How content marketing grew Stellar into an industry authority and drove millions in revenue

Client

A half-billion-dollar design, engineering, construction and mechanical services firm, Stellar is a world leader in designing and building food processing plants, serving clients such as Heinz, Starbucks, Nestlé and more.

Challenge

Traditional marketing and sales tactics like trade shows and cold calls are not as effective as they once were. Today, potential clients do their homework before sending an email or submitting a request for proposal (RFP). They turn to the internet to solve problems and answer questions, which presents an opportunity. If Stellar could solve those problems and answer those questions, the company would be positioned as the industry expert and the go-to provider the prospect would turn to when ready to buy.

Our solution

We concepted and helped Stellar launch Food for Thought, a blog focused on the design and construction of food processing facilities. Food for Thought features weekly posts authored by Stellar subject-matter experts (with help from our team of ghostwriters). The content focuses on issues affecting food manufacturers, establishing Stellar as an authority in the industry.

We also launched an editorial board that meets regularly to drive the direction of the blog’s content.

But the blog was just a starting point. We developed a content platform full of e-books, checklists, white papers and infographics that attract and nurture high-quality leads that can be passed on to the Stellar sales team to close the deal.

The Food for Thought blog has solidified Stellar’s reputation as an industry leader and generated millions of dollars in business — well beyond the company’s initial investment.

The blog’s effectiveness has even received national recognition with a first-place win in the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Marketing Communications Awards. In 2015, Food for Thought won the Jacksonville Business Journal’s BizTech award for “Best Website for Generating Business and Leads.”

Developing Stellar as an industry expert in key trade publications

Food for Thought blog posts are regularly republished (at least once a week) by food industrytrade media, extending its monthly readership to more than 610,000 people. In fact, several publications now turn to Stellar subject-matter experts to provide input on articles and to produce editorial content their readers love. 

Increased sales and website traffic are obvious signs of the blog’s success, but none of that would be possible unless the content was strategic and high-value. Mission accomplished.

“We have a deep-rooted relationship with the Reputation Ink team, turning to them for anything that calls for quality content and creativity, from our award-winning blog, Food for Thought, to our company website to our public relations efforts. Above all else, they’re relentless in their attention to detail, digging deep to understand the ins and outs of our various (quite complex) industries, then developing content that hits the sweet spot of Stellar’s expertise and the information our audiences seek. Whether it’s a marketing campaign, PR push or design project, the Rep Ink team has always delivered a quality product within the timeframe needed. Their value to our organization is demonstrated in the trust they’ve built throughout our 600-employee company over the years. When you can consistently rely on someone in our industry to deliver, that’s a beautiful thing.”

Justin Bridegan,
Stellar Director of Marketing

Download Case study

Discover hpw one aec firm used content to drive millions in revenue