Dreamforce gathered the brightest minds in AI and enterprise innovation to explore how intelligent systems are reshaping industries. As Google CEO Sundar Pichai said,

The private capital market is one of the sectors being transformed most rapidly. According to McKinsey’s, Global Private Markets Report 2025, private markets have grown nearly 20% annually since 2018. The convergence of technology, capital, and investor behaviour is driving a generational shift in how wealth is created and accessed.

At VentureCrowd, our mission is to open these markets – responsibly, inclusively, and at scale. That means building technology capable of matching capital with innovation while keeping trust and compliance at the core. Our AI journey started years before “agentic” became a headline term. We developed proprietary systems powered by data science and machine learning that deliver measurable outcomes for investors, founders, and partners alike.

Now, as we enter the agentic era, this technology is not AI for its own sake. It’s an extension of our mission to make private investing more transparent and accessible. Every AI agent we deploy brings us closer to a world where ideas, capital, and human potential move forward together.

Lessons from Dreamforce 2025

Three key themes stood out from this year’s event:

1. Speed with control and reliability – the winning systems combine creativity with precision and stability.
2. Context as the foundation of intelligence – connecting human and enterprise knowledge is what makes AI impactful.
3. Conversation as the interface – natural language is becoming the bridge between humans and systems, turning data into dialogue and dialogue into action.

These insights reinforce how we’re evolving Kai, our proprietary AI framework that powers the next generation of VentureCrowd’s platform. Built on a decade of data and analytics, Kai connects every part of our ecosystem, from digital experiences and fund management to compliance, payments, and cybersecurity.

For founders, it can turn a pitch deck into a live, compliant campaign in seconds. For investors, it surfaces personalised opportunities aligned with their goals. For our team, it delivers real-time intelligence that helps us operate faster, smarter, and more efficiently.

As I shared at Dreamforce,

Building the future of digital capital

Dreamforce captured a powerful truth, digital superintelligence is coming. And as Refik Anadol reminded attendees,

For VentureCrowd, that means using AI to accelerate access, amplify trust, and deliver scale across private markets. We are moving faster than ever, deploying real use cases, scaling innovation across every layer of our technology stack, and empowering our teams to build, test, and iterate at record speed.

The world’s most advanced enterprises are now building toward the same goals we set years ago. VentureCrowd is leading the charge into this next chapter of private capital markets and digital capital raising,  where technology powered by humans opens new frontiers for investors, founders, and the future of wealth creation.

If you liked this article and want to know more contact The Dubs Agency we’d love to help.

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post How agentic is opening private capital markets at global scale appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Google’s AI summaries are already having a significant impact on traffic to client sites. The reality is that we’re moving into a zero-click world – one where an increasing share of user journeys never leave the search results page.

For years, the model of producing valuable content to feed SEO worked. In this new environment, its value is diminished. Users are getting answers instantly on the results page, without visiting the source.

As The Media Leader reports, Will Hanmer-Lloyd, Head of Strategy at MediaPlus UK, said

User behaviour is changing

This isn’t just an algorithm update – it’s a shift in behaviour. More and more, people aren’t clicking through. But there are still destinations where audiences are not just visiting – they’re staying, reading, and engaging deeply. Those destinations are quality news publishers.

Why premium publisher environments matter

Readers visit these sites not only for the information, but for the entire reading experience – often paying significant subscription fees for access. Trust in the masthead extends to all the content on the site. That trust stands in stark contrast to the scepticism many users now have toward AI-generated material.

When you place your brand in these environments, you benefit from the halo effect of that trust.

Contextual targeting brings search-like precision

Just like in search, contextual targeting ensures your brand appears in front of users who are actively interested in specific subjects or keywords. At Dianomi we specialise in connecting financial and premium brands with high-intent audiences across trusted publisher networks. Our platform combines contextual targeting and engagement data within our algorithm, with the reach of quality news environments, ensuring your message appears only alongside content that’s relevant to your audience – mirroring the precision of search, but without the click-through decline. 

By using CPC buying models, you’re paying only for measurable results, just like search.

The difference? Unlike search in 2025, these channels continue to drive users directly to your site, allowing you to capture new leads and own the customer journey from start to finish.

The takeaway for financial services marketers

In a zero-click search landscape, the open web’s premium publishers offer one of the last truly effective ways to:

• Reach high-value audiences in trusted environments
• Maintain precision targeting without relying on cookies
• Drive real site visits and lead generation

Invest in the places where people still choose to go and where your brand can share the space with credibility, authority, and intent.

If you liked this article and want to know more contact The Dubs Agency we’d love to help.

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinion expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post In a zero-click world, quality environments have never been more important appeared first on Financial Marketer.

‘Don’t’ – keep pouring budget into SEM as your primary tactic

If “coming top of the Google search rankings” is still your number one goal, it’s time to rethink. AI-powered summaries, knowledge panels, and zero-click answers are reducing organic and paid click-throughs. In many cases, even the top ad placement no longer guarantees meaningful engagement.

In 2025, the real battle is for visibility inside AI-generated responses, and that means your digital strategy has to evolve beyond search listings.

‘Don’t’ – target as narrowly as possible using third-party cookie

Relying on cookies from multiple sources to micro-target might look clever on paper, but in practice it’s increasingly risky and less effective. Between privacy regulations, browser restrictions, and consumer pushback, the cookie’s lifespan is nearly over.
Getting “more granular” doesn’t automatically deliver better results. What’s working now is contextual targeting – aligning your brand with relevant, trusted content where your audience is already engaged. It’s privacy-safe, brand-safe, and performs better for financial services in particular.

‘Don’t’ – chase scale at all costs, and measure success in impressions

A scattergun approach to “owning the open web” might deliver big impression numbers – but impressions alone don’t translate into new clients or assets under management.
Much of the open web is plagued by MFAs (Made-for-Advertising sites) that inflate reach without delivering quality engagement. Financial brands should focus on premium publisher environments where context, audience quality, and brand safety are built in.

‘Don’t’- gate all your content behind a PDF download

Yes, content is critical. But hiding it all behind a registration wall or offering only static PDFs is a fast track to user drop-off. Audiences in 2025 expect multi-format content, articles, videos and infographics, delivered through frictionless, intelligent user journeys.
The most effective approach? Surface key insights within the environment where your audience is already consuming media, for example, embedding core messages directly into a relevant article page on a trusted publisher site. This boosts visibility, improves time-on-content, and encourages deeper engagement.

The takeaway

The digital landscape for financial services has shifted. AI is reshaping search behaviour, cookies are disappearing, and audiences demand value upfront. Winning brands in 2025 will:

• Focus on AI-era discoverability over search rank obsession.
• Replace cookie-driven micro-targeting with smart contextual placement.
• Prioritise quality environments over sheer scale.
• Deliver engaging, multi-format content where the audience already is.

In short: stop chasing outdated metrics, and start building strategies that work in the world as it is, not as it was.

If you liked this article and want to know more contact The Dubs Agency we’d love to help.

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post How ‘NOT’ to do financial services digital marketing in 2025 appeared first on Financial Marketer.

For marketers and communication teams in finance, speed and clarity are everything. But when it comes to understanding financial reports—especially across borders—clarity is often hard to come by.

These documents are long, dense, and often riddled with industry-specific jargon and local regulatory nuances. Now add a second layer: language. If your team is reviewing a 40-page quarterly filing written in another language during a national holiday, good luck getting timely input. Your workflow stalls. Decisions are delayed. Opportunities slip.

It’s a familiar challenge—and not a small one.

Why this friction still exists

Despite years of digital transformation, many financial teams still struggle to quickly digest reports across geographies. The issue isn’t just language. It’s the sheer volume of data, the format of information, and the time it takes to translate, interpret, and extract key insights.

Some context:

• A Harvard Business Review study found that non-native English speakers in multinationals spend twice as long processing English-language reports as native speakers.
• McKinsey estimates that executives lose 20% of their time searching for internal information. Add a language gap, and that figure climbs.

This isn’t just a pain point. It’s a productivity drain.

Where AI tools come in

Artificial intelligence is beginning to turn this challenge on its head—transforming financial data into something far more accessible, in real-time.

1. From documents to decisions

Platforms like AiSK empower teams to transform unstructured content into structured knowledge bases and actionable insights. 

AiSK tackles this head-on. It automatically ingests lengthy, multilingual documents—think earnings reports, board minutes, regulatory filings—and transforms them into a searchable knowledge base. 

• Translates and summarizes dense materials in your team’s preferred language
• Tags and categorizes content for easy search and retrieval
• Highlights actionable insights, deadlines, and risks
• Syncs updates across teams so no one’s left behind

No more waiting for manual summaries or delayed input from regional teams. With AiSK, insights are instant—and decisions move at the speed of your ambition.

2. AI-Powered translation & dubbing

All of your financial reports in document or video formats in foreign languages can now be automatically translated and dubbed, bringing real-time understanding to global stakeholders without the need for human translators.

3. Smarter knowledge management

Unlike traditional knowledge management (KM) or learning management systems (LMS), tools like AiM leverage semantic search and summarization across various content formats. Instead of relying on simple keyword matching, they pinpoint the exact paragraph, timestamp, or phrase you’re searching for—even across different languages and media types, including documents and videos. Companies use these tools to enhance internal training and knowledge sharing, ultimately driving greater productivity.

From information to insight – faster

What sets AI-powered tools apart is not just automation—it’s contextual understanding.

With AI, these platforms do more than summarise. They interpret. They connect dots. They allow global teams to ask questions, receive relevant answers, and make data-informed decisions—without waiting on emails, translations, or workday overlaps.

What this means for financial marketers

For those leading content, communications, and martech in financial services, AI video and language tools aren’t just efficiency plays. They’re about speed-to-insight, localization at scale, and greater independence from siloed workflows.

No more waiting for post-holiday translations or deciphering complex documents on your own. With AI, you don’t just access information—you understand it instantly.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to know more contact The Dubs Agency we’d love to help.

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinion expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post Why translating and understanding financial reports is still a pain—and how AI can help appeared first on Financial Marketer.

B2B marketing takes time – a lot of time.

Your marketing efforts in Q1 will most likely not impact a lot of Q1 revenue, and most won’t even show up in Q2. 

Painful, but true. 

We heavily consider the concept of B2B marketing time lag in our strategies at Dreamdata, yet many marketers and organisations still struggle with it. 

The time lag refers to the delay between when marketing efforts take place and when they ultimately contribute to revenue. This delay can be quite significant for B2Bs, where deals are notoriously much more lengthy than in B2C. Contrary to the quick, impulsive nature of B2C transactions, B2B deals involve multiple stakeholders, longer decision making processes and higher price points.

According to a recent analysis of our customers, only 37% of revenue impact from marketing activities occurs within a single quarter. This means two-thirds of the results marketers work toward will take months to fully materialise.

Let that sink in. 

This slow, but constant build-up is a defining distinction of B2B marketing, and it’s critical that teams, especially at the executive level, fully understand and plan for it.

A common marketer mistake is focusing too much on short-term results, aiming for quick wins to meet quarterly targets. In B2B, this can lead to poor decision-making and misalignment between marketing, sales, and finance.

A campaign that looks like it’s underperforming after three months might, in reality, be driving significant pipeline growth that is not yet visible in the bottom line. By recognizing and accepting this time lag, marketing leaders can better align their expectations with reality and avoid pulling the plug on initiatives too early.

At Dreamdata, our data-driven approach gives us the power to pinpoint exactly where this time lag occurs. We map out the B2B journey, observing how each touchpoint – from initial content engagement to lead nurturing and sales handoff – contributes incrementally to the eventual conversion.

It’s not a linear process. Some prospects may engage heavily with marketing materials early on, only to go dark for months before re-engaging. Others may show interest occasionally, requiring multiple touchpoints across different channels before a decision is made.

By understanding this buyer behaviour, we are more prone to set realistic expectations with the sales team, ensuring they have the patience and persistence to see deals through.

This brings us to the importance of measurement and attribution. In B2B, where the marketing-sales handoff is more nuanced, putting robust and first-party tracking mechanisms in place is non-negotiable. Without them, it’s impossible to understand which touchpoints are driving revenue and which are not.

Many companies rely on last-click attribution models, but these are not precise enough to capture the full complexity of B2B journeys. We advocate for multi-touch attribution models that account for the entire customer journey, giving credit to every touchpoint – from the first piece of content a prospect reads to the last webinar they attend before closing the deal.

At the executive level, marketing should be seen as a long-term growth engine rather than a short-term fix. So communicate the realities of B2B time lag to other departments because if marketing is judged only on short-term gains, it risks undervaluing initiatives that deliver bigger wins over time. Educate leadership on how and when revenue from marketing activities will materialize so that they can align forecasts and KPIs accordingly.

Success in B2B marketing requires patience, persistence, and precision. It’s not enough to generate leads quickly – those leads need to be nurtured thoughtfully, and the revenue will follow, often months after the initial marketing push.

 By playing the long game and tracking progress with data, marketing can become a true revenue driver in B2B, where the returns are well worth the wait.

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinion expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post Understanding the revenue time lag in B2B marketing appeared first on Financial Marketer.

This story is not just about growth and transformation but is deeply rooted in the brand’s ethos – a commitment to excellence, integrity, and the relentless pursuit of what is right for investors. 

It is a brand’s journey of evolving from a local pioneer to a global innovator and competitor, resonating with investors across continents.

A Vision for Global Expansion

Every great strategy is birthed from a vision. For Mirae Asset Global Investments, this vision was rooted in the ambition to expand beyond borders and become a trusted name internationally, known for providing investors with dynamic investment solutions across asset classes.

Within the strategic expansion roadmap, the firm identified and understood the importance that ETFs would have on the industry and for investors. The journey of building a global ETF platform started in 2011, launching its first ETFs outside of Korea on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 

That same year saw the acquisition of Horizons ETFs in Canada. In the coming years, we focused on identifying opportunities for organic growth, which were fueled by ingenuity and a deep understanding of emerging trends and investor needs, developing innovative products that catered to investors’ demands, establishing a strong foundation, and showcasing the brand’s commitment to meeting clients’ expectations.

Yet, to truly accelerate growth, additional strategic acquisitions and partnerships were essential. The coming years saw multiple key acquisitions and partnerships, with the company swiftly gaining a foothold in new markets. This included the acquisition of Global X in 2018 and a joint venture partnership with Daiwa to launch Global X Japan in 2019.

By adopting deep local market knowledge and strengths with our global framework, Mirae Asset transformed its ETF business and brand, making it locally relevant and globally consistent, aligning the various brands under a unified global identity — a critical milestone in its expansive journey.

By 2024, Mirae Asset’s ETF platform had expanded to more than 600 ETFs across 13 markets. What began as a leading Korean player into the world’s 12th largest ETF provider, with over $140 billion in AUM — an extraordinary 14x growth since early 2017. ETFs now account for approximately half of the firm’s $256 billion in asset management AUM.

The Challenge: Aligning Corporate Identity

As the brand’s portfolio of businesses grew, so did the complexity of maintaining a consistent identity within a layered brand architecture. This is where the benefits and impact of corporate endorsement become crucial. 

The challenge lies in aligning newly acquired entities with the overarching corporate brand without diluting the unique qualities that made them successful in their own right. ETF Securities is a recent example of this, where we shortly rebranded them to Global X while leveraging their strengths and past success as a strong foundation to launch the Global X brand in Australia.

It’s akin to bringing diverse characters in a story under one banner, ensuring each contributes to the broader ETF narrative while retaining individuality. Successfully navigating this alignment strengthens the brand’s global reputation and fosters a sense of unity and shared purpose across businesses and teams.

This process necessitates meticulous coordination between local and global teams. In each market, the brand must position itself not just as a local provider and leader but also as part of a franchise with a vast offering of products and solutions. Leveraging the local expertise of acquired companies while consistently upholding the global brand’s values and standards is paramount.

In recent years, we have focused on consolidating brands and streamlining our global ETF presence. Moving from four distinct ETF brands just a few years ago – including Global X, Horizons ETFs, TIGER ETF, and Mirae Asset to now three, with Global X,  TIGER ETF, and Mirae Asset, continuing to contribute uniquely to the brand’s global tapestry and identity.

Through this strategic rebranding, key markets like Australia, Brazil and Canada have been unified under the Global X brand, strengthening our global presence and investor recognition.

The Strategy: Integrating Growth across All Fronts

As the narrative unfolds, the brand’s journey is propelled by a holistic approach to growth, integrating product, marketing, distribution, and corporate development across all fronts. It is not enough to execute within each function; purposeful and strategic actions ensure that every move contributes to the larger goal of establishing a robust and resilient global presence.

Envision the brand as a well-oiled machine, where marketing campaigns are finely tuned to resonate with diverse audiences, distribution strategies are optimized to ensure products reach the right markets effectively, and corporate development initiatives that support and enhance both. This integrated strategy ensures that the brand does not just grow—it thrives, becoming a recognized and respected name in the global ETF market.

This approach also acknowledges that markets are continually evolving—ETFs and their use are changing, portfolio construction methodologies are becoming more sophisticated, and access to private markets is expanding. Staying attuned to these developments enables the brand to adapt its strategies proactively, ensuring relevance and competitiveness in an ever-changing financial landscape.

The Digital Arena: Capturing Investor Attention and Advocacy

In today’s fast-paced world, technology evolves at a frantic pace, fundamentally transforming how businesses operate and interact with their audiences. For a global ETF franchise, embracing technology is not just advantageous—it’s essential.

The battle for investor attention has increasingly shifted online, making digital engagement the new frontier. Leveraging cutting-edge digital tools—such as data analytics, targeted content delivery, automation, and artificial intelligence—the brand can engage with investors in meaningful and memorable ways.

In 2025 and beyond, a firm must navigate the digital landscape cleverly, analyzing investor behaviours through sophisticated data analytics to craft strategies that effectively capture attention in a crowded marketplace. AI-powered tools enhance marketing efforts’ efficiency and creativity, enabling more dynamic and responsive interactions with investors.

In an industry where trust and expertise are paramount, becoming a thought leader is vital to differentiating the brand and building deeper relationships with investors. By utilizing AI and big data, investment managers can generate insightful market analysis, research & insights to position themselves as trusted authorities.

This digital acuity is a pivotal aspect of the brand’s journey, demonstrating its ability to evolve and remain relevant amidst technological advancements that impact not only the technical aspects of marketing and distribution but also the qualitative facets, such as storytelling and brand engagement. Through technology, the firm can amplify its voice in the industry, setting the agenda for future trends and becoming a go-to source for insights, thereby solidifying its status as a global thought leader in investment management.

The Identity: Building and Supporting Brand Personality and Consistency

As the brand grows and adapts, its personality becomes more defined and distinctive. Mirae Asset and Global X have evolved into a formidable competitor known for their innovation, boldness and unwavering commitment to their customers. 

However, with expansion comes the challenge of maintaining message consistency across diverse and dynamic markets.

Imagine a brand that speaks multiple languages yet maintains one cohesive voice. Whether in New York, Tokyo, or Sydney, the brand’s core message remains consistent, while its delivery is adapted to resonate with local cultures and investor behaviours. 

Recognizing that investors’ habits and behaviours are continually changing—influenced by how they search, research, and select products—the brand’s communication strategies must be flexible and insightful.

Achieving this balance between consistency and localization solidifies the brand’s identity on the global stage, ensuring it is recognizable and relatable, no matter where the story unfolds.

Streamlining Global Synergies and Asset Gathering

As the narrative progresses, the focus shifts to effective execution—streamlining asset-gathering processes and fostering global synergies. Here, the brand’s accumulated experience and insights are leveraged to ensure operations are as efficient as they are effective.

Visualize a brand that operates cohesively across regions, sharing best practices and success stories to enhance performance universally. 

The development and promotion of products become a global strategy rather than a regional effort, driving growth and building investor trust worldwide. This collaborative sharing of knowledge and strategy is crucial for sustaining momentum and maintaining a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market landscape.

The Heart: Supporting Local Teams and Integrating Vision, Culture, and Image

At the heart of this journey are the people—the local teams who bring the brand to life in various markets. Supporting and empowering these teams is essential as they adapt global strategies to local contexts, ensuring effective and authentic implementation on the ground.

It’s also about cultivating a strong, unified culture. The brand’s vision, philosophy and image must be seamlessly integrated, creating a cohesive identity that resonates with internal and external stakeholders. This unified culture fosters collaboration, innovation, and shared purpose, underpinning the brand’s success and resilience.

The ability and willingness to evolve are fundamental, both at the organizational and individual levels. Encouraging a culture that embraces change and continuous learning ensures that the global teams and people can adapt proactively to emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities, sustaining long-term growth and relevance.

The whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts. When local teams are supported and empowered, their insights and expertise enhance the global strategy, creating a more robust and dynamic brand presence. 

Each local market contributes its unique strengths and perspectives, which, when integrated with the global framework, produce results far greater than what could be achieved by isolated efforts. This synergy between global vision and local execution drives the brand’s success and builds a cohesive and unified identity that resonates with investors worldwide.

Establishing Global Brand Leadership and its Potential

As the journey matures and progresses, Mirae Asset and Global X stand as a well-integrated, globally recognized ETF provider, having adeptly navigated the complexities of expansion, digital transformation, and brand consistency. A strong global presence, robust investor trust, and a reputation for innovation and excellence mark this success.

Yet, this achievement is not a final destination but a noteworthy milestone. The brand must continue to adapt, innovate, and uphold its core values to maintain and enhance its position. This involves anticipating and responding to future market shifts, evolving investor behaviours, and rapid technological advancements. 

By staying preemptive and forward-thinking, Mirae Asset can continue to fuel its growth and solidify its position as a leading ETF provider in the global market, unlocking its full potential and expanding its influence across diverse regions.

The Ever-Evolving Story

The journey of building and honing a global ETF brand is an ongoing narrative of growth, adaptation, and relentless pursuit of excellence. By maintaining a clear vision, fostering a strong and adaptable corporate culture, and ensuring consistent and resonant global messaging, a brand improves its chances of securing its place amongst global leaders, earning enduring trust and loyalty from investors across continents.

In the ever-changing landscape of ETFs and asset management, your brand is not just a business asset; it’s the narrative that defines your place and impact in the market. It’s the sum of all interactions with your business – products, advertisements, client servicing, and thought leadership. It’s important to remember that every decision, every strategy, every message, and every interaction contributes to the enduring legacy of your brand.

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post Creating a global ETF brand: Mirae Asset’s journey of growth and identity appeared first on Financial Marketer.

The post Why visual storytelling works for finance brands appeared first on Financial Marketer.

The Voice Referendum: A case study

The Voice Referendum was probably the most interesting, as over half the population defeated it in every Australian state. While many supported it, for a major corporation, this means more than half its customers were against The Voice.

Apart from some media commentary, I haven’t noticed any company punished for its support of The Voice, but it’s a salient caution to tread carefully when it comes to riding a corporation into a public debate, particularly if there are politics involved.

Woolworths and Australia Day: A lesson in public perception

That was certainly on display when supermarket giant Woolworths shifted its attitude towards Australia Day. It was not the first retailer to downgrade Australia Day merchandise, but it certainly attracted the most negative attention, resulting in an advertising campaign to explain its position. For some, it had breached its social licence to operate, as witnessed by Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s call for a boycott of the group.

The evolution of the social licence to operate

The concept of a social licence to operate has been about since the mid-1990’s but it has certainly gained prominence in the past decade. Since the Royal Commission into the banking, superannuation, and financial services industry and some resulting negative findings, there has been a massive push in those organisations to look at everything they do through a ‘client lens’.

Likewise, the past few years for national airline carrier Qantas has been a bumpy road due to its perceived lack of customer focus. It will pursue a strategy to turn that around, however, it drives home the point organisations must be diligent in not just looking at their external perception, but driving a culture that raises red flags when activities could lead to poor customer outcomes.

The role of CEOs in upholding company values

In that vein, CEOs need to live and breathe a company’s values. Again, this is not a new concept, but it takes on greater prominence when companies increasingly become highly visible and subject to public and political scrutiny for perceived breaches of their social licence to operate.

Strategic caution in corporate responsibility

An interesting story progressing internationally can be found in the car industry. At the start of the decade brands like Mercedes and Volvo heavily pushed the message they were going all-electric vehicles in a relatively short timeframe.

Mercedes recently admitted its push for an all-electric fleet wasn’t going well, and it would be manufacturing combustion engines well into the next decade. Ford and GM have also shifted down the rhetoric on electric, and Toyota’s chairman, Akio Toyoda, earlier this year said electric cars will never account for more than 30% of the global car market.

In a few short years the angelic glow around the electric car transformation has dulled significantly. While zero-emission technology is still the coveted goal, the takeaway is don’t jump on a bandwagon just because it’s making the most noise.

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinion expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post Navigating Corporate Responsibility and Societal Issues appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Traditionally, B2B marketers target a “Buying Committee” for example in ”cloud services” this includes the IT Decision Maker (ITDM) at the center surrounded by their team.

However, research by LinkedIn’s The B2B Institute and Bain & Company shows this approach is incomplete.

They identified there are two types of B2B buyers in a buying committee:

1. Target Buyers: Product experts (e.g., ITDM, engineers).
2. Hidden Buyers: Process experts (e.g., procurement, finance, legal).

Why are they called ‘Hidden Buyers’?

Because they don’t engage with B2B content.

The Head of Ops isn’t attending your Cloud Summit webinar; and Deal Desk aren’t downloading whitepapers on Cloud Infrastructure. 

Hidden Buyers aren’t interested in the product solution like the Target Buyers are.

This means they are more-or-less hidden from signals B2B brands use to report campaign effectiveness.

Yet, Hidden Buyers are powerful.

They have almost equal amount of decision-making power in a B2B purchasing decision as the ITDM.

With a business case, the Target buyers (ITDM) do the vendor shortlisting for the solution and need the Hidden/Process buyers to agree to the purchase. However, about 50% of B2B deals get killed by these hidden buyers.

Why?

While Target Buyers care most about the products “advanced features”, “transformational potential” and “innovation”; Hidden Buyers care most about “reliable brands”, “peace-of-mind”, and “vendors that are trusted by my peers”.

Hidden buyers don’t kill the deals because the product is not innovative or transformational for the business; they don’t care. 

Instead, deals frequently fall through because Hidden Buyers are risk-averse and unpersuaded. They kill deals because they are in charge of mitigating risk in the company and if they don’t know the vendor, they won’t likely take a chance on them.

This is important because about 40% of all B2B deals don’t go ahead because of lack of agreement. Deals collapse because it was too hard to persuade Hidden buyers to agree.  

In fact, the study found Hidden Buyers are 70% more likely to reject vendors that are not well-known to them and their peers.

What should B2B Marketers do?

1. Understand the B2B buying Committee is larger than first thought. Expand your targeting to include both Target and Hidden Buyers.
2. Invest in marketing your Brand, not just your Product. The study found deals are done more often and faster with vendors who were well-known across the whole buying group than those that were only known to the ITDM.

Investing in that reputational air cover with the hidden buyers ensures that when the deal comes across their desk they say “Yes, I know this company, I’m aware of their reputation”.

Check out the study here: https://lnkd.in/gNyKHxZM

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinion expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post Reaching hidden influencers of B2B buyer groups appeared first on Financial Marketer.

As these two powerful forces converge, marketers are exploring innovative ways to leverage AI to streamline and enhance their video marketing efforts.

In this article, I will share my ongoing experience creating video content since 2019, building my YouTube channel to over 2.9K followers, and how I use free AI tools to speed up my video creation.

I also share how video marketing influenced my corporate work (both positively and negatively).

My personal brand building journey using video marketing

I published my first YouTube video back in 2019 as an experiment. After reading multiple video guides online, I was itching to try out all the strategies and tactics.

Turned out, it was more complicated than I thought.

The first 3-minute video I created got less than 50 views in the first month. Yikes.

Luckily for me though, I started the journey with a growth mindset that every video published is a learning opportunity.

Today my most popular video has over 123,000 total views and my YouTube channel gets more than 4,500 views and 107 hours of watch time every month.

Apart from using my personal YouTube channel as sandbox to test new ideas, the fact you get to monetise it is a bonus too.
For those interested to monetise their YouTube channel, the eligibility thresholds are:

1. 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months, or
2. 1,000 subscribers with 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days.

How I use AI for video production

I use free AI tools for content ideation, scriptwriting and editing.

For content ideation and scriptwriting, a great place to start is the free Copilot on Bing browser. You can use it to generate engaging script outlines and talking points before reviewing and refining it.

Here is a link to HubSpot’s 230 ChatGPT Prompts Marketers Should Use (hubspot.com) to get you started.

For editing I recommend using CapCut’s AI subtitle generator to caption all your video and its AI Shorts Maker to transform your long-form videos into multiple engaging short videos.

This approach ensures content remains accurate while significantly reducing the time and effort required.

How video influenced my corporate work

Creating videos has helped me represent my ideas and deliver stories in an impactful way words alone cannot achieve.

During the year when my company underwent transformation, I took personal time out to create this augmented reality (AR) video and amplification video to express myself creatively.

“You have gone above and beyond to deliver some outstanding work… I’m hugely grateful for your commitment and positive attitude”.

I was surprised and delighted when I received the appreciation email (and mall voucher) from my top management that year.

This year I set a goal to publish at least 1 short video per week on my LinkedIn.

A few interesting things happened due to those videos:

1. I was featured on our global intranet story as our global communications manager saw my video post(s).
2. I was invited to write this article for the Financial Marketer.

Now, I do have negative experiences too.

On some of my videos, I do get nasty comments about how they disliked the way or content I presented. It can be quite hurtful to receive such negativity.

One way to handle it would be not to take it personally or get defensive. Understand the motive of the comments – Is it constructive feedback or just nefarious?

When we let go of the things we cannot change it frees up the energy to focus on changing the things we can.

The Future of Video Marketing and AI

As AI technology continues to evolve, its applications in video marketing will become increasingly sophisticated and widespread. However, it’s crucial to remember AI should be seen as a powerful tool to augment human creativity and expertise, not as a complete replacement.

In the dynamic world of marketing, where staying ahead of the curve is paramount, embracing the intersection of video marketing and AI could be the game-changer that sets us apart from the competition.

[**Full disclosure: The views and opinion expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not reflect the views or opinions of any organisation or entity.]

The post Video marketing in the age of AI appeared first on Financial Marketer.