By Katy Nally

Image by Aaron Wendel

2A may have started off as a Microsoft shop, but over the years, we’ve grown to cover a much larger slice of the tech industry. We have clients at small AI startups, large cloud enterprises, and many other partners in between.  

Each year we compile our show-stopping assets into a sizzle reel to showcase our best work. Take a look! And keep reading to learn more about how we put it all together. (And if you’re curious about how we think about video formats more broadly, check out our recent post on engaging more and converting faster with the right video.) 

Katy: Oh hello there Aaron Wendel! Please tell us about the new sizzle video you and your team created for 2A. I hear it captures the essence of our work in just about 1 minute. What does it show? 

Aaron: It’s a little of everything we create at 2A. Animation, video, decks, ebooks, blogs… even a sticker sheet.  

Katy: What’s your favorite moment in this sizzle? 

Aaron: There’s a moment toward the beginning that highlights two assets we created for the Azure Database team. It’s really simple, but I love when a project spans across a range of deliverables, and we lean into our team’s brand expertise to adapt to the needs of each asset.

Katy: What does this sizzle say about 2A? 

Aaron: It shows we have a wide variety of work, and know how to put together a great playlist! 

Katy: So true! What’s something that didn’t make the cut that you think should get some love? 

Aaron: All of the projects that don’t necessarily sizzle but are successful in other ways, like translating technical concepts, demonstrating a new product feature, or building foundational messaging for a client. These go a long way in helping clients explain their solutions and giving customers “Aha!” moments.

Katy: How did you time the music with the images? 

Aaron: You’ll have to interview our talented motion designer Chris next!  

Katy: Glad I asked! Thanks for chatting—we love the sizzle!  

By Katy Nally

Image by Jenni Lydell

If you’re like me, then pie has been on your mind lately. With just a few days until Thanksgiving, I’ve now promised an unreasonable number of pie flavors to my 4-year-old. Here’s hoping he won’t remember by the time we sit down for turkey.  

And beyond the usual pumpkin, apple, and pecan (who’s with me!?), there’s another pie that’s been gaining attention lately. Estimated to hit $100 billion by 2026, the cloud marketplace pie is looking pretty tasty for our three biggest hyperscalers—AWS, Microsoft, and Google. $100 billion is a ton of throughput (up from $15 billion in 2023) and with it will come continued investment to build out these cloud marketplaces so they’re THE place to spend. We already saw Microsoft consolidate its AppSource and Azure Marketplace into Microsoft Marketplace this year to streamline the process for partners and customers.  

The cloud marketplace is where the $$ is 

So, what does this mean for equally hungry channel partners? If you’re a systems integrator, managed service provider, or software vendor, the growth in marketplaces is a big signal to get your listing page(s) in order! For the foreseeable future, cloud marketplaces are where your buyers are transacting and it’s where hyperscalers want their partners to be.  

Here are a few ingredients to make your marketplace page(s) unforgettable.  

1. Lead with the benefit. Your title and subhead should clearly communicate the outcome your solution delivers to customers so they know what business impact to expect. Elevating the benefit, rather than just product features, helps your listing resonate and capture attention. 

2. Keep it short and sweet. Most buyers are just skimming your page, so boil down your value prop into a few short sentences and recap the main ideas in bullets. Too much text dilutes your message and hides your key selling point from decision-makers and search algorithms alike.  

3. Sprinkle in some flare. Screenshots, demo videos, and customer success stories elevate your listing from just another product to a credible solution. A variety of assets keep prospects on your page longer and help marketplaces surface your listing. 

4. Offer different price points. Giving buyers flexible pricing tiers—such freemium, pay-as-you-go, and enterprise contracts—allows you to capture interest at multiple stages of maturity and budget. This also gives customers a way to try before they buy. 

If you’re a partner working with Microsoft or AWS, now’s the time to make sure your slice of the cloud marketplace pie stands out—flaky crust, golden-brown finish, and all. We can help you revamp your marketplace presence so buyers stick around for seconds.  

By Katy Nally

Image by Suzanne Calkins

When the lovable lawyer with questionable judgment Saul Goodman got his own show, we celebrated. When Fraiser Crane changed his backdrop from the Cheers bar to his Seattle apartment, we kept watching as his backstory unfolded. Hollywood loves a good spin-off, and so do we. 

In the content marketing world, the spin-off just got a whole lot easier thanks to generative AI. A few prompts can yield a whole bunch of new assets based on the original. But the narratives are only as good as the initial inputs. If those are too fluffy or redundant, the spin-off content won’t say much and will drown in the sea of spam. 

That’s why messaging and positioning frameworks (MPFs) have been a top-selling asset for 2A this year. These documents pack in a ton of information about a solution’s value, reasons customers should believe in it, and real-world use cases applicable to various industries. MPFs explain the differentiated benefits of our clients’ solutions, which is exactly the kind of detail you need for AI to create a standout spin-off asset like a hero ebook. 

For companies just getting started with AI-generated content, we recommend this approach. Start with a human-created MPF that involves your whole team in the process and nails down exactly what you want to say. We’ll act as the conversation facilitators to pull out salient points, then we’ll capture them in customer-ready copy. From there, we can save you some time and money by using our AI tools to generate an ebook based on your MPF. 

Essentially, do the hard work up front for a better payoff in the end. That is, after all, how Hollywood does it. 

By Katy Nally

Image by Suzanne Calkins

There’s nothing like fishing with my kids to make me appreciate the waiting game. Fishing isn’t fast. And fish don’t eat their dinner systematically. All right, it’s true, we’re not good at fishing. But still, the process is a series of unanticipated interactions that culminates in one fish deciding yes, I’ll completely eat the worm this time. As the human on the other end of the pole, that’s the long-awaited thrill. We get to reel one in, throw it back, then start the madness all over again. 

This process of swimming around, inspecting hunks of worms, and finally chomping on the hook is your typical buyer journey in its purest form. No matter how often we depict a customer’s journey in a neat line, it’s really more like a sunfish that’s watching and waiting, while occasionally nibbling on the lure to throw you off. 

That’s why we tell clients to simultaneously push content designed for ALL stages of the funnel. Let’s say your audience is a group of fish hiding in a clump of watermilfoil awaiting their dinner. Some will be too shy to go after the worm right away. They prefer to inspect it from afar. Others will be bold enough to nibble. And, if you do it right, one might even grab the hook on your first try. It’s unlikely (if you’re anything like us), but it’s possible. The tricky part is that it’s difficult to guess which fish will go after the hook next. Do you need to cast four more times to lure out the shy ones? Do you need some extra bait to allow the nibbles to continue? 

Here’s where a full-funnel content strategy can target all types of fish—I mean, customers—to encourage them along their journey (into your boat!). 

Consider the following two scenarios: 

The large-mouth bass: ITDM with vast product knowledge, but still needs convincing 

This customer heard about your solution from a former colleague and knows it’s widely used. They understand how it works and what it does, but they want to hear how others have adopted it and the impact it has had. They’re unsure it can solve their unique issues. 

This buyer could be convinced with: 

• Customer success stories
• Technical blog posts
• Interactive product demos 

The sunfish: Solution champion that needs to bring others along 

You’ll often have one fish on the line, but their friends aren’t joining in. You can still cultivate that champion with bottom-funnel assets that keep them interested while providing them with top-funnel assets they can share. 

Here’s what you might give them: 

• Solution briefs
• Explainer animations
• Deep-dive whitepapers 

Now, the reel question is, are you fishing with the right bait? We can help you create the juiciest content that tempts the full range of potential customers—across all stages of the funnel. 

By Olivia Witt, Katy Nally

Okay, okay, we get it: You don’t want to add to your already growing list of to-dos before your big event. But, this will really make you look like a marketing rock star—and it just requires a little coordination up front for a big payoff in the end.  

Let’s say you’re knee-deep in planning mode for your marquee event and you’ve got a few customers lined up to speak during different sessions. Or, you’ve invited a few big-name customers who are psyched about attending. Great! Since they’re already making the trip out there to participate, you should also shoot a quick on-site customer testimonial where they say amazing things about your product. But wait—there’s more! That video is a goldmine for social posts and you can use the transcripts to create written case studies. 

We’ve done it before and can confidently say this approach offers 100% satisfaction guaranteed. If you’re ready to pull this off, here are some tips from our video experts to keep in mind.  

Book a conference room or carve out space in the main venue. There are usually rooms available at large conference centers that you can reserve ahead of time for your production studio. Our video team travels light and can set up wherever and whenever you need us. And if a room isn’t available, shooting on the event floor provides an engaging backdrop, even if it does pose a few audio challenges. Just be sure to coordinate with the conference center to find a space that works.  

Prep the customer(s) so they can schedule time and review talking points. Once your customers are confirmed for the event, ask them if they can carve out 90 minutes to do a quick testimonial shoot. Chances are your large event attracts multiple big-name customers, so plan on doing a few interviews to maximize your time with the film crew. After you schedule folks, be sure to send over talking points that outline what you’d like to capture.  

Bring in a host for a lively conversation. One way to change up the testimonial format is to have a host or moderator share the spotlight with your customer. This can provide a conversational flow to the video and it takes the pressure off your customer to do a solo show. 

Line up a content vendor (us 😉) to make derivative assets. Hooray! That’s a wrap on your videos—now it’s time to turn them into nurture assets following the event. We’ll help you transform the full-length interview into social cut-downs to keep the event buzz going. And we’ll also develop written case studies using the transcripts so you have an evergreen story for partner and/or customer sites.  

Now you just have to ask yourself, what’s your next event and whose testimonial can you capture? Contact us to start planning today. 

By Katy Nally

Image by Nicole Todd

Forrester, Gartner, and IDC…they’re like the plastics of the enterprise tech world. They’re the analysts that rank the players, set the trends, and get everyone vying for their attention. And with good reason. A Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI) Study, for instance, provides a name-brand stamp of approval on your tech—with jaw-dropping stats to back it up. A TEI study not only promotes trust in your brand or product, but it also gives sales an ROI story to tell.  

But what is the ROI of a TEI study?!? No one knows, but we know how to boost it. 

Whether you fund a TEI analysis, snag a spot in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, or commission an IDC whitepaper, the payoff in terms of thought leadership and awareness makes it worthwhile. These analyst reports are the basis of a steady stream of trust-the-experts content. And we can help you get the most mileage from them with our analyst bundle. 

Get the word out—GIFs and animations 

Social GIFs with a little wiggle: Post them as paid LinkedIn ads or share them with partners so they can spread the word on social. Here’s a fun one we made for Power Platform to showcase its 224% ROI. 

Animation: Entice prospects to peruse your website with an animation that highlights analysts’ top stats (from TEI reports) and claims about your product (from Magic Quadrants).  

Give them details—datasheets and blogs 

Announcement email: Ping prospects and keep your current customers informed about the leading status of your product. 

Thought-leadership blog and webinar: Combine analyst research with your own point of view and dive deeper into the conversation.  

Datasheet: Package up key findings and accolades into a highly designed datasheet. Here’s one we made highlighting the possibilities of using Azure to power intelligent apps.  

Get a meeting—sales guide and pitch deck 

Sales guide: Prep your sellers with key talking points from Forrester, Gartner, and IDC to validate claims and frame the findings in ways that resonate. 

Invitation email: Invite prospects to learn more about the report and how key findings can help them find just the right solution (yours!) to unblock their challenges. 

Pitch deck: Close the deal with a presentation that includes analyst slides showing the expert-validated value of your product. Here’s a slide we made for AWS Financial Services that uses IDC research to back up claims.  

Analyst research and key findings play a big role in establishing trust in your brand. Don’t let those stats and achievements gather dust. We can help you maximize the ROI of your analyst reports for a big ‘ole economic impact (see what we did there?). 

By Katy Nally

Image by Rachel Adams

Transitioning from the free-trial stage to a paid subscription model is a big leap for your customers. This major decision is the culmination of hundreds of positive interactions they’ve had with your brand. The fact that they’re now paying customers signifies you’ve earned their trust and they believe in your product. 

Well done, marketing heroes! 😊 So, how did you do it? Chances are, you developed well-positioned content along the buying journey that showed a deep understanding of the customer’s challenges, demonstrated the value of your brand, and framed your ideas in a way that was worth listening to. 

With trust coming under the microscope this year for big tech companies, establishing trust with your audience through precise content marketing will be key. Here are the top assets that can help you build trust—all the way from awareness to conversion. 

Thought leadership blogs prove you’re defining the industry 

Ghostwrite blogs from your CTO, CIO, or other C-suite executives. This signals to customers that your leadership has a defined product vision and path to get there. Interview your team members to capture high-level perspectives that demonstrate their authority on subjects. 

Pro tip from our team: Try a Q&A format that gives you the freedom to cover a wide range of topics and comes together quickly. 

Ebooks and playbooks answer common questions

Tailor your deep-dive content so that it responds to the challenges customers face in particular stages of the funnel. If they’re just looking to learn more, keep it light and easy to navigate. If they’re evaluating your product against competitors, give them the technical details that make your product stand out. 

Pro tip from our team: Gather insights from top sellers and customer success managers to truly understand blockers along the buying journey, then structure your ebook around them. The clearer you are on what customers are getting and why they should care, the more trust you build in your brand. 

Case studies showcase success within the customer’s industry 

Find compelling customer stories, then dig for pithy quotes and validating metrics. If it’s a great story, give it legs. Start with a written version so you know the main points, then turn it into a video testimonial. Once you’ve established a relationship with that customer, they can join webinars and co-present at conferences. 

Pro tip from our team: Do the legwork upfront to ensure the customer has actually used your product, achieved success, and will discuss it publicly. 

Product demos give customers a taste of what your product does 

Deliver a curated version of your product that showcases 3–5 features or experiences that users love. These demos walk through real-world use cases from your existing customers and illustrate tangible benefits. Being able to see firsthand what your product can do alleviates concerns and layers on the trust. 

Pro tip from our team: Link your product demo as a CTA in complementary assets like case studies to move customers through the funnel. 

Hopefully this list sparks some ideas on how to build trust with your audience. And if you need help thinking through the content journey, we’re here for you. Now go get ’em, marketing heroes! 

By Katy Nally

Image by Thad Allen

The countdown has begun! That big event you’ve been planning for is finally almost here. (I’m looking at you, re:Invent and Ignite 😉.) You’re in the home stretch, the last inning, the [insert sports metaphor] and everything is falling into place.  

But, like all big events, inevitably something will change at the last minute, and you’ll have to pivot. That’s where we can help! We know you’re on a tight timeline, but we’re ready to create those quick-turn assets you need for a homerun experience. From building hype with a teaser blog, to leaving a lasting impression with a sleek solution brief, our team can hit the ground running.  

As you think through your event checklist, consider these assets to win big with your audience. 

• Teaser blog: Generate some buzz for your sessions with a blog that previews what’s coming. This is a great way to position your presenter as an authority on the subject and draw a bigger following. 

• Deck design: Get some oooos and ahhhs from your audience with the deck of their dreams. Our deck experts can polish your slides—fast, and we’ll deliver the same outstanding design whether it’s a keynote, session, or breakout.  

• Slide animation: Make sure no one in the audience falls asleep with slides that morph, turn, and practically leap off the stage to wave hello.  

• Recap blog: Give all those GA and public preview announcements a place to live with a recap blog that hits home the highlights of your presentation and directs readers to your solutions. 

• Social GIFs: Keep that event energy going well after you wrap with animated social GIFs that showcase big announcements in a bite-sized form.  

• Solution brief: Tell ‘em what you told ‘em in a glossy, two-paged solution brief that serves up the best parts of your solution. 

 Now let’s get going!  

By Katy Nally

Image by Jenni Lydell

Does this sound familiar? 

Your partner program is thriving. Your product has a ton of new opportunities to reach customers. And your business is poised for growth. The only catch? Your go-to-market (GTM) strategy for all these new partners hasn’t really caught up. It seems like your newly onboarded partners simply go forth into the marketing ether and…poof. You don’t really know what they’re telling customers or how they’re positioning your joint value prop. You’re just badging them and hoping for the best. 

Scalable assets to the rescue!

So, how do you ensure partners are nailing your joint value prop and have the resources to secure new business? With scalable assets! Yes, the same scale that applies to your product. Scalable content often takes the form of ebooks, emails, solution briefs, and landing pages, with dedicated space for the partner to describe their offering alongside your locked marketing message. 

When you’re so focused on getting partners off the ground, that last-mile task of creating marketing materials for customer pitches and co-sell motions is often an afterthought. As the agency that helps B2B tech companies build partner programs and joint GTM assets, we know how to design scalable assets that lighten the load for your marketing team. For large cloud providers and midsized tech companies, we’ve created materials that support dozens of partners at a time. These joint assets can be in the partner’s branding or yours, and they tell your combined story.  

A win-win for you and your partner

They’re a nice win-win for both sides: Partners get a glossy piece of content connecting them to large cloud providers, while you get controlled messaging and sales reach through partners. Not only does this approach help your marketing team, but it also pulls partners back from the ether. It gives them a script to follow so they deliver your value prop consistently and persuasively every time.  

So, if you have partners who need some support—and your marketing team could too—it’s time to create scalable marketing assets. Let’s build a plan together. 

By Katy Nally

If you believe in string theory or just enjoy a good sci-fi plot, then you’ll appreciate the truth about our consultant Kyung. The truth is, somewhere in our vast multiverse, there’s a parallel version of him working as a surgeon in New York City. There’s another Kyung slinging pizza dough near the Jersey Shore. And still another, scrambling his way up Mount Rainier as you read this. 

In a lucky twist of fate, we got the Kyung who made a life-altering pivot in college that set him on a course through startups, digital media groups, and finally 2A. 

Shoes make the marketer and leave their mark 

It all started when he fell in love with some shoes. Not just any shoes—Air Jordans. In elementary school, Kyung first encountered them and realized their magic went deeper than just apparel. He noticed that wearing Jordans conveyed a broader message to people. It was his first taste of marketing and it set in motion a miraculous chain of events. 

When Kyung went to college, he planned to study medicine. But halfway through, the universe pulled him in a different direction. He dusted off his memories of the Jordans and dove headfirst into marketing. After graduating, Kyung cast a wide net, landing his first gig as a PR intern at a men’s fashion publication. 

Big startup energy at Noom 

From there, he seized the attention of a startup in New York City’s Silicon Alley. Kyung joined Noom before it reached 100 employees, working directly with the CEO and founder on the growth marketing team. He ran A/B testing for Facebook ads to spread the word about Noom and recruit new health and wellness influencers. He also helped improve reviews of the product to incorporate better SEO and position Noom higher in search results. 

While Kyung enjoyed the daily catered lunches, he wanted a marketing role that offered more breadth, so he began searching. Then destiny presented him with an opening at the Jun Group. 

The merry-go-round of digital advertising 

For five years, Kyung worked with some of the world’s biggest brands to create digital advertising campaigns and increase conversion rates. When Jun Group sellers needed to pitch companies like General Mills, Target, and Kraft, they’d first go to Kyung for tailored marketing materials. As a content strategist, he developed sales enablement assets to show off Jun Group’s differentiators so the agency could win new business. 

Life was good at his NYC job. That is, until the pandemic hit. 

Stories sparkle with the right data 

With ties to Washington, Kyung left the Big Apple and moved to Seattle. After a few months, he found his next gig, at Indeed. It was a departure from the world of digital ads, but it gave him a crash course in market research. As a senior content specialist, he searched for hiring trends in the retail and hospitality industries, paired them with proprietary Indeed data, and packaged them in a deck or whitepaper for customers. 

As it turned out, finding and developing stories for a particular audience was exactly the steppingstone he needed to land at 2A. 

All signs point to 2A 

And here we have the Kyung you know and love—built moment by moment, from a thousand different experiences that led him to be your consultant. If you want to see your marketing unfold with Kyung, let’s chat.