GE Raises the Bar for B2B Content Marketing

There’s absolutely no reason that B2B content marketing needs to be boring. Unfortunately, many B2B companies across a variety of industries haven’t received this message. Fun, engaging content is not just for retailers and hotels with fancy products and fun adventures to showcase. It’s time for more B2B companies to get in on the action, and the early adopters are reaping the benefits. Companies like General Electric (GE) have been ahead of the curve for some time.

The company has successfully used a variety of content marketing tactics to firmly plant themselves in their audiences’ minds as an innovative, exciting company. Making appliances and aviation equipment may make for boring conversation at your next dinner party, but they make for content with quite the opposite complexion. GE is changing peoples’ minds and creating a buzz around the brand with some creative content that has people talking.

Here are a few reasons why GE is raising the bar for B2B companies when it comes to content marketing.

What You Can Learn from GE Marketing Strategies

It all starts with an idea

I love this video! Seriously. Who doesn’t want an “idea” as a pet after watching this video? The appeal, to me, is that GE is not only positioning itself as a leader in generating innovative ideas, but they also manage to tug at viewers’ heart strings. Viewers of the video find themselves cheering on the adorably forlorn underdog who, in the end, blossoms into a beautiful creature and wins over peoples’ hearts. This is a great example of storytelling through video.

Take the ordinary and make it extraordinary

GE’s production facilities produce more than just appliances and other equipment. They also produce a wide variety of sounds. Many working in these facilities might refer to those sounds as noise, but the creative team at GE listened closely and heard so much more. They recorded the various sounds created by machines in loops and mixed them into what turned into an original soundtrack that the team titled “Drop Science.”

Taking B2B blogging to a new level

Do you harness the energy of the moon to power your home? No? Well you just might one day. GE Reports is one of the most innovative B2B blogs (on par with any of the top B2C, as well) around. The company’s blog features stories about moon power, digital pathology, 3D printing done by hand and other stories that sound like science fiction dreamed up by the likes of Steven Spielberg. This type of editorial content offers easily digestible material that gets people excited about the future of technology and science while forming an association with GE as a company who is leading us into that future.

User-generated Vines

User-generated content is a great way to have content produced at a minimal cost while strengthening your audience’s connection to your brand. GE used this tactic when they asked their audience to create 6-second Vine videos for what the company dubbed the #6SecondScienceFair. Over 600 projects were submitted in only one week, and GE’s compilation video of their favorite submissions now has over 900,000 views. Never underestimate the potential of user-generated content, even when users are only given six seconds.

Collaborating with influencers

GE’s marketing team realized the value of word of mouth, especially when it comes from someone with a lot of fans. The team searched far and wide across the vast digital wilderness with the goal of teaming up with popular YouTube and social media influencers. Ever heard of the Slow Mo Guys? Almost 5 million fans: That’s how many people subscribe to this destructive duo’s YouTube channel. Videos on the channel show footage shot using an expensive high-speed camera that slows down random activities from fire breathing to giant bubbles popping.

GE decided to collaborate with the Slow Mo Guys to produce a series of videos showing everyday processes at the company in slow motion. The videos focused on things like MEMs technology and cold spray, topics with a limited appeal and made them appealing to a much wider audience. Collaborating with influencers is a very successful tactic. GE realized that and took advantage. Most of the videos in the series have been viewed 500,000 or more times.

The moral of the story is if you are a marketer for a company in the B2B sector, there’s no reason that your job has to be boring. Look no further than General Electric for the blueprint for how to make B2B content marketing fun. GE has raised the bar, so it’s your turn to step it up and raise it even higher. What tactics can you recommend for keeping your B2B brand’s image and content fresh and engaging?

Want to learn more about the best in content marketing strategies? EnVeritas Group has solutions.

Anthony Gaenzle – Director of Marketing