by Ardath Albee

With only 21% of B2B marketers saying they are successful at tracking content marketing ROI, it’s inspiring to see success in an unexpected (even perceived as stodgy) environment: academic medical centers. We’re proud to share the story of Wake Forest Innovations, the commercialization arm for Wake Forest University and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. I was fortunate to speak with its Director of Marketing and Business Development, Vishal Khanna, who is a finalist for Content Marketer of the Year. (Editor’s Update: Vishal was named Content Marketer of the Year at Content Marketing World.)

Vishal was chosen as a finalist for his dedication to performance in content marketing. While you may not work for an entity in an academic medical center or a university, you will find insights and lessons to learn from Vishal’s story. He and his staff of one full-time-equivalent employee and two 30-hour-a-week contractors rock performance by executing a content marketing strategy that an agency helped them develop.

First, a look at performance

Let me set the stage. Vishal came on board in 2012 to lead marketing for an entity that never had a formal marketing program. His mandate:

• To build awareness and introduce new technology licenses that can be purchased by pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as to promote the initiatives to investors in the biotech space
• To increase demand for use of Wake Forest Innovations’ laboratory research and testing services

Vishal, who believes in the power of storytelling to change the world, built a marketing program that aims to manage the conversations with scientists and business development executives at pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies to achieve the organization’s goals. He developed what he calls a “brand engine” composed of MailChimp, Pardot, and Salesforce, and evaluates that engine’s performance to drive momentum across the buying cycle.

Read the full feature at contentmarketinginstitute.com.