Connecting the Dots to Drive Business Results
In today’s crowded marketplace, marketers are on the continual pursuit to deliver qualified leads by developing solutions-focused campaigns with turbo-charged cut-through.
The Challenge
Our client was looking for an agency to deliver a campaign that delivered qualified leads for an I.T. solution with a long sales cycle. Not only did they need to create awareness to specific target audiences, but also to generate leads and appointments.
The Solution
Bridging the sales and marketing gap by delivering a stand-out virtual event followed by a solid lead follow-up process in order to maximise marketing effectiveness and return on investment.
Stage one involved producing a cut-through virtual event targeting multiple I.T. decision makers within the organisation to ensure optimal awareness and consideration.
Stage two connected these I.T. decision makers with our client’s sales representatives in order to develop relationships and ultimately expedite the buying cycle.
The key strategies included:
- Working with the client sales team leaders to identify key prospects and high-value prospects and customers
- Communicating the client’s value proposition to both business leaders and technical stakeholders
- Optimise engagement during the virtual event to ensure attendees had a vested interest to remain online and interested in the content being delivered
- A robust follow-up program to assist sales team to deliver appointments, and ultimately pipeline
How We Made It Happen
Delivering the right content to the right people was one of the key elements of this campaign. A lot of content needed to be delivered and running any webcast over one hour would certainly end up with a high drop out rate. Instead, content was delivered in a two-part webcast: part one delivered to a business leader audience, and part two being delivered to a technical audience.
Working with a large number of individual stakeholders in various functional roles from various companies (Vendor, I.T. Partner and Marketing Sponsor), several rehearsals were required to ensure a seamless customer experience for attendees during the webcast.
Messaging for invitations and associated marketing were individually developed to target business leaders and technical stakeholders separately in order to get the best possible
cut-through.
To optimise engagement, a leaderboard competition (with a prize for winners) was run. The questions set were structured so that it provided insight into customers’ I.T. pain points while acting as an incentive to pay attention to the content being delivered.
“Nike by You” custom shoes offered as an incentive for those prospects who would attend the webcast and agreed to meet with a sales representative. Selected non-attendees, as well as specific target accounts, were also offered the “Nike by You” incentive with the objective of securing a sales meeting. It’s by connecting the dots and bridging the sales and marketing gap that we were able to deliver measurable results.
The Results
- 95% attendance rate
- 130% registration attainment
- “Nike by You” custom shoes offered as an incentive to attend
- Post follow-up offering custom shoes to target non-attendees as well as specific target accounts with the objective of securing a sales meeting over 12 months