Confession: Sprout’s Brand Creative and Social teams have a big ol’ crush on Zendesk. And I don’t just mean when we see their work it makes us feel warm and fuzzy. I mean when we see their work, it makes us want to be better marketers and creatives.
So when we decided to spotlight Zendesk, I knew my fellow creatives would have great insights to share about what makes their work so dang good. When I asked them to describe the Zendesk brand in a few words, their responses were: “delightful,” “charming,” “quirky,” “playful,” “warm,” “thoughtful”, “light-hearted” and “human.” Which, when you think about it, is kind of incredible considering they’re a B2B SaaS brand.
And I say that not to knock the industry, but to recognize the very real struggle for computer and software brands to create compelling content, and connect to their audiences on a deeper, more emotional level. Especially if your product, service or industry is more dry or technical.
So how does Zendesk do it? How do they create B2B SaaS content that feels “warm?” And what can your brand learn from the “Champions of” keeping it human?
Find the insight
Zendesk is a service-first CRM company that builds software designed to improve customer relationships. They are helpers, they serve helpers—helping people is in their DNA. So they know firsthand that being helpful can be hard work (I spy an insight).
What if they found hard-working helpers around the world and gave them a platform to share their stories? And what if they told those stories through powerful short films and beautiful photography? That’s exactly what they did with their “Helpers” series. That content lives on a microsite, but also serves as valuable social content for the brand, often shared in bite-sized pieces across their networks.
