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I went to the B2B Marketing Expo UK today; I attended several talks and spoke to some SaaS providers whose services help marketers like us! Here are some highlights from my day:   Adam Dooley from Hootsuite on Social Media Trends 2025 Even if you're a B2B business, it doesn't mean you can't be creative! 👉 Social listening is critical to strategy, know what your audience cares about 👉 Trendjacking keeps content relevant and engaging 👉 60% of B2B content focuses on entertainment, education, or information without hard-selling 👉 Push creative boundaries. You can entertain without being unhinged   Andy Johnson from HUT 3 on ABM in action: delivering real-life, award-winning ABM programmes (Congratulations on winning the award last night, by the way!) This session highlighted how important a framework is and can help set up ABM success. The framework can't just be guesswork but must be based on insights and intelligence where marketers like us can use data to develop strategies, value propositions, campaign development, measurement, and optimisation. I love the case studies where each targeted account has their own personalised experience and customer journey through a landing pages, and the content delivered to each targeted person is based on their previous interactions – so it would always makes sense why they see what they see!   Will Smibert and Natasha Vickery-Orme from Mixology Digital on Clicks to Conversations: Humanising Demand Generation with an interactive Q&A 👉 There's a person behind the screen, so connect with them with intent and personalisation – what makes sense, and what they truly care about 👉 Automation can be personalised by segmentation, so clean up that data, make sure it's up to date, and segment those lists! 👉 Lean into AI, but also make sure to check because human connection is what AI can't do and is what we do best   A few keywords I noticed a couple of speakers spoke about were intent and personalisation. It shows that being generic doesn't work; we have to use data to help us understand what our target audience cares about, what they need help with, and connect with them when it most makes sense to them! And this is what marketing truly is all about!   #B2BMarketing #SocialMediaTrends #ABM #DemandGeneration #HumanisingMarketing

Sharing some of the key insights from this morning’s standout sessions at the Digital Transformation Conference. Thomas Harris from Mastercard: Business Transformation: Unlocking value through AI World Defined by Change - By 2040, the rate of change will be 4x faster than today, and 75% of CEOs are concerned about keeping pace. - Emerging technologies like AI engineering, quantum computing, and mixed reality are the primary drivers of this change. The Role of AI - AI is no longer the future; it’s the now. By the end of 2024, 70% of CEOs plan to leverage generative AI (IBM). Data-Driven Transformation - Data is essential for measuring change, but it requires a foundation of organization, digitization, automation, and intelligence. Culture Is Key - Thomas emphasized that 75% of transformations fail due to overlooked cultural factors. Success requires addressing the whole culture stack: - Surface-level changes, easier to make (e.g., communication, L&D, tools) - Deep cultural shifts, more challenging (e.g., roles & responsibilities, ways of working and business models) Key takeaways from the Building Leadership & Culture Fit for Digital Transformation Panel Panel led by Zoe Cunningham from Softwire, joined by Richard Adams FRSA from LNER, Rachel Harrison-Smith from Bupa, and Morgan (Mogsy) Long from The Royal Navy: - Build an environment of psychological safety: Teams need to feel safe to question, challenge, and take risks without fear of reprisal.  - Flatten the Hierarchy: Minimize rigid structures to enable openness and equal participation. - Communicate the Why: Digital transformation can feel unsettling—leaders must clearly articulate the purpose and include teams in the journey. - Common Goals: Align everyone toward shared, timebound objectives.  - Two-Way Communication: Listen as much as you speak—feedback is critical to success. - Emotional Buy-In: Respect individual needs, such as flexible working, and ensure changes address problems that matter to teams. Zoe’s summary perfectly captured the discussion: 1. Psychological safety is foundational 2. Communication is critical, and a two-way street 3. Invest in your people—their growth, tools, and ways of working #transformation #change #communication