Four successful Swiss content marketing campaigns

CONTENT MARKETING Has classic push advertising had its day? Is content all that is needed now? What does such content look like and how is it implemented? MK went in search of clues and discovered various successful content marketing campaigns.In the past decades, brands, products and services could be marketed emotionally with the help of classic advertising. In the meantime, consumers have become oversaturated with advertising, and modern consumers want to be entertained. Content is the trump card and prepares consumers for classic advertising methods with word-of-mouth, content, viral, social media and search engine marketing. This makes high-quality content the central marketing tool in the competition for customers' favor.Products and brands move into the backgroundA company that engages in content marketing regularly publishes content that is of particular value to the focused target group, such as white papers. Such "white papers" are increasingly used as communication tools. A white paper provides straightforward information on a specific topic without any advertising ballast. User experiences, success stories, analyses or results of market research are conveyed in language appropriate to the target group. The service concept is of great importance. Companies are perceived as positive, competent and likeable, which convey content with the following elements:- Blogs- Videos- Tutorials- White papers- Configurators- Checklists- Infographics- Image series- TutorialsBetter search engine rankingThe best and most beautiful web presence falls flat if it is not found. High-quality content marketing is rewarded by the search engines with a better ranking. In recent months, the search algorithms have been specifically adapted in the direction of responsive design and finding high-quality content. Thus, the optimization of the search result creates additional traffic.

1. "Legoslative"

The "Lego parliamentarians" taking the oath of office.Lego occupies 18.8 % of the toy market in Switzerland. Microspot.ch wanted to increase its share of Lego sales in the run-up to the Christmas sales - especially since the toy range was greatly expanded in 2015. Thus, microspot.ch commissioned the Zurich agency BlueGlass to improve the organic rankings around Lego search queries in the long term.ImplementationIn collaboration with a Lego club, the Federal Council elections were recreated with Lego figures. The Lego models were made available to the online news portal Watson for reporting purposes. Watson used the models to create a stop-motion video on the course of the elections, including an election forecast. The video was discussed intensively on social media.The resultsThe outreach generated numerous notable links. Approximately 7100 generated social signals were registered. The Twitter community created #Legoslative. There was an average ranking improvement of 11.2 positions for the defined project keywords. Organic Lego sales share after the campaign was 62 % higher than in the same period last year. It was also the third best Advent spot in 2015 for the CH online portal.

2. inspire junior staff

Swisscom's "Project 365d": ICT WG residents George Zerveas, Oliver Zähner and Abiraam Vatathan (from left).The task for the full-service digital agency Namics was to make Swisscom more tangible as an employer for ICT junior staff. As a side effect, the recruitment costs for ICT specialists should be reduced.The solutionAt the heart of all these measures was the goal of using inspiring content from the community to make the company more attractive. The first step was to launch the "We love ICT" blog in 2012. The blog focused on Swisscom's ICT experts and served as a central platform for authentic and transparent communication with ICT experts.The WG was successfulAs the latest project in its employer branding campaign, Swisscom launched "Project 365d": Three ICT graduates live in a shared flat for a year. They further develop the living of the future one day a week and complete an internship in Swisscom's innovation department four days a week.Authentic content was constantly delivered from the WG. ICT specialists very quickly gained an insight into Swisscom's areas of activity. Since the launch of the project, Swisscom's popularity as an ICT employer has skyrocketed from 10th to third place in the Universum ranking. As a desirable side effect, ICT recruitment costs have been cut by almost half.

3. "Booster" for internal communication

"Booster" connects Hostettler Group employees on the move and at work.The Hostettler Group is a leading Swiss wholesaler in the two-wheeler sector and in the areas of trend sports, automotive spare parts and engine technology. With just under 600 employees, the family-owned company, which was founded 110 years ago and is now divided into twelve independent trading companies, is one of the key economic drivers in central Switzerland.In order to optimize the decentralized communication flow within the group, Swisscontent AG Zurich designed and produced the digital platform "Booster" for employees.Together with the Hostettler Group and in collaboration with the consulting firm Repaper Consulting AG, the content strategy was developed and implemented in the new platform. Swisscontent AG supports the Hostettler Group in the content production of the communication platform and takes over the technical further development.The newly created platform satisfies the needs of the employees for information and exchange. It allows a simple and direct exchange between the company management and the employees. Content can be rated and commented on. In addition, all employees have the opportunity to write and publish their own content.Mobile and easy to use"Booster" runs on all end devices and operating systems and can be operated intuitively. With the mobile solution on smartphones, employees can communicate with each other at any time. Every working day, 200 visitors use "Booster". Even on weekends, up to 300 page views/day are registered.

4. 10 men - 10 beards

After the carnival many beards - a Youtube video shows the fun beautification process.Fanger Hair and More, with salons in Lucerne, Alpnach and Sarnen, is a household name among female customers in central Switzerland. Jil's Hair & Extensions by Fanger also appeals to a younger, female target clientele.Owner Guido Fanger now also wanted to increase awareness among men. In collaboration with the agency Social iQ from Kriens, which specializes in social media content, the "beard idea" was developed.Just in time for the start of carnival on 11.11.2015, the male members of the Guggenmusik "Rätschbäsä" from Sarnen locked their razors in the closet and grew beards.The beards must go!On February 18, the time had come. The ten beards stormed the salon of Fanger Hair and More and could all be shaved at the same time thanks to a large staff. Social iQ was on site with a camera team and posted the post with the "facial hair removal video" the same evening on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.Within a day, the video was viewed more than 1000 times. With this action, Guido Fanger has secured the attention of the male target group in the region and playfully demonstrated that Fanger Hair & More not "only" lengthens hair, but can also specifically conjure up smooth faces.