Podcast 68: the best B2B content of 2018

As 2018 draws to a close, it's time to reflect on a year of truly excellent B2B marketing content. Here are a dozen examples.

The post Podcast 68: the best B2B content of 2018 appeared first on Radix.

Alarmingly, the end of the year is upon us.

To avoid thinking about the fact that January is looming, and we haven’t finished writing out our 2018 resolutions, let alone done any of them, we’ve been looking back on just some of the great B2B content this year has had to offer.

In our final episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy for the year, we’ve put together a deeply unscientific top 10 based upon nominations and votes from our esteemed listeners (plus some of our own favourites).

So, here’s to excellent marketing content (and here’s our list of excellent marketing content):

10. Arco: “Be Sure” safety campaign

Fresh from its win for “Best Thought Leadership” at the B2B Marketing Awards, our number 10 is Arco’s “Be Sure” campaign, created with Born + Raised, to make us think a little harder about the fact that not all safety equipment is created equal. You can read more about it here.

Thanks for the nomination, Adam Harper!

9. SI Partners: marcoms agency growth survey

Nominated by Grist’s Andrew Rogerson, number nine goes to the Marcoms Agency Growth Survey by SI Partners.

According to Andrew, it’s a “compelling, research-driven thought-leadership programme” – and we’re inclined to agree.

8. Goldman Sachs: interactive briefing on drones

Rocking up at number eight is Goldman Sachs with its “Drones: Reporting for Work” interactive briefing.

According to Paul Hewerdine of Earnest Agency fame, it’s worth overlooking the company’s “pantomime villain” reputation for content this well-written and visually compelling.

7. Ceros Originals: a decade of Bitcoin

Long-time Radix friend and head of writing at Velocity Partners Harry Kapur has provided us with lucky number seven, Ceros Originals’ “Riches and Regrets: A Decade of Bitcoin What Ifs”.

It’s another of those scrolly infographicy website thingies, which charts the peaks and troughs of the original cryptocurrency with a heap of fun pop culture references. (It’s sadly lacking a CTA, though. Rookie mistake?)

=6. Three personal stories

In sixth place is a mildly self-indulgent three-way tie, nominated by our very own David McGuire:

Chris Marr’s Content Marketing Academy podcast, Pride: A Personal Story;
Sally Wright’s “Staying Human in a Corporate World” speech from B2B Ignite; and
Pauliina Jamsa’s refreshingly honest LinkedIn series about career mistakes. (Update: you can also find Pauliina’s career mistake posts on her new blog.)

They’re three of the content pieces that most challenged David’s thinking this year (but you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out how).

 

5. Nokia Bell Labs / Lonelyleap / Reeps One: “We Speak Music”

From Ogilvy’s head of copy Glenn Sturgess comes our mid-point nomination, “We Speak Music” by Lonelyleap and Nokia Bell Labs.

It’s a huge project – a six-part documentary series in the making – about the future of voice. We can’t wait to see it in full.

4. Saxoprint: “Great British Postcard” competition

Rising to the top of a predictably crowded category, “Best Use of Content Marketing” winners Saxoprint and Freestyle’s postcard competition comes in at number four.

With an unexpectedly rock ‘n’ roll endorsement, they boosted the hell out of Saxoprint’s brand awareness on a paid media budget of basically nothing.

 

At the top of the list, things get interesting… with another three-way tie:

=1. Kingpin’s blog post about humour and marketing in B2B

Nominated by Yvonne Deegan and Evelyn van Kelle, “Is humour and marketing the new B2B double act?” from Kingpin is one of our top contenders.

“B2B content can be intelligent, informative and humorous at the same time.” – Yvonne Deegan

=1. LinkedIn’s Britpop-infused content creation story

With a double nomination from Sonja Jefferson and Jane Morrin, Jason Miller’s “How LinkedIn’s Lead Generation Went Supersonic” has got some good weight behind it.

“Always enjoy reading Jason Miller’s work.” – Jane Morrin

=1. Hubspot’s “Conversational Marketing” string

Yet another double nomination – and some cheeky self-promotion – Velocity Partners’ Rutger Frissen and Ogilvy’s Glenn Sturgess have thrown Hubspot’s hyper-visual conversational marketing slideshow into the mix.

“Maybe I’m just the target audience, but it’s got something to say. And the typography, the visualisations, and the format all amplify the message.” – Glenn Sturgess, Ogilvy

So, how to pick a winner?

To hear Fiona’s deciding vote – she is our new CEO, after all – well, you’ll have to listen to the podcast. (And you’ll hear a special, festive bonus: a B2B content poem, read by the amazing Molly Raycraft.)

As if all this wasn’t enough (you lucky things) David finally adds his nomination to the B2B Content Hall of Fame, the Maxon Motor Catalogue. (Bear with us; it’s far more interesting than a catalogue has any right to be.)

Want to contact the show?

We always welcome comments, questions and ideas (particularly if you think there’s excellent content we’ve missed).

You can send them our way via @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (or, if you’d like to add your voice to the podcast in a more literal way, you can even email us a voice memo).

How to listen

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Credits:

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash

The post Podcast 68: the best B2B content of 2018 appeared first on Radix.