The Solution
Fresh worked closely with the sales, marketing and technical teams at Megger to devise and develop thought leadership as a content marketing strategy in the form of a magazine – Electrical Tester. By providing value through educational, helpful content, Megger’s customers and prospects would view them as the expert and consider them first when making a purchasing decision, as well as increasing awareness, generating leads and encouraging engagement.
Creating and publishing thought leadership content is time and resource intensive and a long-term endeavour. While a company newsletter is a well-tried approach, the truth is that few survive beyond the first half-dozen or so issues.
To ensure that this would not be the fate of Electrical Tester, the publication was, from the very first issue, carefully structured to be genuinely informative rather than overtly promotional. The aim was for readers to see it as a useful item that they enjoyed reading, rather than just another ‘glorified sales brochure’ destined for the recycling bin.
Understanding the audience was key to creating the strategy and content. By taking the time to appreciate what challenges and pain the readers experience, the types of content they consume and where, and also the topics that interest them, we could begin planning out the editorial calendar.
Each issue includes content from all of Megger’s business segments:
- Cable
- Protection (relay, circuit breakers, and instrument transformers)
- Transformers
- Motor/rotating machinery
- Partial discharge
- General electrical (resistance, power quality, earth)
A variety of formats are used in each issue to ensure there are long- and short-form educational content that the audience wants to read, such as developments in standards and legislation, industry events, how to articles, Q&As, historical items on electrical engineering, competitions, picture stories, in depth technical articles, application stories, guest pieces and a people spotlight.
Megger’s experts are continually producing interesting technical material in the form of training presentations, application notes and scientific papers. These items provide an ideal basis but, as they stand, the majority are not suitable for publication. They may be in the wrong style: a scientific paper is not written for easy reading, or they may be in the wrong format: readers don’t expect to see a set of PowerPoint slides reproduced on the page!
This is where the expertise of the Fresh team complements that of Megger. Fresh takes the raw material from Megger and converts it into a suitable content format for Electrical Tester. This ensures that the magazine is consistent in style and presented in an accessible format that is easy to read.
The Results
- 50 issues produced
- 10,000 printed copies distributed worldwide p.a.
- Average download of 300 per issue with 1,000 views per issue
- Three articles are published to the Megger website each month, adding to the comprehensive pool of articles that can be read by visitors to the site and used on social channels
- Electrical Tester content is regularly posted on Megger’s LinkedIn channel 2-3 times per week, with engagement on each post generating 80-150 likes and comments
- Web traffic increased from 80 page views per month to an average of 1,500 – an increase of 1,700%!
- A growth of organic keywords from 220 to 1,100 – 5X growth
- One order for over £100,000 of test equipment can be directly traced to Electrical Tester as the source
- External trade magazines request to use articles from Electrical Tester in their own publication
- Invitations to speak at industry conferences
Considering many company magazines/newsletters don’t make it past the first ten issues, Electrical Tester is approaching its fiftieth! Readers say that they look forward to receiving Electrical Tester and it’s one of the very few ‘free’ publications that they keep and read rather than discard unread. They appreciate its non-promotional approach, and the consistently high quality of the technical material it contains.
Impact
Megger is thrilled with the sustained success and impact of Electrical Tester, which it now sees as a significant contributor to its global marketing programme, in particular it’s uses as a potential engagement vehicle and positioning them as industry thought leaders. They are also delighted with the close working relationship it has with Fresh, which plays a major role in guaranteeing the smooth production and wide appeal of Electrical Tester.
Electrical Tester positions Megger as a thought leader – in a market where users strongly prefer suppliers that can provide expert support and guidance, is critical. It also provides Megger with a platform for introducing and discussing new technologies used in the company’s products, helping to create demand for the technology and ultimately generates leads. Finally, and very importantly, Electrical Tester helps to reinforce the perception that Megger is a reliable business partner that is keen to support the industry in which it operates by offering invaluable up-to-the-minute information freely and generously.
Electrical Tester magazine:
- Positions Megger as an industry leader
- Reflects Megger’s values
- Creates relevant, educational and engaging information
- Encourages dialog with customers and prospects
- Enables sales to sell more effectively
