VSGi: Improving B2B Inbound Marketing Lead Quality
Challenge
VSGi, a U.S. leader in video conferencing and AV integration, came to KoMarketing seeking assistance with lead quality. Though they were running PPC campaigns on Google and Bing, their former agency took a volumetric approach, focusing on reach and impressions. While the large numbers seemed impressive, the leads generated were not translating to business results. KoMarketing partnered with VSGi in July 2017 to revamp their Pay-Per-Click (PPC) search advertising efforts on Google and Bing. Three key objectives were identified: Increase the quality of leads and identify sales-ready leads Maintain (or lower) the cost per lead Identify meaningful KPIs and monitor progress Key program components included PPC advertising, demand generation, and marketing measurement.
Solution
Program Implementation At the onset of the program, KoMarketing knew they needed to work collaboratively with VSGi’s marketing and sales teams. Only through alignment would the PPC program be able to deliver the high-quality leads required. Here’s a look at some of the strategic steps KoMarketing took: Program Metrics: Working closely with VSGi’s marketing and sales teams, KoMarketing honed in on the definition of quality lead as well as identified key performance indicators (KPIs) based on real business value. Revamped Campaign Architecture: With fresh eyes and insight, KoMarketing rebuilt VSGi’s PPC program from the ground up. Among the key changes was shifting the keyword strategy away from specific products to a service focus. Consistent Optimization: With campaigns in place, KoMarketing continued to test and optimize in order to drive the best results in terms of leads and costs. These tactics included ad schedule audits, keyword audits, negative keyword identification, and search query analysis. Robust Reporting: Integration of Bizible, a B2B marketing attribution software, gave KoMarketing and VSGi the visibility necessary to track leads, evaluate quality, and understand how paid search campaigns were impacting the pipeline. With a 6-12 month sales cycle, this insight was vital to optimization. Client Communication: To keep everyone on the same page, KoMarketing and VSGi had regular bi-weekly calls and weekly reporting emails.
Results
By delivering consistent quality leads from the PPC program, VSGi has been able to make organizational improvements to the follow-up strategies implemented by sales. When low quality leads were the norm, the sales team showed a lack of interest and in some cases simply did not follow up on them. Now, inbound leads are contacted quickly – if they come in during business hours, they’re followed up on within 60 minutes. The impacts have reverberated throughout the funnel: Lead Quality: While the lead volume stayed relatively flat, quality leads went from 16 percent to 34 percent. Pipeline Contribution: Increased inbound marketing pipeline contribution by 5 times Close Rate: Of the qualified leads, VSGi expects to close 31 percent of pipeline leads, compared to 10 percent previously.
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