Seasoned B2B marketers know that the buying process for businesses isn’t always straightforward. Unlike consumer journeys — which typically involve simply adding products to a shopping cart — the Marketing Funnel and the buying processes of B2B customers are more complex.
Industry data shows that 75% of B2B companies spend at least 4 months acquiring a new customer and the average sales cycle length for B2B SaaS companies is 83 days.
Klipfolio Metrics
That’s why when creating campaign ideas, it’s helpful to look at some of the best B2B marketing examples that have worked in the past.
And that is exactly what we are dealing with in this article. We’re going to list some of the most notable marketing campaigns in B2B and what made them so successful. We’ll talk about those too Online Marketing Services and platforms that have supported these campaigns and share best practices that you can use in your own efforts.
In particular, we will discuss examples of B2B marketing campaigns in the following areas:
- Digital Marketing / Social Media
- video marketing
- email marketing
- Creative Marketing
- out-of-home marketing
By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of what it takes to create a killer B2B marketing campaign. You’ll also learn what strategies and tactics work best for different platforms and how to use different digital channels to your advantage. More importantly, you’ll gain insight and inspiration to fuel your own B2B marketing efforts.
Let’s dive in.
If you are creating a social media campaign for B2B leads and buyers, LinkedIn should be on your priority list of social networks. Not only is it the largest professional social network (with nearly 800 million members) LinkedIn is also the most trusted social site on the web. According to insider intelligence73% of LinkedIn users trust the site to protect their privacy and data, compared to just 54% on Facebook.
However, it’s important to understand the types of content that work best on a professional social network like LinkedIn. While cat videos and dance challenges reign supreme on platforms like TikTok, LinkedIn is about helping people improve their work lives. Therefore, one of the best ways to grab LinkedIn users’ attention is by providing quality information they can use at work.
SEO platform Semrush understands this well. Semrush’s teams know their audience wants to get better at SEO, so they regularly post search engine tips and insights. Best of all, the information is packed into colorful and attractive infographics – making it easy for users to consume the content and share it with their network.
Semrush’s approach works really well, and the numbers speak for themselves. Many of the company’s infographics receive hundreds of reactions and numerous comments from people speaking about how helpful the information is.
See if you can take a similar approach. When running a B2B social media campaign via LinkedIn or Instagram, aim to provide easily digestible, engaging information that your audience can use in their careers and use infographics to make your posts visually appealing.
2. Best B2B Video Marketing Campaign Example
Who says business-to-business marketing has to be boring? While it’s true that B2B audiences are more professional than their B2C counterparts, that doesn’t mean your campaigns have to be overly serious or boring.
Strive to breathe life into your B2B marketing efforts by incorporating elements like humor into the mix.
The following example of a B2B video marketing campaign illustrates this well. As early as 2014, the communication platform Slack produced a video entitled “So Yeah, We Tried Slack…”. The video was shot in a mockumentary style similar to The Office.
It starred the fictional company Sandwich Video Inc., which before Slack used email and Dropbox to run its business. The company’s “employees” detailed the struggles they went through with different means of communication – but they did so in the most hilarious way. (Just ask the guy who mostly held meetings in the utility room.)
Enter Slack, which has completely transformed how teams work together. With Slack, employees can communicate and keep their files in one place…plus, it’s a lot easier to send fun pictures. Check out the video above for yourself.
Slack’s video campaign teaches us an important lesson: B2B marketing doesn’t have to be formal, stuffed with industry jargon, or serious. With the right approach, you can add some humor and personality to your initiatives to make them more compelling, humanize your brand, and ultimately help you differentiate yourself from the competition to attract more customers.
3. Best B2B Email Marketing Campaign Example
While instant messages and social media are making waves in marketing, email remains one of the most effective means of communication on the web.
research shows This email has a median ROI of 122%, which is higher than other marketing channels, including social media and search.
That’s why email should definitely be part of your B2B marketing toolkit.
That being said, sending out generic email marketing campaigns just won’t cut it in today’s competitive business landscape. Office workers get one an average of 121 emails per daySo, if your messages don’t immediately grab your audience’s attention, chances are your email will go straight to the trash.
If you’re looking for a good example of an email marketing campaign, check out this one from Airtable, a project management software company.
There are a number of reasons why we love Airtable’s message.
✓ It addresses an important pain point. The subject of the message is “3 Reasons Why Your Productivity May Be Dropping”. The line may be short and sweet, but it addresses a major concern of many professionals: the lack of productivity.
Many people who use Airtable want to be more productive, so the email subject line fits perfectly with the needs and pain points of the company’s target audience.
✓ It contains data. The email contains data from an actual survey of Airtable users. This increases the credibility of the message and encourages the recipient to do more research.
✓ It is digitally accessible. Airtable’s emails are digitally accessible. While the message contains graphics, the main body of the email uses text and works perfectly with a screen reader, so people with visual or hearing impairments can still read the message.
4. Best example of a creative B2B marketing campaign
One of the biggest challenges of B2B marketing is making seemingly boring (but important) topics more interesting and engaging for users.
For example, if you’re selling enterprise security solutions, the long talk about data centers and networks can make people’s eyes glaze over. That’s why marketers have to come up with ways to make B2B topics more exciting.
That’s exactly what Cisco did with its graphic novel SuperSmart Security. Rather than a typical white paper or datasheet, Cisco created a comic book-style resource that tells the story of how a fictional organization (ACME Corporation) tightened its security practices as it expanded.
The main protagonist is Phil, ACME’s Chief Security Officer. The graphic novel shows how Phil works with Cisco Supersmart to ensure the company’s security is seamless. Phil and Supersmart discuss the most common security vulnerabilities companies face and how to combat them.
In the end, the villains fail in hacking ACME’s systems, and the company’s expansion went on smoothly.
Consider implementing something similar if you want to inform users about a boring or tiresome topic. Dress things up by using non-traditional content elements to get your messages across. Keep in mind that there is certainly a time and place for things like white papers and datasheets, but supplementing these assets with more novel components can help you create a successful creative B2B marketing campaign.
5. Best example of a B2B out-of-home marketing campaign
Let’s not forget that great B2B marketing campaigns also take place in the real world (ie not only on the internet).
One of our favorite examples of B2B out-of-home marketing campaigns comes from work management software Monday.com.
In 2019, Monday.com implemented several London Underground ads that “trolled” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The campaign included a series of ads saying “Manage everything. Even London” including references to the Prime Minister’s failed projects.
An ad made fun of the canceled Garden Bridge project. While another showed London stuck on Brexit for over three years.
Of course, your initiatives don’t have to be as bold as Monday.com’s London Underground ads. However, the company’s initiative shows us how important it is to have our finger on the pulse.
By capturing current events and issues in its B2B out-of-home marketing campaign, Monday.com was able to get the public talking. People took photos of the ads and shared them on social media. The media also reported on the campaign and thus generated more attention for the ads – and thus also for Monday.com.
Final Thoughts
Marketing for business people doesn’t have to be boring or difficult. With a little creativity and a willingness to think outside the box, you can create compelling campaigns that drive awareness and sales. And if you need inspiration, just take a look at the examples we’ve shared above and take a leaf out of their playbooks and see how you can use their tactics in your own endeavors.
Enjoyed that? Check out ours B2B Marketing Automation Guide to more best practices to help you launch successful marketing campaigns powered by digital automation.
Comments are closed.