Content marketing is more than the latest buzz word. Done brilliantly it can be a powerful and versatile tool that will engage, educate, influence and importantly win you new business.
With pay-per-click ads on Google eating more of your budget perhaps it's time to rethink and invest in content marketing.
Here I have selected some of my favourite B2B examples that can inspire you to rethink your own content marketing strategy.
1. Completely London magazine and blog
Brought to you by Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, property specialists in London, this is not exclusively B2B content marketing.
But it cleverly covers all areas of its business from financial services, commercial management to residential lettings. It launched in the property slump of 2009 but has become one of the top 10 brands in London.
The magazine's high-end sleek look and feel and high-quality content, alongside its blog, has dramatically revitalised the agency's visibility.
2. The B2B Marketing manifesto by Velocity Partners Ltd:
More of a traditional content marketing platform this e-book, written in 2010, is still ahead of its time in its messages.
This London-based marketing agency is spot on when it says: "Content Marketing is turning your insight and advice into campaigns that change people's minds and incite action."
The e-book created a swell of in-bound leads for the agency drew a large volume of comments, downloads and conversations.
Velocity's Doug Kessler talks about the manifesto in this interview with Econsultancy.
3. Ted Talks
This American site is an excellent example of how companies can use video as part of their content marketing strategy.
Video is a simple, clean way to capture what experts are thinking, feeling and saying about their field. Short footage with powerful soundbites from the speakers make this a very effective way of communicating your message.
The site claims to have riveting talks by remarkable people - which it certainly lives up to with this talk by Bill Gates on engery consumption and climate change.
4. ShipServ Pages: The Movie
This innovative and funny two-minute stop motion video on YouTube was created to raise awareness of the maritime shipping industry B2B marketplace.
ShipServ sells a technologically advanced product to a market in which buyers are typically skeptical and highly resistant to change.
The company's goal was to find a friendly, non-threatening way to get their buyers attention, educate them and ultimately sell to them. The lego character Rex is described as a a "spare parts supplier, hero and modern-day everyman.
5. IBM's City One simulation game:
World leaders in technology and systems it is not a surprise that IBM leads in creating games such as this.
City One is a fun, but competitive, game for serious urban planners, civil leaders and executives who are challenged to make cities "smarter" or more environmentally and socially sustainable.
This content initiative used three core content marketing strategies to engage, educate and influence the industry.
There are many more examples of how to do B2B content marketing effectively in the Content Marketing Institute's brilliant Top 100 examples of content marketing e-book. Thanks to Joe Pulizzi from the Content Marketing Institute in the States for the inspiration.
FUNNEL, Econsultancy's B2B marketing conference takes place at Emirates Stadium, 13 November 2012. FUNNEL was created to help bring together sales and marketing teams to define better ways of turning awareness into interest and interest into revenue – while tracking the entire cycle.
Find out how you can align your marketing and sales efforts at FUNNEL.
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