B-to-B Tech Company Makes a Direct Marketing Hit

I’m still trying to warm up to video-based marketing – even though I come from the MTV generation. I’m even old enough to remember when MTV actually played music videos!

If I recall, some were absolutely great. Most others weren’t. Even 20-some years later, that ratio hasn’t changed with video-based marketing. There’s still a lot of bad stuff out there.

But there’s some absolutely brilliant marketing going on, too. And surprisingly, some of it  is being done by b-to-b tech companies.

Few would expect these companies to find new business leads on places like YouTube, but that’s exactly what NetQoS did with spectacular results.

In the hum-drum world of network management performance – where marketing creativity is quite limited – NetQoS did something a little bit alien by releasing a 3-D, Tron-like video of its technology that has the look and feel of Space Invaders.

The viral video was posted on YouTube, Google Video and numerous targeted sites and blogs. Bolstered by a coordinated seed strategy, the video quickly took on a life of its own, creating a magic buzz.

The video had nearly 50,000 views in the first four days (it’s now over 67,000) and has generated more than 2,000 leads. The $6,500 campaign has already contributed $500,000 to the company, and counting.

“It helped us reach a group that we were not able to through traditional means,” said Pam O’Neal, director of marketing operations. “Our target audience is smart, cynical and marketing-averse, so this type of consumer-oriented approach, where we stress teaching rather than selling, is helping us get the right traffic.”

MarketingSherpa put the video in its 2007 Viral Hall of Fame (see the report here).

Even though Web 2.0 communication vehicles can be extremely powerful, they require a level of understanding and be used properly if they are to be effectively implemented into a campaign.

Check out the video here to see how NetQoS did it right