Content Marketing at 4 Companies - IBM, Siemens, CIT and Information Builders

In yesterday's post I gave an overview of the BtoB NetMarketing breakfast where leading marketers discussed, in detail, the use of content in their overall marketing plans. What we are starting to see is an evolution of the marketing profession into a marketing/publishing mixture.

Here are some of the highlights that pertain to online content marketing.

Bill Stabile, Siemens Corp.

• According to Forrester, the majority of marketers want to put more budgetary funds into the web.  This includes Siemens, which at the present time puts 20 - 30% into online.  Mr. Stabile stated how huge this number is, especially since, according to him, Siemens barely had an online footprint a few years back.
• Siemens is positioning themselves around online thought leadership and credibility, with a focus on engagement.
• There is no doubt that online is the focal point of their ongoing campaigns.
• Siemens Answers campaign is Siemens first big push into an integrated print/online campaign. Print, online media, search, online pr and social media all push to the Siemens Answers microsite.
• They measure their activity in awareness, favorability, response and leads.
• Mr. Stabile focused on the use of traditional, mainstream media to drive to their own online content initiatives.
• He stated that 90% of technology and industrial decision makers go online to find suppliers. This is something Siemens is taking very seriously.
• Their future area of focus: moving to two-way communications.  Right now, he would consider what they are doing one-way communications.
• INTERESTING STATEMENT - Mr. Stabile said that minor changes in the marketing mix can lead to substantial business increases (5% movement of trade shows into online was the example).

Chris Boylan, Information Builders

• His goal for the $300 million btob software company is to generate more leads from less traffic.
• Big goals: increase brand awareness, generate leads, integrate lead generation reporting with SFA system, and track campaign through to sales.
• Mr. Boylan stated that the main goal when someone gets to their website is to guide visitors to the most compelling content.
• They use separate landing pages for their white papers with minimal distractions - just get them to complete the form!
• They use Baynote - had 10% increase in conversion just by using this software.
• They shoot for lead price to between $20 and $40 per lead when using lead gen and white paper syndication sites such as ITToolbox.
• Over last year, they increased their overall budget by 15%. 57% of that goes into PPC and organic search efforts.
• Since last year, they saw a 40% lead increase. 857,000 unique visitors, 25,994 total leads - $45.82 per lead. This generated $35+ million in new business. 13,991 leads from PPC and organic search. 12,003 through syndication.

John Carnero, CIT

• Created "Behind the Business" series in partnership with Conde Nast, which was a video series promoted using The New Yorker, Wired, Portfolio and Golf Digest. The premise is an ongoing series with leading CEOs about how they became CEOs and define success.
• The entire program includes advertorial, events, online advertising, video/podcasts, etc.
• They also promoted it through a LinkedIn advertising plan.
• Also created a program called "5 Minute Capital", which is a 5 minute podcast on Intellectual Capital. Their goal is to position key employees as thought leaders, partnering with media sites to drive traffic to their content.

Eric Andrews, IBM

• IBM is to transition from push to pull marketing strategies.
• Mr. Andrews stated that they can no longer interrupt their customers - they must provide relevant content for when their customers are ready, and in formats they prefer.
• Marketing is changing to a conversation.
• In Web 1.0, we were consumers of media. In Web 2.0, we are participants.
• At IBM, customers are in control and they guide the marketing conversation. That means that IBM has to be quicker, more responsive, and must listen to all feedback.
• Social Media enables those conversations through communities, forums, discussion groups,etc.
• IBM promotes employee participation in blogs (has blogger's code of conduct).
• The strategy starts with listening - posts, feedback, what customers are saying, etc. This helps them to understand the language they speak.

As you can see from the notes, these four companies get it. They get the fact that the marketer is in control, and to be part of the conversation, they have to create relevant and compelling content consistently, and in multiple formats.

Toward the end of the presentation, there was a lot of talk about how marketers need to be storytellers - creating useful content...specifically targeted micro-niche audiences with very precise bits of information.

The future has arrived!

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