What are the best B2B marketing examples with real figures?
Six B2B companies describe their own marketing in documents they wrote: five in their US securities filings and one on its own blog. Each example below gives the date, what the source says they did, the figures it reports, and one thing a team of one to five people can copy.
| Company | Source and date | Tactic | Headline figure the source gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | Amended S-1, filed 8 Apr 2019 | Free hosts invite paying buyers | 55% of 344 customers contributing over $100,000 of revenue started with a free host |
| Figma | S-1, filed 1 Jul 2025 | Community chapters and shared resources | More than 200 Friends of Figma chapters, over 650 events in 2024 |
| Ahrefs | Blog post, 3 May 2022 | Content that shows the product solving the problem | No traffic or sign-up figures given |
| Twilio | S-1, filed 26 May 2016 | Developer evangelists and an annual conference | Over 900,000 developer accounts registered |
| monday.com | F-1, filed 17 May 2021 | Trial, then a free plan for two users | 14-day trial of the Pro plan |
| GitLab | S-1, filed 17 Sep 2021 | Free tier as lead generation, public handbook | Handbook of over 2,000 webpages |
The live posts on Notion and Gong cover two other companies, so they aren't repeated here.
Zoom: how did free users turn into large customers?
Zoom's amended IPO filing describes a loop: anyone invited to a meeting can join straight away, some sign up as free hosts, and those hosts invite more people. For the fiscal year ended 31 January 2019, the filing says 55% of the 344 customers that each contributed more than $100,000 of revenue started with at least one free host before subscribing, and those 344 customers contributed 30% of revenue. By my arithmetic, 55% of 344 is about 189 customers.
The filing says the sales team then funnels that demand into direct sales, an online channel, resellers and partners. The filing credits this approach with lead generation, upgrading free users to paid and expanding within organisations.
Figma: what does community-led B2B marketing look like?
Figma's S-1 registration statement (filed 1 July 2025) describes its community in detail. It reports more than 200 Friends of Figma chapters, from Lagos to Los Angeles, that organised over 650 events in 2024; over 250,000 Community resources made by users, including more than 10,000 plugins and widgets; and Config, an annual conference started in 2020. In the three months ended 31 March 2025, non-designers made up two-thirds of its more than 13 million monthly active users, per the filing.
The filing also says that early on, the founders made house-calls to customers' offices to troubleshoot product problems.
Ahrefs: how does product-led content work?
Ahrefs writes articles where the product is the way to finish the task. In a post on product-led content (published 3 May 2022, updated 12 August 2026), Si Quan Ong, SEO and marketing educator at Ahrefs, explains that the team gives each topic a business potential score and prioritises topics that score a 2 or a 3, so product mentions read naturally. The example given is a list of ways to get backlinks, where each step shows how to find prospects with Ahrefs.
The post gives no traffic or sign-up numbers, so treat this as a method, not a proven result. The same post says not to force the product in where it isn't a good fit.
Twilio, monday.com and GitLab: what did their filings say?
Twilio marketed to developers. Its 2016 S-1 says it focuses sales and marketing on awareness through its developer evangelist team and self-service model, and that it planned to host its SIGNAL developer conference annually. As of 31 March 2016 it reported over 900,000 registered developer accounts and over 28,000 Active Customer Accounts, two counts with different definitions. Copy: if a technical user picks your tool, write for that user's docs and forums first.
monday.com combined paid and organic. Its F-1 (filed 17 May 2021) says it casts a wide net of performance-based marketing, brand advertising and organic marketing, and that new customers start a 14-day trial of the Pro plan, then either pay or move to a Free plan limited to two users. The filing says this brings viral, word-of-mouth marketing as customers invite more teams. Copy: decide what a trial user keeps when the trial ends; free trial or demo call helps you pick the first ask.
GitLab gave away a tier and published how it runs. Its S-1 (filed 17 September 2021) says its free tier serves as "targeted lead generation for paid customers", and that its public Handbook, describing how the company runs, has over 2,000 webpages. It also reports over 2,600 contributors in its open source community as of 31 July 2021. Copy: publish one process page buyers ask about, such as how you onboard or price, and link it from your sales emails.
Which of these B2B marketing ideas can a small team start this week?
Pick the one that matches how your buyers already find you. This uses only what the six sources describe.
| If buyers usually... | Start with | First step this week |
|---|---|---|
| Meet your product through a colleague | Zoom's free invitee loop | Make the shared link usable without an account |
| Search for how to do a task | Ahrefs' scored topics | Score 20 topics 0 to 3 and write one 3 |
| Talk to each other in groups | Figma's community chapters | Ask one active user to host a 30-minute call |
| Are technical and test before they buy | Twilio's developer focus | Rewrite your quick-start guide for that user |
| Try before talking to sales | monday.com's trial-then-free path | Decide what a trial user keeps afterwards |
| Want to see how you work | GitLab's public handbook | Publish one process page |
None of these finds the first buyers for you. For that, read where B2B founders found their first 100 customers. Siela's Lead Finder looks for people with a reason to hear from you now, such as hiring for the work you automate or comparing tools.
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of B2B marketing?
Zoom is one documented case. Its 2019 filing says free hosts invited new people into meetings, and 55% of the 344 customers that each contributed over $100,000 of revenue that year started with at least one free host. The filing says its sales routes then turned that demand into larger deals.
What are B2B campaigns?
A B2B campaign is a planned push to get businesses, rather than consumers, to take one step, such as booking a demo, starting a trial or attending an event. It usually targets a role and a company type, runs over weeks or months, and is judged by pipeline created rather than clicks alone.
What is the 3-3-3 rule for marketing?
People use the phrase for several different rules of thumb. One practical version for a small B2B team: pick three buyer problems, three channels where those buyers already gather, and three months to test before judging the result.
What are the best B2B marketing campaigns to learn from?
Learn from cases where the company itself states what it did and gives figures, such as securities filings and the company's own posts. Zoom, Figma, Twilio, monday.com and GitLab all describe their go-to-market in their IPO filings, which you can read free on the SEC's EDGAR site.
How can a small B2B team copy big-company marketing?
Copy the mechanism, not the budget. Make your product easy to share with a colleague, write content where your product finishes the task, give active users something to host or publish, and publish one page that shows how you work. Each can start in a week with no ad spend.
Sources
- Zoom Video Communications: Form S-1/A (filed 8 Apr 2019; checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Figma: Form S-1 (filed 1 Jul 2025; checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Ahrefs: Product-Led Content (Si Quan Ong) (published 3 May 2022, updated 12 Aug 2026; checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Twilio: Form S-1 (filed 26 May 2016; checked 5 Nov 2026)
- monday.com: Form F-1 (filed 17 May 2021; checked 5 Nov 2026)
- GitLab: Form S-1 (filed 17 Sep 2021; checked 5 Nov 2026)