After conducting our year-end review, we decided to share our favorite B2B marketing offers of 2022 in this blog post. Each featured campaign includes an explanation of the WHY behind what made these marketing strategies successful.

We encourage marketers to use these marketing examples to develop a better understanding of different approaches you can use to reach business buyers successfully. You can model and apply these key learnings to any B2B industry or business-to-consumer campaign. Use these best practices in business marketing campaigns as inspiration for your next offer or reach out to discuss how we can help.

Best use of trends in marketing: customized Cameo video with Kevin O’Leary, Mr. Wonderful

Whether you’re developing marketing content to drive brand awareness with potential customers and decision-makers TOFU (top of the marketing funnel) or best customers at BOFU (bottom of the funnel), you can get a boost in your engagement and response. How? By integrating a current trend or borrowing interest from a celebrity that resonates with your target audience, or ICP (ideal customer persona), into your marketing process.

In this 2022 B2B marketing offer example, we used email, and direct mail marketing tactics to engage with winback business customers.

Winback with digital, direct, and video

GOAL: Re-engage customers who had fallen off the subscription plan but recently rejoined. Welcome these companies back and introduce new resources to prevent future churn.

TREND: we used Cameo, a trendy app where celebrities will make you a personalized video for a set fee. We selected Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary, to create a custom message to share only with our winback customers.

HOW IT WORKED: the campaign cadence included two handwritten direct mail notes and three email marketing touches. We encouraged people to view the video content from Mr. Wonderful before sharing relevant content like brand resources and upsells.

The campaign has become an effective marketing effort for the business-to-business market. Open rates among customers are higher than average; direct response engagement data is tracked via QR clicks.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Integrate trending technologies (like Cameo) into marketing efforts
2. Borrow interest from pop culture, like celebrities, that resonate with your ICP
3. Personalize handwritten direct mail notes with trackable engagement like QR codes to break up the digital marketing touchpoints
4. Don’t forget to engage BOFU customers for advocacy and retention

Best digital marketing gamification example: The Scale Trail Game

At a different step in the customer journey, we attempted to reengage recycled MQLs by tapping into 90s nostalgia and using digital gamification to pique prospects’ interest, especially business owners.

Digital gamification with 90s nostalgia

GOAL: Reengage recycled MQLs

TREND: Inspired by The Oregon Trail game (one of the most successful educational games of all time), we created a Scale Trail game of survival to help a prospect determine if their company was ready to scale.

HOW IT WORKED: Using email, direct mail, and paid social media presence, we invited MQLs to play The Scale Trail. Participants could also win an adventurer’s YETI mug. Unlike The Oregon Trail, the Scale Trail asked only a handful of questions, keeping the gameplay short and engaging. The clever copy linked to client solutions at each roadblock along the way. Game scores were tallied to determine the participant’s readiness for scalability.

This business-to-business marketing campaign met additional objectives by identifying prospect roles and leaders through the initial game question and using the YETI mugs for double duty as demo giveaways.

The campaign gained significant internal attention from marketing leaders as one of the client’s most creative campaigns of the year. The direct mail engagement rate was 2x the average as the program resurfaced MQLs for the sales team.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Gamification increases engagement because of the fun experiences it creates
2. Look to trends (like 90s nostalgia) to infuse creative executions in your B2B campaigns
3. Explore different ways to meet secondary objectives without adding friction (like determining prospect roles or industries).
4. Consider using targeted giveaways in different forms (like as a prize and a demo reward).

Best on-site event engagement: LIVE printing on-demand custom T-shirts

Do you need to create engagement at your trade shows or conferences? Here’s how we capitalized on the Live Printing trend to exceed objectives and get noticed as the “must-visit” corporate booth.

LIVE printing booth sells out before the show ends

GOAL: Boost awareness of a new global initiative

TREND: We created a LIVE printing event as it engages customers through choice, and the booth dynamic draws attention to the show floor.

HOW IT WORKED: we supported the LIVE printing booth at the event with table tents, but discovery and word of mouth drove engagement. Customers had to answer three key business questions via an online mobile survey to access a FREE t-shirt with the design and size of their choice. The “wait time” at the booth allowed client contacts to chat with customers about the new initiative focused on world-class expert advice to gain further engagement and traction.

The LIVE printing booth was deemed the most popular activity at the multi-day event, ultimately depleting the must-have t-shirt inventory on the last day. It brought awareness to the corporate initiative and delivered nearly 1000 survey responses and feedback to the client, which were compiled and presented in a post-event recap.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Novelty drives intrigue and engagement. Explore trade show trends for new ideas to draw a crowd.
2. People are attracted to personalization and customization opportunities.
3. Do more than collect contact information. Use trade show engagement to meet secondary objectives like market research
4. Align your ask with your reward: the better the reward, the more you can ask

Best B2B marketing Direct Response: Halloween Kit

We’ve selected our own internal B2B marketing campaign as one of the year’s best because of its performance: its revenue and goodwill delivered a positive ROI in under 30 days. While many of our client campaigns integrate digital channels, our internal marketing plan beyond social media platforms includes outbound direct mail to high-value targets. In this campaign, we delivered a better idea of how to engage others with specific needs.

Halloween direct mail kit with a scary good ROI

GOAL: Engage high-value prospects while showcasing our capabilities

TREND: We used seasonality as our opportunity to break through the clutter. We drove home the message with a YETI tumbler, which continues to resonate with prospects as a high-value, must-have reward.

HOW IT WORKED: We culled our list of best ICP prospects and created a surprise direct mail Halloween package. First, we customized YETI tumblers (in our corporate color) with a “Scary Good” Halloween message and subtle branding. Next, we commissioned a local bakery chef to create branded shortbread cookies with our logo. We enclosed personalized handwritten notes in each box. Finally, we ordered black boxes and shipped off our surprise gifts to arrive just before Halloween.

We surprised and delighted clients and prospects with the delivery. One prospect commissioned us to create a similar branded package for their November event.

This ABM type of campaign can help serve as a seasonal touchpoint for critical members of buying committees and others involved in decision making processes to help you stand out. It may not be the key difference, yet factors like memorable touchpoints can positively impact how your prospect perceives you and your company.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Use seasonality to pique your prospect’s attention. Stand out from the crowd by showing up where others aren’t.
2. If you’re sending direct mail to a high-value prospect, handwrite a personalized note.
3. Some vendors can integrate direct mail into existing marketing automation stacks
4. Borrow interest from brands that have staying power, like YETI. We’ve used them in multiple client campaigns, and they continue to resonate with prospects and customers.
5. Your gift can be memorable even without your logo.

Final thoughts on our best B2B marketing offers of the year

None of these executed campaigns shift resources from existing efforts. Most decent-sized organizations are already:

• executing marketing programs at trade shows
• developing ABM programs for high-value prospects
• engaging MQLs to convert them to SQLs.

By reimagining your B2B marketing process with engaging, on-trend tactics, you can better connect with your ICP, tackle secondary objectives, and boost your results without overextending your resources.

Need help developing your ideal offer? Schedule a time to chat.