Challenge
Kauffman Needed to Grow Their Business & Their Website Wasn’t Helping Kauffman Gas had an interesting problem: they implemented a new propane delivery mapping system that made their propane drivers more efficient. This opened the 7th truck in their fleet for more business. Without a delivery schedule, that 7th truck was sunk capital waiting to generate revenue. The revenue potential of this truck was a critical component of the family's business succession plan. As the fourth generation prepared to take leadership, the business needed to grow to support incoming and retiring employees. They needed to fill their pipeline with more propane gas leads to grow their customer base and put this truck to use. The challenge was marketing. Direct mailing campaigns and a billboard on Route 30 weren’t moving the needle. Referrals were their only dependable source of new leads. So, they decided to use their website as a lead-generating asset. We focused on improving their website’s performance in three areas: Traffic - Kauffman received approximately 5,000 visits per month to their website. Our goal was to increase traffic to 10,000 visits per month. More traffic means more opportunities to convert visitors into leads. Conversion Opportunities - Kauffman had no method for converting its 5,000 website visitors into leads their sales team could speak to. Showing Up for Search in Expanding Service Area - Kauffman was expanding their local service area. They needed their name to show up in local searches for different cities and towns.
Solution
Target Keywords Ideal Customers Use in Search The first step in understanding what customers were searching for was to find out who their ideal customers were. So, we developed buyer personas to help Kauffman understand their target audience. Buyer Personas are fictional representations of a business’ ideal customers. We developed personas through customer research. We interviewed current and past clients to discover: What appliances in their home run on propane gas What keywords they use to search for a propane gas vendor What they value in a propane gas company and what influences their purchasing decisions With this research in hand, we could better communicate how their services fulfilled what their prospective customers wanted most. Kauffman’s target audience valued reliable service at a fair price. We created 4 buyer personas for Kauffman Gas. The buyer personas also helped inform keyword research related to “reliable propane service at a fair price”. We incorporated these keywords into Kauffman’s content so they would rank higher in their prospects’ Google searches. We set a goal to publish 50+ total blog posts Kauffman had 30 blog posts before we launched their online marketing strategy. We published an additional 40 blog posts over the next 12 months. These posts: Targeted different Kauffman buyer personas Optimized for keywords with ranking potential Shared industry expertise to boost Kauffman’s credibility Incorporated Calls to Actions (CTAs) Improve Visibility in Local Search We created Google Business Pages so that a Kauffman Gas “digital business card” appears on the right side of Google search results. People who search for Kauffman Gas can plainly see Kauffman’s: Office locations Contact information Photos of staff Customer reviews We also created local pages on their website to draw traffic from places they wanted to expand. We used targeted keywords in the web pages that those prospects would use in Google searches. Create Opportunities for Conversion We created content that appealed to Kauffman’s prospects whether they were: Seeking information about propane gas Considering different propane companies/services Deciding what services to purchase from Kauffman We placed special Calls to Action (CTAs) offers on Kauffman’s webpages and blog posts that appealed to the intent of these visitors. These CTAs: Attracted clicks for educational content (i.e., “Propane Gas Installation Guide”) Offered special services to convert prospects (i.e., “Free Underground Propane Tank Installation”) Kauffman could now capture leads on their website Visitors who opted for this content submitted their contact information as new leads in Kauffman’s pipeline.
Results
Kauffman Gas content ranks in the top 3 spot for 103 keywords (compared to 22 when we began). Website visits more than doubled. As we published and promoted more blog posts, traffic on the site started to increase. We converted the increased number of prospects into leads with the CTAs and offers on every blog post. Current traffic is holding steady at 12,000 visits per month. Local web traffic grew. In-state searches accounted for 15.9% of annual traffic or 14,800 web visits. Kauffman’s landing pages converted 130 web leads into qualified sales contacts. Kauffman Gas earned 23 dollars in revenue for every 1 dollar invested in online marketing In one year, we published 40 blog posts, created 3 new offers, and converted over a hundred anonymous visitors into leads. Several of these leads became customers. Kauffman's first year of marketing will continue to pay dividends both in terms of the customer's lifetime value, and the improved lead generating potential of the website.
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