In the B2B sector, your brand's primary role is to meet your professional needs.
However, sometimes you also have to empower your clients to succeed. Represent them on their behalf, and give them the tools they need to network and express themselves.
Newark's customers are a group of professionals who are often misunderstood—engineers. The company realized that the professionals it works with are frequently misrepresented.
Get to Know Your Customers
First of all, engineers come from a variety of backgrounds and have diverse areas of interest. Newark recognized this and commissioned an agency to portray these professionals for who they truly are: a passionate and diverse group of people. By doing so, Newark would position itself as one of the industry’s strongest advocates for these professionals, while also positively influencing perceptions of the profession.
The agency surveyed its strong online community of 400,000 engineers to understand their concerns and the stereotypes they face in their daily lives.
Evidently, they discovered that engineers want more content related to their work; they feel disconnected from their peers; and they are open to the idea of a dedicated community platform. These findings led to the creation of the #ImAnEngineer concept.
#ImAnEngineer was a content hub where community members could find relevant and original news, personal stories, analyses, interviews, and other multimedia content. It was a celebration of engineers and their work, where they could share their experiences and connect with one another.
Community and Content
A dedicated team of writers who worked closely with industry professionals created three different types of content for the campaign:
- Stories About Engineers
- Interviews with Engineers
- Industry insights and reports
Initially, the platform was launched with a wealth of new and original content intended to be shared on social media using the hashtag ##ImAnEngineer. Brochures and “business cards” were also distributed at a major industry event. Finally, marketing tools such as display ads and promotions were used to engage website visitors.
In its first six months of operation, the website published 155 posts and attracted 13,500 visitors per month. As a result, the commercial media covered the campaign favorably. On social media, the hashtag ##ImAnEngineer was also successful. In addition, 330 people subscribed to the newsletter.
Today, the content and ideas have moved to the community website of the Newark. Good public relations isn't always about you; sometimes you need to empower your clients. This is a principle of management reputation effective online.