A presentation I gave to the PraxisUnico conference (The Successful Higher Education Business Development Professional) on Thursday 17th February 2011 at Burleigh Court, Loughborough University, detailing how we went about developing our new B2B website, and also how we plan to use social media to publicise it.

1. Talking to your customer(on the internet!) Nick Southall University of Exeter February 2011

2. Who I am and what I do Web Officer for Research & Knowledge Transfer Research & Business websites, research centres, etc Social media

3. The Web Team Managed by central Web Team Successful university website Redesigned and launched 2 years ago Centralised service (Comms & Marketing) 13 staff in a hub & spoke model Emphasis on usability, audience experience and expectations

5. Building a new B2B website (part 1) Priority on my appointment Current version 5 years old and looked it Not in keeping with design and feel of new University website Page-views analysis Buy-in from stakeholders

7. Building a new B2B website (part 2) Revolutionary step: spoke to our audience Same practices as we use to plan our undergraduate marketing 2 focus groups External facilitator Partners of differing sizes and relationship Card sorting exercise

8. What our audience told us Single most important thing = people Real pictures of real people doing real things Clear route to contact details for these real people Want to deal with the University itself, not a different entity Difference between professional service companies and science/tech companies Clean and clear

10. Time for a little quiz… Can you guess which university’s B2B website is which, just from their opening gambits?

11. 1. ????? XXXXXXXXXXXXXX offers a wide range of services that can help support your business and improve performance and competitiveness. Whether you are seeking to recruit students, make use of our world-leading research or simply host a conference, the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is able to work with you to make best use of the talent and resources available.

12. 2. ????? At XXXXXXXXXXXXX we want to help you to deal with your business problems and development needs. We want to be the "University for World Professionals" and we want you and your organisations to be successful on the local, regional, national and world stage. To find out what we can do for you to help you realise your business ambitions, please download our new Corporate Brochure. Whether it is professionally orientated and accredited courses or applied research and consultancy - there is a lot we can help you with.

13. 3. ????? As a leading UK university we understand that our relationships with business are as important to our success and reputation as our research and our teaching. We have developed proven ways of working with business to our mutual benefit, so no matter what your needs we can help you to find new ways for your business to prosper. After all, your success is our success.

14. 4. ????? We are a diverse Department containing a mixture of commercial operating units and University support functions. Our mission is to support the XXXXXXXXXXX to diversify its income streams and develop income generation opportunities. This includes spearheading strategic initiatives and bringing a more focused commercial and business planning approach to the University.

15. 5. ????? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is recognised in independent government assessments as one of Britain's leading research-led universities. The vast majority of the University's research staff work in areas of national and international significance. Such research annually earns grants and investments totalling many tens of millions of pounds and attracts to XXXXXX top researchers from around the world. Whilst high ranking in assessments is welcome, it is the enhancement that our research makes to the quality of life and lifetime prospects of people that is the driving force of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. XXXXXXXX’s partnerships within the region are numerous. We work closely with the NHS, Government and local authorities to contribute to research-led policy making. Such links with governments, their agencies and related bodies extend worldwide and include work with the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and NATO. XXXXXXXXX’spartnerships with business are also both local and global. Our Innovation Network and Manufacturing Engineering Centre are particularly notable in supporting small and medium size enterprises. Internationally we work with multinational corporations such as Sony and IBM.

16. 6. ????? XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is incredibly rich in expertise and research knowledge that can change the way people and organisations think. Use this expertise to work on the challenges that face your organisation.

18. The next step New B2B website went live December 1st 2010 Developing the B2B brand beyond the website Drew up design brief from focus groups and website construction Currently working through concepts Waiting on new rich content (videos) Planning social media activity to promote the site throughout spring

19. Social media Use the right networks LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, blogs? Interaction Sneezers Go-Giving Monitoring what people say Measuring success