Cisco’s B2B Social Media Case Study

by Andrew DiFiore

When Cisco decided to introduce its new Aggregated Services Router (ASR) exclusively online to reach their target audience (network engineers), the news itself attracted a great deal of media attention. But when the official campaign numbers came out, there were plenty of latte spit-takes from all, even the “gurus” of social media-dom. Here are just some of the highlights:

• 9,000 people attended the social media product launch event (90 times more attendees than in the past)
• Nearly three times as many press articles than traditional outreach methods
• More than 1,000 blog posts and 40 million online impressions
• One-sixth the cost of a traditional launch (shaving over $100,000 off its launch expenses)

Cisco’s use of social media and gaming channels for its product launch is a shining example of online marketing done right. No newbie to social media, Cisco was not shy leveraging its 22 blogs, 300+ YouTube channels, 100,000+ Facebook fans, or 2 million Twitter followers. Cisco developed content specific to the launch, including a social media widget, a 3D game, and a virtual concert in Second Life featuring eight rock bands.

I was going to aggregate all the details of this case study here but then found Casey Hibbard’s superb post on Social Media Examiner. No point reinventing the wheel so here is the full monty on Cisco’s B2B Social Media Case Study. Enjoy!

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Tags: B2B Social Media, Case Study, Casey Hibbard, Cisco Systems, Facebook, Second Life, Social Media, Social Media Examiner, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, YouTube

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 16th, 2011 at 5:30 pmand is filed under B2B Marketing, B2B Social Media, Internet Marketing, Marketing Trends, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

7 Responses to “Cisco’s B2B Social Media Case Study”

• hm Says:
  February 4th, 2011 at 8:45 am

  Very nice information.
• Mary Swanson Says:
  January 23rd, 2011 at 5:41 pm

  This is a great example of what big companies like Cisco are doing in the social media space. I hear all the time for businesses that this just hype and no one really benefits from social media. To them I say fine go ahead and ignore the stats. I guarantee you your competitors are not. I love these case studies, keep em coming. Mary.
• beauty therapy Says:
  January 22nd, 2011 at 12:27 am

  Very nice information.
• Ernest Helem Says:
  January 21st, 2011 at 10:47 pm

  This a really impressive case study. Would like to know how this translated to purchase. Guess, have to talk to Cisco.
• Lynn Says:
  January 20th, 2011 at 6:22 am

  Great case study on Cisco. Definitely some good insight into the customer’s mind. Would like know more about how effective a social media widget can be.
• Denver Nabarrete Says:
  January 19th, 2011 at 4:58 am

  I have been considering a move to start online business, but am confused with all the different ways I see on the Internet to make money and I also have concerns about quitting my job to pursue this.

  The info you provided is helpful but I believe I need to do a little more digging before I jump in.
• Tweets that mention Cisco’s B2B Social Media Case Study | B2B Marketing Posse -- Topsy.com Says:
  January 16th, 2011 at 5:59 pm

  [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrew DiFiore. Andrew DiFiore said: #b2bmarketing Cisco’s B2B Social Media Case Study: When Cisco decided to introduce its new Aggregated Services R… http://bit.ly/fSIGKB [...]