Big Data in Action {An MSP Case Study}

Case Study: Empower Information Systems

In the days of Mad Men, advertising and Point of Sale were the sole tools for consumer awareness of any new product. Marketers relied solely on surveys and consumer demand to gauge the popularity of a product.

Even though these methods are still used today, the process of the consumer buyer cycle has grown longer. In particular, the buyers's awareness stage has been stretched. The average consumer no longer depends only on advertising for product awareness. The consumers have taken the reins of product research in to their own hands.

This made marketers shift uneasily in their chairs, once. Not anymore.

Big Data has become a popular phrase used in marketing. It throws wide open a big door into the prospect’s world, allowing businesses to be a part of their customer’s/prospect’s daily lives, inconspicuously.

We’re going to look at a real life example of how Empower Information Systems was able to tap into its customers' needs and create a niche for themselves in the world of Managed Service Providers (MSPs).

How Empower kicked off the Marketing campaign (And what role did big data play)

Empower had long been struggling to improvise its marketing activities in order to generate leads and have a pipeline full of potential prospects. The traditional methods of advertising and software company tie-ups didn't do much to achieve this. That’s when they decided to rope in Mindmatrix, to help them revise their marketing & sales.

To kick off the campaign, Empower did thorough research on their potential and existing customers. Through Mindmatrix, they were able to track which customers downloaded which whitepapers and how often they visited a specific page on the website. This data was useful in determining the preferences of prospects. They could also see how the prospects interacted with the company across different social media platforms and blogs.

How Big Data was used at every stage of the campaign

Once, leads were studied, they were segmented into the various levels of the stages of the buying cycle. The segmented leads were put through an automated drip nurturing cycle, where everyone of their interaction with the company was measured. For instance, if a lead opened an email and downloaded the whitepaper or clicked the link from that email, she was eligible for the next level of the drip campaign. The next level would nudge her even further down the sales cycle funnel.

Likewise, parameters were set depending upon how leads responded to each email. These parameters scored the leads as hot, warm or cold. The lead scoring model made it easy for Sales team to follow up with the hot leads immediately.

Big data gave them deep insight about the leads or prospects, which made it easier to address directly to their pain points without beating around the bush.

They used the asset management feature in Mindmatrix to create high-impact personalized collateral to target these leads. Access to crucial lead information like their location, job title, company name, area of interest, past activity apart from name and email id, made it possible to deliver a one-on-one customer experience that hadn’t been done before.

How this helped to stay ahead of customers and competition

Over time, this data was crucial to developing not just marketing strategies but also for product development. Empower could test the waters in an infallible manner before they launched a new service. As sales reps didn't waste time on unqualified prospects, they had more time to focus on the truly sales qualified leads.

Product pricing was among the key benefits of using this program. Also, they could offer real-time offers or location based offers as promotional strategies.

These tactics ensured that Empower stayed ahead of their competitors by meeting the demands of their prospects and closing higher sales. Today, Empower can proudly boast of being one of the leaders in the MSP segment.

How companies are using big data today

The exponential use of the internet has resulted in vast amount of data for marketers. Industry observers expect this growth and usage to continue in the coming years. Companies realize that in all that junk on the internet, lies gems of real data that needs to be cultivated and used for their future campaigns.

Implementing big data and making it actionable is every enterprise’s primary objective. This data is being used to create a smarter buying experience for customers. This data has the capacity to influence purchase decisions and edge out competition.

Are you in the running yet?

Click here to learn more about how big data is the smartest and best method to soar your sales.