A big surprise at IAB Talks B2B

Just got back from talking at the IAB's (Internet Advertising Bureau) first B2B Forum feeling surprised.

Pleasantly surprised at the number of attendees. We were aiming for 40, and more than 60 attended with about an equal mix between clients and agencies.

Also, pleasantly surprised at the level of engagement. Three main areas were covered -  Attract, Convert and Retain - and throughout, the hunger to learn was very evident.

My session was on How to use digital techniques to improve retention in B2B. We carried out a "live and interactive" (in the traditional sense) survey of those present to guage which techniques are currently being used; which were thought to be most effective; and which was the preferred tactic (bearing in mind that no single tactic is ever used in isolation).

The results were the biggest surprise to me. OK, it was to be expected that email is the most used retention tool. Then there was a big gap in popularity: the next most frequently used tools were Community sites and widgets. We could have guessed that the techniques used most would also be considered the most effective, but only email and tools/widgets were thought to be effective.

The real surprise was the polarization in views when it came to preferred media. Video came first with 25 votes, then email with 16 votes. No other media got more than 2 votes! I suspect it's due to a lack of experience with these newer techniques.

Why the surprise? We were talking about retention. I would have thought that, given the choice, people would prefer to use techniques that enabled their customers to really engage with their brands and their other customers - e.g. virtual events, blogs or user generated content.

On reflection, I shouldn't be surprised, and one member of the audience hit the nail on the head when I probed their choices. Her response was "they're not measurable".

This reveals a deeper problem, I think. To really leverage the potential of digital techniques in retention we need to be willing to change our mindset and look Beyond the usual metrics. OK, we may not be able to track action/reaction, but that doesn't mean things aren't having an effect.

I didn't get a chance to finish my session and so couldn't go through my Top Tips for digital retention strategies, but here they are:

Top Tips for Digital Retention

1. Think of your audiences as individuals, not businesses
2. But recognise that they are many different types
3. Think about what they want, not what you want
4. Think about where they are, not where you are
5. Get them to talk rather than you talking
6. Involve them, engage them, empower them
7. Forget about keeping control
8. Facilitate the conversation

If you were there and you'd like a copy of the presentation, email me at Richard.bush@baseonegroup.co.uk