«return to clientsCase Studies for Demand-Gen at a Billion-Dollar Company

Zebra Technologies

Compelling Cases ClientZebra Technologies

www.zebra.com

Client Industry

Technology

Compelling Cases Services

  • End-to-end production, from interviewing to writing to design to approval

Results

  • Between 25-40% of Zebra case studies get some media interest.
  • On LinkedIn, case studies and white papers generate 25-50% more impressions than other posts.
  • Case studies have a long shelf life for Zebra.

When Zebra Technologies first began in 1969, printers printed static labels. Today, Zebra solutions provide unprecedented visibility into a business: passes that track skiers across a mountain, wristbands to ensure hospital patients get the correct medicine, and tags that follow the global movement of products.

Zebra Technologies leads the field in delivering such real-time visibility into everything from products and physical assets to people, allowing business leaders to make better, more informed decisions and respond in real time.

Hyper-Relevant Content at Every Stage

Through carefully prepared lead-nurturing campaigns, Zebra provides information to potential buyers that addresses their pain points and gradually persuades them to enhance their business processes, using Zebra products.

The $3.5 billion company employs case studies as part of a campaign to educate buyers about making a change, and about making that change with Zebra. Case studies cover various business challenges and industries, providing hyper-relevant content at every stage of the buying cycle.

“We do heavy nurturing until we’re ready to pass a lead to sales,” explains Amy Barrington, global campaign strategist at Zebra Technologies, “so that requires a lot of content.”

In a typical Zebra campaign, a prospect receives a series of emails that invite them to check out a case study, white paper, ebook, brochure or video. Each “drip” in the outbound campaign serves to move the buyer further along in the decision-making process.

Zebra tracks how prospects interact with the content and then passes the highest-scoring leads to sales for follow-up.

Impressive Social Momentum

New case studies and white papers begin with the public relations team, which pitches each asset to targeted publications. Between 25-40% of case studies get some media interest.

Zebra also blogs frequently about case studies, and teases them on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook. On LinkedIn, the best-performing social site for Zebra, case studies and white papers generate 10,000 to 12,000 impressions, while other posts garner about 8,000.

Zebra additionally publishes case studies on third-party media sites with lead programs.

Long Shelf Life

Zebra’s investment in these content assets continues to pay off.

“Case studies and white papers have a very long shelf life,” Barrington says. “We always refer to them if we’re looking for content or have a hole in our content calendar. We’re promoting them more than a year later, and still getting the same type of engagement and impressions.”

Read Zebra case studies (not all produced by Casey)

Top Case Study Tips from Zebra Technologies

  • Identify keywords – Zebra uses Google AdWords to help create white paper titles and email subject lines.
  • Don’t gate content – The company doesn’t ask prospects to enter contact information to access white papers or case studies, increasing the number of people who see them.
  • Nurture first – Use white papers and case studies in nurturing campaigns until leads are ready for sales.
  • Keep them in rotation – Once created, case studies and white papers continue to perform for a year or more.

About Zebra

With the unparalleled visibility Zebra (NASDAQ: ZBRA) provides, enterprises become as smart and connected as the world we live in. Real-time information – gleaned from visionary solutions including hardware, software and services – gives organizations the competitive edge they need to simplify operations, know more about their businesses and customers, and empower their mobile workers to succeed in today’s data-centric world. For more information, visit www.zebra.com.