Problems
One of the main problems Pibox had to deal with was the lack of appointments and targeting. For many composers who work with producers and musicians, the collaboration process is usually very complicated due to having multiple tools set up for every individual task.
It’s not the most convenient model, but the one the majority is used to. In order to introduce a better solution, Pibox needed to accelerate appointment setting and find the right decision-makers at the right moment.
What we did
1) Research
As always, we started building an Ideal Customer Profile to locate the key decision-makers in the client’s industry. After the client filled out our form, we managed to organize the types of decision-makers that we thought would be most responsive to B2B email lead generation campaigns.
Why is it important? When you sell software, you have to reach people who understand the benefits they’ll receive by becoming users. If it’s a collaboration platform, you have to speak to people who are usually in charge of managing the creative process and aren’t new to communication issues, deadlines, and other pains and tribulations.
2) Email outreach
Based on the client’s ICP, our research team started working towards a hand-curated list of potential high-value leads. That list covered titles like company owners (for small music studios or indie composers), CTOs, Producers, and Marketing Directors, i.e. all professionals involved in a creative process and, therefore, familiar with the need for smooth, uninterrupted communication.
We searched for corporate leads across the United States, UK, France, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, and Denmark, delivering up to 500 prospects per region. After this, our copywriter team wrote email templates customized for each specific segment to make sure we address the recipient’s pain points in the most natural way possible.
Why is it important? If you ask yourself “Why can’t I send one and the same template to every recipient? After all, they all are after one and the same benefit!”, you’re deviating far away from the right path. If your ICP includes multiple titles, not being able to differentiate between their needs and responsibilities can be fatal to your outreach campaign.
Depending on their expertise, different titles will seek different benefits from the same product. When a CTO is looking for a collaboration platform, they want a tool that is quick and easy to install. Marketing Directors value the time-effectiveness and smoothness of the collaboration process. CEOs want ROI and deadlines met in time. If you fail to understand and outline those needs, you fail to make an effective campaign.
3) Force majeure
We continued our outreach strategy up to January. After every campaign, we managed to score around 4 to 8 bookings per week.
Is it a good result? For a startup company that specializes in long-term B2B relationships, booking more than 3 meetings per week is a positive dynamic. Mind that before sales conversations, calls, and emails bloom into appointments, they need a lot of nurturing, nudging in the right direction, and motivation.
In many cases, your prospects are the ones fully in control of their final decisions, thus the no-shows and sudden changes of plans. All you can do is accumulate enough pre-qualified business leads and do your best to stir the conversation in the right direction. Therefore, it’s not about how many appointments you book — it’s about closing a deal and securing a partnership. However, our months of stable performance were affected by such an unexpected development as the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel bans, new regulations, and quarantine made quite an impact on almost every B2B lead generation small business and more, including Pibox. But it’s worth noting that while our clients from other industries felt the repercussions immediately, the sudden change was positive for Pibox.
More potential customers had to look for more effective collaboration platforms. While many composers and indie music makers found themselves homebound, the need for keeping up with deadlines remained. Therefore, the music community started looking for ways to skip using 10 different tools to make a track.
Pibox is used for remote collaboration. Since the client specializes in developing platforms that make working together possible regardless of distance, there was a huge opportunity for reaching out and sharing expertise with companies that are yet to adapt to the new way of doing and managing projects.
Pibox received an opportunity to reach other markets. The pandemic is expected to have a long-lasting effect on businesses and business models, so the need for solutions that connect people and let them freely communicate and exchange data will remain for years to come. Due to this, the client could outline several development directions that would benefit the company in the long run.
4) Making the most out of the challenge
With new difficulties and opportunities mapped out, Belkins and Pibox decided to launch additional B2B email marketing campaigns, focused on helping music studios and composers deal with the outbreak and amplify Pibox’s expertise in the field of remote management. Additionally, we decided to add content marketing to the mix:
- making regular posts on LinkedIn via our LinkedIn Influencer service;
- creating and sharing case studies and articles about Pibox experience;
- injecting more visibility in the activity of Pibox (podcasts, events, etc).
Why is it important?Troubles and opportunities go hand in hand. It’s not uncommon for businesses to benefit by offering support to other B2B USA businesses. This process actually helps companies and organizations rebuild and get used to new conditions.
However, in order to make it happen, a business must understand its strongest points, and be able to make itself visible to potential partners and customers. So, it’s crucial to know your channels, locate those that are most productive, and develop an innovative strategy of showing your expertise and knowledge.
Result
Our progress from February to June showed optimistic results, with the number of positive responses growing and the number of negative responses staying at acceptable levels. Keep in mind that negative responses are almost inevitable and can’t be reduced to anywhere below 50%.
Your recipients can be OOO, busy with managerial burdens, or even going bankrupt (anything can happen in this economy). So, you will be seeing a chunk of negative responses regardless of how good your campaigns are. Focusing on nurturing positive responses is the way to go.
Even though our pre-COVID 19 performance had satisfactory results, our coronavirus-themed templates were met even more positively by our recipients.
The recipients interacted actively with Wave 1 emails. Additionally, Wave 2 emails brought a much higher number of responses compared to pre-COVID Wave 2 templates. In total, 39 appointments were booked within the pandemic period. Many of those appointments were set with the representatives of large and renowned music studios and not just indie composers.
Key takeaways
- Don’t give up! While not every cloud has a silver lining, thinking outside the box and knowing how to apply the strongest parts of your industry will let you find a way out. When in doubt, look for experts who can benefit you and see how you can work together to bring positive change to your project management.
- Respond immediately. Instant action defines whether your business succeeds or not. Don’t let your competitors seize the moment — start altering your campaigns and inbound strategies in accordance with the situation at hand as soon as possible.
- Let your prospects benefit. Even the most innovative product won’t get its spotlight without some extra help. You must be the one to step out and introduce your target audience to the ways it can improve its performance, profit, and lifestyle. Otherwise, it may be a long time before your potential buyers stumble across your sales proposition.
