Joshua Hitz

Marketing Automation

About Merchant Centric

Merchant Centric is an online review management (SaaS) solution that works with enterprises large (1,000+) and small (50+) in the restaurant, automotive services, and healthcare/veterinarian industries.

Industry: SaaS

Employee Size: 25-50

Results: Efforts led to a 40% increase in MQL and 20% increase in SQL engagement. Account-Based Marketing campaigns generated over $200k in recurring annual revenue within the 1st year of use.

Challenge:

Original Lead Lifecycle

Though current outbound efforts generated revenue, the process was overly reliant on individual agents building their book of business, creating custom outreach messaging, as well as follow-up campaign cadences for all potential leads.

These efforts made it difficult to establish and track relationships with true Sales Qualified Leads, resulting in lost efforts on prospects who should have been disqualified or nurtured further.

Goal: Increase lead quality and generate more sales.

Proposed Solution:

The project aimed to introduce marketing automation so Sales’ can refocus attention on lead conversion and qualification. After reviewing of the company’s needs and researching service providers, it was determined that HubSpot would be the ideal platform to implement.

In theory, Sales will continue their prospecting efforts while marketing and leadership build out engagement assets such as datasheets, case studies, industry reports, sponsored webinars, drip campaigns, account-based marketing campaigns, nurture campaigns, etc.

Using HubSpot, we will create landing pages and emails around these engagement assets, gradually collecting lead data. Once prospects reach a certain threshold (i.e., lead score), Sales will be notified, and the lead information will be sent.

Hypothesis: The platform will send relevant content to unqualified leads on behalf of the sales agent, adjusting content based on engagement. The agent will then be able to focus on qualified leads who have a higher probability of conversion. This will inevitably increase the quality of leads touching sales as well as increase the number of won opportunities.

Process:

Phase 1: Data Integration and Setup

  • Scrub existing email contact list and customer data.
  • Work with Operations to integrate HubSpot with our CRM, Salesforce, and our lead database, zoominfo.
  • Set up tracking and data capturing mechanisms to monitor user behavior.
  • Configure the tool’s settings, templates, and preferences based on brand guidelines.

Phase 2: Content and Workflow Creation

  • Design and create brand-compliant email templates and landing pages.
  • Develop targeted email campaigns based on customer segments and buyer personas. Examples include:
  • Set up automated workflows for different user interactions.
  • Implement A/B testing for different email variations to optimize performance.

Phase 3: Testing and Quality Assurance

  • Conduct thorough testing of automation workflows, email campaigns and landing pages, verifying they function as intended.
  • Verify that all links, images, and tokens are functioning correctly.
  • Address and resolve any issues or bugs accordingly.

Phase 4: Ongoing Optimization and Analysis

  • Actively monitor campaign performance and KPIs.
  • Analyze data to identify any areas for campaign improvement.
  • Regularly review automation workflows based on user behavior and engagement.

Phase 5: Reporting

  • Generate regular reports on email performance, open rates, click-through rates, conversions, etc.
  • Present the results to Sales and leadership.
  • Use data insights to inform future marketing strategies and decision-making.

Programs Used:

Results:

Efforts led to a 40% increase in MQL and 20% increase in SQL engagement. Account-Based Marketing  campaigns generated over $200k in recurring annual revenue within the 1st year of use.

Updated Lead Lifecycle