Since its inception in 2012, the Killer Content Awards have served as a vehicle to spotlight cutting-edge B2B content that pushes boundaries and sees real results. Over the past seven years, dozens of brands — including Dell, Marketo, Oracle and LinkedIn — have been honored with Finny awards in categories such as nurture campaign, measurable ROI, interactive content and multitouch campaign.
Below, the B2BMX team shares some highlights from the Killer Content Award winner’s catalog to inspire you to create your own killer content for future awards, or submit a nomination for existing campaigns in your arsenal this year:
BRIAN ANDERSON: Effective use of interactive content always catches my attention. There is something just so satisfying and valuable about content that can adapt based on the buyer’s interactions with it. However, what stands out the most to me is when sales reps can tell great brand stories with interactive content. Tempur Sealy Hospitality, for example, is one of my most memorable Killer Content Award winners because they were able to leverage interactive, 3D content of its products in meetings and tell the brand’s story during one-on-one conversations with prospects. It worked so well for them that more than 90% of the company’s reps adopted the approach and used the content in their meetings. Who says sales content can’t be fun?
KLAUDIA TIRICO: I’m a sucker for a great theme and stand-out design, so the one campaign that always sticks out in my mind is LeadMD’s Monsters of Funnel II: Back 2 Stack. To me, this E-book was really one of the first assets to help me realize that B2B content doesn’t have to be boring. Here’s the scoop: Monsters of Funnel II: Back 2 Stack was actually a follow-up campaign to LeadMD’s 2015 rock-and-roll-themed content piece, dubbed Monsters of Funnel. The second version featured a fresh list of “monster influencers” and was designed to educate and convert LeadMD’s target audience. The campaign started off with a teaser countdown page at monstersoffunnel.com to pique interest before the E-book launched. Then, a 90-plus-page E-book came to life with a next-level rock theme, using imagery that included the Rolling Stones iconic tongue logo to listing thought leaders as “band members” to fonts and colors that conveyed its edginess. The campaign also included numerous videos and blog posts by each thought leader. It was all just so well done from beginning to end, and really took the rock theme to new heights. To no surprise, Monsters of Funnel II: Back 2 Stack was a hit. It was downloaded more than 12,000 times and influenced more than $260,000 in pipeline. The campaign scored a Finny in 2017 for the “Designer Concept & Theme” category. I know B2B topics can often be dry and coming up with a fun, modern theme can be tricky, but I urge B2B marketers to take the time to think of creative ways to grab reader’s attention. Our inboxes are flooded, and time is scarce, so developing stand-out content that people will want to read is table stakes.
ELISE SCHOENING: Maybe it’s because I am a frequent traveler myself or have a soft spot for interactive marketing paired with creative copy, but Uberflip’s “Own the Journey: A Field Guide for Becoming a Better Marketer” campaign wins out as my favorite Killer Content Award. It featured a marketing maturity assessment that evaluated where survey takers stand on their marketing journey and classified them as either marketing homebodies, tourists, navigators or experienced explorers. Following the assessment, users received an E-book with best practices and tips tailored for each category of marketer. The campaign was innovative, interactive and, best of all, informative. I’m not the only one who was a fan — it generated more than 1,200 clicks and 907,000 impressions on social media, earning Uberflip a Finny award in 2018.
ALICIA ESPOSITO: The 2016 election was top-of-mind for everyone, but it was especially relevant for Grant Thornton’s audience, as policies and plans would have a significant impact on their businesses. The company’s “Political Pulse” campaign consistently delivered timely and relevant information regarding the state of the election, new policy information and campaign promises that needed to be assessed and dissected. Grant Thornton positioned its subject-matter experts as thought leaders who could share valuable insights with their audiences and extended this information across a variety of content formats and promotional touch points. What I believe all B2B brands should take from this example is the focus on relevance, timeliness and flexibility. The Grant Thornton team had to be extremely agile and come up with a tactical plan to action every time a new development emerged. They used the performance of other assets in the campaign to guide their strategy, which helped them ensure they were always improving performance.
MARISA JENTZ: I was a big fan of ChannelAdvisor’s direct mail campaign that earned them a Finny in 2018 in the ABM Campaign category. The company decided to hone in on the home assistant trend and sent prospects Amazon Taps. That alone is pretty cool, but the real kicker is that they included a call-to-action to enable the ChannelAdvisor Alexa Skill. The skill allowed prospects to listen to summaries of the company’s most recent blog posts and learn e-commerce strategies relevant to them. This was a great way to not only send prospects a cool gadget but to also show them how they can be of value to their organizations.
