Secrets of Tech Marketing Success

With so many people quarantined and relying on their cell phones and laptops because of COVID-19, tech company leaders had to have been pleased with the results of the latest technical content marketing study sponsored by IDG Communications. The 10th annual study, which was conducted last summer by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) revealed that more than three-fourths (76%) of the 256 content marketers surveyed felt they were achieving more success than the previous year, a 7% jump. The pandemic most certainly raised the number of consumers who rely on digital platforms. Here are the reasons for the latest tech marketer success.

Customer Loyalty

The most successful tech brands focused on building customer loyalty. The disparity between top tech marketers and the rest of the field was most significant when analyzing how the leaders built loyalty. The content was identified by 85% of the top tech marketers in fostering loyalty with existing customers compared to 58% of all respondents.

There were several other differences between the leaders and the rest of the field. Of those polled, 85% of leaders reported using content marketing to nurture their audiences and leads compared to 72% of all surveyed. Content marketing to generate revenue was cited by 84% of the leaders against 60% of everyone else. The disparity between the two in using content marketing to build sustained audiences was even greater at 72% versus 44%

Role Models

One of the customer loyalty leaders in the tech marketing field is Salesforce. The firm sponsored a user conference last year that drew more than 170,00 attendees. Oracle Open World and Apple also hold similar events and attract thousands of people, not to mention the free media they generate as well.

Other successful tech marketers connect in other ways. Like CDW, many publish content so their customer base can stay atop of changes in the field and industry. Others dispense advice on how to better use their software.

A Thirst for Learning

One thing the CMI study demonstrated was a voracious appetite for information by most tech marketers. Nearly all agreed on the value of case studies. Of those polled, 82% said they not only read them but also use them. Case studies were identified as the highest-performing content used for converting leads by 29% of respondents. Leveraging the power of video to accompany a case study was clearly proven last year by Samsung, a finalist for Best Content Marketing Program in Tech.

Also highly popular for information were social media content (96%), blog posts and short articles (93%), in-person events (83%), email newsletters (82%), on-demand videos (80%), webinars (74%), infographics and charts (71%), white papers (62%), and Ebooks (61%).

Other Lessons Learned

Based on the popularity of case studies and video in most industries, tech marketers might also consider marrying the two, especially when trying to close the gap between a complex situation while getting a nontechnical audience with a say in making the purchase decision to gain a clearer understanding of the technical aspects. As a finalist in CMI’s 2019 Best Content Marketing Program in Tech, Samsung impressed judges with a video case study that demonstrated how valuable access to digital tablets was for EMTs facing life and death situations in the field.

The other lesson learned is that 62% of the most successful tech marketers measure content marketing ROI. Many explained their success in having figured out how to demonstrate their ROI, something that brands not yet doing so should investigate now.