Content marketing case studies for big brands show just how effective and accepted content marketing now is.
Did you know Coca-Cola, for example, spends more money on content creation than it does on television advertising?
Content marketing generates 3X more leads than traditional, outbound marketing but costs 62% less. And conversion rates from content marketing are 6X higher than other methods.
Why are more and more big brands investing in content marketing? What are they doing? How is it working?
Here are 12 content marketing case studies from big brands that win big.
- ADIDAS: In 2016, the company launched GamePlan A, a digital magazine uniquely developed to build company culture and attract and retain employees. The new strategy is already seeing strong results. Back then, there were around 10,000 employees in the Adidas LinkedIn community – which happens to be GamePlan A’s most important distribution channel. Today, that number has grown to more than 33,000, along with 673,000 general followers.
- BEN & JERRY’S: When it comes to companies that lead with their values, Ben & Jerry’s has long been at the forefront. It’s not afraid to take a stance on pressing political issues, including racial justice, refugees, climate change, voting rights, and LGBT equality. Its content hub reflects the company’s commitment. Amid posts about ice cream recipes and new flavors, there are regular stories that align with Ben & Jerry’s values, like “10 Things Trump Gets Wrong About Refugees,” “QUIZ: How Much Do You Know About Climate Change?” and “7 Ways We Know Systemic Racism Is Real.” Ben & Jerry’s business has tripled in the last 15 years. Unilever, which owns Ben & Jerry’s, reported the ice cream maker grew at double-digit rates for this effort
- CLEVELAND CLINIC: Health Essentials, Cleveland Clinic’s consumer-facing site, publishes two to three posts a day and has received more than 45 million visits, to date. Consult QD is a site for a smaller niche of physicians and publishes three to five posts per day. Both sites distribute content via email newsletters and social media channels.
- EQUINOX: Furthermore is more than a blog among content marketing case studies. It’s an editorial destination. Run by a team of Condé Nast veterans, the site is an extension of the Equinox brand and features show-stopping photography and design with a range of high-quality writing, videos, and even musical playlists that are published online. The curated and mostly user-generated Furthermore Instagram feed attracts more than 50,000 engaged followers (and several hundred likes per post). With nearly 88,000 subscribers on YouTube, it’s video that’s a clear win for the brand.
- GOLDMAN SACHS: With its own in-house studio, Goldman Sachs takes the value of content marketing seriously. Its thought leadership hub, Our Thinking, features various content formats from a podcast (“Exchanges at Goldman Sachs“), to videos (“Talks at GS”), to interactive infographics and articles. Goldman Sachs reaped the benefits of strong evergreen content when one of its older series received more than 1 million views after a mention on Reddit.As for social media, Goldman Sachs is a content marketing case studies powerhouse, sharing lots of video content on Twitter to its 660,000 followers, and racking up more than 23.7 million views on YouTube.
- IKEA: IKEA made a foray into the AMSR world with a 25-minute video that showed a woman decorating a dorm room with IKEA products. The video has been viewed more than 1.4 million times on YouTube. IKEA has an energetic community of social media followers, including more than 495,000 who create and follow IKEA inspiration boards on Pinterest, and 1.4 million on Instagram who regularly engage.
- KIMKIM: A travel planning service, partnered with local guides that create useful insights and information with the objective of giving their users the best experience. kimkim built their rankings through targeted keywords, they also used digital PR to build their link portfolio, and they created high-quality relevant content on their blog to attract the target audience who often search in Google. They increased organic traffic by 300% – and grew their revenue.
- LAND ROVER: The Land Rover Stories section of their website features travelogues in which photographers document their experiences riding a specific Land Rover model through rugged and picturesque landscapes, like Montana, the Colorado mountains, and Alaska. Each story includes large, stunning visuals. Land Rover’s content strategy also extends to social media and video. Last fall, Land Rover created a video series in which it followed an adventurer couple and their eight-week-old baby taking a two-week trip across Europe in a Land Rover Discovery. Land Rover’s YouTube account has 138,000 subscribers. On Instagram, it promotes its stories and has 3.5 million fans, thousands of whom engage with every post.
- LENOVA: To execute its content marketing strategy, Lenovo, one of the largest manufacturers of desktop, computer hardware, developed a digital content hub called Tech Revolution to deliver technical news and technology information to IT decision makers across Asia Pacific region. They were able to successfully engage with their target audience through this content marketing hub. The leads generated via Tech Revolution, were routed to their website, based on which sales executives were able to readily connect with consumers. The digital content hub had more than 250 articles with 34 million impressions, 308 link clicks, and was visited by 1,70,000 new web users.In terms of financials, $300 million in sales was attributable to this initiative alone.
- SEPHORA: f you seek a great example among content marketing case studies of user-generated content marketing, look no further than Sephora. Rather than having employees run a beauty blog, Sephora lets customers do the talking. Its content hub is its community of enthusiasts and loyalists, who discuss products and share recommendations, tips, and advice on what’s worth buying.
- TRIP ADVISOR: TripAdvisor has used social media and SEO to position itself as the best travel website and the best valuable resource for travelers. But the exceptional thing about TripAdvisor is their user generated content for reviews.Aside from the SEO signal it creates, it also creates more engagements and makes a lot of sense having people with a first-hand travel experience share their reviews.
- VISIT SEATTLE: Visit Seattle teamed up with CBS to launch “The Emerald Race.” Past “Amazing Race” contestants embarked on similar challenges in and around Seattle, taking in the city’s sights and outdoor experiences, and meeting notable locals along the way. In October, Visit Seattle launched “Turning Tables,” a series that paired local musicians and chefs to create unique music and dining experiences. The result of these videos: more than 22 million YouTube views. Even more importantly, they’re helping Visit Seattle reach its target demographic of 25- to 44-year-olds.
Do this content marketing case studies convince you of the effectiveness and acceptance of content marketing? Does your brand have a plan for content marketing?
