MARKETERSin the World of Display and Social Advertising

ALL STARALL STARALL STARFromW I N N I N G P L AY S

The digital marketing universe is changing at a dizzying pace.

Advances in online marketing technology have opened the

door for new methods of targeting and reaching potential

customers—but in order to meet their goals, it’s imperative for

marketing teams to rise to the new challenges before them.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest challenges that B2B marketers are

facing—and the best-in-class solutions that businesses are using to execute winning

marketing strategies.

The challenges of modern-day digital marketingAccording to a recent Forrester report, nearly all CMOs believe that it is essential to keep up with

new trends and technologies to remain competitive in the business landscape—but nearly two-thirds

of them also feel that it’s very difficult to keep up with the constant changes.1

These challenges include:

» The changing buyer’s journey

While marketers could once rely on traditional methods such as direct mail and trade shows

to reach their target audiences, today’s prospects are more likely to choose a B2B solution

by researching the company online. And they’re making that journey largely independently:

Forrester cites that as much as 90 percent of the buyer’s journey is complete before a prospect

reaches out to a salesperson.2 B2B marketers must grapple with the dilemma of influencing the

buyer in the absence of direct contact.

» The rise of “always-on” marketing

Today, advertising on a handful of niche industry sites isn’t going to cut it with your prospects.

They visit a diverse range of websites and social networks, and it’s important to reach them

wherever they are with frequent targeted marketing initiatives. That means expanding your

marketing efforts through search, social media, email marketing, and especially, display

advertising, to familiarize top-funnel prospects with your brand and educate lower-funnel

prospects about your solution when they are making purchasing decisions.

» The growth of data-driven approaches

Marketers now have access to sophisticated analytics tools that can help them gain access to

thousands of data points about prospects. These insights can provide significant advantages in

helping develop and deliver highly targeted messages: A McKinsey study found that companies

that prioritize data analytics in their marketing and sales decisions see a return of investment

ranging from 15 to 20 percent.3 However, marketers need to understand how to use this

technology effectively or risk being left in the dust by more data-savvy competitors.

How are companies turning these challenges into opportunities? Learn how these digital marketing

all-stars hit it out of the park.

1 http://solutions.forrester.com/bma-survey-findings-ramos

2 http://blogs.forrester.com/lori_wizdo/12-10-04-buyer_behavior_helps_b2b_marketers_guide_the_buyers_journey

3 http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/marketing_and_sales/latest_thinking/big_data_analytics_and_the_future_of_marketing_and_sales

MARKETERSALL STARALL STARALL STAR

FromW I N N I N G P L AY S

in the World of Display and Social Advertising

A satellite TV smash hit

This satellite TV provider wanted to cut its acquisition costs while boosting

conversion rates. The solution? Targeted display.

Who: DIRECTV

Industry: Communications

Target Audience: Small business decision makers

Key Stats: Founded in 1990, serves over 32 million customers

All-Star Marketer: Howard Chen, senior analyst at BusinessOnline

CHALLENGES: DIRECTV’s digital agency, BusinessOnline, had previously run display campaigns

on small business ad networks to promote its B2B solution, but had trouble targeting and scaling

its programs.

THE PROGRAM: BusinessOnline turned to a targeted display solution, enabling DIRECTV’s ads to

reach specifically defined prospects all over the web, including retargeted ads to nurture those that

had expressed interest.

THE RESULTS: The program resulted in a dramatically lowered cost-per-lead (CPL), decreasing from

over $1,600 down to less than $500 on average.

A customer service solution bats 1000

This customer service solution focused its marketing efforts on

highly qualified leads—how could it scale up without hurting the

quality of its prospect pool? A multi-pronged advertising strategy

aimed at target prospects.

Who: Zendesk, a B2B customer service platform

Industry: Software

Target Audience: C-suite, operations, and customer success influencers and decision makers

from medium to F500 sized companies

Key Stats: Founded in 2007, used by 40,000 organizations

All-Star Marketer: Michelle Carranza, online advertising manager at Zendesk

CHALLENGES: Zendesk wanted to scale up its online advertising program without losing its focus on

high-quality, targeted leads.

THE PROGRAM: Zendesk incorporated a targeted display advertising program to reach C-suite

executives and other target prospects. The company then added social advertising to reach

mid-funnel prospects on Facebook and LinkedIn, and used retargeting to drive conversions from

bottom-funnel prospects.

THE RESULTS: After launching the program, Zendesk saw a steady increase in website visits from the

company’s target audience of Fortune 500 and extra-large companies. The program drove more than

31,000 new visitors to Zendesk’s site, resulting in over 2,000 new leads and conversions.

A solar power solution’s winning play

This solar energy company wanted to build its reputation as an industry

thought leader. Targeted display helped the business get its content to the

right people.

Who: NRG Solar (part of NRG Energy)

Industry: Solar energy solutions

Target Audience: Decision makers in Energy, Utilities & Waste, Government, and Education

Key Stats: NRG Energy has more than 9,000 employees, and enough energy generation

capacity to power 40 million homes

All-Star Marketer: Steve Gervacio, associate media director at Grey

CHALLENGES: NRG Solar wanted to differentiate itself from competitors and gain a reputation for

industry thought leadership.

THE PROGRAM: NRG Solar’s advertising agency, Grey, used the Bizo platform to target 2.9 million

business executives. The ads directed the prospects to visit landing pages on the company’s website

and download lead-generating educational content and other material.

THE RESULTS: NRG Solar’s campaign helped the company build brand recognition significantly

among its target audience: NRG Solar saw a 75 percent increase in brand recall after the display

campaign, and gained a steady increase in website visits and clicks.

An event center moves to the big leagues

This event center wanted to recover lost leads and shorten its sales cycle.

Targeting and optimizing its digital campaigns was the key.

Who: Q Center, a Chicago event center

Industry: B2B services

Target Audience: Corporate learning and events professionals, and individuals focused on

training and learning across all industries and company sizes

Key Stats: Founded in 1970; has over 150,000 square feet of meeting space

All-Star Marketer: Azra Grudic, media planner at advertising agency EnvisionIt Media (EIM)

CHALLENGES: Q Center has a lengthy sales cycle, and the company wanted to speed up and

increase conversions.

THE PROGRAM: EIM incorporated targeted display to deliver more than 6 million impressions to its

target audience. The marketing team optimized its campaign to top-performing pages and audience

segments, and used retargeting to recapture lost leads.

THE RESULTS: The targeted advertising program drove 57 percent of Q Center’s paid media web

visitors, and those visitors were 51 percent more engaged than other visitors.

A media company’s lead nurturing double play

This multimedia company had invested in marketing automation, but

was still losing potential conversions. Adding targeted display to the

mix fixed its leaky sales funnel.

Who: Avid, a video and audio technology company

Industry: Multimedia

Target Audience: Creative and media professionals

Key Stats: Founded in 1987; nearly 3,000 employees

All-Star Marketer: Arpine Babloyan, senior manager of online demand generation at Avid

CHALLENGES: While Avid had a solid email nurturing program, many website visitors weren’t leaving

contact information, and newsletter open rates were low.

THE PROGRAM: Avid added a targeted display advertising solution to its marketing automation

program, targeting its non-converting website visitors and email subscribers with display ads

everywhere the prospects traveled on the web.

THE RESULTS: Within three months of integrating the display retargeting program, Avid generated

211 new sales inquiries from anonymous prospects—a 350 percent ROI.

An event marketing firm finds the sweet spot

This event marketing firm needed to increase its efficiency at

reaching target audiences while lowering its CPL.

Who: Freeman

Industry: B2B services

Target Audience: Marketers, exhibitors, event planners and meetings managers, trade show

managers, organizers, and producers.

Key Stats: Founded in 1927; over 300,000 clients annually

All-Star Marketer: Molly Casey, vice president of brand marketing at Freeman

CHALLENGES: Freeman bought display ads on a site-by-site basis—a time-consuming approach that

was unscalable.

THE PROGRAM: Working with the interactive agency Slingshot, Freeman used targeted display to

reach event planners, exhibitors, and other marketers in its core target audience.

THE RESULTS: Freeman now attributes 90 percent of all revenue from display ads to its targeted

campaigns, and is seeing increased conversions from search audiences previously influenced

by display.

A B2B solutions provider’s full-funnel marketing grand slam

Who: Zuora

Industry: B2B software

Target Audience: Executives and C-Suite, management in

Finance, Marketing, and Sales at enterprise-size companies.

Key Stats: Founded in 2007

All-Star Marketer: Sam Adler, director of demand generation at Zuora

CHALLENGES: Zuora’s solution is focused on monetization solutions for subscription-based

businesses—a new market of which many prospects are not aware.

THE PROGRAM: Zuora built a full-funnel marketing strategy by using targeted display, social

advertising, and retargeting strategies to raise brand awareness, drive engagement, and

deliver conversions.

THE RESULTS: Zuora’s campaign hit the mark on every level: The company saw a 182 percent

increase in page views, 21 percent lift in brand recall, and more than 1,000 conversions.

E very one of these companies has overcome the challenges of modern-day digital marketing

by ditching the traditional toolset and leveraging innovative technology to build their brands,

increase engagement and generate new conversions. By utilizing a full-funnel marketing

approach, you can reach potential buyers before they begin evaluating options and nurture them

through your sales funnel all the way to a purchase. So what’s your winning play?

866.497.5505 | www.bizo.com | Follow us on Twitter: @bizo