TMCnet Online Community News
Content at the Core: Carousel's Integrated Marketing Strategy
Carousel Industries is almost 100% online-focused, as Harman states “we do no direct mail and very little advertising.” Instead, they focus on creating a very large inventory of online content to support their marketing efforts, and at the core of these content pieces is one powerful element: Education. Here’s a breakdown of some of their most successful educational activities and results:
· Webinars & Live Events. Carousel frequently hosts very successful, educational Webinars, which they recommend promoting with personalized invitations the morning of the event. This practice has helped them experience a “30% - 50% uplift” in attendees, according to Harman. Each webinar is then archived to help continue the exposure of the event after it has finished. Carousel also holds local “lunch n’ learns” to educate the community on their services. In four months they held 77 events and 44 webinars, clearly demonstrating their drive for boosting their brand awareness and thought leadership in the market.
· White Papers & Case Studies: White papers and case studies are created frequently at Carousel (average of 1 per month), and are leveraged on social sites, in blog posts, and within their online community to increase their exposure. These practical content resources are popular with Carousel’s audience because they are educational and solution-focused. A tip from Carousel is to also use case studies as training tools for new sales team members to educate them on what Carousel offers its clients.
· Blog/eNewsletter: Carousel’s blog, CarouselConnect.com, has been a powerful tool for the company as it produces a high-volume of quality content for Carousel (i.e. ‘Google (News 
- Alert) Gold’) every week. This has helped boost Carousel’s readership, as according to Harman the site “jumped 28% last month, with over 2,000 visitors.”
Carousel’s “Round-Up” Newsletter is a monthly online publication that compiles white papers, case studies, articles and blog posts into a streamlined and easy-to-digest format. This is also a successful way to increase awareness of certain content pieces, as Carousel typically experiences 25-30 content or webinar downloads the day the Newsletter is released.
Tip for Successful Content Efforts: Integration via Social Networks
Harman is a strong proponent of integrating every element of their marketing strategy into their social media sites, stating “every blog post goes on our Facebook (News - Alert), every Webinar is discussed online and we tweet everything as well.” Carousel closely monitors the activity on their social sites, and to-date have accumulated thousands of followers due to their social efforts.
Social media tip: Engage with industry analysts, reporters and experts on social networks. These important influencers will be the first people to share and promote your content efforts once you’ve established a strong reputation for being a thought leader.
Integration Activities on the Virtualization Community
Another online agent for promoting their educational content is their Virtualization online community on TMCnet. Their goal for the community was to start generating awareness around a part of their business that they wanted to grow, and have used the site to be a one-stop-shop for the content they’ve created in that area.
Though the TMCnet team generates weekly original content pieces for the online community, Harman strongly believes that companies should be very hands-on with their site, stating “there’s only so much you can outsource: Someone has to manage it internally.” This is a best practice TMCnet recommends, as the more involved a community manager is with the site, the more likely it is to succeed.
Carousel has exciting plans in store for their site, which include reorganizing its design and enhancing its layout. This means updating ads, adding more content, using videos and streamlining content to create a more comprehensive, robust educational resource for their target audience.
Measuring and Monitoring Success
Carousel closely monitors and measures all online activities. Not only are open rates, click-through rates, registrations and downloads analyzed, but automatic notifications have been set-up to notify the marketing team when a sale is made over a specific dollar amount. This helps marketing stay in the loop on potential future case studies and recurring trends while also tracking the behavior of prospects from lead-capture to close. The better marketing understands which content pieces play a role in helping a sale close, the more they are able to continue to provide the types of piece their prospects seek.
With a constant stream of content, tight measurement tactics and an integrated approach, Carousel is set up to have another successful year in 2012 as they extend the reach of these efforts further and further in the marketplace.
About Kelly Harman
Kelly Harman is Vice President of Marketing for Carousel Industries. She has over 20 years of marketing and business development experience working with US & European-based technology and telecom companies in the areas of business & marketing strategy, tactical planning and execution, channel program development, merger and acquisition integration, and all aspects of sales/marketing plans.
Kelly also serves as the President of Women In Technology, a non-profit organization in Washington DC with over 1,000 members. In 2011 Kelly was recognized by CRN Magazine as one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in the Channel.” She is also the 2009 recipient of Women In Technology’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” leadership award. You can reach Kelly at [email protected].
Anna Ritchie is product manager for TMC's (News - Alert) Online Community Program. Previously, she worked as a change and communications practitioner for a global consulting firm, and as a freelance marketing and communications specialist. She received her master's degree in English from Seton Hall University and her bachelor's degree in English from Loyola University.
