where authentic connections flourish – where members actively participate, share insights and initiate conversations.

What’s the magic of an engaged social community?

Build brand loyalty and trust

An engaged community can transform passive followers into brand advocates. Not only will they support your products or services but will likely promote them willingly.

Enhancing customer support

This is something you see a lot with B2C brands as well as SaaS firms and an engaged community can serve as a real-time customer support hub.

Own content amplification

An engaged community will actively amplify content you generate, increasing reach, visibility, and brand awareness.

Driving user generated content

We know content is king, but content from your users about your products and services? Gold dust. The challenge is getting it. An engaged community makes that process a lot simpler and they’ll show genuine enthusiasm for the brand.

Fostering social engagement

Here are some of the things to think about when focusing on increasing engagement from your audiences.

Creating valuable content

Engagement starts with content that resonates with your target audience. Invest time in developing personas and understanding their buyer journey to understand their interests, pain points and preference. Use these insights to craft content that educates, entertains, or inspires to encourage interaction.

Encourage two-way conversations

Engagement is a two-way street. Responding to comments, questions and messages demonstrates you value your community’s input, drives connection and belonging.

Blend the physical and the virtual

When focusing on engagement, it’s important not to look at virtual and physical in isolation. They should work together to increase your reach, drive engagement, and foster your community. Physical events like exhibitions, roundtables, and meetups alongside interactive events like contests, polls, online Q&A sessions, and live interviews inject an element of excitement into your community. These events encourage participation and provide an opportunity for followers to actively contribute.

Showcase user generated content

Peers like to hear from their peers so promoting, sharing, and celebrating user generated content is a great way to encourage contribution.

Don’t focus just on the brand

Your company pages and profiles are a great starting point to driving engagement, but building your community shouldn’t stop there. What can you do as individuals to foster the community? What subject matter experts and industry leaders are within your business that you can use to fuel your community building activity?

Measuring the success of your activity

Good engagement can be tricky to measure. It’s not just about the number of likes, comments, shares or engagement rate. That’s only part of the equation. The other parts of the equation are who is liking and engaging, are they in your ICP? And finally what’s the impact you’re seeing of that engagement? This could be increased conversion of unknowns to knowns, improved engagement and marketing audiences, brand sentiment and even increased revenue.

The future of engagement holds exciting possibilities. Virtual and augmented reality, and AI-driven interactions promise to create even more immersive and interactive experiences. As technology evolves, engagement strategies will evolve with them, redefining the way communities connect and thrive.

An engaged social media community is more than just a digital gathering—it’s a powerful catalyst for success. As the digital and social landscape continues to evolve, nurturing an engaged community will remain a cornerstone of successful social media strategies. Continue to research, use your social media data and audience data to develop strategies that not only increase your reach, but forge meaningful connections.

August 18, 2023 Sian Heaphy Marketing Effectiveness, Marketing Strategy

The top five use cases for generative AI for B2B marketing

The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 propelled AI back into the spotlight. Widely considered as the best chatbot to date, it signifies a step change in the evolution of generative AI and has led many organisations to wonder how best to harness the ever-growing potential of AI.

The applications of generative AI for B2B marketers are numerous and wide ranging, with many CMOs initially prioritising solutions that improve personalisation and the customer journey. Here are the top five use cases we think you should be considering right now:

Content Generation

Generative AI can be used to create high-quality, engaging content for B2B marketing purposes such as blog posts, articles, social media captions, and product descriptions. This technology can also provide personalised content recommendations based on user preferences and behaviour. While this type of AI can undoubtedly save time and effort for content creators, all content needs to be reviewed and carefully edited, bringing in your own industry knowledge and experience. Any content you put out into the public domain should always reflects your brands’ unique tone of voice to ensure it remains authentic and fact checked for credibility of sources and references.

Lead generation

Generative AI such as LeadIQ and Kartra can help identify and generate high-quality leads for B2B marketing campaigns. By analysing vast amounts of data, including user behaviour, demographics, and firmographics, AI models can predict potential customers and generate targeted lead lists. This enables marketers to optimise their lead generation efforts and focus on the most promising prospects. Always remember as marketers, you’re only as good as your data, and never more so than in the age of AI. Prioritising regular data hygiene is a must, along with regularly updating your ideal customer profiles and personas.

Personalised email campaigns

Personalisation is crucial in B2B marketing, and generative AI can play a significant role here. By analysing customer data, AI models can create a personalised experience including ads, social outreach and tailored email content, including subject lines, body text, and recommendations. This level of personalisation increases the chances of engagement and conversion, leading to more effective email marketing campaigns. The caveat here is that personalisation and privacy is a delicate balancing act and marketers must ensure they avoid becoming invasive and use reliable data sources.

Market research and analysis

Generative AI can analyse vast amounts of market data, including competitor analysis, industry trends, and customer behaviour, to provide valuable insights for B2B marketing strategies. By processing and interpreting this data, AI models can generate reports, recommendations, and predictive analytics that help businesses make informed marketing decisions. Again, the quality of the data here is key and must be up-to-date to be most effective.

Chatbots and virtual assistants

AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can enhance customer interactions and support in B2B marketing. Generative AI allows these conversational agents to understand and respond to customer queries, provide relevant information about products or services, and even assist with lead nurturing and sales. This technology enables businesses to offer round-the-clock support, improve customer experience, and streamline the sales process.

These are just a few examples of how generative AI can be leveraged in B2B marketing. The next things to consider are, how do I decide what type of AI to invest in first and how do I test different AI solutions? Privacy and security related issues are also a key consideration. Talk to Bright about setting your teams up to be able to autonomously test AI solutions and establishing the guardrails for successful and safe adoption of AI to drive marketing effectiveness and increase engagement with your audiences.

July 25, 2023 Lydia Kirby Agile Marketing In Practice

Activating Agile Marketing: Moving Beyond the Buzzword

Embrace the rapidly evolving business landscape with the adoption of agile marketing. Discover the transformative potential it holds for B2B organisations by gaining valuable insights from industry-leading marketing experts who have successfully implemented agile practices within their departments.

This exclusive panel delves into the fascinating journeys, challenges and strategies of these marketing pioneers as they transitioned to an agile way of working. Learn first-hand how agile marketing has revolutionised their teams and discover the benefits it can bring your team and organisation.

Our Smarter Marketer panel event delves into;

Agile Marketing Foundations: Core principles in B2B environments.
Building Agile Teams: Mindset, training, and nurturing adaptability.
Establishing Agile Processes: Flexible workflows and communication tools.
Navigating Challenges: Real-world examples and overcoming strategies.
Measuring Success: Key performance indicators for continuous improvement.
Agile Marketing in Action: Case studies from various B2B industries.

Missed the session, watch it on demand!

Access the reframe cards – Activating Agile Marketing edition

Start activating agile marketing with our reframe cards – purposely created to help you and your teams improve your approach to agile marketing, with tips on how to restructure your thinking.

Meet the speakers

Catharina Rozendaal

Catharina Rozendaal is a results-driven marketing leader with a focus on driving growth. As the Marketing Growth Director for Emerging Markets at ADP, she combines her strategic expertise and deep understanding of market dynamics to execute impactful marketing campaigns.

Emily Nicols

Emily Nicols is a seasoned marketing professional with a passion for driving growth and creating impactful campaigns. As Group Marketing Director at Informa Markets, Emily has successfully implemented comprehensive marketing plans that have consistently delivered measurable results.

Sian Heaphy

Sian uses agile methods to encourage creativity, curiosity, and data-driven decisions in marketing. She works with teams to design experiments, gain insights, and achieve business goals. Sian promotes continuous improvement through experimentation and learning.

Lydia Kirby

Lydia Kirby is a marketing transformation director with over nine years of experience in the agile marketing methodology. She has worked with B2B tech, consulting, and professional services companies to help them use data and creativity to transform their marketing whilst delivering business outcomes. Lydia is passionate about showing tangible value for marketing and finding creative solutions to business problems.

Reading List

Watched the panel and interested in hearing more? Check out our extended list of agile marketing resources:

Blogs:

5 popular myths of agile marketing
A 5-minute read that dispels myths on agile marketing and how theory comes to life and the true practicalities of agile ways of working.

Getting started with agile marketing
A blog that shares practical tips to adopt agile ways of working in a marketing organisation and how to start on the right foot.

Books:

Hacking Marketing by Scott Brinker
A great book that explores how applying software-inspired management concepts can accelerate modern marketing. Giving insight into how greater agility can improve customer experience.

Agile Marketing by Neil Perkin
This book dives into adaptive marketing principles and practices, providing guidelines to redesigning marketing structures, processes and culture, to be fit for purpose in today’s changeable environment.

The 6 disciplines of Agile Marketing by Jim Ewel
An informative read that provides a concise, approachable, and adaptable strategy for the implementation of Agile in virtually any marketing organization.

Other resources:

Agile Marketing Manifesto
An online resources created by marketers to codify agile marketing and create a manifesto for the industry to utilise and reference.

June 20, 2023 Sian Heaphy Leading Change

Behind the scenes at Cannes Lions: Emerging trends in creative B2B

A first-hand account of the role of a juror and the trends emerging

Unexpectedly, an invite to join the jury of the prestigious Cannes Lions landed in my inbox, thanks to an anonymous nomination. Quite the surprise, and I can’t deny it, I was absolutely chuffed. It’s not every day you’re offered a chance to contribute to such a distinguished process and simultaneously tap into the pulse of emerging trends for the B2B community.

Now, this isn’t any old jury service. This is the B2B Creative Lion category and it’s just in its 2^nd year. A ten-strong team of rather remarkable jurors, which it has been a pleasure to meet, we’ve been handed the baton and with it, the responsibility to spotlight the very best of B2B creativity. We’re a diverse bunch, with different stories and backgrounds, but united by one shared goal — to inspire B2B marketers across the globe.

I will pull back the curtain on this journey — give you an insider’s view of our deliberations, a glimpse at the standout trends, and a deep dive into what really happens in a Cannes Lion jury room.

The jury assembled in May, and we are deep in the throes of the first round of judging, with the deadline steadily approaching. This stage is rigorous and immersive, an explosion of creativity, clever marketing ideas and beautiful crafting of creatives, it offers a fascinating glimpse into the evolving landscape of B2B marketing.

Blurred lines between B2B and B2C marketing

One trend that stands out is the blurring of B2B and B2C marketing lines. B2B campaigns are increasingly employing emotion-driven, personalised elements often found in B2C marketing, resulting in more engaging, human-centred experiences.

Redefining the B2B aesthetic

Bold colour palettes and daring design choices are challenging the traditional, more reserved B2B aesthetic, signalling a shift towards a more vibrant visual language. Combined with the emphasis on clear and simple messaging in the most impressive creative ideas. Amidst the clamour for attention, straightforward messages still hold their ground as the most effective.

A fresh take on creative playfulness and emotional depth has also surfaced in the entries, amplified by the refined use of omnichannel marketing strategies. These campaigns resonate deeply with audiences, reflecting the maturation of the industry.

Business value at the forefront

Marketers have made significant strides in leveraging data and insights, aiming to deliver not only creative campaigns but tangible business value. Personalised experiences, enabled by the blending of channels and tactics, are on the rise, fuelled by the quest for a seamless buyer journey.

Brands rallying around a cause

Interestingly, many submissions underscore a compelling shift towards purpose-led partnerships. Brands are aligning with causes and missions that resonate with their audience, leveraging shared values to cut through the noise. This approach builds authentic connections, deepens brand engagement, and proactively supports many noteworthy causes.

The tech-savvy marketer

The emergence of Web3 and AI technologies within campaign execution, a shift towards a more digital, automated marketing landscape. Clever campaigns tuning into tech-savvy audiences are making the most of emergent channels such as NFTs or AI tools to harness the power of AI for personalisation. These campaigns have fine-tuned their messaging for specific industries or individuals. Demonstrating a next-level understanding of not just where the audience is now, but where they are heading.

The quality of the submissions is high, signalling that B2B marketing is moving up a gear and redefining benchmarks of creative excellence.

I’m excited to continue the journey towards shortlisting the final contenders, and I’m looking forward to the time spent discussing the entries with my fellow B2B jurors, without a doubt, there will be some lively debates on who makes the cut.

I’ll continue this series, documenting the intriguing process behind the scenes at the Cannes Lions Awards. Keep an eye out for the next update.

May 30, 2023 Zoe Merchant Engagement, Marketing Strategy

Change enablement: unlock the true potential of your people

The business world is constantly evolving, and those who can effectively navigate change are the ones who will come out on top. That’s where our change enablement toolkit comes in – the secret weapon that prepares, equips, and supports individuals and teams to successfully adopt change.

With our toolkit, you’ll be able to embrace change enablement and unlock your true potential. No more stagnant business practices holding you back – instead, you’ll have a dynamic, thriving organisation that can take on any challenge that comes your way.

Don’t wait any longer to take your business to the next level. Get your hands on our change enablement toolkit today and watch your organisation soar!

Download your change enablement toolkit

May 9, 2023 Alexandra Jefferies Leading Change

Amplifying the Customer’s Voice: The Key To Driving Engagement

The key to driving engagement and marketing outcomes through customer perception

In a world dominated by digital noise and constant competition, the power to make or break your brand now lies in the hands of your customers. Their perceptions, opinions, and experiences with your brand carry significant weight, capable of influencing not only their own purchasing decisions but those of countless others. It is more important than ever for marketing professionals to understand and amplify the customer’s voice to create compelling, relevant, and successful marketing strategies.

In this post, we’ll examine the pivotal role of customer perception, explore the value of embracing the customer’s voice, and unveil the secrets to adopting a customer-centric marketing approach that drives engagement and delivers impressive business outcomes.

The importance of customer perception

Customer perception is a powerful force that shapes how consumers perceive a brand, its products, and its services. It encompasses the emotions, beliefs, and attitudes they associate with your brand, all of which contribute to the overall customer experience. The key to unlocking the potential of customer perception lies in understanding it, harnessing its power, and aligning it with your marketing efforts.

As marketing professionals, it is essential to recognise that customers hold the power to make or break a brand. Negative perceptions of your brand can spread like wildfire through social media, online reviews, and word-of-mouth, greatly impacting your reputation, sales, and ultimately, your success. The opposite also holds true: word of mouth from a positive experience can do wonders for your business.

The customer’s voice: a catalyst for engagement

Above all, one of the most effective ways to understand and leverage customer perception is by actively listening to and engaging with the customer’s voice. This involves gathering customer feedback, opinions, and insights through various channels, such as surveys, reviews, social media, and direct interactions.

London City Airport worked with Bright to deep dive into consumer and market research, identifying five key personas which embody key characteristics and preferences to deliver a seamless customer experience. This resulted in a 54% increase in website revenue within the first six months.

Basically, by incorporating the customer’s voice into your marketing strategies, you can create content and campaigns that resonate with your target audience, driving engagement and fostering lasting relationships. Listening to and valuing the customer’s voice is key to meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations, leading to customer loyalty and advocacy.

Shifting to a customer-centric marketing approach

In today’s business environment, embracing a customer-centric marketing approach is not just beneficial—it’s vital for success. This transformative strategy encompasses a comprehensive process that begins with in-depth market research and the development of insightful buyer personas to effectively identify and understand your target audience. Achieving alignment between marketing efforts and customer needs and expectations is accomplished by delivering highly personalised content and messaging and offering unparalleled value via compelling unique selling propositions (USPs).

Measuring what matters: the 4 measurements to embed into your strategy

To measure the impact of customer-centric marketing on business outcomes, focus on:

Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as customer satisfaction
Net promoter score (NPS)
Customer retention
Lifetime value (LTV) to effectively evaluate the success of your marketing strategies.

To learn more about how to track and measure the right metrics, read our blog here.

After all, the key to devising powerful and effective marketing strategies lies in wholeheartedly embracing customer perception. This means placing the customer’s voice at the forefront of your decision-making process. By steadfastly adopting a customer-centric approach, you can drive exceptional engagement and foster unwavering loyalty and propel your business towards unparalleled success.

At any rate, in today’s ever-evolving and fiercely competitive market, it is imperative to listen attentively, adapt swiftly, and seize every opportunity to thrive. Empower your brand by amplifying the customer’s voice and unleashing the full potential of customer-driven marketing success.

If you’re interested in refocusing your marketing strategies toward your customers or audience, get in touch with one of the Bright team here. And together let’s drive the engagement you and your business want to see with your customer at the heart.

May 3, 2023 Alexandra Jefferies Agile Marketing In Practice, Engagement, Marketing Effectiveness

Empowering your transformation – importance of change enablement

Are you encountering resistance when going through business change and transformation? Perhaps you’ve started on your transformation journey and are encountering confusion or stagnation. We’ve seen it first hand, and that’s why we’re excited to present our exclusive on-demand content for the Smarter Marketer panel event.

Our panel brought together the brightest and best minds in the industry to dive into the world of change enablement and how you can bring your team on the journey to realise the power of change enablement.

We want to give you as marketers the power to do great work – check out our Smarter Marketer Event on change enablement; a 45 min panel discussion featuring the savviest marketers in B2B and can share their secrets behind seamless transitions, how to cultivate adaptability whilst boosting productivity and team morale.