I’m looking forward to speaking next month in London during B2B Marketing’s B2B Summit.  My presentation will focus around visual social marketing which I feel is the next generation of social media. I spoke with the editorial team who published the below article on their website here.  

B2B MARKETING KNOWLEDGE BANK INTERVIEW:

Marissa Pick, director of social media at the CFA Institute and speaker at the upcoming B2B Summit, reveals what’s holding B2B marketers back on social

Q: Tell us a little bit about what you do
I just started a new role as director of social media at the CFA Institute. I oversee efforts to reach journalists, legislators, policymakers, and investment professionals who play essential roles in shaping the direction of the financial services industry. I oversee the global social media campaigns and lead a global team.

Q: How and when did you get into social media marketing?
I signed up to Twitter about six years ago, and loved the real-time element and engagement. I worked at BizBash Media in New York and started to see how social media fit into live events and how excited delegates would get to see a live Twitter feed onsite at an event. It merged online and offline communications and to this day I still get excited when I talk about social media marketing; it’s a real passion for me.

Q: Social media is known as one of the most difficult channels to prove ROI from. Is it possible? How do you do it?
Showing ROI from social media is a challenge every marketer is facing. We’re working a lot with our analytics and web team to add on as much tagging as possible to track our traffic and paid conversions. We are also testing discount codes in FY16 to track event delegates from our social media activities. It is possible, but it’s difficult and takes time. Social media is still in its infancy so we have to remember to be patient while companies are working on solutions to make it easier. In the past I’ve worked to develop custom social media packages such as sponsored tweets and social media lounges, which show direct ROI from our efforts.

Q: Your session at the B2B Summit is on visual social media. Are B2B brands missing a trick by not using it?
The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text and 90 per cent of the information transited to the brain is visual. Visual platforms allow real-time marketing to give brands an advantage for a behind the scenes look to drive more personal connections. Companies should be tapping into visual social media to show their audience how awesome the brand is and to provide the visual stories the customers/delegates want to see and hear. It’s important to keep an open mind and formulate a social media plan with realistic expectations and don’t be afraid to test new things, and push the limit. We can’t measure success without having failures as part of our journey.

Q: What’s the most common barrier to B2B brands succeeding on social?
The most common barrier is fear and not knowing where to start. I try to break down barriers and enable employees to feel empowered by setting up social media training sessions for our staff and walking them through the basics. I find the biggest challenge most individuals face is not knowing how to get started with social media. It’s quite simple, it takes time, but once brands set a social media strategy and get going often they’re hooked with the real-time engagement. I would recommend providing training to staff, and keeping everyone in the loop with social media trends and advances.