We know that 93% of B2B marketers were using content marketing in 2014. That number is up just a tick from 2013 and will likely climb again in 2015. But what does this slow trend mean for content marketers in the B2B world?
It means that it’s time to step up their content game. It’s no longer enough to simply produce “more” content. Now is the time to produce killer content that knocks the competition out of the water.
If you’re looking for great B2B content marketing case studies, we’ve published 11 killer content examples here and 12 more here. We’ve also collected 20 more B2B content marketing examples from the 2015 B2B Content2Conversion conference. Below you will find a brief example from each winning entry including one for TopRank Online Marketing. I think you’ll find some great ideas and inspiration, just like I did.
EMC: Buyer-Focused Content
EMC was looking for a solution to bridge the gap between channel partners and digital-only buyers. The answer? A new digital shopping experience for IT professionals that bridged the gap, selling products directly as well as generating leads for EMC partners.
Results: Page views increased 55% month-over-month, average bounce rate: 49%, leads increased by 100%, over $12 million in booked revenue.
Glassdoor: Buyer-Focused Content
Glassdoor created an “Employer Branding for Dummies” eBook to solidify the company as a leader in the human resources and recruiting space.
Results: This was the top performing Glassdoor eBook which contributed 27% of leads and 28% of pipeline from content in 2014.
Lattice Engines: Buyer-Focused Content
While interest in predictive lead scoring picked up in 2014, Lattice Engines wanted to set themselves apart from the growing field of solutions providers in the industry. A buyer’s guide helped distinguish them from the crowd.
Results: The buyer’s guide yielded more than 200 gated downloads and influenced more than 24 opportunities.
Microsoft Visual Studio: Buyer-Focused Content
Product release events have been a big part of the Microsoft Visual Studio marketing plan. As product releases increased in frequency and global scope, Microsoft Visual Studio needed an online hub to contain all of the event assets.
Results: This campaign involved 7,200 concurrent users and 30,500 live streams resulting in 81,471 site visits, 180,169 page views and 2,795 click-throughs.
Trapit: Buyer-Focused Content
To highlight the benefits of social selling, Trapit developed a white paper that incorporated research findings from notable analyst groups including Forrester Research, who also highlighted steps for implementing a B2B social selling strategy.
Results: More than 10,000 top of funnel leads were generated, creating up to 70% of new pipeline and 2 new customers from the content.
Panasonic: Combination of Paid, Earned & Owned Media
To follow up with the Toughpad E1 device launch, Panasonic held a sweepstakes that featured a video and a graphic novel that was developed to support the product’s launch. The product plays a significant role in the video.
Results: 53 million traditional media impressions, more than 450,000 social earned media impressions, and 14 million partner and fan post impressions.
Cision: Influencer Content
As the PR industry has been changing in recent years, Cision saw the opportunity to partner with an influencer to co-create content that benefited both parties. By partnering with Brian Solis of Altimeter group, Cision developed an eBook on Slideshare that was used both as a tool for a PR audience looking to build tech skills, but also as a key part of a Solis presentation.
Results: 209,673 views on Slideshare, the content was shared by 11 Twitter influencers that reached a combined audience of 2 million. The content also generated 600 sales leads.
TopRank Online Marketing: Influencer Campaign
TopRank Marketing planned and implemented an influencer marketing program to create awareness for Content Marketing World 2014. Four separate eBooks, 4 infographics and a series of long form interviews were developed on a common “Alice in Wonderland” theme involving more than 40 marketing industry influencers.
Results: More than 145,000 views on Slideshare, 20,000 views on TopRankBlog.com, 13,000 social shares, 2,000 pdf downloads, 800 leads and 200 event referrals.
Penton: Interactive Content
To boost online engagement and capture leads, the Design, Engineer and Sourcing Group at Penton created a “World’s Greatest Engineer Movie” contest. A March Madness style bracket was created and buyers voted down pairings from 32 classic and new films in which engineers and technology drove the plot.
Results: The contest received 63,354 page views, 11,487 total votes, and developed 3,279 unique leads.
The Trade Desk: Interactive Content
To encourage ad buyers to take advantage of the coming frenzy of World Cup activity, The Trade Desk developed a video that showed how a fictional brand used its platform for realtime ad bidding.
Results: The video generated 276,184 impressions, 2,062 clicks, a .74% CTR, and 83 new contacts.
Unitrends: Interactive Content
To add fun to a data recovery white paper, Unitrends created a horror-themed game that was released around Halloween.
Results: 300 leads were converted, 185 which were net new, resulting in $300,000 in new sales pipeline and $32,000 in closed sales.
Experian Marketing Services: Measurable ROI
Experian developed The Digital Marketer, a long-form trends report to help businesses navigate the digital marketing landscape.
Results: From 8,978 downloads, 4,154 opt-ins were generated, resulting in 359 leads.
Marketo: Measurable ROI
To reach customers just getting started in social media, Marketo developed a sample plan to show prospects how to map a social media strategy.
Results: 40,791 downloads generated 3,847 new names gained in paid programs, 522 social media shares, 1,664 new sales opportunities, $582,471 multi-touch pipeline and $381,671 multi-touch revenue won.
Influitive: Multi-Touch Campaign
To educate a larger audience on advocacy marketing and to promote AdvocateHub, a new software tool, Influitive developed content including ebooks and a late night talk show-themed video.
Results: The video was viewed by 1,500 people in the first 24 hours and one of the eBooks generated 49 direct opportunities and $990,000 in sales pipeline.
Offerpop: Multi-Touch Campaign
Marketers subscribed to Offerpop’s “Staycation” program to receive eBooks, infographics, worksheets and videos to learn about the latest digital marketing trends.
Results: 1,650 prospects registered for the program, campaign received more than 10,000 views, email open rate was 38.8%, 7,013 new sales leads.
Optum: Multi-Touch Content
To maintain relevance to its audience in a rapidly-changing healthcare system, Optum developed it’s “Game Changer” campaign, offering eBooks, infographics, white papers and case studies to prospects.
Results: Over 4.9 million impressions were generated, resulting in more than 5,300 form submissions, a 89% open rate, and ultimately $4.9 million in closed business.
Dell: Nurture Campaign
Dell developed a Solutions Nurture program that allowed customers to experience content across the entire purchase journey. Modular content capabilities allowed Dell to amplify reach and create a scalable responsive email program.
Results: The campaign reduced email production time by 30%, resulted in 25% open rates, a 4.8% CTR, and a 35% increase in conversion rates, tripling average orders.
Quintiq: Nurture Campaign
Quintiq developed a content hub containing more than 200 pieces of content translated into 8 different languages. Content was integrated with a CRM to help Quintiq sales staff build customizable content experiences for buyers.
Results: The campaign saw 23.9% open rates, 6.5% increase in email click rate, 132% increase in multi-touch attribution for nurture programs.
SAP & Avnet: Nurture Campaign
SAP partnered with Avnet to help data analytics software offerings. To release the new software, content was developed to engage resellers and empower them to sell successfully.
Results: 30 new resellers participated in the program, resulting in 5,450 prospects, more than 500 marketing qualified leads, 23 sales appointments with executive decision makers.
For more details on each of the above case studies, including lessons learned from each project, see the conference site for a complete list and presentation of award winners or check out this full deck for details:
What are your favorites of the award winners, do you have other killer content to point out to our audience?
