What was your journey until taking on this role in the company?
I studied Management Engineering in Milan and immediately entered strategic consultancy, a sector in which I worked for about twenty years. I followed projects ranging from the creative world of marketing to complex industrial plans. In 2017 I started an entrepreneurial activity that I still follow. I joined Uteco four years ago: initially as Strategy manager, then taking over Marketing management and now also Sales and Sustainability. Today I proudly lead a creative and dynamic Marketing team, made up of around ten people, together with whom I faced the significant journey of corporate rebranding, which allowed us to redefine Uteco's identity and the fundamental values that represent us.
What do you think about social media in the B2B market segment?
In the sector where Uteco operates, social media is used widely. The most covered platform is LinkedIn because it is more institutional and suitable for corporate communications. Furthermore, we are witnessing a gradual diffusion of communication from brands and professionals also on Instagram where it is possible to exploit more engaging communication even at an industrial production level, one of the current trends. 30% of our business takes place in Italy and the remainder on the foreign market, which is why we have a varied and multilingual fan base.
Which social network do you use with the most involvement and which one the least?
Uteco is present on LinkedIn and, to a lesser extent, also on Facebook and Youtube. Our main social network is certainly LinkedIn: here we create a complete strategy, also including official news and communications such as events, fairs and new product launches. At the moment, the idea of moving towards Instagram is attractive for its immediate visual language. TikTok remains, for now, on the fringes of our radar, given its significantly younger demographic than our target market.
The data shows that having a low number of followers damages the brand image, what do you think?
This number is certainly an indicator but, in my opinion, you shouldn't start a social strategy based only on the increase in the fan base. Growth must be the consequence of good communication work. At Uteco we give priority to the quality of followers: we want to communicate with interested, targeted and involved users in our project.
How important are online reviews, are they important?
Generally speaking we receive few reviews because in B2B, and especially in the Uteco market sector, they are a not very widespread tool. It is a sector that is still based on interpersonal relationships: meetings, events and fairs give the opportunity to see the products firsthand. Trust is one of the foundations of our market: the handshake, getting to know each other in person are all added values that cannot be compared to a review read online before knowing the reality in question.
Have you thought about enlisting the help of professionals from the social world given the importance achieved by digital platforms and their management complexity?
Until some time ago Uteco collaborated with external companies for the management of the website and communication was totally outsourced. Over the years we have internalized all marketing, communication and social management, including the website. We have created a vertical team in every aspect of marketing, continuously training the figures within it. The office is now made up of around ten people who follow every aspect, from graphics to social media. However, we are very inclined to undertake collaborations: these are supports that can help us in our most innovative projects, without creating a dependent relationship, but always bringing new ideas.
What are the future corporate communication projects?
About a year and a half ago we started a project called Flex on Road: Uteco, traveling around the world, organizes seminars and events with partners to talk about sustainability systems and the various aspects related to products. We will soon participate in Drupa, one of the most important trade fairs in the sector, in Düsseldorf, where we will have a stand of around 600m2 and a rich program of events, during which we will present numerous new products.