Unboxing Authenticity: Infusing Personality into B2B Manufacturing MarketingUnboxing Authenticity: Infusing Personality into B2B Manufacturing Marketing

Unboxing Authenticity: Infusing Personality into B2B Manufacturing Marketing Transcript:

Announcer: You’re listening to the Kula Ring, a podcast made for manufacturing marketers. Here are Carman Pirie and Jeff White. 

Jeff White: Welcome to the Kula Ring, a podcast for manufacturing marketers brought to you by Kula Partners. My name is Jeff White and joining me today is Carman Pirie. Carman, how are you doing, mate?

Carman Pirie: All is well and looking forward to another great edition of the Kula Ring podcast today. 

Jeff White: Yeah, no, me too. And it’s an interesting kind of topic, this notion of personality within brands and how you bring that to life, especially within B2B manufacturing. 

Carman Pirie: Yeah, I think that’s fair to say. And especially as we think about B2B manufacturers, social media presence, and it’s was not always an area where folks are willing to take risks or they’re not willing to maybe be themselves. I feel like they have to speak in a very. Corporate voice is often in those platforms for whatever reason. And we all know that of course, like if we look at LinkedIn, it’s the personal pages that have traction, not corporate pages. And I think that is indicative of social media writ large and that it’s the personal that drives connection and engagement. And I’m excited for today’s guest to shine a light on that and how she brings that to life. 

Jeff White: I think that’s interesting that you put it that way because even as you say with LinkedIn it’s not just that people prefer the personal side of things is that even algorithmically, you are penalized if you only use the corporate brand kind of account.

Carman Pirie: Yeah. 

Jeff White: Yeah. Very cool. Good insight. So joining us today is Tasha Jones. Tasha is the marketing director at Arrow Packaging Solutions. Welcome to The Kula Ring, Tasha. 

Tasha Jones: Thank you so much. I’m very honoured to be invited to the show. 

Carman Pirie: Tasha, it’s awesome to have you on the show and we’re honoured to have you. I wonder, can you introduce our listeners just briefly to Aero Packaging? What do y’all do? 

Tasha Jones: So I, as the director of marketing Arrow packaging specialize in innovative packaging solutions that not only protect and preserve your products but also enhance market appeal. I oversee the marketing strategies, ensuring effective communication of our brand value and driving customer engagement across various channels. I also work hand-in-hand with vendors and a full-stack marketer so to speak. We work with top brand name companies in the Midwest from automotive, medical, beauty brands, and more. 

Carman Pirie: Very cool. And just so I’m clear, are you packaging the product itself or the package that the product goes in, if you will, for transport, or maybe all of the above?

Tasha Jones: Actually, we just started doing co-packing too. So we create, we’re a converter. So we actually create the boxes, create the racks, and any type of packaging that you may need. But recently started co-packing. So we do have customers that will send us their products. We will package those for them and ship them out for them.

Carman Pirie: And Tasha, how did you end up there? Tell us a bit about your background. 

Tasha Jones: Yeah, so I am a little all over the place I’ve done B2C. I was in sales for a long time in the beauty industry. And then I moved into commercial real estate, which was a totally different beast, but in a way very much B2B because we worked in retail. And so we were selling properties in the retail industry. I moved from commercial real estate into manufacturing. And so it brought me here and it’s really a good fit because I, like the show topic explains, I’m big on having our own voice. And I feel like the manufacturing industry needs people to stand out to be seen. So it was a perfect fit for me to come here to be able to have full reign of that type of marketing. 

Jeff White: Now was Arrow without a marketer before you arrived or are you joining a team? 

Tasha Jones: So they previously had someone in the role for marketing and they had moved on. So they hired a contract company. And while they were absolutely essential to keep marketing going. It was more of a just keeping it going. They saw that they needed more hands-on where they couldn’t get that outside the company. They wanted somebody in the office, seeing the day-to-day, being able to capture what’s going on regularly because That’s what people need to see is what’s happening week to week, that type of marketing. Yes, we did have an external contract company for a while, about five years before me. 

Carman Pirie: And that really highlights that contrast that we’re starting to dig into here, isn’t it? It’s the notion of, the external firm that’s doing that work. And it’s not saying that they were doing bad work by any stretch, but they’re approaching it from a point of view of a polished corporate voice and it may be, Some might consider it a bit stale which, there’s an awful lot of B2B manufacturing, Twitter accounts and Instagram accounts and YouTube accounts and on and on. It checks every box that I just mentioned. And as you talk about bringing a more personal level to it, how much of that is driven by your sales background? And that is, it would seem to me that if you have that personal experience of the hand-to-hand combat, if you will, of sales and the personal relationship building that’s required for that, is that a formative piece of the puzzle that, that kind of shapes your worldview here?

Tasha Jones: I think so. I’ve worked in B2C for a long time and to be able to see how the customers react to a product, a package in general you really don’t get that working in a B2B industry, but you can see firsthand what is moving them to like a product. So I feel like sales has really enhanced my marketing experiences because I was in the trenches. I saw what motivated people and sales and marketing, although they tend to work separately from one another, they very much need to work together to do full circle. And I feel like my experience has definitely helped. 

Jeff White: What did you, when you came to Arrow what did you find? What were you working with? Carman described it a bit in, in your last question, but I’m wondering what was in place and what were you looking at changing first? 

Tasha Jones: So you got to do the research on the industry, like what’s working for everybody. And if you have all these followers, what are they doing? And I did a ton of research, like what do their websites look like? What are they putting out regularly for social media? If I’m getting emails, and newsletters from them, what are those looking like? I’m just trying to gauge. And I’m seeing consistently the same type of posts and information. And it’s fine, but It’s all the same. And when I looked at our logo and I look at everyone else’s logo, I’m like, we’re just so colourful and fun and individualistic. I feel like that needed to be expressed. Going through those websites and seeing a catalogue-style look and feel felt daunting as a customer looking at it. And I loved that they had built out our website in a way that it was a conversation. And I think that is important when you’re trying to reach people. They don’t want to get on and be overwhelmed immediately. There’s already a ton of pages to battle. So I thought I needed to lead with that. I need to think of ways for marketing to have a conversation. 

Carman Pirie: So I want to understand that a bit more and maybe dive into some examples or how you’re thinking about certain platforms or what have you to try to understand the shift that’s at play. How have you brought those personal touches to online platforms? These are often the kind of personal touches that may occur in a sales meeting or a face-to-face meeting. 

Tasha Jones: One thing I noticed on social media was there’s a lot of accolades, which we love that we love to celebrate each other. And you’re going to find the posts online that get the most interactions are those awards, birthdays, anniversaries. Everybody loves that, but everybody’s doing that. If you do that all the time, it’s, oh, there’s another one. Scroll scroll. At what point do you get on LinkedIn now? And you’re like, There’s another birthday. Do you go and say happy birthday every time? They better, they better be somebody that you’re interested in or you’re probably going to skip it. So I was thinking if we’re going to send messages about what we’re doing, humanizing us, it needs to be how we are in the office. So for example, our customer service is incredible. They’re so hands-on, they take care of the customer. But when you walk into the office, there’s a Gatling gun, Nerf Gatling gun. They play and they have fun. They all have Nerf guns at their desks. It’s just a culture. And if we’re going to have that kind of fun culture, why not share it with the masses?

Because yes, we’re serious when it comes to business and yes, we’re going to get the work done for you, but you have to see too that we’re human. So I try in my marketing to convey that. And another thing that I convey or used to convey that is testimonials. If we’re hearing something from a customer and if they’re happy to allow us to share, I want to post about that.

Because people are what’s in it for me, right? If I’m going to look online, I need something to relate to what I need and, oh, there’s a testimonial. Let me see what this has to say. And if it’s engaging, they’re going to read it and then, They’re going to act and that’s what we need. So I’m looking for all these ways that we can show what we’re doing behind the scenes without obviously being too much, but really humanizing. That’s the one word. Our human interest is so important. Those anniversaries and birthdays are important. I think it’s the way that you’re sharing. 

Carman Pirie: You hinted a few times or almost in some cases qualified a few sentences there by saying, not too much or we’re still serious in business. And I think that’s pointing to something. I think as businesses try to, these organizations try to display a bit more emotion and try to connect with folks in a more human way. I think sometimes there can be that concern that it doesn’t decode as seriously as they may like. Have you faced that concern? Have you had some of the folks that maybe that you report to or work with say, maybe we need to be a bit more serious here? 

Tasha Jones: Not yet. I haven’t experienced that. I don’t think I will because I do enough of the fun and humanized posting, but I also do plenty of the thought leadership stuff too, because I can’t trust that you’re going to do a good job in business. If all you’re doing is showing me your Nerf darts, you can show me that you know what you’re talking about. I’m also seeing a post come through that you had some kind of event last week and shared some really fun things about that or a recent one that was super popular were testimonials, you cannot make that up like that has, that’s real and raw, and people love to see like, how are you changing lives, so not only am I doing the fun, but I’m doing the real and then I’m also doing the thought leadership teaching. Here’s what you need to know about packaging. Here’s what we can do to make sure you’re getting that experience, just keeping a good balance. 

Carman Pirie: And does that all total up to a pretty significantly more volume of posting on the various channels than maybe what was happening prior?

Tasha Jones: Absolutely, that completely changed because I’m here, I can get more content, I have all this access to our production area, all of our office people, so I can definitely have more hands-on and have more content. I am very strategic and I know exactly what types of posts I want to put out there. And then I schedule them strategically so that I know certain days a week are getting this type of posts. And with social posting, you absolutely need to stay present and you’re going to find algorithms going to like you better if you’re consistently posting. And I utilize that. I make sure every week we have it all set up. I’m actually almost scheduled out to the end of the year. And I just start with an idea, build out so many pieces at once, and then make sure it’s all scattered about, and then when I get an at the moment this is what’s happening, and it’s a really good piece, I’ll just move something that’s templated, and put in the more, human interest piece. And yeah, just being consistent and having a plan around the content that you want to share and then getting it on the calendar, being very intentional. 

Jeff White: You mentioned that you’ve been working with your customer service team and documenting some of their personal side of how they interact as part of that. Have you also delved into more of the engineering side or the C suite and brought them to life as well? Have they begun to take on some of the kinds of things that you’re doing, but more on their side of things? 

Tasha Jones: Absolutely. I’m working hand in hand with the president. So he and I are always talking about the types of posts that are going out. I want to make sure that it makes sense for our brand, but also that he’s comfortable with what I’m posting. So we’re always in communication. I actually had five new videos created just going over the different aspects of the business. And there’s one called coming out soon called Beyond the Box. And then there’s one called Behind the Box and Behind the Box video is going to be all about the office, who’s involved in how we do our day-to-day. So I’m constantly trying to keep involvement with directors, with executive management, et cetera. In March we did a March Madness. Kind of a theme, but it was a candy box challenge and I had the sales guys go head to head building candy boxes, which are these tiny boxes that they fill with candy and take to their sales calls. Everybody loves the candy boxes around here. Like you’ll go to offices, they’ll have them on their desks. And so that drew a lot of attention because first of all, you know your salesperson, you have a relationship with them. It’s cool to see them having fun on a video. And then I’d have the executives come in and watch and cheer them on. And it was very interactive. And I think that brought in a lot of more following and more connections.

Carman Pirie: I want to ask about that. You hinted at the the obviously greater volume of posting more frequency and more consistency that you’re pleasing the various algorithms on whatever channel we’re talking about, and that can drive reach and, follower gain and things of that sort. And that’s all fine and great, but it’s not always more buyers. So I am curious, have you found some connections between this additional activity and not just some additional engagement, but additional engagement with target accounts? Have you seen it manifest at that target account level?

Tasha Jones: Absolutely. I feel from conversations I’ve had with the team, that they’re very happy with the amount of visibility they’re seeing, we’re getting phone calls from the ads, from the posts, and from our web presence. And I believe that just really staying on top of keeping your website up to date with all of the SEO, et cetera, keeping that constant visibility on social media.

And when I’m talking about social media, I’m talking about all the places you feel your company is getting any kind of traction. Personally, B2B, I think we all know, is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a virtual golf course. You go in there and you’re basically having a conversation on all these posts, talking just like you would on the golf course. And the more you’re interacting and the more you’re taking part, the more LinkedIn likes you. And you’re getting pushed up and they’re seeing your posts a lot more. I’m doing a lot of coaching of my team, having them participate because that really helps. In general, just keeping on top of whichever platform is important to you is going to do wonderful things for your marketing. 

Jeff White: How do you approach the, because obviously, for that more technical content and the thought leadership content, that takes a bit more effort to produce potentially than some of the more personality-driven content that you’re putting out there. How are you approaching not just the planning of it, but the execution and distribution of that, like carving it up? Just looking to get a little bit into the tactics of production, and understand a bit of your workflow there. 

Tasha Jones: I try to keep when I’m looking at my customers who we’re talking to, I try to think of what kind of questions they have, and then I use that and I build it out such as historical icons and manufacturing that isn’t really necessarily a sale in itself. But a lot of people want to see that, oh my gosh Rosie the Riveter, or there’s some really great icons that you don’t even think about or hear about, and then posting something about that. Using that information in a blog, and then taking that and creating multiple posts over it, you’re getting people sharing content that’s not even I had shared a design icon and somebody in design in Colorado shared it. It’s amazing how small the world is with social media. But the idea would be to find the questions that the customers are asking and use that to answer those questions via posts. So anytime I see, or hear from a customer, hear from a sales team member, stuff that questions I’m in a meeting every single day, we have a meeting every day with the head of the departments talking about what’s going on with orders. And that meeting is so great for my content. I really sit there and take notes and I hear things over and over. And I’m like, okay, that’s something I need to address, or that’s something I need to add into my week-to-week. 

So for me, marketing is just taking one topic and saying it over and over a thousand times in a thousand different ways, and so I’m always looking for a different angle on that type of question kind of thing. So I’m, I keep pretty steady with content. 

Carman Pirie: I’d be curious. You mentioned LinkedIn and the golf course of LinkedIn. And of course in B2B I think a lot of people look to LinkedIn as a bit of an obvious choice. Although an awful lot of people don’t make particularly good use of it or take advantage, Is there any social platform out there, is there a tool set that you’re either using or interested in bringing to bear that you think would be more surprising in the B2B space? Is there anything that you’re seeing? 

Tasha Jones: I don’t let anything sleep. So I’m always posting on all platforms, even if I’m not really seeing traction on them. So like Instagram, it’s a visual space. I need to be able to show stuff that. People can see and Oh, I need to stop and read this. That one is newer and it really wasn’t pushed with the previous marketing. So I’ve definitely been up to any opportunity to do some type of graphic, some type of image I’m always adding in there. And then Facebook. You can’t avoid Facebook. Everybody’s there. You’re all going there at some point in your day. And if I’m not having some type of visibility there, then I’m missing out. So LinkedIn absolutely is the focus, but I don’t let any social media pass me by. If I have an opportunity, I’m going to post there. 

Jeff White: Are you leveraging any tools to help you manage the different networks all at once? 

Tasha Jones: I very much love Canva. I know that’s all about design, but they have a scheduler which makes it super simple. And I think it’s highly intuitive. I’m an Adobe girl, so all my design work is usually in Photoshop InDesign and Illustrator. But if I’m in a hurry, which I’m blasting out 25 posts in an hour, it’s not as easy on the old Photoshop. So I get, I use that Canva and Canva is getting really interesting, adding an AI for images. Some of the stuff blows my mind that the stuff that they’re allowing and the price is so good. So all those marketers out there that are looking for a way to. Get some graphic design in without having to hire, and learn some Canva. It’s where it’s at 

Carman Pirie: The graphic designer though, in Jeff’s soul has to be dead a little bit hearing that.

Jeff White: Hey man, I’m an old QuarkXPress guy. Like I go way back.

Tasha Jones: No judgment. I was self-taught Adobe. I self-taught myself InDesign and Photoshop in two months because I was desperate to get the knowledge and I well told the job that I knew how to use them. So thank goodness for LinkedIn learning but I understand I’m very picky and I think at times Canva can be just a little it just doesn’t want to give me the exact spacing etc but in a pinch, a lot of people really don’t have that kind of graphic knowledge.

So we got to let them have it. 

Jeff White: Yeah. And you know what, as much as it pains me to say so in a lot of ways, I think The old school of, thousand dollars a month, Adobe platforms, or, even more than that, when we used to have to buy it as a standalone package that came out once a year, tools like Canva and Figma and other things like that are really democratized access to decent design tools that in the hands of somebody who knows what they’re doing can be even better but in the hands of somebody who, perhaps has never experienced a professional platform. You can actually do some pretty good stuff and keep things consistent. And yeah, but it’s hard to argue against, I guess.

Tasha Jones: I mean, have you ever tried moving an image and a text box in Word? It ain’t fun.

You got to take with what you got. I think I’d take the 14-dollar subscription.

Carman Pirie: There must be a video on YouTube somewhere just showing a compilation of people trying to move image text boxes in Word and beating their heads against the desk. 

Jeff White: Why is it creating a new page every time? 

Tasha Jones: I don’t need that many pages.

Carman Pirie: Tasha as we draw this conversation to a close, I wonder what bit of parting advice you might give to a marketer just starting into the manufacturing side of things, but perhaps has had some exposure to marketing and B2C or what have you, like you had. Any kind of tips you might give them as they embark on a B2B manufacturing marketing career?

Tasha Jones: Absolutely. I got very lucky in that my boss is way cool, and he definitely gives me a lot of creative freedom. But don’t be afraid to ask, and don’t be afraid to put some things together and see what your executive management might say. I think that we get comfortable with the status quo, and we’re never gonna move the needle that way. Trying some new things, seeing what works, it, really the KPIs tell you everything. If this post is just shooting it, hitting it out of the park, then you need to focus on that. So try some things, and see what works. If anything, you can delete it later. Can you delete anything from the internet, but take it off your feed, and try not to keep yourself in the box.

I really try to get out there and try new things, see what can work to get attention because I’m telling you in this day and age, I’m up there in age. So I’ve been there since back in the day when Facebook, you had to have a school account to have a Facebook account. It’s changing. People don’t want to just see ads. They want to see humans. And to do that, you’ve got to try new things and be different. And you’ve got to do that in manufacturing. I think 

Carman Pirie: that’s just been wonderful having you on the show. Thanks so much for joining us today. 

Tasha Jones: Thank you guys so much for having me. 

Jeff White: Yeah. And I think that was great advice too. And if we’re dating ourselves by the software we use, I learned Photoshop and version one. 

Tasha Jones: Wow. 

Jeff White: 1993

Tasha Jones: That’s amazing. 

Carman Pirie: If this was a video podcast, I think it should look like Gandalf. I should say that. 

Jeff White: I would, I just can’t grow any hair. Thanks again, Tasha. 

Tasha Jones: Yes. Thank you guys so much. 

Announcer: Thanks for listening to the Kula Ring with Carman Pirie and Jeff White. Don’t miss a single manufacturing marketing insight. Subscribe now at Kulapartners.com/thekularing. That’s K U L A partners dot com slash the Kula Ring.