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

Although outbound efforts generated revenue, the process relied heavily on agents individually managing their outreach and follow-up activities. This complicated identifying and tracking true Sales Qualified Leads, resulting in wasted effort on prospects needing disqualification or further nurturing.

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 the company’s needs and researching service providers, HubSpot was determined to be the ideal platform to implement.

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

Using HubSpot, landing pages and emails will be created around these assets, gradually collecting lead data. Once prospects reach a certain threshold (lead score), Sales will be notified, and lead information will be provided.

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 focus on qualified leads with a higher probability of conversion. This will increase the quality of leads reaching Sales and 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:
    • Account-Based Marketing (ABM) 
    • Industry reports
    • Co-partner webinars
    • Product awareness
  • 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.

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.