The Future of B2B is Integrated: Creative Marketing with Heike Young

In this episode of Beyond B2B Marketing, host I sat down with Heike Young, former Head of Content, Social, and Integrated Marketing at Microsoft, to talk about everything from orchestration of multi-channel content to creators to bringing fun to B2B content and of course, creative B2B video for LinkedIn.

Heike had me on the podcast or “Cloudcast” she was managing for Salesforce many years ago and it was great to finally meet her in person at this year’s Content Marketing World conference.

After leading content strategy at both Salesforce and Microsoft, Heike shared why she’s taking a step back from corporate life to focus on creativity, family, and a more focused role as a participant in the creator economy. We talked about how the discipline of integrated marketing has evolved to orchestrate content, campaigns, and channels into a unified experience that connects audiences across organic and paid channels, which I was happy to hear since it lines up so well with the premise behind Best Answer Marketing – creating meaningful content experiences that help B2B brands become the best answer wherever customers are looking.

Our conversation also touched the importance of empowering employees as creators, making customers the heroes of storytelling, and partnering with influencers in more meaningful, collaborative ways. Of course we talked about the role of AI and content, but more importantly, Heike shared her philosophy on creativity (“delete your brainstorming meetings”), her approach to video and personal branding on LinkedIn, and why humor and personality matter more than perfection.

Takeaways from this 9th episode of Beyond B2B with Heike young include:

Why integrated marketing means “all the instruments singing from the same songbook”
How to escape the “content voice” trap and create more resonant, human content
Why employee and customer storytelling outperform branded corporate posts
The difference between transactional influencer campaigns and true creator partnerships
How to build creativity into team culture by giving people multiple ways to contribute
Why AI should enhance-not replace-human creativity and joy in content creation
Tips for building a standout personal brand and video presence on LinkedIn
How to thrive as an introverted extrovert at networking events
Why B2B brands should stop spreading thin across every channel and go deep where it matters most
The mindset shift from “doing more with less” to “creating more impact with focus”

Watch the full conversation between Heike and I here:

Listen to the full conversation with Heike here:

If you’d prefer a text summary of our discussion about the Heike’s creative approach to LinkedIn video and integrated marketing, here you go:

In this episode of Beyond B2B Marketing, I caught up with Heike Young, one of the brightest and most creative voices in B2B content. From her time leading content and social strategy at Salesforce and Microsoft to her rise as a LinkedIn video creator, Heike has become an influential force around what it means to do marketing that feels human. We talked about her recent decision to take a break from corporate life, what she’s learned from working inside global tech brands, and how …read more

Source:: Top Rank Blog