[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Designing a buyer-focused, multi-touch campaign takes a lot of time, brain power and even a little imagination. You may have specific goals in place, but sometimes, you need to think beyond what formats and approaches you’re comfortable with in order to maximize reach and truly engage your target audience.

This mad scientist, test-and-learn approach is the course of action Xerox took for its “Digitization@Work” campaign, which won a 2017 Killer Content Award. Content strategist Alicia Esposito spoke with Colman Murphy, VP of Digital and Customer Marketing at Xerox to get a deeper perspective on the company’s strategy, the results and how their strategies have evolved since.

[/vc_column_text][vc_message message_box_color=”orange” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-trophy”]Pssst: Nominations are now open for our 2018 awards. If you think your content or campaign is Finny-worthy, submit your nomination today![/vc_message][vc_column_text]Here are some of the takeaways from our conversation:

1. Plan in advance: No stranger to outbound campaigns, Xerox dove into the deep end with this campaign, which focused significantly on inbound engagement and multichannel amplification. Colman and his team mapped the journey from end to end to ensure they had a robust amplification plan that drove the inbound traffic they coveted.
2. Learn and respond (quickly!): A willingness to test, learn and respond was critical to the campaign’s success. Colman encourages all marketers to embrace this approach, despite it being somewhat scary at first. Your audience may not always respond favorably to a particular tactic or content format, so you have to be able to adapt.
3. Don’t underestimate the power of PR: Xerox tapped into its personal database to deliver outbound emails and, of course, promote the survey and its derivative assets via owned social accounts. But it was the company’s PR and media outreach that paid off big time for the company. Despite being somewhat under-utilized in the B2B world, Colman noted that PR is “critical” at all stages of the funnel. To ensure its outreach turned heads, Xerox developed a more editorial-friendly storyline around the digital workplace and the impact of technological disruption.
4. Think bite-sized and easy-to-consume: During our conversation, Colman explained that B2B marketers shouldn’t underestimate the power couple that is video and social media. But that doesn’t mean marketers should publish five-minute videos and expect a ton of inbound traffic. He explained that Xerox has pivoted its video strategy by focusing on short and snackable experiences that align with the needs of time-starved buyers. In fact, the company initially was posting four-minute videos and has evolved into more social-friendly 30-second spots.
5. Expand beyond your content comfort zone: Xerox is using the success of “Digitization@Work” as validation that end-to-end, modular content campaigns resonate well with target buyers. But that doesn’t mean the company is just sticking to the same formula. Colman explained that they’ll continue to experiment with social video and is even exploring ways to incorporate user-generated content into campaigns.

Watch the full video to get more insights and best practices straight from one of our Finny winners![/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AE8XfrAB4c”][/vc_column][/vc_row]