UPM captured the attention of international B2B decision makers
The Challenge
UPM wanted to get the attention of its potential customers in a way that would build thought leadership and credibility.
UPM is widely known in Finland, but how could they better reach international business decision-makers interested in sustainable solutions? What would get those decision-makers to pause and notice UPM's message? And how could UPM make an impression of credibility and increase consideration?
The Strategy
It’s not easy for a lesser-known company to attract audiences to its content or website in a new market. Using audience data, it was determined that UPM’s target audience of decision-makers could be best reached on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).
This information brought a change of direction: instead of publishing a lot of content on the website, only a few top pieces were produced per quarter. A wide range of effective social media concepts was designed support the messages of the articles.
The goal of the social media content and articles was to attract attention and claim thought leadership for UPM in the minds of their target audience. The content and visuals were updated to stand out and designed to fit UPM’s brand but also drastically differ from traditional B2B content.
The Results
The simple but bold strategy brought record-breaking results. In the first six months, UPM’s content reached over 60 % of the demanding target group.
By testing and optimising social media content, the target group was reached much more widely and effectively than before. The content’s engagement rate increased and was consistently well above benchmarks, 49% on LinkedIn and up to 198% on X.
Consistent and engaging social media content led the B2B target group to engage more deeply with the long-form content produced for UPM. The average time spent on articles increased by 46 % (compared to the average before the shift), with a staggering total of 1 721 hours spent on content created in line with UPM's new strategy in the first six months.
Data-driven content has been the right solution for us. The constant monitoring and optimisation have worked, and the results speak for themselves. They also prove that it pays to be bold in your content design and visual choices.
The change in strategy, based on the idea of less is more, paid off. Instead of publishing dozens of articles per quarter, only two were produced. Still, the two attracted up to ten times as many interested readers in the same period.
In the first six months:
+5 million
B2B decision-makers reached in two main markets (UK and Germany)
3 664
identified leads
46 %
more time spent on UPM's content
10 x
less content, 10 x more readers
We spent a huge amount of time testing how to find the exact right target audience and which content format works best in each social media channel. It paid off.
Multi-award-winning content marketing
UPM's content marketing programme has been recognised with awards and honourable mentions in international and domestic industry competitions:
- International Content Marketing Awards 2023: gold in Best Social Media B2B
- Grand One 2023: honorable Mention in Best Digital Content Marketing
Sanoma Content Studio
Sanoma Content Studio helps your brand succeed through data-driven content marketing.