Summary
Reed Learning, a leading provider of corporate training programmes, produced a content marketing strategy to acquire data and drive revenue during the economic downturn.
The approach was a series of two free “little books” which addressed topical issues and concerns of HR professionals and those in the market for training.
This approach was at odds with other players in the industry who were focusing their efforts on discounts and direct response campaigns. By aiming instead to engage with clients’ interests and concerns through insightful and engaging content, this campaign took something of a risk.
Given the tough economy the ROI of 219 per cent was staggering and double the targeted return.
Reed Learning
Reed Learning is known across the training industry for having the widest portfolio of corporate management and personal development training programmes.
Their courses are focused on practical results and are run from both their own centres and in-house for individual organisations or teams. Their clients range from multinationals to one-man-bands based all over the UK.
With an intangible product like training it is vital that customers trust their provider. Reed Learning’s stated mission is “To be the most trusted business training provider in the UK.”
Strategy
Although Reed Learning has a loyal following of clients, the economic downturn hit the training industry hard. The trade media was very negative about the impact of the recession on training budgets, and several major competitors were closed or bought out. At Reed Learning, regular customer spend was down approximately 40 per cent on previous years, and new client acquisition declined by 65 per cent in 2009.
Reed Learning’s existing strategy of large volume direct mail was becoming less and less effective. In response to the downturn the goal became to build and preserve trusting relationships, present a friendly and positive corporate face, and be in the best position to respond when the economy recovered.
Objectives of the campaign
- To help Reed Learning grow their database of relevant HR and training contacts.
- To increase favourable and trustworthy brand perceptions amongst existing and prospective clients.
- To grow revenue.
- Specifically the company was looking for 2,000 relevant leads to pass to the sales team for follow up, and, given the gloomy economic outlook, an ROI of at least 100% from directly-attributable, incremental revenue.
It was decided that production of small content-focused printed books would be an effective approach to meet these objectives. This would be used as an opt-in tool to drive data acquisition and relevant leads. High quality content was required to reinforce perceptions of the company’s expertise, credibility and position as a thought leader. The messages needed to be about supporting people through the recession and helping them come out of it stronger, motivated and more skilled.
The book needed to be highly useable, easy to digest, impartial and upbeat.
The content was to be concise, visually appealing and designed to show that Reed Learning was a trustworthy partner in staff training and development who was striving to help its clients get the best deal possible throughout the tough economic times – even at their own expense.
The specific contents were compiled in conjunction with Reed Learning’s managing director and drew on insights from the company’s sales team and trade publications. The second edition was a collaborative work by organisations including LinkedIn, IBM and the campaign for learning.
Edition 1 – The Little Book of Learning
How to Make a Little Go a Long Way (2009)
Reflecting the mood of the time, the first edition was heavily influenced by 1950s aesthetics and the concept of “make-do-and-mend”. Content covered topics like negotiating with suppliers, accessing government funding for training and learning for free online.
Edition 2 – The Little Book of the Future
A Guide to Collaborative Learning (2011)
The second edition was designed to reflect a more positive outlook in the industry in early 2011 and the proliferation of industry press on social learning.
Staff in training departments felt enthusiastic about embracing new technology, but few really knew where to start. This book’s design incorporated a retro-futuristic style, recalling the optimistic science fiction of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The target audience
The campaign was targeted at anyone who might make decisions for their company about training. These decisions most often happen in the training or HR department but very often managers or the attendees themselves choose where to train. Consequently the copy had to be accessible to anyone with any interest in training at work.
Media or channels used
Promotion was integrated across on and offline channels, all drawing on key visual elements from the books.
Animated banners were created and distributed via training industry and other B2B media print ads were created for two offline publications Paid search ads about the books were linked to brand search keywords online Press releases were distributed to industry and non-industry contacts Copies were distributed to HR contacts from the Reed recruitment group launch of the two books was timed to coincide with National Learning at Work Day and some large industry conferences (the World Class Skills expo and the CIPD’s HRD show) where the book was used as an acquisition tool Flashes on all print campaigns directed prospects to a request form online All names acquired were fed into quarterly permission-only direct mail campaigns and targeted email.
Timescale of the campaign
The first book was launched in summer 2009 and the second in early 2011.Promotion was expected to run for a month from release but requests on and offline were still coming in six months after the first edition was launched. The second edition has been available for two months and the volume of requests continues to be high.
Results
The first book was so popular an additional 10,000 copies were printed after just three weeks. Both books attracted over 4,000 requests from individuals in the first two months. In addition several clients and prospective clients asked for bulk orders, including Volkswagen, Barclays, WHSmiths, HMRC, Big Lottery Fund, Lloyds Banking Group, Toshiba and the Open University. And press coverage was secured in the London Paper.
In total over 8,000 new business names were added to the database, over four times the stated target.
Revenue generated from brand new contacts (previously not buying customers) OR who had lapsed (had not spent for 18 months) was calculated six months after the first edition of the book. This showed the following results:
ROI = 104 per cent
In addition, a new client was won for delivery of tailored inhouse courses, who stated that the Little Book had played a major part in their decision to approach and ultimately appoint Reed Learning. Total ROI therefore = 219 per cent.
It is too early to establish ROI for the second edition of the book, but data acquisition volume has already almost equalled that of the first edition.
Client testimonial
“The ROI on the Little Book campaigns far outclassed anything we had expected. This result proved to us the value of engaging content when building client relationships. The campaigns have helped us build trustworthy brand perceptions and given us a route in to several major organisations.” Managing director, Reed Learning
