B2B marketing is challenging—especially when your business serves multiple industries. It’s tough to craft messaging that resonates across sectors, and many companies struggle with this.
But SAP cracked the code.
Their marketing team achieved a 21% cross-industry share of voice—more than double their original 10% goal—and generated $3,675,000 in marketing-driven opportunities (MGO).
💡 How did they do it? By ditching generic campaigns and adopting a hyper-targeted, industry-specific approach.
Key Strategies Behind SAP’s Success
✅ 1. Focused on One Industry at a Time
Instead of creating one-size-fits-all messaging, SAP developed customized campaigns for each industry separately. They focused deeply on one sector, optimized their strategy, and then repeated the process for another.
✅ 2. Hyper-Personalization from a Customer Perspective
Each campaign was built with the individual customer in mind. Instead of broad messaging, they created tailored content and offers that addressed specific pain points and industry challenges.
✅ 3. Spoke the Language of Their Customers
SAP ensured their messaging felt native to each industry. They used industry-specific terms, referenced key trends, and positioned their solutions as direct answers to real-world problems.
The Channels & Content That Drove Results
SAP’s strategy was heavily content-driven, using a mix of thought leadership, storytelling, and digital engagement. Here’s the breakdown:
📌 Long-Form Thought Leadership & Research
🔹 Industry-Specific Whitepapers – Deep dives into industry trends, challenges, and solutions
🔹 Video Whitepapers – Engaging video formats for decision-makers
🔹 Executive Summary Infographics – Condensed insights for C-suite executives
🔹 Use Case Infographics – Real-world examples of SAP’s impact
📌 Executive-Level Influence & Authority Building
🔹 Executive Presentations – High-value, tailored presentations for industry leaders
🔹 TED Talk-Style Videos – Featuring industry leaders proving SAP’s core ideas
🔹 Industry-Specific Questionnaires – Interactive tools to engage prospects
📌 Content Distribution & Engagement
🔹 10 Industry-Specific Blog Posts – Published on Forbes, LinkedIn, and SAP’s Digitalist blog
🔹 Email Campaigns – Targeted messaging to nurture industry contacts
🔹 Social Media: Five Tweet Cards Per Industry – Optimized for engagement and reach
📌 Sales & Community Engagement
🔹 Industry Forums – Active participation in sector-specific discussions
🔹 Outbound & Responder Follow-Up Calls – Personal outreach to reinforce campaign messaging
🔹 Digital Hub Landing Sites – Industry-focused landing pages for lead capture and engagement
The Takeaway: Why This Worked
🔹 Laser-Focused Industry Approach – Instead of trying to talk to everyone at once, SAP spoke directly to each industry with its own dedicated content.
🔹 Personalization at Scale – Their messaging wasn’t just industry-specific—it was customer-specific within each sector.
🔹 Multi-Channel Execution – They leveraged blogs, social, email, video, and direct engagement to ensure maximum reach and impact.
🔹 Authority & Trust – SAP positioned itself as an expert through executive content, TED-style talks, and in-depth whitepapers.
💡 What You Can Do:
📌 Stop generic messaging—speak directly to industry-specific pain points.
📌 Use a mix of content formats—not everyone engages the same way.
📌 Leverage executive influence—thought leadership boosts trust and credibility.
📌 Be everywhere your industry is—forums, LinkedIn, blogs, social, and direct outreach.
With this approach, SAP didn’t just compete—they dominated the conversation across 19 industries. 🚀