What was your journey until taking on this role in the company?
I was born and raised in Germany, where I studied Languages (Spanish and French), Literature and History. Once I finished university I worked for a period in a well-known public relations agency. I moved to Italy about twelve years ago, both for love and because the culture and language fascinated me. Here I worked for a small company specializing in fishing articles: I held the role of Export Manager for the German, European and American markets. Furthermore, I wrote articles for sector magazines where I talked about the methods of making bait and all the products related to this world. After a few years I realized that that position was no longer for me and I decided to change sector, joining TAKA-WPR as a salesman with knowledge of languages and foreign markets. Initially I worked as a door-to-door salesman, then I added the management of agents and back office, with particular attention to marketing and communication. Two years ago, following the merger between TAKA and WPR, we decided to create a real Marketing department. Now, in addition to still dealing with sales, I am Marketing Manager and I follow communication both online and offline. I am also involved in Research and Development and follow our Academy which provides training courses to our customers and our internal resources.
What do you think about the use of social media in the B2B market segment?
In general I see that in the foreign market there is a wider use of social media but we must also contextualize this analysis taking into account the platforms used. TAKA-WPR is only present on LinkedIn because we have chosen to focus only on this social network, avoiding mirroring content and wasting resources and energy. In B2B, especially in our niche, our "buyer personas" are not present on all social media. Another factor to consider is certainly the "human side" of the brand, especially in sectors linked to technologies and machinery, which is sometimes not easy to communicate but which certainly provides important social proof. The user is more inclined to interact with content that shows other people rather than with visuals of inanimate objects. I also noticed that the larger the company, the more impersonal the posts: it's a completely different way of describing the reality of the brand which, in my opinion, loses part of its potential.
Which social network is more in line with your business model and which is less?
TAKA-WPR operates in a very specific market and for this reason we decided to study which social network could be in line with our business model. Our target audience is to be found among workers in the sector, mainly men over forty who are usually not present on other platforms. Furthermore, LinkedIn manages to give a more professional imprint having been born with this objective. Social networks like TikTok or Instagram are still very far from our reality because they are used by very young users who are just starting to enter the world of work or who are still studying. These two platforms, together with Pinterest, prefer content with a high aesthetic value and our products often do not satisfy these requirements as they are machinery and technologies. Email marketing still works very well for us where we achieve very positive numbers, with an increase of up to 50% in openings. Here the winning weapon is microdosing: we therefore avoid spamming emails to our contact list because it would be counterproductive and we try to always provide useful information, dedicating only a small part to advertising.
The data shows that having a low number of followers damages the brand image, what do you think?
I find that the first thing to ask is “how much is small?”. This is a fact that must be compared with the market in which it operates: brands like TAKA-WPR that work in a very specific niche will obviously have a lower number of followers than a large player in a more well-known sector, such as fashion. Within this already small niche you need to find the interested, active target audience and make sure you continue to involve them in the content. I prefer to have fewer followers but all targeted rather than a much larger number who interact little because they are not interested. Quality often matters more than quantity.
How important are online reviews, are they important?
In theory and when searching for information, reviews are important: those who inform themselves tend to read online opinions and evaluate a brand based on what they read. Some industries do not yet fall into this habit and therefore reviews are not as important for TAKA-WPR. For us it is essential to collect direct feedback from customers: this helps us improve their experience by working on very specific areas. Personally, as I travel a lot, I read and leave reviews especially on Booking and on Amazon for the shopping sphere. I am convinced that they are a valid tool if you have the skills to filter comments left by bots or reviews written to harm or praise excessively.
Have you ever collaborated with professionals regarding the social sphere?
Before the establishment of a Marketing Office, TAKA-WPR collaborated with an agency that managed all communications. Over time we have opted to internalize all decisions, from strategy to budget, thanks also to a resource who supports me. We collaborate with professionals regarding the materials to be printed: brochures, catalogs and materials for trade fairs. For the website we rely on an external reality because having some input outside of the internal ones can only help improve performance. It is true that an internal resource knows the company DNA much better but it is equally true that he will not be able to know all the dynamics of each social platform like a professional who only deals with this. Based on this reasoning, we try to always stay up to date on news in the world of marketing to have a complete picture and to create on-point strategies.
What are the future corporate communication projects?
TAKA-WPR is part of a production chain and we have realized that end customers often do not know what our products are. Starting from this assumption we wanted to create the most important and biggest project so far: the new docuseries, recently launched on YouTube. In this space we can tell the entirety of the brand to all stakeholders in the sector: suppliers, competitors, architects, companies in the sector and customers. We involved one of our largest customers known throughout Europe, some of our suppliers and an independent industry body that deals with creating regulations for windows. This has allowed us to create a more complete authority in which we can place trust. Furthermore, we wanted to create it in four languages, German, English, Italian and Spanish, so as to reach an even wider audience, making information accessible to almost everyone.