Killer content marketing refers to the creation and distribution of various content assets that can be labelled as unique, valuable, contextual and well-targeted. Implementing that criteria and producing sequences of “killer” content assets, as part of a consistent content marketing strategy, is more than a challenge for modern marketers. Not to mention the variety of factors that impact the visibility and eventually – how viral each asset will become. To help you improve your own content marketing efforts, we will shed a light on the most successful content marketing campaigns from leading enterprises.

Image source Pardot

“Sales vs. Marketing: The Original Game Of Thrones” Infographic by Pardot.

This infographic was probably one of the most viral pieces of marketing content for 2013. Taking advantage from  the sheer hysteria surrounding the extremely popular TV-series Game of Thrones, Pardot were able to get millions of views and countless social shares. The infographic creatively illustrates the battle between Sales and Marketing departments by comparing it to the rivalry of the Starks and the Lannisters. The  infographic and its popular culture references appealed not only to the fans of the TV-series, but to every marketer and sales representative out there. After all, it:

• is an unique and easy to comprehend way to present a well-known challenge

• brings a humoristic note, while at the same time referring to a serious issue

• is contextual

• reveals both the problem and the solution

Key Takeaway

Think out of the box! You are not your job and neither is your audience. Your audience has other interests within movies, music, sports, etc, going further than business. Keep up with the trends and figure out creative ways to enrich your content assets with unusual associations.

IBM Innovation Culture + Tumblr = IBMblr blog by IBM

IBMblr is an innovation culture blog sharing insights related to IBM Research innovations  in a variety of forms: stories in text, quotes in GIFs, videos, etc. Content “boards” are distributed  in a Pinterest-like layout, each followed by a set of social sharing buttons. The “killer” part hides in these elements:

• A blog that breaks through the boundaries of traditional articles

• Appealing visuals, interactive animations and GIFs

• Content distributed by engineers for engineers

• A centralized hub for building a relevant community

• Educational aspect and a solid dose of inspiration and motivation

• Aligned integration of Social Media

Key takeaway

If you want your content to stand out, make inspiration and motivation key elements in your next content marketing strategy.

Grande Guides by Oracle and Eloqua

Oracle and Eloqua’s series with Grande Guides (14 in total) “were developed to give you [marketers] the opportunity to become proficient in a key marketing topic with a minimal investment in time.” Covering topics from Lead Nurturing/Scoring and B2B Content Marketing to Community Management and Social Selling, these guides definitely contain some of “killer” content marketing elements

• Catchy word in the title – “Grande”

• Quick read, without  additional sign up forms

• Educational content, backed up with numerous examples and external links/sources

• Authoritative and exhaustive content

Key takeaway

Become an authority by providing your target audience with valuable and educational assets, without taking extra time from the user. Always consider the “time-efficiency” factor.

Image source Nuxeo

[Comic] Tag  Blog posts by Nuxeo

A series of comic blog posts on a corporate blog? Yes, your eyes didn’t deceive you. Among serious categories like Industry Insights and Product Development, Nuxeo (content management platform for business applications) decided to include a rather unusual  type of content on their blog too. What’s so remarkable about it?:

• Surprise! You can have fun on a corporate blog

• High probability of social sharing, resulting in higher brand visibility

• Creative, and unexpected

• Gives the corporation a personality

Key takeaway

Even the largest corporations should not underestimate the power of humor!

“The New York Philharmonic Case Study” Video by Alfresco

Demonstrating companies’ remarkable achievements and success by showcasing some Case Studies is a well-known tactic for building trust and authority. Alfresco (an online collaboration platform) chose to illustrate how they helped the New York Philharmonic preserve its history digitally by using the great power of Video Storytelling. Alfresco definitely deserve admiration for this “killer” content for a number of reasons:

• The documentary-style video packs as much influential shots as its 4:34 min allow.

• Educational: shares a problem that concerns a broad audience

• Intriguing narrative, including rarely seen before scenes

Key takeaway

Create remarkable stories that will influence people’s perception towards your company in a positive way!

It’s true that well-known enterprises, as the ones mentioned above, are provided with solid Content Marketing budgets, often incomparable to what a smaller company might be able to afford. However, killer content marketing involves much more than spending your marketing budget allowance. It’s about boldly breaking out of the content marketing box and exploring your audience’s world, because it is your world too.