When an IT automation start-up came to us looking to grow its customer base by educating target audiences about their highly scalable, flexible automation technology, we were excited and up for the challenge. And we knew exactly what this client was in need of — a lead nurturing campaign to activate their current database while uncovering best-fit leads that are most likely to convert into customers.

An effective lead nurturing strategy involves creating an automated email sequence with the purpose of offering personalized and relevant content to leads that propel them through their buying journey. Based on the lead’s interaction with the provided content, they go through a lead scoring process (which we’ll explain a bit later) to illustrate to marketing and sales who the top leads are that are most likely to make a purchase — also known as Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs). It is through the lead nurturing process that our team was able to generate a 68% uptick in monthly MQLs for this IT automation start-up. Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of exactly how we did it.

The Challenge: Garnering New Leads via Digital Marketing

First, let’s further explain the challenges and roadblocks this start-up was experiencing that led them to us. This IT automation organization was struggling to generate high-quality leads through its previous digital marketing efforts. And too often, the leads they were bringing in were unqualified, and not likely to result in deal closure. But this start-up isn’t the only organization to have difficulties garnering leads. According to HubSpot, 61% of marketers report lead generation is their number one challenge.

However, 80% of marketers believe marketing automation generates increased leads and conversions. Through our experience, we know that designing a strong foundation of tailored marketing campaigns by leveraging a multitude of digital marketing channels elicits value. Once the client came to this realization as well, they began to seek guidance and assistance from an outsourced provider. Enter Möve Marketing. 👋

The Solution: Develop a Lead Scoring Model and Associated Lead Nurturing Campaigns

The first step we took to strengthen their lead generation capabilities was to align their sales team’s initiatives to the goals of our marketing campaigns. Next, we worked closely with their in-house sales and marketing teams to uncover opportunities to segment their database based on demographic and behavioral attributes. This enabled us to effectively juice their pipeline with personalized marketing content to move leads along their buying journey. Through lead nurturing campaigns, we were able to present this content to the right leads at the right time, fostering higher levels of buyer engagement.

Here is where the fun began. We developed a lead scoring model via HubSpot to qualify and prioritize leads to ensure the marketing team was generating and passing along high-quality leads to sales. Lead scoring is the process of collecting as much data as possible from leads by assigning points for each behavioral action (like viewing a blog or downloading an ebook) to then pinpoint which leads are most engaged. Based on this data, leads are ranked from most engaged to least, creating a list of highest to lowest priority leads. 

Once the lead scoring model was put in place, the start-up’s sales team was then able to identify which leads they should focus on — the MQLs. Let’s look at an example. In our model, a lead will become an MQL once they reach a score of 100 points. If a lead has a score of 110 (meaning that they are very actively engaged with the marketing content and thus became an MQL) and another lead has a score of only 45, the lead with the higher score (the MQL) takes priority over the latter. 

With this architecture in place, the sales team is better able to prioritize their focus only on MQLs (as opposed to the entire database), enabling them to:

• Increase deal velocity
• Raise win rates at each stage
• Drive revenue 

To learn more about lead scoring and how to develop a lead scoring model, check out our blog, Best Practices to Developing an Effective Lead Scoring Model.

The Results: Database Activation & Increased Leads Through Top-of-Funnel Digital Marketing

Through uncovering opportunities to segment the IT automation start-up’s database, developing personalized content designed to propel leads through the purchase journey via lead nurturing campaigns, and positioning their product in a new way, we made a significant impact after just one calendar quarter.

Generated a 68% Uptick in Monthly MQLs Sourced Through Nurturing Campaigns

Through effective lead nurturing campaigns full of relevant and educational content, we were able to source hundreds of MQLs each month, resulting in a 68% increase from what they were experiencing prior to partnering with us. These MQLs were then passed along to sales to be further cared for with sales enablement content. 

Garnered a 6x Increase in SQLs Uncovered and Accepted Through Marketing Efforts

Through our marketing initiatives, many MQLs were further nurtured by the sales team to then become sales qualified leads (SQLs). It’s at this point that the leads are fully equipped and prepared to convert into revenue-generating opportunities. Through our content marketing and lead nurturing efforts, we were able to increase the number of SQLs garnered in a quarter for this start-up by 6x.

Nearly 20% of the Quarterly Pipeline was Sourced Through Top-of-Funnel Digital Marketing

Through content marketing, we were able to create top-of-funnel collateral to attract and bring in new leads. Then, through automated lead nurturing email campaigns, we were able to provide these leads with the content they needed to make a purchasing decision, leading to 20% of the client's quarterly pipeline being derived from top-of-funnel digital marketing.