I'm currently spending the day at The Great British Family Business event run by Paul Andrews and the Family Business United team. It's incredibly fresh to see the businesses on show, many 4th and 5th generation companies - companies manufacturing actual physical goods and then selling them for more than they cost to make. The way we were taught business as school.

The current session is being run By Clare Stirzaker a Partner at PwC and their Family Governance Leader.  PwC are also a sponsor of the event.  So often with large corporate organisations and professional services firms we imagine that they just want to be at the biggest events and getting PR coverage in the national press. That's great for the big brand building exercises but on its own is lazy marketing. 

This is not the biggest event in the world, probably about 130 people, but it is a very relevant audience of people in senior positions at the exact firms that I imagine Clare and her team want to talk to. 

By leading this panel Clare is demonstrating her knowledge and expertise in a very clear and authentic way. I don't know how many people in this room use PwC but on the back of Clare's panel session, if they have a bust up with their current accountants there is a good chance they will pick up the phone to Clare and at least have a chat. 

These type of focussed events are a great way to engage with a very targeted, relevant group of people in a relaxed environment. Clare has also shown us the results of an amazing piece of research into family businesses by PwC.  This means thy we have now seen the expertise of the PwC firm and their seriousness around working with family businesses and also the expertise of Clare and given a face to the firm. But it's impossible to launch a research report and attend events every day.

That's where "Social Selling" comes in. It allows you to do what Clare and her team are doing today but every single day of the year, and at a very low cost, on LinkedIn, Twitter and by email. When done well this allows you to build new contacts and then nurture them through to becoming clients. Then, when they are clients it allows you to continually help, guide and inform those clients which means they stay and work with you longer. 

So when building your content strategy remember to target events that might not necessarily be the biggest but are the most relevant - and when the event comes to an end, continue to talk to and inform those relevant people with your authentic, expert-led content.