NDA’s Marketing the Marketers series talks to the marketing and comms leaders behind the success of our leading companies. Next up is Bill Shephard, Head of Marketing & Brand, MediaSense…
What exactly does your job entail?
As Head of Marketing & Brand at MediaSense, I oversee marketing strategy development and execution across key initiatives, which drive awareness and engagement of the MediaSense’s brand and value proposition. This comprises global comms, visual & brand identity, event management, paid, owned & earned media, positioning and collaborating closely with teams across the business to ensure content and marketing efforts are aligned. We also drive a fair share of PR in-house.
What campaign or piece of marketing/communications are you most proud of in your career and why?
I have been lucky enough to be ‘handed the keys’ to MediaSense’s landmark Media 20:20 research programme – now in its sixth wave, it continues to be one of the largest studies into global media transformation. It’s a behemoth to deliver and while easier to outsource, we proudly produce it in-house and continue to build in learnings from previous studies to make each launch bolder. Our most recent wave broke records in terms of press, downloads & social engagement.
Who has been your biggest inspiration in your career to date and why?
A very recent inspiration, I have just put down Antonia Wade’s book, Transforming the B2B Buyer Journey which is a smart blueprint for B2B marketers in professional services. It’s validated a lot of thinking and experience in many key areas: leveraging tech to enhance marketing reporting and measure ROI accurately, fostering collaborative relationship between sales and marketing to drive growth, and understanding and designing the buyer journey to align with customer needs.
What is the biggest challenge in your sector and how is your company helping to address it?
B2B marketing measurement – we are all (rightly) being challenged to be more accountable with our marketing costs and naturally within B2B marketing, this challenge is not getting easier! We hold up the mirror and act as we would advise our clients, and under my leadership, we have implemented a team mentality of ‘measure and benchmark’ everything – the focus has become ‘the more we can measure, the more insight we can derive’, and confidence in justifying marketing as business driver – rather than a cost.
What is the biggest opportunity in your sector and how is your company helping to make the most of it?
In a saturated digital landscape, cutting through the noise with B2B content requires a focus on delivering messaging with insight. With the number of platforms and intensified competition for attention, prioritising impactful, value-driven research over constant commentary is a significant opportunity to stand out. We need to be memorable, especially with the B2B elongated sales cycles.
How important, and why, are the following in helping you promote your own company:
The press: As important and relevant as ever in helping us to further the industry and address our client’s business challenges through thoughtful discourse and leadership. Recognising a lot of the noise on socials, we value more than ever the importance of credible news and debate where we can positively add to the conversation.
Events: Events need to work hard for us, and we lean into quality not quantity. Always a marketing and growth collaboration, with an intentionality in where we sponsor & attend, and then how we activate our participation in a way that is authentic and effective. Workshops, roundtables and invite-only sessions work well and again, lean into value for delegates.
Your company’s owned media: With our focus on B2B, owned media is essential (although we recognise the limitation of a website in an age where there are countless channels where people consume content). I have long championed the power of LinkedIn and effectively leveraged the platform to share content with precision. With increased focus on marketing efficiency and effectiveness, I try to continually challenge the business on the impact of all touchpoints, ensuring we go to market with the best combination…including e-mail marketing! Godin’s Permission Marketing still holds true for B2B’ers. Messaging that delivers value, honesty and integrity still goes a very long way.
