Leveraging Content for B2B Thought Leadership Positioning

The Gist

A leading marketing resources company based in Ontario, Canada needed help with their content and social media. Particularly in the B2B space, content marketing is a critical component to a successful marketing mix. HubSpot reports B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than their non-blogging counterparts (Ceros). As prospects become more informed during early stages of the sales cycle, producing informative yet strategic content is clearly a key way to stand out from the crowd. In fact, 65% of B2B buyers also report that their winning vendor’s content had a significant impact on their buying decisions.

The Challenge

In a congested space such as marketing resources or promotional materials, content is plentiful and unfortunately often low-quality SEO fodder. To combat this content marketing white noise, we helped the client to build a thought leadership position with intelligent, relevant blog content that could bolster the company’s positioning in key service areas as well as the owner’s individual profile as an entrepreneur.

Campaign

We focused on reinforcing key offerings such as integrated marketing, corporate uniforms, and video and multimedia by writing ten blog posts representing the company. Sponsored social media and organic social media supported the blog, as well as the promotion of press releases as client successes came down the pipeline.

We also helped to research, create, and promote a special seasonal infographic to present a light-hearted side of the company and provide a timely, sharable piece of content. The infographic boosted website visits by 27% and gained excellent traction via Twitter with sponsored posts achieving engagement rates upwards of 8-10%.

Results

In May 2015, the client was short listed for a Promotional Products Association International (PPA) Technology Award for “its innovative blog, which provides clients with valuable marketing insights on current marketing trends, hot topics and strategic marketing advice” (Press Release).

“The content we post on the Proforma SI blog is designed to provoke our clients into thinking more critically about their marketing strategies and tactics,” the client, Glenda McCarthy Gaspar, said in a press release. “The articles are focused on topics related to the promotional products industry as well as general marketing ideas and hopefully inspire our audience with creative ways to incorporate promotional products, apparel, into their business plans to drive their sales.”

In addition to this, through the use of promoted and organic social media, an increase of social media followers ranging from 73-110% was achieved YoY. The use of content and social media has helped to build the client’s profile as a leader in the industry, and she has gone on to receive various awards and recognition for the company’s management, growth, and profitability.

Lessons Learned

Though the marketing resources and promotional products space may appear to be full of content – it is not often engaging or useful. By helping to build the foundation of a professional, pragmatic industry blog, the client was able to stand out as a leader among its industry peers as well as with its digital-savvy customers.

Links

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