The b2b technology process is complicated. The marketplace is crowded and the complexity of the sale only increases as more stakeholders get involved. Technology marketers, however, can leverage content marketing to simplify their message and connect to these decision-makers. A recent study by MarketingSherpa surveyed 4,000 b2b technology business professionals to understand what types of content these buyers are looking for. The types of content most requested? CASE STUDIES: 67% of buyers reported case studies at the top of their list for most desired content. EDUCATIONAL CONTENT: 84% of buyers want content that educates them and expect vendors to provide it. CONTENT THAT SOLVES A PROBLEM: 72% of buyers want to find “solutions to solve a current problem.” CONTENT CUSTOMIZED TO DIFFERENT BUYING STAGES: 60% of buyers look for different types of content depending on their needs at the time. We surveyed the B2B technology landscape and interviewed content marketers from brands leading in these four areas. Here, we’ll discuss their strategies and see how they approach creating these types of content.

1. Trends + Trendsetters
THE BEST IN B2B TECHNOLOGY CONTENT MARKETING

2. NewsCred Trends + Trendsetters
NewsCred’s Strategy Team helps brands build and hone their content
strategies, taking into consideration marketing goals, brand positioning and
the competitive landscape.
Our Trends + Trendsetters guides aim to educate marketers on trends,
opportunities and content strategies that best-in-class brands are utilizing to
engage their audiences. In this guide, we’ll take a look at content marketing
in the b2b technology industry.
Interested in learning more? We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach
out at strategy@newscred.com
- Liz Bedor, Associate Brand Strategist, NewsCred

3. The B2B technology buying
process is complicated.

4. The marketplace is crowded.

5. And the complexity of the sale only increases
as more stakeholders get involved.

6. Technology marketers, however, can leverage
content marketing to simplify their message and
connect to these decision-makers.

7. A recent study by MarketingSherpa
surveyed 4,000 b2b technology business
professionals to understand what types of
content these buyers are looking for.
Source: Stories that Sell: Study Reveals Business Technology Buyers’ Need for Content

8. The types of content most requested?

9. Case Studies

10. Source: Stories that Sell: Study Reveals Business Technology Buyers’ Need for Content
67% of buyers reported case studies at the top
of their list for their most desired content.

11. Educational content

12. Source: Stories that Sell: Study Reveals Business Technology Buyers’ Need for Content
84% of buyers want content that educates
them and expect vendors to provide it.

13. Content that solves a problem

14. Source: Stories that Sell: Study Reveals Business Technology Buyers’ Need for Content
72% of buyers want to find “solutions
to solve a current problem”

15. Content customized to
different buying stages

16. Source: Stories that Sell: Study Reveals Business Technology Buyers’ Need for Content
60% of buyers look for different types of content
depending on their needs at the time.

17. Here we’ll discuss strategies of brands
leading in these four areas of content marketing
and see how they approach creating these
types of content.

18. Case Studies

19. Customer Success Stories
SALESFORCE

20. In 1999, Salesforce was
founded as a CRM company.

21. Since then, the brand has grown into a tech
giant, expanding its end-to-end SAAS offering over
the past fifteen years.

22. Since the beginning, however, sharing
customer success has been at the forefront
of its marketing strategy.

23. Salesforce’s Customer Success Stories page is the core hub for sharing
these stories and case studies with prospects and customers.
Content lives at www.salesforce.com/customers
HOW SALESFORCE, THE LEADING CRM
ON DEMAND SOLUTION, HAS HELPED
ITS CUSTOMERS MEET AND EXCEED
BUSINESS GOALS.
“
“

24. Readers are able to filter through the comprehensive collection by industry,
product or business size to find the best match for their use case.
Communications
Financial Services
Government
Healthcare + Life Sciences
High Tech
Manufacturing
Media
Nonprofit + Higher Ed
Retail
Services
Travel + Transportation
Salesforce1 Mobile App
Sales Cloud
Service Cloud
Marketing Cloud
Salesforce1 Platform
Salesforce Chatter
Community Cloud
Data.com
Desk.com
Salesforce Work.com
1-99 Employees
100 – 999 Employees
1000+ Employees
INDUSTRY PRODUCT BUSINESS SIZE

25. The brand’s collection of case studies not only
covers vast depth and breadth, but the content itself
is compelling and comprehensive.

26. The Salesforce case
study formula:
DETAILED USE CASE
SYSTEM SCREENSHOTS
LISTED PRODUCTS USED
CUSTOMER QUOTE
CUSTOMER VIDEO

27. The Salesforce case
study formula:
DETAILED USE CASE
SYSTEM SCREENSHOTS
LISTED PRODUCTS USED
CUSTOMER QUOTE
CUSTOMER VIDEO

28. The Salesforce case
study formula:
DETAILED USE CASE
SYSTEM SCREENSHOTS
LISTED PRODUCTS USED
CUSTOMER QUOTE
CUSTOMER VIDEO

29. The Salesforce case
study formula:
DETAILED USE CASE
SYSTEM SCREENSHOTS
LISTED PRODUCTS USED
CUSTOMER QUOTE
CUSTOMER VIDEO

30. The Salesforce case
study formula:
DETAILED USE CASE
SYSTEM SCREENSHOTS
LISTED PRODUCTS USED
CUSTOMER QUOTE
CUSTOMER VIDEO

31. While powering this extensive catalog is
no easy task, the team has developed a
"content engine" system that starts with a
central focus.

32. “We start with an ebook. From there
we publish the content by recycling and
reusing it on multiple media.
- AMANDA NELSON -
Content Marketing Manager
Salesforce
”

33. Start by creating
an eBook
Read the eBook aloud
and make it an audio
book
Interview a customer
for a quote in the
eBook and put that
up as a video
Take the audio
from the video and
make a podcast
Create a presentation
from the eBook with
highlights
A sample “content engine.”
Source: CMI, How to Keep Your Compelling Content Engine Fueled and Running Smoothly, 2012

34. Community
Manager
Distributes content
across social
channels, engages
online communities,
and contributes to
content projects.
Content
Marketer /
Editor
Strategizes, writes,
and oversees
content projects to
ensure brand
consistency and
alignment with
business
objectives.
Contributors
Any content creator-
blogger,
photographer,
designer — who
contributes to your
project.
Designer
Brings content to life
through the user
experience and rich
visuals.
SEO / Paid
Specialist
Manages the paid
distribution of
content online.
Analytics
Defines best/ worst
performers,
conversion
optimization and
measurement
communications.
Curation
Finds and re-
purposes the best
content from your
business and from
around the web.
The content engine is also powered by a team of dedicated
marketers with various roles and responsibilities.

35. As a result of this strategy, the team has
seen about a 300% year-over-year increase in
eBook shares and downloads and 150%
increase in blog post social shares.

36. Educational content

37. Zuora Academy
ZUORA

38. Zuora is a cloud-based software company
that provides everything needed to run a
subscription-based business.

39. “
- GABE WEISERT -
Content Marketing Manager
Zuora
”
We’re selling a business model,
transitioning from selling a product outright
to subscription.

40. To support this mission, Zuora founded an
Academy as a central source for helpful, how-to
information about running this type of business.

41. The Academy includes informative content, ranging from foundational
overviews to industry deep-dives, for a variety of roles including marketing,
finance, technology and operations.
Content lives at www.zuora.com/academy
WELCOME TO THE ACADEMY,
WHERE OUR MISSION IS TO HELP
YOU BUILD AND RUN AN AMAZING
SUBSCRIPTION BUSINESS.
“
“

42. “
- GABE WEISERT -
Content Marketing Manager
Zuora
”
The goal is to teach people, and we definitely
try to do that in the most entertaining,
compelling way possible.

43. With customer success managers and finance
decision makers being Zuora’s main target
audiences, the content focuses around pain points
felt in those organizations, such as customer
retention, fighting churn and billing, rather than Zuora
product offerings.

44. Customer Success content
CUSTOMER SUCCESS IN
THE ORG CHART: 4
SCENARIOS
HOW ZUORA BUILT
CUSTOMER SUCCESS
3 REASONS WHY SALES
IS NOT CUSTOMER
SUCCESS

45. Finance content
4 WAYS SUBSCRIPTION
SUBLEDGERS CAN HELP
YOU CLOSE YOUR
BOOKS
DEFINING A WINNING
SUBSCRIPTION PRICING
MODEL
SCALING SUBSCRIPTION
SALES & BILLING
OPERATIONS

46. To create the content, the team
interviews a variety of resources, including
Zuora customers and finance and
marketing professionals.

47. “
- GABE WEISERT -
Content Marketing Manager
Zuora
”
Everyone loves to talk, nobody likes to write. A
lot of times we’ll hold 30 minute interviews, record
the transcript and edit that so we still get a sense of
their personality.

48. Lead generation is also a main key
performance indicator at the center
of the Academy’s strategy.

49. The team has successfully approached this
objective by un-gating all copy, but gating the
option to download PDF versions.

50. With this strategy, anyone can easily
access Zuora's helpful content, but only the
contact information for prospects with strong
interest is captured.

51. Finally, while creating quality content is
the backbone of the Academy’s strategy, the
team has noticed common trends in its best-
performing pieces.

52. “
- GABE WEISERT -
Content Marketing Manager
Zuora
”
Titles are super important. Odd numbers, how-
to’s, talking about things that didn’t go well,
mistakes to avoid, etc. These are all things that
consistently perform for us.

53. Content that solves a problem

54. Counter Culture
SHOPKEEP

55. Founded in 2008, ShopKeep is a cloud-
based, mobile point of sale solution for
small and medium-sized businesses.

56. The company’s mission has always been
to help local brick and mortar businesses
succeed, and a big part of that meant
providing useful content.

57. “From the start, we wanted to be more
of a partner. We wanted to be a company
that helps our customers succeed.
- PAUL NUGENT -
Director of Content
ShopKeep
”

58. In 2013, the company launched Counter Culture, a news and advice
center dedicated to helping small businesses succeed.
Content lives at www.shopkeep.com/counter-culture

59. Formulating the content strategy took
about two months, and the team went
straight to the source to find out what their
audience wanted.

60. “We interviewed merchants, did site
visits and hosted phone calls with small
business owners. We asked about their pain
points and areas of concern.
- PAUL NUGENT -
Director of Content
ShopKeep
”

61. Content is organized by
important topics
universally relevant to
small businesses,
including inspiration,
money, operations,
planning and technology.

62. Inspiration
10 WAYS SMALL
BUSINESSES BENEFIT THE
LOCAL COMMUNITY
HOW TO DEFINE YOUR
BRAND AND CREATE A
KILLER SMALL BUSINESS
LOGO
TOP TEN THINGS TO GET
RIGHT WHEN OPENING A
COFFEE SHOP
SMALL BUSINESS IS AWESOME. THIS IS WHY.

63. Money
A 6 STEP GUIDE FOR
DECIDING HOW MUCH TO
PAY YOUR STAFF
MOST IMPORTANT TAX
WRITE-OFFS FOR
INDEPENDENT BUSINESS
OWNERS
8 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR
SMALL BUSINESS CASH
FLOW
THE LANGUAGE OF BUSINESS IS DOLLARS AND CENTS.
CONSIDER THIS YOUR ROSETTA STONE.

64. Planning
THE 7 BEST FREE
RESOURCES FOR
PLANNING YOUR NEW
BUSINESS
WHAT SMALL BUSINESS
OWNERS NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT FINDING A
COMMERCIAL SPACE
4 THINGS YOUR
PROBABLY HAVEN’T
CONSIDERED ABOUT
CHOOSING A RETAIL
LOCATION
BECAUSE THE BOY SCOUTS WERE RIGHT:
FAIL TO PREPARE AND YOU BETTER PREPARE TO FAIL.

65. Technology
10 REASONS THE IPAD IS
THE PERFECT TOOL FOR
SMALL BUSINESS
YOUR COMPREHENSIVE
GUIDE TO CONTACTLESS
PAYMENTS
4 TECHNOLOGIES THAT
WILL IMPROVE YOUR
RESTAURANT OPERATIONS
IT’S TIME TO EMBRACE THE TECH YOU NEED TO SUCCEED.

66. ShopKeep also leverages the expertise
of other small business owners as guest
bloggers, using Counter Culture as a
platform for knowledge exchange.

67. “Small business owners don’t always want to hear
what we have to say. They want to hear what other
small business owners have to say.
- PAUL NUGENT -
Director of Content
ShopKeep
”

68. “Why You Need to Track Industry
Trends in Retail”
Tips on how boutique owner, Mackenzi Farquer,
keeps up to date on fashion trends.
I SPEND A SIGNIFICANT TIME READING
CERTAIN PUBLICATIONS, ATTENDING
INDUSTRY EVENTS, TRADE SHOWS,
YOU NAME IT – ALL TO STAY ON TOP
OF WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE SPACE.
“
“

69. “Ponshop Studio’s Gabriel Pons on
Transitioning from Corporate to
Small Business”
Advice on how to prepare for a career change
for running a small business.
YOU HAVE TO GO WITH YOUR HEART, BUT
YOU ALSO NEED TO PREPARE YOURSELF AS
BEST AS YOU CAN. YOU’LL BE DOING A LOT
OF LEARNING AS YOU GO, BUT IT HELPS TO
DO PRIOR RESEARCH AND SPEAK WITH OTHERS
WHO ARE CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH IT.
“
“

70. In order to drive consistent engagement,
Counter Culture delivers a weekly digest
to its subscribed readers.

71. Staying true to keeping its readers as the
focus, however, the digest doesn’t only
include Counter Culture content.

72. Rather, the team includes
anything they see around
the web that week that
they feel is valuable for
their audience, regardless
of the source.

73. Overtime, the strategy has evolved to
include prioritizing SEO and including middle and
bottom of the funnel content.

74. “
- PAUL NUGENT -
Director of Content
ShopKeep
”
We’re starting to write more helpful content
on Point of Sale topics, such as how to run employee
shift reports to help us rank when
a potential prospect is organically searching
for that information.

75. Content customized
to different buying stages

76. Business Innovation
SAP

77. In 2012, SAP began a marketing initiative
that put content at the forefront with
the SAP Business Innovation blog.

78. The site’s business goals were to create an
affinity for SAP products, establish the brand as a
thought leader by answering early-stage buyer
questions, and drive calls-to-action.

79. To formulate the strategy, the team began with a content
audit to see the difference in organic search traffic, between
unbranded terms, like "big data" versus SAP branded terms that
included product names like "HANA."

80. CLUSTER
BRAND OR
NON-BRAND
TOTAL MONTHLY
SEARCHES (EST.)
Analytics Brand 458
3000xAnalytics Non-Brand 1,520,761
Cloud Brand 398
1000xCloud Non-Brand 578,460
Data Brand 28,884
17xData Non-Brand 470,967
Mobility Brand 12,488
28xMobility Non-Brand 345,598
BI Brand 532,486
-2xBI Non-Brand 277,156
CRM/Sales Brand 156,028
40xCRM/Sales Non-Brand 6,313,329
ERP Brand 777,092
-2xERP Non-Brand 324,595
HCM Brand 55,536
7xHCM Non-Brand 379,954
Accounting. Finance Brand 30,497
24xAccounting. Finance Non-Brand 720,493
TOTAL Brand 1,688,883
13xTOTAL Non-Brand 13,616,715
The team found there were
many more search queries
across nearly every one
of the categories for
unbranded search terms.

81. They then looked at how much traffic SAP
received from these non-branded searches, and
found that 99.9% of SAP's traffic came from
branded search terms.

82. This meant almost all their traffic was from
late-stage prospects already considering to
purchase SAP and virtually none of their
traffic was from early-stage prospects
looking for potential solutions.

83. This was especially a problem because SAP was
vastly expanding its portfolio to include new
solutions and were looking to grow awareness and
penetrate those markets.

84. The final step was to look at the existing
catalog of content by buyer stage.

85. They found that 94% of their
content was middle-stage or
late-stage content, which
mirrored the type of traffic
they were receiving.
EARLY-STAGE CONTENT 6%
MIDDLE-STAGE CONTENT 28%
LATE-STAGE CONTENT 66%

86. Based on this data, the team knew they needed
to focus on reaching early-stage buyers, especially in
these newer solution categories.

87. Today, Business Innovation helps help executives develop a deeper
understanding of the trends affecting the future of business through fact-based
executive research, supplemented by the latest thinking from expert bloggers.
Site lives at www.blog.sap.com/innovation

88. The sites over 11,000 blog posts are easy to navigate with
categories including future of business, technologies, line of business,
industries and SMB.

89. Content is also customized for every buyer,
no matter where they are in their journey.

90. Content across the buyer journey
Early-Stage Content
Quality, licensed content around broader, shareable topics that drives visibility
and engagement: blog posts
Awareness

91. Content across the buyer journey
Early-Stage Content
Quality, licensed content around broader, shareable topics that drives visibility
and engagement: blog posts
Middle-Stage Content
A combination of licensed and custom content that hits on niche topics
specific to SAP’s offering and solutions: white papers, case studies, video and
infographics
Awareness
Evaluation

92. Content across the buyer journey
Early-Stage Content
Quality, licensed content around broader, shareable topics that drives visibility
and engagement: blog posts
Middle-Stage Content
A combination of licensed and custom content that hits on niche topics
specific to SAP’s offering and solutions: white papers, case studies, video and
infographics
Late-Stage Content
Custom content promoting SAP’s products and services: technology guides
and case studies
Awareness
Evaluation
Purchase

93. Content across the buyer journey
Early-Stage Content
Quality, licensed content around broader, shareable topics that drives visibility
and engagement: blog posts
Middle-Stage Content
A combination of licensed and custom content that hits on niche topics
specific to SAP’s offering and solutions: white papers, case studies, video and
infographics
Late-Stage Content
Custom content promoting SAP’s products and services: technology guides
and case studies
Customer Stage Content
Consistent cadence and mix of content as well as personalized
recommendations: white papers, case studies, technology guides
Awareness
Retain
Evaluation
Purchase

94. EARLY-STAGE Content
Authenticity Isn’t a Strategy
– It’s About Real Customer
Conversations
[Blog Post]
7 Ways Managers can
Keep Their Employees
Happier in 2015
[Blog Post]
Is Your Brand Telling
Meaningful Stories?
[Blog Post]

95. Why Simplification Initiatives
Succeed Only When
Executives Lead
[White Paper]
5 Steps to Increase
Your Visual Content
Engagement
[Infographic]
Life in the Networked
Economy
[Video]
MIDDLE-STAGE Content
Savannah Cement
Innovates with High-
Speed Analytics
[Case Studies]

96. LATE-STAGE Content
SAP HANA Revs Up
Reporting
[TECHNOLOGY GUIDE]
How Cloud Enables a
Reasonable Expectation
Of Privacy On the Web
[TECHNOLOGY GUIDE]
Nespresso: Selling the
Perfect Coffee Experience
with SAP Cloud for Sales
[CASE STUDY]

97. CUSTOMER-STAGE Content
Will Internet of Things
Impact the Workplace?
[BLOG POST]
How to Translate
Customer Loyalty Into
Repeat Sales
[VIDEO]
How to Deliver a Coordinated
Customer Experience Across
Every Channel
[E-BOOK]

98. 3 MILLION 5.08 MINUTES 1.8 THOUSAND
The new strategy proved to be a success with
leaps in traffic, engagement and publicity. Within a
year the site received:
PAGE VIEWS TIME ON SITE
REACH ENGAGEMENT CONVERSION
CONVERSIONS
RECOGNITION
PUBLICITY

99. Want to learn more?
Our team of strategists can help your brand build a
marketing growth engine. From ongoing support and
program management, to customized strategy sessions
and workshops, we’ll set your brand up for success.

100. NewsCred is the most comprehensive
content marketing solution.
SOFTWARE SERVICESCONTENT
Content Production
Workflows & Governance
Global Asset Management
Publishing & Distribution
Analytics
Global Implementation
24/7 Support & Training
Strategy Workshops
Editorial Consulting
5,000 Licensed Publishers
Original Content Network
Rights-cleared UGC

101. Get in touch!
STRATEGY@NEWSCRED.COM