trends + trendsetters: the best in b2b technology content marketing

Trends + Trendsetters THE BEST IN B2B TECHNOLOGY CONTENT MARKETING

NewsCred Trends + Trendsetters

NewsCred’s Strategy Team helps brands build and hone their content strategies, taking into consideration marketing goals, brand positioning and

the competitive landscape.

Our Trends + Trendsetters guides aim to educate marketers on trends,

opportunities and content strategies that best-in-class brands are utilizing to

engage their audiences. In this guide, we’ll take a look at content marketing

in the b2b technology industry.

Interested in learning more? We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach

out at [email protected]

- Liz Bedor, Associate Brand Strategist, NewsCred

The B2B technology buying process is complicated.

The marketplace is crowded.

And the complexity of the sale only increases as more stakeholders get involved.

Technology marketers, however, can leverage content marketing to simplify their message and

connect to these decision-makers.

A recent study by MarketingSherpa surveyed 4,000 b2b technology business professionals to understand what types of

content these buyers are looking for.

Source: Stories that Sell: Study Reveals Business Technology Buyers’ Need for Content

The types of content most requested?

Case Studies


67% of buyers reported case studies at the top

of their list for their most desired content.

Educational content


84% of buyers want content that educates

them and expect vendors to provide it.

Content that solves a problem


72% of buyers want to find “solutions

to solve a current problem”

Content customized to different buying stages


60% of buyers look for different types of content

depending on their needs at the time.

Here we’ll discuss strategies of brands leading in these four areas of content marketing

and see how they approach creating these types of content.

Case Studies

Customer Success Stories SALESFORCE

In 1999, Salesforce was founded as a CRM company.

Since then, the brand has grown into a tech giant, expanding its end-to-end SAAS offering over

the past fifteen years.

Since the beginning, however, sharing customer success has been at the forefront

of its marketing strategy.

Salesforce’s Customer Success Stories page is the core hub for sharing

these stories and case studies with prospects and customers.

Content lives at www.salesforce.com/customers

HOW SALESFORCE, THE LEADING CRM ON DEMAND SOLUTION, HAS HELPED ITS CUSTOMERS MEET AND EXCEED

BUSINESS GOALS.

“

“

Readers are able to filter through the comprehensive collection by industry,

product or business size to find the best match for their use case.

Communications

Financial Services

Government

Healthcare + Life Sciences

High Tech

Manufacturing

Media

Nonprofit + Higher Ed

Retail

Services

Travel + Transportation

Salesforce1 Mobile App

Sales Cloud

Service Cloud

Marketing Cloud

Salesforce1 Platform

Salesforce Chatter

Community Cloud

Data.com

Desk.com

Salesforce Work.com

1-99 Employees

100 – 999 Employees

1000+ Employees

INDUSTRY PRODUCT BUSINESS SIZE

The brand’s collection of case studies not only covers vast depth and breadth, but the content itself

is compelling and comprehensive.

The Salesforce case study formula: DETAILED USE CASE SYSTEM SCREENSHOTS LISTED PRODUCTS USED CUSTOMER QUOTE CUSTOMER VIDEO

While powering this extensive catalog is no easy task, the team has developed a

"content engine" system that starts with a central focus.

“

We start with an ebook. From there we publish the content by recycling and

reusing it on multiple media.

- AMANDA NELSON - Content Marketing Manager

Salesforce

”

Start by creating an eBook

Read the eBook aloud and make it an audio

book

Interview a customer for a quote in the

eBook and put that up as a video

Take the audio from the video and

make a podcast

Create a presentation from the eBook with

highlights

A sample “content engine.”

Source: CMI, How to Keep Your Compelling Content Engine Fueled and Running Smoothly, 2012

Community Manager

Distributes content

across social

channels, engages

online communities,

and contributes to

content projects.

Content Marketer /

Editor Strategizes, writes,

and oversees

content projects to

ensure brand

consistency and

alignment with

business

objectives.

Contributors Any content creator-

blogger,

photographer,

designer — who

contributes to your

project.

Designer Brings content to life

through the user

experience and rich

visuals.

SEO / Paid Specialist

Manages the paid

distribution of

content online.

Analytics Defines best/ worst

performers,

conversion

optimization and

measurement

communications.

Curation Finds and re-

purposes the best

content from your

business and from

around the web.

The content engine is also powered by a team of dedicated marketers with various roles and responsibilities.

As a result of this strategy, the team has seen about a 300% year-over-year increase in

eBook shares and downloads and 150% increase in blog post social shares.

Educational content

Zuora Academy ZUORA

Zuora is a cloud-based software company that provides everything needed to run a

subscription-based business.

“

- GABE WEISERT - Content Marketing Manager

Zuora

”

We’re selling a business model, transitioning from selling a product outright

to subscription.

To support this mission, Zuora founded an Academy as a central source for helpful, how-to information about running this type of business.

The Academy includes informative content, ranging from foundational overviews to industry deep-dives, for a variety of roles including marketing, finance, technology and operations.

Content lives at www.zuora.com/academy

WELCOME TO THE ACADEMY, WHERE OUR MISSION IS TO HELP

YOU BUILD AND RUN AN AMAZING SUBSCRIPTION BUSINESS.

“

“

“


Zuora

”

The goal is to teach people, and we definitely try to do that in the most entertaining,

compelling way possible.

With customer success managers and finance decision makers being Zuora’s main target

audiences, the content focuses around pain points felt in those organizations, such as customer

retention, fighting churn and billing, rather than Zuora product offerings.

Customer Success content

CUSTOMER SUCCESS IN

THE ORG CHART: 4

SCENARIOS

HOW ZUORA BUILT

CUSTOMER SUCCESS

3 REASONS WHY SALES

IS NOT CUSTOMER

SUCCESS

Finance content

4 WAYS SUBSCRIPTION

SUBLEDGERS CAN HELP

YOU CLOSE YOUR

BOOKS

DEFINING A WINNING

SUBSCRIPTION PRICING

MODEL

SCALING SUBSCRIPTION

SALES & BILLING

OPERATIONS

To create the content, the team interviews a variety of resources, including

Zuora customers and finance and marketing professionals.

“


Zuora

”

Everyone loves to talk, nobody likes to write. A lot of times we’ll hold 30 minute interviews, record

the transcript and edit that so we still get a sense of their personality.

Lead generation is also a main key performance indicator at the center

of the Academy’s strategy.

The team has successfully approached this objective by un-gating all copy, but gating the

option to download PDF versions.

With this strategy, anyone can easily access Zuora's helpful content, but only the

contact information for prospects with strong interest is captured.

Finally, while creating quality content is the backbone of the Academy’s strategy, the team has noticed common trends in its best-

performing pieces.

“


Zuora

”

Titles are super important. Odd numbers, how-to’s, talking about things that didn’t go well,

mistakes to avoid, etc. These are all things that consistently perform for us.

Content that solves a problem

Counter Culture SHOPKEEP

Founded in 2008, ShopKeep is a cloud- based, mobile point of sale solution for small and medium-sized businesses.

The company’s mission has always been to help local brick and mortar businesses

succeed, and a big part of that meant providing useful content.

“

From the start, we wanted to be more of a partner. We wanted to be a company

that helps our customers succeed.

- PAUL NUGENT - Director of Content

ShopKeep

”

In 2013, the company launched Counter Culture, a news and advice center dedicated to helping small businesses succeed.

Content lives at www.shopkeep.com/counter-culture

Formulating the content strategy took about two months, and the team went

straight to the source to find out what their audience wanted.

“

We interviewed merchants, did site visits and hosted phone calls with small

business owners. We asked about their pain points and areas of concern.


ShopKeep

”

Content is organized by important topics

universally relevant to small businesses,

including inspiration, money, operations,

planning and technology.

Inspiration

10 WAYS SMALL

BUSINESSES BENEFIT THE

LOCAL COMMUNITY

HOW TO DEFINE YOUR

BRAND AND CREATE A

KILLER SMALL BUSINESS

LOGO

TOP TEN THINGS TO GET

RIGHT WHEN OPENING A

COFFEE SHOP

SMALL BUSINESS IS AWESOME. THIS IS WHY.

Money

A 6 STEP GUIDE FOR

DECIDING HOW MUCH TO

PAY YOUR STAFF

MOST IMPORTANT TAX

WRITE-OFFS FOR

INDEPENDENT BUSINESS

OWNERS

8 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR

SMALL BUSINESS CASH

FLOW

THE LANGUAGE OF BUSINESS IS DOLLARS AND CENTS. CONSIDER THIS YOUR ROSETTA STONE.

Planning

THE 7 BEST FREE

RESOURCES FOR

PLANNING YOUR NEW

BUSINESS

WHAT SMALL BUSINESS

OWNERS NEED TO KNOW

ABOUT FINDING A

COMMERCIAL SPACE

4 THINGS YOUR

PROBABLY HAVEN’T

CONSIDERED ABOUT

CHOOSING A RETAIL

LOCATION

BECAUSE THE BOY SCOUTS WERE RIGHT: FAIL TO PREPARE AND YOU BETTER PREPARE TO FAIL.

Technology

10 REASONS THE IPAD IS

THE PERFECT TOOL FOR

SMALL BUSINESS

YOUR COMPREHENSIVE

GUIDE TO CONTACTLESS

PAYMENTS

4 TECHNOLOGIES THAT

WILL IMPROVE YOUR

RESTAURANT OPERATIONS

IT’S TIME TO EMBRACE THE TECH YOU NEED TO SUCCEED.

ShopKeep also leverages the expertise of other small business owners as guest

bloggers, using Counter Culture as a platform for knowledge exchange.

“

Small business owners don’t always want to hear what we have to say. They want to hear what other

small business owners have to say.


ShopKeep

”

“Why You Need to Track Industry Trends in Retail”

Tips on how boutique owner, Mackenzi Farquer, keeps up to date on fashion trends.

I SPEND A SIGNIFICANT TIME READING CERTAIN PUBLICATIONS, ATTENDING INDUSTRY EVENTS, TRADE SHOWS,

YOU NAME IT – ALL TO STAY ON TOP OF WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE SPACE.

“

“

“Ponshop Studio’s Gabriel Pons on Transitioning from Corporate to

Small Business”

Advice on how to prepare for a career change for running a small business.

YOU HAVE TO GO WITH YOUR HEART, BUT YOU ALSO NEED TO PREPARE YOURSELF AS

BEST AS YOU CAN. YOU’LL BE DOING A LOT

OF LEARNING AS YOU GO, BUT IT HELPS TO

DO PRIOR RESEARCH AND SPEAK WITH OTHERS

WHO ARE CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH IT.

“

“

In order to drive consistent engagement, Counter Culture delivers a weekly digest

to its subscribed readers.

Staying true to keeping its readers as the focus, however, the digest doesn’t only

include Counter Culture content.

Rather, the team includes

anything they see around

the web that week that

they feel is valuable for

their audience, regardless

of the source.

Overtime, the strategy has evolved to include prioritizing SEO and including middle and

bottom of the funnel content.

“


ShopKeep

”

We’re starting to write more helpful content on Point of Sale topics, such as how to run employee

shift reports to help us rank when a potential prospect is organically searching

for that information.

Content customized to different buying stages

Business Innovation SAP

In 2012, SAP began a marketing initiative that put content at the forefront with the SAP Business Innovation blog.

The site’s business goals were to create an affinity for SAP products, establish the brand as a thought leader by answering early-stage buyer

questions, and drive calls-to-action.

To formulate the strategy, the team began with a content

audit to see the difference in organic search traffic, between

unbranded terms, like "big data" versus SAP branded terms that

included product names like "HANA."

CLUSTER BRAND OR NON-BRAND

TOTAL MONTHLY SEARCHES (EST.)

Analytics Brand 458 3000x

Analytics Non-Brand 1,520,761

Cloud Brand 398 1000x

Cloud Non-Brand 578,460

Data Brand 28,884 17x

Data Non-Brand 470,967

Mobility Brand 12,488 28x

Mobility Non-Brand 345,598

BI Brand 532,486 -2x

BI Non-Brand 277,156

CRM/Sales Brand 156,028 40x

CRM/Sales Non-Brand 6,313,329

ERP Brand 777,092 -2x

ERP Non-Brand 324,595

HCM Brand 55,536 7x

HCM Non-Brand 379,954

Accounting. Finance Brand 30,497 24x

Accounting. Finance Non-Brand 720,493

TOTAL Brand 1,688,883 13x

TOTAL Non-Brand 13,616,715

The team found there were many more search queries

across nearly every one of the categories for

unbranded search terms.

They then looked at how much traffic SAP received from these non-branded searches, and

found that 99.9% of SAP's traffic came from branded search terms.

This meant almost all their traffic was from late-stage prospects already considering to

purchase SAP and virtually none of their traffic was from early-stage prospects

looking for potential solutions.

This was especially a problem because SAP was vastly expanding its portfolio to include new

solutions and were looking to grow awareness and penetrate those markets.

The final step was to look at the existing catalog of content by buyer stage.

They found that 94% of their content was middle-stage or late-stage content, which mirrored the type of traffic they were receiving.

EARLY-STAGE CONTENT 6%

MIDDLE-STAGE CONTENT 28%

LATE-STAGE CONTENT 66%

Based on this data, the team knew they needed to focus on reaching early-stage buyers, especially in

these newer solution categories.

Today, Business Innovation helps help executives develop a deeper understanding of the trends affecting the future of business through fact-based executive research, supplemented by the latest thinking from expert bloggers.

Site lives at www.blog.sap.com/innovation

The sites over 11,000 blog posts are easy to navigate with categories including future of business, technologies, line of business,

industries and SMB.

Content is also customized for every buyer, no matter where they are in their journey.

Content across the buyer journey

Early-Stage Content Quality, licensed content around broader, shareable topics that drives visibility and engagement: blog posts

Awareness



Middle-Stage Content A combination of licensed and custom content that hits on niche topics specific to SAP’s offering and solutions: white papers, case studies, video and infographics

Awareness

Evaluation




Late-Stage Content Custom content promoting SAP’s products and services: technology guides and case studies

Awareness

Evaluation

Purchase




Late-Stage Content Custom content promoting SAP’s products and services: technology guides and case studies

Customer Stage Content Consistent cadence and mix of content as well as personalized recommendations: white papers, case studies, technology guides

Awareness

Retain

Evaluation

Purchase

EARLY-STAGE Content

Authenticity Isn’t a Strategy – It’s About Real Customer

Conversations

[Blog Post]

7 Ways Managers can Keep Their Employees

Happier in 2015

[Blog Post]

Is Your Brand Telling Meaningful Stories?

[Blog Post]

Why Simplification Initiatives Succeed Only When

Executives Lead

[White Paper]

5 Steps to Increase Your Visual Content

Engagement

[Infographic]

Life in the Networked Economy

[Video]

MIDDLE-STAGE Content

Savannah Cement Innovates with High-

Speed Analytics

[Case Studies]

LATE-STAGE Content

SAP HANA Revs Up Reporting

[TECHNOLOGY GUIDE]

How Cloud Enables a Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy On the Web

[TECHNOLOGY GUIDE]

Nespresso: Selling the Perfect Coffee Experience with SAP Cloud for Sales

[CASE STUDY]

CUSTOMER-STAGE Content

Will Internet of Things Impact the Workplace?

[BLOG POST]

How to Translate Customer Loyalty Into

Repeat Sales

[VIDEO]

How to Deliver a Coordinated Customer Experience Across

Every Channel

[E-BOOK]

3 MILLION 5.08 MINUTES 1.8 THOUSAND

The new strategy proved to be a success with leaps in traffic, engagement and publicity. Within a

year the site received:

PAGE VIEWS TIME ON SITE

REACH ENGAGEMENT CONVERSION

CONVERSIONS

RECOGNITION

PUBLICITY

Want to learn more?

Our team of strategists can help your brand build a marketing growth engine. From ongoing support and

program management, to customized strategy sessions and workshops, we’ll set your brand up for success.

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