Media optimization drives pipeline revenue opportunities for a Fortune 500 FinTech  

At a glance

A Fortune 500 FinTech giant contacted BOL looking for a new agency partner to help them navigate shifts in industry buyer behavior. 

They were facing challenges on various fronts and weren’t satisfied with the guidance they were getting previously. 

We knew we could be the agency partner they needed, inspiring trust and confidence across business units and teams. We knew we could help them generate growth and greater investment impact through data. Most importantly, we know we could be an agency partner who creates, as well as demonstrates, a culture of agility, flexibility, and innovation.

The challenges

Broad-reach lead gen tactics that weren’t resulting in quality leads,  led to an insufficient sales pipeline. Basically, they didn’t have a media strategy.

Product marketing leads didn’t see any innovation in their media plans. They weren’t seeing quality leads or growth. Plus, they had limited performance data available to measure media effectiveness. 

Additionally, COVID-related lockdowns canceled all in-person events that were traditionally a big part of their marketing strategy. They needed to pivot to paid media, and they needed that to happen yesterday. 

The solution strategy

Our top priority was to identify media partners and publishers who had the targeting capabilities we needed to reach our prime prospects. That also meant eliminating existing partners who didn’t meet our new criteria. As they say, the first cut is the deepest.

We also simultaneously developed a testing and learning strategy. That meant we could be agile and innovate while determining what was working and what wasn’t in real-time. 

Another piece of the puzzle was to develop a new measurement and analytics system to evaluate the return on investment of each new channel and tactic.

From a high-level analysis, we broke it down into actionable items: 

• Optimize channel mix toward maximum ROAS
• Shift to an Integrated Campaign Model
• Media-assisted Nurture/Retargeting
• Stage-based Mapping: Content, Channel, Offer, KPIs (TOFU, MOFU, BOFU)
• Build more sophisticated ABM programs/Full-plan Verticalization
• Improve SQL rates/Opportunities
  
  

The approach

Through great collaboration and building trust with our client, we were able to prove marketing’s impact on their pipeline revenue while improving lead generation efficiency. 

It took introducing new media partners, implementing sophisticated targeting tech and ad formats, and a complete restructuring of their paid search campaigns, but we did it. We were enabled to show full funnel views of how many leads paid media sourced or influenced, and the leads’ movement through the pipeline. On a monthly basis, we were able to report on performance, optimize plans, and direct spend toward activities that were achieving the lowest cost-per-lead and driving the greatest ROI.

The results

• Added content syndication partners who reached B2B audiences at scale at efficient cost-per-leads
• Implemented account, intent, and competitor-based targeting at scale
• Diversified plans among numerous partners to maximize opportunities to test and learn
• Tested vertical-targeted campaigns with content aligned to key verticals to improve relevance in key segments
• Added non-traditional B2B social platforms to the mix, including multivariate testing and creative audience targeting to research prospects “where they were” at a lower cost and higher volume
• Restructured and optimized paid search campaigns against company goals to improve conversion rates and meeting volume
• Implemented an integrated remarketing campaign to nurture audiences across a wide breadth of paid and organic marketing activities
• Moved from an annual paid media planning approach to quarterly updates, allowing for data-driven optimization
• Value of marketing-sourced sales opportunities increased by 137% YoY
• Value of marketing-influenced sales opportunities increased by 178% YoY

Since our initial work together, we’ve continued to build on our relationship and help this Fortune 500 FinTech grow, optimize their ROAS, and explore the many benefits of having an account-based marketing agency as their partner. 

Imagine what we could do together.