This year’s WOMMA Summit is going to be remarkable. Josh Bernoff, Forrester superthinker and co-author of my favorite new business book, Empowered, is keynoting. So is one of the most influential guys on the social Web, Altimeter Group’s Jeremiah Owyang. Great lineup. Thanks to the help of my PR firm, SHIFT Communications, and the great work of my partner, Leslie Bradshaw of JESS3, I am going to present on content marketing. Below is the proposal one of the most delightful people in PR, Abby Snyder, submitted on my and Leslie’s behalf.
2010 WOMMA Submission
3 Take Aways:
- What types of content spreads most effectively throughout the social Web (hint: you might already have this content and not even know it)
- Effective content marketing & social media techniques that allow B2B companies to generate awareness (views, traffic, downloads) and leads (demos, forms)
- How to keep the wheels turning once you have social media traction
Description:
This session will explore how a 10-year old B2B SaaS compan leveraged shareable social content to reposition itself as a future-forward marketing organization.
Eloqua created the marketing automation category, and, in doing so, became the largest, most recognized player in the space. The company’s success earned the attention of industry insiders across the marketing automation, email and CRM sectors, but the attention of broader marketing influencers remained elusive. Further, Eloqua recently found itself competing against a new wave of marketers – companies that are inherently social media savvy, content-driven and fast-moving.
Taking these challenges head on, Eloqua started creating, publishing and inducing the spread of remarkable content. The company teamed with design firm JESS3 and converted two internal resources – The Content Grid infographic and Social Media Playbook e-book – into sharable assets, and then launched a social marketing campaign that urged observers to “steal” the valuable content.
Quantitative results are below, but social media A-lister Scott Monty summarized the impact and importance of Eloqua’s Social Media Playbook when he wrote, “…if I had this available to me some four years ago when I started this site, I would have been much smarter much more quickly. [It’s] filled with exactly the kind of material that will bring you and your employees up to speed on social media.”
Eloqua saw results in awareness:
- 12,000 visitors to Eloqua’s brand new blog
- 1,500+ tweets
- 30,000+ views/downloads
- 50 blog posts, many from the AdAge Power 150
- Applause from influencers including Scott Monty, Jeffrey Hayzlett, Jeremiah Owyang, Jennifer Aaker, David Armano and Sarah Evans
… and leading purchase indicators:
- 43% increase in traffic to the corporate website
- 21% increase in demo views, which have the highest conversion rate
- 12% increase in page views on Eloqua.com
- 14% decrease in “bounces” from Eloqua.com
Eloqua recognizes relationships are built over time. To deepen relationships forged through its initial content marketing campaign, Eloqua engaged its supporters by publicly acknowledging every blog post and comment, inviting supporters and critics alike to participate in future versions of The Content Grid, and listing everyone who blogged or tweeted in a public “thank you” blog post.
Bios:
Joe Chernov is the Director of Content for Eloqua, a marketing automation software provider. In this role, Joe leads all public relations, analyst relations and social media activities. Joe is also a co-chair of WOMMA member ethics panel and an advisory board member at CitySquares.com.
Prior to joining Eloqua, Joe was VP of Communications and Associate VP of Marketing for BzzAgent, a word-of-mouth marketing and media firm in Boston. Joe was also VP of Client Services for Upper Right PR where he “insourced” public relations service for marketing, technology and manufacturing companies.
Leslie Bradshaw serves as the President and Director of Operations of JESS3, where she has helped grow the Company’s client base, service offerings and revenues over the last four years as the co-founder along with her partner in crime, Jesse Thomas. Prior to her role at JESS3, Leslie was the Director of Engagement at New Media Strategies and the Director of New Media at the McLaughlin Group TV show. Her passions lie in working with social technologies to develop and execute award-winning strategies for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, high-profile individuals and advocacy groups.