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The landscape of B2B marketing is constantly evolving, adapting to technological advancements, and changing customer preferences. Staying ahead of the competition in this landscape requires companies to invest more time into getting to know their target audience, and experimenting with new strategies. The challenge is figuring out which B2B campaign methods drive the right results.
While business leaders know they need to experiment to increase marketing ROI, most can’t afford to waste time and money on ineffective campaigns in today’s difficult economic landscape.
Fortunately, there is an alternative solution: take inspiration from the top campaigns already making a splash in the B2B world. Today, we’re looking at some of the best B2B marketing campaigns of 2023, to help inspire your next-gen marketing journey.
For years, events have stood as one of the most valuable B2B marketing strategies. They offer companies a way to share thought leadership content, boost their reputation, strengthen relationships with consumers, and drive attention from media publications. In 2024, there are more options for hosting events than ever before, with online and virtual solutions bursting into the spotlight.
Already, 73% of B2B leaders say webinars and online events are one of the best ways to gain high-quality leads. Canva showed us evidence of just how effective events can be with their “Canva Create” event in 2023. The online experience, featuring keynote speakers, user-generated content expos, and announcements about upcoming features was a massive success.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMQEjf0_C-M
By the end of the event, Canva had attracted 40 million new customers, and earned tons of online coverage from reputable publications. What’s more, by showcasing customer-created content, it strengthened its relationships with its existing community too.
Key takeaway: Experiment with events to showcase thought leadership, engage your community, and earn coverage from press publications around the globe.
Sometimes, even the biggest brands have trouble driving attention to their products, and increasing subscription numbers. In 2023, Adobe wanted to boost the number of business users accessing its “Acrobat” software. Rather than going it alone on a new campaign, they partnered with influential figure, Hassan Minjah to appeal directly to their target audience with entertaining videos.
Hasan already had a strong reputation, with a presence on Netflix and various other channels, making him a great collaborator for Adobe’s approach. The team worked together on a social-led campaign, designed to showcase how small businesses and entrepreneurs could use the Acrobat software to maximise their digital workflows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKGK0udq8i8
The emotional and engaging campaign generated incredible results. While the campaign was running, the company earned 7% more subscribers for Acrobat (a 10% increase year over year). Additionally, they got more than 29 million engagements on social channels.
Key takeaway: Partner with reputable figures to boost the credibility of your brand, and showcase your product in a new light across a range of channels.
In recent years, many B2B companies have discovered that if they want to stand out in a crowded market, they need to go beyond “dry” informative campaigns and start showcasing their personality. Just like B2C consumers, B2B customers want to feel a human connection with the businesses they buy from, which makes sending the right message in the right tone crucial.
Squarespace demonstrated how effective showcasing a unique personality can be in their Super Bowl campaign for 2023: The Singularity. Directed by an award-winning filmmaker (Aoife McArdle), the ad draws attention to Squarespace’s history as a pioneering website builder, while also highlighting its creative personality.
Combining humour and high-quality cinematic execution, Squarespace’s ad reminds companies that it isn’t just a website builder – it’s a company committed to serving artists and creators. The campaign earned significant attention at the Super Bowl and got plenty of consumers talking online.
Key Takeaway: Stand out with quirky messaging and visuals that showcase your company’s unique personality and core values.
While marketing strategies in the B2B landscape naturally evolve from one year to the next, the power of content remains consistent. More than just a way to boost search engine visibility, the right content can help companies earn the trust of their consumers, accelerating buying cycles.
Ambitious fintech company, Payoneer, needed a way to increase its visibility in 2023, attracting the attention of new B2B customers across the UAE, Brazil, Philippines, and India. Rather than just creating a basic press release or webinar, the company invested in a wide variety of different content assets, designed to attract the attention of different audience segments with specific goals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbF36LRLfcw
The campaign included a range of videos, focusing on different “buyer personas” like “Business Warriors”. It also ran across social media, connected TV networks, and podcasts. The result was a 10% increase in global brand awareness and a 23% improvement in brand sentiment.
Key takeaway: Create unique tailored content to specific segments of your target audience, and share it across a range of channels to boost visibility and recognition.
In today’s fast-moving B2B world, it’s often difficult to capture customer attention by re-hashing the same ideas and campaign strategies. Businesses are looking for fresh new insights and content from experts who can demonstrate true innovation and thought leadership. GFK-NIQ’s campaign “Human vs AI” served that purpose.
The campaign, which won an award in the “B2B Marketing Awards for 2023”, took advantage of the growing conversation around artificial intelligence, to highlight just how impactful the company’s products were. In immersive videos, the company’s CMO goes head-to-head against ChatGPT, to show the real differences between AI and human intuition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv7zVHoKKTY
The campaign effectively positioned GFK as a thought leader in the AI landscape, while also drawing attention to their fun and lighthearted brand personality. With more than 70,000 video views and endless social media impressions, the campaign proved to be a phenomenal success.
Key takeaway: Tap into the latest trends and share your thoughts, opinions, and unique experiences to position yourself as an industry thought leader.
There have been numerous excellent examples of effective B2B marketing campaigns worldwide over the last year. The five above represent just some of our favourite picks from the world of content marketing, event marketing, social media, video, and more.
While all of these campaigns have their own unique elements, they also excel at engaging their audience, through the careful use of messaging, content creation, and channel selection. If you want to replicate the same results in 2024:
If you use all these strategies in your next B2B marketing campaign, you’re almost guaranteed to walk away with incredible results.
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