Download IBM Case Study: How IBM Builds Brand and Boosts

 IBM Builds Brand and Boosts Results
through B2B Content Marketing
“Skyword has enabled IBM to reach and engage midsize business owners by providing a platform to produce search optimized news content. Pickup in Google News proved to be a real game changer for the program and will help further promote IBM’s brand.” Leslie Reiser, Program Director, IBM WW Digital Marketing Engaging The Consumer In the Digital Age
Content marketing is the next digital battle ground as more companies turn to content as a
way to reach and engage customers, strengthen credibility, and build a passionate community
of brand advocates. As consumers’ dependency on search and social media for information
discovery increases, leading marketers recognize that quality content at the right time and in
the right place will allow brands to cut through the noise and make lasting connections.
About IBM’s Midsize Insider
IBM Midsize Business Solutions offers midsize businesses information technology and services
that help them realize their full potential. Midsize Insider, created by IBM, is an educational
platform addressing key trends and breaking news pertinent to midsize business owners and IT
professionals.
The Challenge
IBM’s challenge was to reach and engage IT professionals at midsize businesses and
demonstrate its relevance to the marketplace. IBM sought to be top of mind as a problem
solver and solution provider with affordable, easy-to-implement solutions for companies that
lack extensive IT staffs and sophisticated infrastructure environments.
Leslie Reiser, Program Director of WW Marketing for IBM General Business, chose a content
marketing approach to spread brand awareness and increase IBM’s standing within this
customer consideration set. To be successful, the team needed to implement and sustain a
newsroom-oriented production process for creating quality content at scale.
1 The Solution
IBM selected agency partner Digital Influence Group to provide planning, development and
implementation of MidsizeInsider.com as well as overall strategic guidance to IBM for
cultivating awareness and preference among mid-market technology professionals.
IBM also selected Skyword’s Content Production Platform and advisory services to assist in
managing all aspects of the content marketing process:
•
Strategic topic selection based upon IBM’s objectives and prospective customer
interests and pain points;
•
Writer recruitment and management, supported by Skyword’s pool of 20,000+
professional freelance writers;
•
Comprehensive SaaS platform for content strategy, content development, content
production and optimization for search and social promotion, and measurement and
analytics;
•
In-depth content intelligence for identifying the information IBM’s target audience
values to improve content offerings.
The Results:
IBM’s Midsize Insider program achieved the following results in 2012.
•
68+ writer relationships
•
2,900+ articles created
•
204MM+ social impressions generated
•
595,000+ pages views
•
16,000+ shares of program content
•
7200+ direct visits to IBM.com (without paid media support)
•
1.7 percent click through rate (more than 10X industry CTR averages for banner ads)
By publishing quality content relevant to its target audience, IBM continues to position itself
as a trusted industry thought leader and critical resource within the midmarket technology
buyer’s consideration set.
2 About Skyword
Skyword offers a comprehensive content production platform that helps brands easily
streamline and automate every step of content creation and publishing.
These steps include:
•
•
•
•
•
Writer management
Content creation and optimization
Editorial and review
Social promotion
Measurement and analytics
Skyword’s technology is the only SaaS platform that addresses all aspects of publishing with a
network of 20,000+ professional freelance writers, built-in search optimization tools, and
actionable analytics.
To learn more about how Skyword can help streamline your content production and editorial
process, contact us today.
3