How an Account-Focused Marketing Approach Increased the Conversion Rate for a Tech Training & Consulting Firm by Over 20%
uptut
About the Company
Uptut is a hybrid corporate tech training & consulting platform aimed at bridging the growing gap between global technological literacy and the "future skills" that will power tomorrow's most in-demand occupations. They deliver best-in-class corporate training for employees working at different levels on emerging technologies like Cloud, AI &ML, Big Data, Blockchain, etc. The hybrid learning method of Uptut & industry tech experts combined the best of online learning with the human assistance requires for success.
The Problem
As with many early-stage companies, Uptut strived to build a scalable sales pipeline. Their lean team had built a tremendously aesthetic brand. Despite this, Uptut relied mainly on referrals to drive new business, they were ready to create a scalable lead generation engine, and an exceptional buyer journey, and build out their systems to track, test, analyze, and report on sales and marketing efforts.
No Demand Generation Strategy- Uptut didn’t have a formal demand generation strategy, as well as no customer acquisition goals or metrics in place. Uptut only had an unstructured cold outreach plan which resulted in very few quality conversations with the decision-makers.
No Clear Messaging- What they were and how they differed were not well conveyed to the clients, resulting in poor product understanding among the buyers. The client faced the positioning difficulty of being confused with an e-learning platform.
No Content Distribution Strategy- They had no clear content strategy to express the value of their offerings. The optimum channels for distribution were also not defined.
What We Did
Flip Funnel began with a consulting engagement to establish brand messaging, product positioning, and identify the target account and persona. Additionally, the Flip Funnel team developed an omnichannel marketing strategy using emails, text messages, and ads to generate and capture demand, creating a funnel with measurable goals to ensure a stable, scalable demand-generation program.
Uptut sought to create a compelling value proposition and identify their target audience in order to execute an account-focused marketing campaign. Through secondary and primary research, we identified industry pain points and a list of 50 companies that were an exact fit for Uptut's ideal customer profile. To kickstart the ABM campaign, we focussed on multi-channel prospecting, marketing automation, and LinkedIn advertising. We also created a cold layer of LinkedIn Ads and email campaigns to educate buyers, followed by social outreach and demos to further engage prospects.
1. DEVELOP A COMPELLING VALUE PROPOSITION- GTM Strategy
Our Methodology:
We conducted secondary and primary research to assess the market.
Sources such as company websites, review websites, online forums, as well as internal information were used to understand the competitive & industry landscape.
To understand the product's unique value proposition & pains addressed we examined a number of testimonial videos and performed several client interviews.
We supported Uptut in better positioning itself to its target clients by identifying industry pain points. We also observed that their community-driven approach to teaching and personal touch set them apart from other e-learning platforms. All of this was included in their outreach and message in order to better educate the target demographic.
2. IDENTIFY THE TARGET AUDIENCE- ICP Creation
Working with the client and analyzing their existing pipeline, we found that mid-market tech-enabled firms in e-commerce, manufacturing, finance, and other major industries would be the best fit. We also helped them choose the Middle East as their target location, as Middle Eastern governments have been early adopters of cutting-edge digital technologies as they diversify their economies.
Based on these parameters, we created a list of 50 companies that were an exact fit for Uptut’s ICP. In these accounts, we identified the buying committee, which included Learning and Development Managers, Administrative Managers, Procurement Heads, and Manager-level Designations of Technical Employees. This gave us a list of 5,000 profiles that fit Uptut's targeting lens.
3. EXECUTE AN ACCOUNT-FOCUSED MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Our All-Bound Approach:
To kickstart the ABM campaign we shortlisted one industry vertical to test out the messaging & strategy that we developed.
For this experiment, we focussed on Multi-Channel Prospecting, Marketing Automation & LinkedIn Advertising.
Industry-specific layered content was generated that resonated with the target audience.
Campaign Structure:
We created a cold layer of LinkedIn Ads with Brand Awareness objective to create a top-of-the-mind brand recall.
Once the lead is introduced to the company’s offerings through ads, our team of White-labelled SDRs started with the outbound efforts
Engaging with the prospect's profile to create a cold touchpoint & getting connected with them on LinkedIn.
To complement the social outreach we also created email campaigns to educate the buyers further, reducing the friction that might occur.
After warming up the prospects the SDRs booked a demo with them which was handed over to the Uptut’s team.
Of the 3,119 profiles contacted, 117 downloaded the white paper, which was a significant result considering nearly half of those who opened the email downloaded it.
In the first three weeks of the campaign, 14 demos were booked with C-suite leads generated by the campaign.
Within the first 60 days, the Client closed two deals from leads generated by the campaign.
Notes from Saurabh
Uptut Position- Training & Consultant
How does the business work
First, It starts with training the employees & then it converts into a consulting model which they charge on an hourly basis.
Vendor Play— Mediator; this means that they are involved with the big companies as a subcontractor which means they are not in direct contact with the larger companies as they do not have a vendor certificate which is a must for the procurement department in these companies.
Direct Clients- Agile(Netherlands), NLS(Chennai), Urban(German)
For the Saudi Clients, they are a sub-contractor to Coding Dojo
ICP- Tech-Enabled Companies in Finance, E-Com, Manufacturing & other major sectors.
Buying Committee-
Champion- Project Managers of the Project which Uptut will train the developers on.
Influencers- Learning & Research Department
Decision Maker- Project Head
Sales Cycle Length-
For Small Companies- 1-2 Weeks (Champions, as they do not have a specific L&D Department)
For Large Companies (10,000+)- 2 months- because of involvement of multiple departments (i.e. Project Managers, Project Heads, L&D Department, Procurement)
Buying Journey
Meeting Booked
Proposal Sent
Closed Won / Lost
Company Name
Description about the company
Website
Description about the website
Founded
2019
Company Type
B2B
Collaboration
6 months