Social Media for B2B: 3 “Can’t Ignore” Case Studies

Social media playbooks and templates are valuable, but sometimes the best way to learn is by seeing what others have done, then adapting it to fit your business’ needs.  Following are three case studies that show how social media, employed strategically, can have a dramatic impact on a B2B company’s reputation and revenue.

From lead generation to channel marketing to corporate reputation, following are three hand-picked case studies that noone in B2B marketing can ignore:

1. Kinaxis: Learn how this supply chain management SaaS company tripled web traffic and leads by creating a community and syndicating helpful content across third-party networks.  Spokesperson Kirsten Watson shares a compelling insight when she says social media is a natural extension to Kinaxis’ successful SEO efforts.  (Thanks to Jeffrey L. Cohen of SocialMediaB2B for the great content.)

2. Oracle: This case study should be the benchmark for channel marketers. It details how the Oracle Partner Network layered social media on top of a pre-existing communications model to virtually train 25,000 partners, while reducing costs, boosting satisfaction and increasing PR. (Thanks to Richard Fouts and Tiffani Bova of Gartner for this remarkable case study.)  

3. Texas Instruments: Word of mouth for an engineering audience?  Sure, why not?  This case study explores how TI re-established itself as an innovator combining respect for staff, concern for audience and focus on value.  (Thanks to WOMMA for publishing the case study, and credit to GolinHarris for devising and executing the campaign. Disclosures: I co-chair WOMMA’s member ethics panel and in 1996 I worked at GolinHarris.)

I hope these case studies have been useful. Incidentally, there are precious few B2B social media case studies in the public domain.  If you have a story to tell, write me at joe[dot]chernov[at]eloqua[dot]com, and we can explore a guest post.