How we're using customer advocacy, LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads, video and generative engine optimisation (GEO) to drive B2B growth at Smokeball.
I recently joined Shahin Hoda on xGrowth's APAC's B2B Growth Podcast to discuss how we're approaching growth marketing at Smokeball.
We covered everything from turning customers and executives into brand advocates to experimenting with generative engine optimisation (GEO) and getting more value from video content.
One of the things I enjoyed most about the conversation was the opportunity to share actual campaign results, including what we've tested, what's worked and what we've learned along the way.
Here are some of the highlights!
1. Why the messenger matters as much as the message
One of the most interesting experiments we've run at Smokeball involved LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads.
We tested promoting a customer video through a customer's LinkedIn post rather than through Smokeball's company page.
The video, budget and audience remained the same. The key difference was who delivered the message.
The results were significant:
2x higher video view rate
8.7x increase in video completion rate
186% increase in return on ad spend (ROAS)
The campaign featured Empire Legal, a Queensland law firm and Smokeball customer. It reinforced something I've believed for a while: people are often more interested in hearing from other people than from brands.
For B2B marketers, customer advocacy isn't just about collecting testimonials. It's about finding ways to put credible customer voices at the centre of your marketing.
2. Turning executives and customers into influencers
We also discussed how we're building thought leadership through video.
At Smokeball, we've experimented with different formats, including our Hey Hunter video series featuring CEO Hunter Steele.
The idea is to make executives more accessible and share their expertise in a format that's engaging and easy to consume.
We've also explored repurposing this content across different channels, including testing executive-led video as connected TV advertising in the United States.
One of my biggest takeaways from producing these videos is that you don't need an elaborate production setup to get started.
Sometimes a simple conversation, a camera and a good question are enough.
The important thing is to create content that feels natural rather than overly scripted.
3. Our early experiments with GEO and AEO
Another topic we explored was generative engine optimisation (GEO) and answer engine optimisation (AEO).
As more people use tools like ChatGPT to research products and services, marketers need to think about how their brands appear in AI-generated answers.
At Smokeball, we're still experimenting.
Some of the areas we're exploring include:
Auditing how consistently our brand is represented across the web.
Creating useful comparison and competitor content.
Testing whether LinkedIn articles can contribute to AI search visibility.
Understanding which sources AI platforms reference when recommending software.
It's still an emerging discipline, and I don't think anyone has all the answers yet.
My advice to marketers interested in GEO is to start small, test different approaches and measure what you can before making major investments.
4. Getting more value from video content
Video is an important part of our marketing mix, but creating it is only the beginning.
We discussed how we're repurposing content across channels and markets to extend its lifespan.
One example was an Australian customer case study video that we subsequently used in the UK, where it performed particularly well.
It's a reminder that good content doesn't necessarily need to be created from scratch for every campaign.
Sometimes the biggest opportunity is finding a new audience, distribution channel or messenger for content you've already produced.
5. Talk to your customers
One of the simplest pieces of advice I shared was to speak with customers regularly.
It's easy for marketers to spend most of their time looking at dashboards, campaign performance and attribution reports.
But conversations with customers can reveal things that don't appear in your analytics.
They can help you understand why someone chose your product, what problems they're trying to solve and how they describe the value you provide.
Those insights can influence everything from messaging and content strategy to advertising and product positioning.
For me, customer conversations remain one of the most valuable inputs into B2B marketing.
Watch or listen to the full episode
We covered plenty more throughout the conversation, including our channel mix, employee advocacy, LinkedIn advertising and how we're thinking about AI search.
A big thank you to Shahin Hoda and the xGrowth team for having me on the podcast.
If you're working in B2B marketing, demand generation or growth marketing, I hope you'll find a few ideas worth testing.
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Listen to the episode on xGrowth
About Christopher Chow
Christopher Chow is a leading B2B marketing leader based in Australia. He is also a LinkedIn Top Voice, keynote speaker, and B2B content creator. He is currently the Head of Growth Marketing at Smokeball and has previously worked at Apple, Microsoft, Autodesk and Dovetail.
He writes about growth marketing, B2B marketing, AI and the changing landscape of digital marketing.
