Carlota Pico recently sat down with Miranda Gray, former marketing director for the EMEA and APAC regions at Donnelley Financial Solutions, to discuss marketing in the finance industry. Their conversation covered a wide range of topics, including buyer personas for B2B companies, how to become a thought leader online and the importance of content localization. Miranda also shared her thoughts on capturing younger generations’ attention through content, plus plenty of other insights.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, listen to the podcast on Apple and Spotify, and read our recap below.

Key takeaways

• When it comes to B2B marketing, you aren’t just targeting companies, you’re targeting individuals—senior-level leaders, C-suite executives and so on. At the end of the day, you still need to be able to connect to people on a personal level.
• Building a funnel through thought leadership on LinkedIn and other channels is fundamental to establishing loyalty and trust. Even if your followers aren’t currently customers, you can nudge them in that direction by nurturing online relationships.
• Many Gen Z-ers and millennials manage their finances exclusively via digital channels. They have shorter attention spans, so you need to do market research and really understand their needs in order to hook them and keep them interested.
• Social media use has increased immensely during the pandemic. Your content needs to capture people’s attention while they’re working from home, and answer the question, “Do I really need this for my organization?”
• Content localization requires extensive research and a deep understanding of local contexts. For example, Facebook might be useless in one region and highly effective in another. Ask yourself, “What can I do differently to create a different reaction?”

Regardless of whether you’re in B2B or B2C marketing, there’s always a human being on the other side of the screen, and that’s where the final click will come from.

Rapid-fire recs

An influencer, professional or role model who you admire?

It has to be the woman of the moment, Michelle Obama. She’s a really inspiring woman who encourages young girls and emphasizes education. This is very important, considering the current situation in the world right now.

A publication or book you’d recommend?

At the moment I’m loving Marketing Week and Campaign for information on the industry. On a personal level, a book I really like is “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, which helps me reflect on life.

Your favorite app at the moment?

I have two: Instagram and LinkedIn. I like Instagram because it’s quick; you can create an emotional reaction with just a photo or video instantly. LinkedIn is great because it allows you to create thought leadership from a professional point of view. 

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Connect with Miranda and Carlota on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Rishabh Agrawal, a freelance content creator based in Madrid.

To read the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.