Summary
Thunderhead came to Earnest with the trickiest of briefs: to generate demand for its software amongst senior executives operating in Europe’s largest banks and insurers – a notoriously tough audience. What’s more, as a leading provider of software that enables highly personalised multi-channel communications, thunderhead wanted the campaign to practice what it preaches. The result was the ‘I am’ campaign created by Earnest – an integrated marketing programme delivering the right message to the right executive, at the right time.
What did it involve?
- High impact direct mail and email, tailored to each audiences’ needs featuring personalised URLs.
- An online experience aggregating relevant content assets – and backed by a marketing automation platform.
- Search and social media activity to increase opportunities to see and engage.
All constructed to deliver a seamless audience experience – from the first engagement through to the sales meeting. Co-ordinating the marketing and sales effort to make every communication count.
The result? A £4.4m pipeline and return on investment of 110:1 to date. Plus a programme that’s now being extended into the US and Asia-Pacific.
This is the story of how we did it.
Up front and personal
About the client
Thunderhead is one of the fastest growing software companies in EMEA. The company’s customer communications management software is used by large companies to personalise the way they engage with customers – delivering the right message, through the right channel at the right time.
Strategy
Develop an integrated campaign targeting leading retail banks and insurers based in UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Switch busy, often cynical, senior executives onto the virtues of using Thunderhead’s software.
Objectives
- Generate leads to drive Thunderhead’s revenue growth in EMEA
- Build a strategic dialogue with board-level executives in target companies
- Extend engagement beyond the IT department
Target audience
We determined early on that we needed to practice what Thunderhead preaches – and ensure any communication was highly personalised to the target recipient. With this in mind, six weeks of rigorous data capture and profiling ensued – from identifying the key movers and shakers in each target account across a number of functions to the very important P.As and E.As that serve as gatekeepers.
Segmentation
Type of organisation: Retail bank/insurer (life & pensions)/insurer (property & casualty)/insurer (private medical insurance)/general financial services
Function: technical/marketing/compliance/line of business market facing/line of business back office/Other board
Role: Strategic/operational/gatekeeper
Account priority: Tier 1/Tier 2
Region: UK/Germany, Switzerland and Austria/US/Asia-Pac
Building the messaging
We knew that a one-size fits all message wouldn’t float the boat for our targets. So we did our homework, developing a robust messaging matrix – which was then tested with independent industry consultants. The focus was on tuning into the issues faced by different contacts based on their role, the function they operate in, the type of organisation and even their company’s strategic goals – garnered from reports & accounts and news releases.
Developing the creative
We needed a creative theme that was flexible enough to accommodate different messages, different regional languages and nuances – plus would work across different media. ‘I am…’ provided just that – giving us a compelling device to show the many ways Thunderhead helps each target contact address their issues and the benefits it brings.
Constructing the campaign programme
For each different target group, we fully mapped out the audience journey we wanted to deliver as part of the campaign. This looked at how we could maximise our reach and cut through – while minimising wastage. Importantly, it clearly defined how the marketing and sales effort would be integrated to ensure a seamless experience for each target.
STRATEGIC programme
Gatekeepers:
Received a personalised postcard giving them advance warning that a box was being delivered to the named executive they were responsible for – and asking them to kindly pass it on.
TIER 1 board-level executives:
Received a DM pack containing an iPod Shuffl e pre-loaded with a tailored 60 second message from Thunderhead. The accompanying booklet was personalised according to their role. For a select number of targets, these booklets were ‘hyper-personalised’ – tailored to address their organisation’s stated business priorities. Each booklet featured a personalised URL.
TIER 2 board-level executives:
Received a DM pack containing a coffee pot, cup, saucer and Arabic ground coffee. The accompanying booklet was personalised according to their role. Each booklet featured a personalised URL.
OPERATIONAL programme
TIER 1 and 2 operational level executives:
Received a series of three personalised postcards and emails delivered weekly, with the content tailored depending on their role within the organisation. Each communication featured a personalised URL.
Delivering a personalised microsite experience
The personalised URLs enabled us to deliver a tailored online experience for each target. The site aggregated a selection of content assets relevant to their business – from white papers and podcasts to case studies. A sharing function enabled them to readily share content with their colleagues – and allowed us to capture further contacts. The site was built in Eloqua’s marketing automation platform and integrated with SalesForce.com. This meant any interaction with the site could be captured and used to trigger key events. This included:
• Real-time email alerts to the appropriate Sales Rep detailing the pages visited by the target
• Automated emails being sent to all site visitors – thanking them for their visit, providing the contact details of their Sales Rep and encouraging them to follow us via social media
• Automated generation of weekly reports detailing all interaction with the site
Surround sound
At the same time as running the core campaign activity, we were also keen to maximise opportunities to see Thunderhead amongst our targets. As such, we created a research video called the ‘Disconnected Customer’ – showing the issues faced by banks and insurers today with regard to their customer communication. The video was promoted through targeted Google and LinkedIn keyword campaigns, along with active promotion via social media – Twitter, YouTube, Blog comment.
Sales engagement
We knew that the campaign’s success hinged on the buy in of the sales force. As such, we aimed to involve them as early as possible – from working with us to identify and prioritise targets – to ensuring they were clear on their role in following up. The goal was to ensure all targets were followed up within 48 hours of visiting the site – essentially striking whilst the iron was hot!
Timings
The campaign has been executed in waves to ensure the volumes were manageable for follow up by sales.
- UK roll out began April 2011
- German, Austria and Switzerland roll out began June 2011
- US and Asia-Pac planned for Sept 2011
Results
The first wave of the UK campaign targeted 394 contacts and generated a pipeline of £4.4m – a 110:1 Return on Investment.
