Content marketing can seem like a massive undertaking for any business who has yet to dip their toe in to this concept of ‘pull’ marketing rather than ‘push’ marketing. Some businesses just don’t know where to begin. Others have started, but they haven’t had a lot of success even after investing a lot of time and money. When things just aren’t going right, content marketing can seem less like marketing and more like rocket science. It’s as if there are only a few people in the entire world equipped to do it well, and if you don’t happen to be one, you’re out of luck. When things start to go in that direction, remember this: everyone starts in the same place. We all pretty much start with an unknown webpage. We all start without any likes, followers, subscribers or readers. Even the content marketing thought-leaders we admire today started at that point. What’s great is that everyone is capable of having content marketing success. I thought it would be worthwhile pulling together some interviews and case studies featuring the content marketing success stories from a variety of different individuals and tiny businesses through to large enterprises —all of which started at the same place you did. I have also show cased a number from Australia given our local presence. Hopefully they can fuel your content marketing motivation!
1) Margaret River Discovery Company
Sean Blocksidge started the Margaret River Discovery Company back in 2008. By the end of its first year, the company was on the verge of going out of business. In his interview, Sean reveals how he leveraged content marketing to eventually become the #1 thing to do in Australia, a title he’s held for two consecutive years.
2) Cambridge Lane Studios
Like many entrepreneurs, Marybeth Tawfik loved her business and the products she created. What she didn’t love was figuring out which social media platform would be best to promote her brand. A few good decisions later, she now has a 200% fan reach on Facebook. Find out how she did it.
3) Charles Badenach
Charles Badenach, a financial planner with the Shadforth Financial Group based in Tasmania, Australia, leveraged a number of different social media platforms to successfully promote his book, which made the Australian Best Seller list back in 2012. Read about his story.
4) Astra Solutions
Astra Solutions had been dealing with a common problem that many small businesses face. They had great content but no SEO strategy. Their brand was no where to be found on the Internet until Brianna Young, an SEO and IT specialist, came in with a plan. In her interview, she explains how Astra Solutions dramatically improved their rankings in the major search engines and drove high volumes of traffic to their website through content marketing.
5) Bowermans
For over 60 years, Bowermans has been providing Australian businesses and homes with quality office furniture. While their word-of-mouth reputation had already been established, they needed a way to develop their online reputation as well. See where they started and how far they have come.
6) Social Media Group
Maggie Fox is the founder of one of the largest independent social media agencies in the world. She has proven herself to be a content marketing thought-leader, and in her interview, she shares with us how she leverages social media and where she thinks the world of content marketing is headed.
7) Tourism Australia
“How do you content market an entire country?” That was what Tourism Australia asked themselves back in 2010 when they implemented their new (and very successful) “There’s Nothing Like Australia” campaign. See what lessons they learned from their success and how you can apply them to your business.
8) BeanPrint
BeanPrint.com is a major UK business card supplier and designer that competes with international, multi-million dollar companies. See how they were able to rank highly with the keyword “Business cards” in such a competitive market and drive large increases in traffic through to their website. Read about their story.
9) Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg
These two brothers have written a handful of books on content marketing, including Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results and Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing. In this interview, Bryan voices his opinions on content marketing and social media, and he tells you a few best practices on how to improve conversions.
10) KIA At The Australian Open
Here’s one for all the tennis fans out there. KIA has been a sponsor of the Australian Open for almost a decade. This year they set out to “meaningfully engage” with a variety of different audiences across the web . . . and they succeed. They received over 28 million KIA-related impressions across the various social media platforms, not to mention a handful of other equally impressive achievements.
11) Buffer
Leo Widrich, the co-founder of Buffer, an app that allows you to schedule posts to various social media platforms, doesn’t buy into the approach that many app other creators have adopted: “create something cool and hope Apple showcases it.” See how Leo is building an online community around Buffer in his interview with Entreproducer. Not only does Buffer have one of the most useful apps I have had the pleasure of using, but their blog is a must read and a perfect example of how content marketing can kick goals for any business.
12) Meridian Financial Advisors LLC
Meridan Financial Advisors is a small fee-only financial advisor firm based in Massachusetts. In 10 months, they doubled their monthly website traffic and gained top-20 Google rankings for many of their important key words. Read about their story.
13) 42Quilts
Here’s another Facebook success story. Learn how Jenifer, a quilt designer, editor and author of 5 books on quilting, generated over 800 fans on Facebook in just one week! She has continued to go from strength to strength through the results of her marketing campaign. Read about her story.
14) KSW Media, LLC
Stacy Teet, founder of KSW Media, LLC, is known as the Curator of Awesome. A social media expert, she found a way to attract over 252,000 followers on Pinterest, and she’s willing to share how she did it.
15) Queensland Police
Here’s an inspiring case study that everyone should read. It’s a good example of how success isn’t always measured in dollars. See how the Queensland Police Service used their social media presence to connect with the public and deliver safety information during a natural disaster. Read about their story.
16) JMF International Trade Group Ltd.
“If you can’t make money on LinkedIn, you’re deaf, dumb and blind,” says James Filbird, owner of JMF International Trade Group China. By leveraging LinkedIn, his business built over $5 million in revenue. Read about his story.
17) James Norquay’s Post On The Moz Blog
While the company in this case study isn’t mentioned by name, there’s just too much valuable information in it not to share. According to the post on the famous Moz Blog, this unnamed company has markets in both Australia and the US, and they are generating over 400,000 unique visitors from organic traffic every month. Read about their story.
18) Comodo
Hashtags can be powerful. See how this New York City restaurant used the hashtag #ComodoMenu to capitalise on a trend and make their social media visibility explode. Read about their story.
19) Entrepreneur On Fire
John Lee Dumas, founder of Entrepreneur On Fire, makes money by interviewing the best and brightest entrepreneurs. His daily podcasts generate over 175,000 unique downloads a month in over 140 countries, and they consistently attract over 20,000 unique visitors monthly. Read about his story.
20) ProBlogger
Darren Rowse is a professional blogger based in Melbourne, Australia. He’s the founder of ProBlogger, one of the most popular blogs on how to monetise your own blogging skills. The most interesting part? Darren pulls in a six-figure income from his various blogging ventures. Don’t believe me? See for yourself. Then read about his story.
21) Joe Pulizzi
And of course, the list wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include an interview with the man who coined the term “content marketing.” Let Joe Pulizzi tell you how his content marketing strategies have evolved and what tools you can leverage to have your own content marketing success. Final Thoughts This list is only handful of the thousands of different content marketing and social marketing success stories out there, and it only goes to show that there is no one right way of doing things. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling toothbrushes, books, an idea or even yourself. You’re completely capable of leveraging content marketing to spread the story you want your consumers to hear. I would love to hear more success stories from anyone willing to share. Everyone can learn from the successes of others – so please leave a comment and let me know how you or someone you know has succeeded in their content marketing endeavors. Image:Flickr Image:Tourism Australia
