At Content Marketing World, my good friend Ann Handley, coauthor of Content Rules and Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, presented a number of innovative examples of content marketing. The following are some of the B2B examples she shared in her presentation. Any metrics or results came from Ann’s presentation or published information. These examples are meant to inspire B2B marketers to think bigger than just basic written or video content. And bigger doesn’t mean spending more money.
Content marketing means you consistently create and share information that is
- Packed with utility
- Seeded with inspiration
- Honestly empathetic
to attract customers to you.
Here are 7 examples of innovative B2B content marketing:
1. Kinvey ebook
Kinvey provides a backend infrastructure that makes it easy for developers to set up cloud hosted mobile apps. It is a natural fit for them to create content about creating mobile apps, in this case one called How to Make an App: Android. This first content offering was so successful, they created a series of ebooks on create mobile apps for other platforms. More than 40% of customers who opened a Kinvey account first converted on a content offer.
2. Marketo Coloring Book
Marketing automation company, Marketo, wanted to make marketing fun again and created the Marketo Big Activity Coloring Book. It featured such activities as thought leader book matchup, dress a marketer, a revenue cycle maze and a marketing automation mad lib and has been downloaded over 22,000 times.
3. MarketingProfs Slideshare Infomercial
MarketingProfs wanted to do something different to drive registrations for its upcoming conference, so they called on their love of late night informercials and created one. But on Slideshare. And the results were impressive. They had four sales in the first hour
4. UberFlip Video Infographic
UberFlip helps companies present and distribute their content in dynamic ways, so when they wanted to tell the visual story of the growth of online video, they created a video infographic. This drove tremendous awareness and traffic with 800% increase in blog traffic.
5. Levenfeld Pearlstein Profile Videos
Law firm Levenfeld Pearlstein discovered that the attorney profile pages were the most visited pages on their website. This is not surprising, as prospective clients want to know the backgrounds of the attorneys they would be working with. So they created a series of videos with attorneys answering interesting questions, beyond the usual legal stuff. Attorneys talked about first jobs, most prized possession, how one met his wife, and even time travel.
6. IBM Smarter Planet Billboard
IBM has been promoting its Smarter Planet initiatives for quite a while. One of the most innovative approaches to sharing the ideas of things being smarter is to provide multiple uses for billboards. When posted in cities, they can provide utility, as in this example with a curved top that functions as an awning to people out of the rain. If you wonder if this is content marketing, let’s look back at Ann’s definition. Content marketing means you consistently create and share information that is packed with utility, seeded with inspiration and honestly empathetic to attract customers to you. This is definitely all those things.
7. TalkTo iPhone App Update Notes
Mobile app TalkTo lets you text businesses instead of calling them, and TalkTo will make sure they get the message. Even if they don’t use texts. They have created content in an unlikely place. The update notes in iTunes store. The update starts with “now comes with 600 pounds of awesome sauce,” so you get a clue about what to expect. Click the image below to read further updates, including many about David Hasselhoff. This is a company that is building a business, connecting with consumers and businesses by creating a unique voice and having fun doing it.
What are other examples of innovative B2B content marketing you have seen?