As the old adage goes, ‘every day is a school day’. True to form, Scriba PR account managers Ruth Harrison-Davies and Hayley Paterson grabbed their notebooks and pens and headed to the MarketingSHOWCASE conference in Leeds.

As the first event on the 2020 calendar – and now with development work in progress to move from an actual to a virtual event during these challenging times – there was plenty to see and talk about, as well as numerous seminars from industry leaders.

With Scriba clients Force24 and SoAmpli both taking a stand, as well as to the stage, the girls were all ears. And, whether face-to-face or virtual,  here are their top five takeaways from proceedings…

Tell your story

It might be Scriba PR’s tagline, but it’s also very true. Research by Google has found that 40% of buyers are aged between 18-24, and these millennials are far more likely to engage with relatable brands who have an engaging and ‘human’ tone of voice.

People buy from people

Linked to the above, of all the speakers we saw throughout the day almost everyone hammered home this point. Apologies if we’re telling you how to ‘suck eggs’, however, one of the key themes at this year’s event was not to be a faceless (and soulless) organisation, but be real.

Adapt to what Google wants

Two trillion Google searches will be made this year – meaning your website’s SEO content is now more significant than ever. As we enter the ‘Siri’ and ‘Alexa’ search generation, it’s important your prose gives equal consideration to both type and voice searches too. For example, we’re likely to input ‘B2B PR agencies Yorkshire’ on a keypad, but ask: “Hey Siri, what is the best B2B PR agency in Yorkshire?”

Encourage your staff to use their phones at work (yes, really)

Okay, that headline is a little misleading, we’ll admit. Commercial director at social sharing platform SoAmpli, Nick Washbourne, held a seminar looking at the benefits of employee advocacy through social media. It’s been proven that colleagues – or brand advocates – can in fact generate eight-times the level of engagement from a post on their online network, compared to a company profile writing the same message. Power to the people, anyone?

Simplify the complex

Another area we adhere to at Scriba PR. Being briefed on highly complicated industries and sector-specific stories, our word nerds must make things simple so that the copy engages a far-reaching audience. That was also the message from Adam Oldfield, managing director of marketing automation platform Force24, who underlined how content creators should take out the jargon in their email campaigns, in order to inspire – and encourage – customers to convert.

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