Hello, No Budget Marketing Readers!
I work in a space where almost every ad looks the same. Swap out the logos, and you can't tell who's selling what. Everyone promises "seamless integration" and "enterprise-grade security" like they're reading from the same script.
I've written plenty of those ads myself.
But a few weeks ago, I decided to try something different. What if B2B marketing for a managed file transfer service didn't have to be so plain? What if we could make people stop scrolling and laugh, or have any reaction at all?
The Experiment
As Marketing Director at Thorn Technologies, I launched three B2B marketing campaigns on social media in July:
Campaign 1: "The Vendor Overlord"
This one calls legacy managed file transfer vendors "tyrannical overlords demanding tribute." One post started: "Still paying tribute to your MFT vendor overlord? You know the type: Demands $100K+ annual tribute..."
Campaign 2: "RIP Storage Limits"
Here I mocked up billboards with gravestones for "File Transfer Storage Limits." Cemetery-style monuments for B2B software.
Campaign 3: "The Break-Up"
I formatted ads like break-up texts. "Those error messages aren't love notes, and 'connection timeout' isn't playing hard to get. It's just not that into you."
Here's What Happening So Far
The sample size is very small at this point, but the posts for these three campaigns have outperformed our traditional posts by 3-4x organically.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll expand on them and see what else the data tells me.
Follow me (Mike Holden) and Thorn Technologies on LinkedIn to see where things go from here.
What This Means For No-Budget Marketers
You don't need a massive budget to stand out. You need:
Permission to take risks - The worst that happens? A post flops. The best? You find your people.
A point of view - Everyone says their solution is "easy to use." What if you said something else?
Commitment - Half-hearted weird is just awkward. If you're going to put gravestones on billboards, own it.
Your Challenge This Week
Take your next "professional" LinkedIn post or something you’re using in your marketing and ask yourself:
What would I say if I were explaining this at a great party?
What's the most unexpected angle I could take?
What would make ME stop scrolling?
Then post that instead.
Want the full story? I wrote up all the details and include campaign examples in an article on LinkedIn. It’s free. Just click the button.