Nurture Campaign

Brands that engaged with buyers using a consistent cadence of marketing touches and content assets.

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The Goals

SecureWorks’ nurture campaign goals were three-fold. The company wanted to develop a demand generation engine that is targeted and drives sustainable, perpetual opportunities and revenues. At the same time, SecureWorks wanted to build a content model based on buyer insights and personas. But ultimately, providing a better customer experience that would engage, nurture and convert buyers was the end goal.

The Assets

SecureWorks partnered with ANNUITAS to develop and launch the “Perpetual Nurture” program over the second half of 2015, and formally launched in early 2016. To create multiple nurture paths based on buyer personas, SecureWorks deployed 51 content offers, created 51 landing pages, 102 emails and 51 fulfillment emails. Additionally, the company rolled out progressive profiling lead forms, complex lead scoring, nurture programs built out in Eloqua, “accelerator” calls-to-action for hot leads to self identify across the nurture campaign and website, lead management and integration with CRM and advanced KPI analysis in Tableau.

The Results

The “Perpetual Nurture” program exceeded 2016 targets in all key demand generation metrics, including:

→ Qualified leads;
→ Opportunities; and
→ Closed/won business.

Lessons Learned

Long-term (and perpetual) nurture programs take a lot of time and effort. Modularize and repurpose content so you can maximize the return on your marketing investment, and spend less time creating net-new assets.

The Goals

In early 2016, Emily Popson and Claire Corriveau, Senior Demand Generation Marketers at Blackbaud, launched the first-ever podcast in the history of their organization: Raise+Engage. Their goal was to create a best-in-class resource for the nonprofit space that would provide honest advice, help nonprofit professionals do more for their causes and set a specific tone for the Blackbaud brand. The podcast would be the core of a new thought leadership strategy and play a key role in nurturing prospects through the buyer journey.

The Assets

To maximize the impact of the podcast, Blackbaud created an immersive content hub, which also touts a selection of carefully curated blog posts, podcasts, webinars and tip sheets. The company leveraged Uberflip due to its integration with Marketo. In just a few weeks, the #NOFILTERNONPROFIT Hub was born. Popson and Corriveau tracked and scored leads to ensure that all leads were routed into one of five carefully crafted nurture streams based on their engagement and demonstrated interests.

The Results

In under 10 months, Blackbaud’s demand gen team has been able to generate the following results:

→ 4,500+ conversions;
→ 24,000+ podcast downloads; and
→ More than 47,000+ unique visits to the #NOFILTERNONPROFIT content hub.

Additionally, the demand gen team has created a new nurture campaign framework that has sustained average open rates of 62%, click-through rates of 58% and click-to-open rates of 72% for more than 11 months. This represents a 400% increase in open rates, 2,000% increase in click-through rates and 200% increase in click-to-open rates.

Lessons Learned

Content hubs and toolkits create engaging and snackable content experiences, allowing buyers to binge information when and where they want.

The Goals

Infusionsoft created an in-depth nurture program that segments net-new leads into topical areas of interest. As a result, buyers are guided through a relevant, in-depth content experience that engages, informs and converts them into customers.

The Assets

All net-new leads are broken down into five areas of interest: Email marketing, sales, marketing automation, CRM and digital marketing. Based on their engagement levels, they move dynamically through each track, driving toward increasingly Infusionsoft product-focused content. All tracks lead to a customized, interactive product demo as the final call-to-action.

The Results

This nurture campaign has consistently over-performed on all engagement metrics:

→ 76% open rate;
→ 60% click-through rate; and
→ 0.01% unsubscribe rate.

Because of the campaign’s impact, Infusionsoft re-packaged and extended the campaign to its resellers worldwide, ultimately making it the No. 1 most installed by its reseller community.

Lessons Learned

Tailor nurture journeys based on buyer interests, topics or industries so they’re engaging with the information and content that is most relevant to them.

The Goals

To raise brand awareness among owners of or counsel to startups and small businesses, Thomson Reuters Practical Law launched the “Practical Law for Startups and Small Businesses” nurture campaign. The campaign was designed to educate subscribers and potential customers alike, showing how having effective and up-to-date legal guidance from the onset will place companies on a compliant path. At the same time, Thomson Reuters Practical Law sought to drive warmer targeted leads for the Sales and Account Management teams.

The Assets

The nurture campaign extended across multiple channels and was amplified via several content vehicles, including:

→ The creation of the LinkedIn group “Practical Law for Startups and Small Businesses”;

→ Two infographics;

→ The four-part Startup Essentials Webinar Series, which touched on everything from employment law to HR, financing and crowdfunding;

→ A dedicated print and digital lookbook, called Practical Law The Journal – Transactions and Business;

→ A podcast with LegalTalk Network;

→ Partnerships and blogs via LegalTalk Network, Crowdfunding Insider and Thomson Reuters Answers On, among others;

→ A dedicated landing page; and

→ Targeted email deployments.

The Results

The “Startups and Small Businesses” campaign is a continuous effort between Practical Law Marketing and Editorial so they can drive ongoing momentum and brand awareness. Results include:

→ More than 1,260 views on the PracticalLawStartups.com dedicated landing page;
→ More than 200 LinkedIn group members joined in the first month;
→ More than 1,700 webinar registrants;
→ 152 new contacts from startups and small businesses added to the CRM system;
→ Ongoing email series produced 7% increase above business unit open rate benchmarks and performed .69% better than business unit click-through rate benchmarks.

Lessons Learned

Think big for your nurture campaigns. Transform monthly initiatives into quarterly or yearlong programs that engage and inform your buyers on a consistent basis.