Staples
More leads with marketing automation
Office supplies company and loyal Youwe customer, Staples Business Advantage was interested in Marketing Automation and asked Youwe to start a pilot for the Dutch office.
You may already know the Staples stores. What you might not know is that Staples is the world's largest office products delivery business, serving everyone from the twenty-person office up to and including the Fortune 500. As the business-to-business division of Staples, Staples Business Advantage® works with companies of 20 or more employees to develop customized programs with specialized pricing, dedicated account management, and a complete assortment of products and services.
Youwe has been a digital partner of Staples Business Advantage for more than seven years. The original American company is active in twenty markets worldwide and has customers in thirty European countries, therefor Staples Business Advantage is the largest in its category. Youwe previously developed the European websites for Staples Business Advantage, but Staples was also interested in Marketing Automation and of course, Youwe accepted that challenge. We started with a pilot for the Dutch office of Staples before a global rollout could be realized. This was because Staples wanted to see if Marketing Automation was effective, and it was.
+475%
Higher conversion percentage of the campaign
+50%
More leads thanks to A/B testing
The collaboration between Staples and Youwe is very pleasant. Youwe understands our business, they are proactive and a strong business partner.
Our solution
Marketing Automation
Staples Business Advantage's communication was not focused enough on inspiring and communicating business solutions. As a result, marketing did not provide sufficient sales leads. To fix this, marketing automation was chosen as a tool. With marketing automation Staples and Youwe no longer wanted to shout about how good the product is. We wanted to ensure that the potential customer sticks around for the entire journey.
We made sure that Staples focused on the challenges and problems that each customer encounters in their daily work. The products, services, and solutions from Staples Business Advantage can then be crafted to become the right solutions to solve those challenges and problems.
We wanted to communicate more relevant. The right message at the right time to the right target group. To communicate in a more relevant way. And in addition, an optimal insight into the journey of both your existing customers and prospects is crucial.
Ellen Dieters, Head of Marketing Europe at Staples Business Advantage
Content
Youwe built a separate landing page with content focused on simplifying the work of an office manager, a facility manager or a buyer. We created a site with inspiring articles about the transition to a sustainable procurement process and the four most frequently heard reasons for switching supplies supplier.
With practical videos about the importance of hygiene, and with a lead-generating whitepaper based around organising the purchasing process. The most important element was that Staples Business Advantage product weren’t promoted anywhere within the campaign. This was deliberate. Inspiration was paramount. We wanted to know who clicks on an article, views a video or downloads a whitepaper. Those people were identified, and that was the result we were after.
Lead scoring
With the help of marketing automation, we enrich the customer profile and learn more. The next step is lead scoring: which customers are ready to contact? And which customers do we have to nurture further, because they are still in the orientation phase?
The lead scoring is also automated, with every action from a prospect earning points. If the number of points is high enough, a prospect becomes a marketing qualified lead (MQL). Using IP tracking, the identity of the majority of the prospects can be identified. A few manual checks are usually sufficient to find job titles and contact information. Online advertising and LinkedIn banners have also been used to generate traffic to the Staples site.
The results
To realize this whole process there is a lot involved. From creating content, which was not yet available, to constantly testing to improve conversion: A/B testing with e-mail pages and call-to-action buttons, but also testing with colors, texts, and images. The results show that Marketing Automation is a success. "It was fantastic to see that the leads came in and sales were able to plan appointments with prospects on that basis. We have done several optimizations and have now found the right formula: this is the right look and feel, the right copy, the right tone of voice, the right medium", says Staples.
The results were:
- Funnel with many qualitative leads in different phases of the funnel.
- Staples now knows where the leads are in the funnel.
- Conversion percentage of the campaign using different A/B tests has increased +475%.
Interested in optimizing your communication and getting more leads?
Nowadays it's crucial to communicate the right message at the right time to the right target group! Marketing Automation is the perfect tool to realize this challenge. Youwe's experts are ready to take on this challenge for your company.
