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The Situation
Small Decisions Can Lead to a Huge Positive Impact
To provide a little background, TriStar Plastics Corp. sells long-lasting self-lubricating bearings and materials for high stress applications. An early adopter of inbound marketing (we teamed up in 2006 and worked with them in 2008 to implement HubSpot!) this B2B manufacturer is able to confidently rely on a steady flow of traffic and leads generated by their website.
However, one additional source of traffic and leads on which they wanted to capitalize was online advertising via the Google Search Network. It is there that they identify and attract highly targeted searchers looking for the types of products they offer.
Through 2015, with the help of another PPC agency, they experienced moderate success using Google AdWords to supplement their other lead generation efforts.
But, both CEO Richard Cedrone and Marketing Manager Greg Tuft had this nagging feeling that things could be improved. "We weren’t sure that we could do better, but we had a sense that not everything was being done to maximize results."
"We have been impressed with Conveyor's approach and methodology. They experiment with different messaging to help us determine the most persuasive message to use in our ads, and in other marketing content."
– Greg Tuft, Marketing Manager, TriStar Plastics
The Results
One Small Decision = Snowball Effect
In early 2016, TriStar decided to start working with our Paid Search experts.
Typically, campaigns can have a number of inefficiencies, leading to expensive or even wasteful clicks. So we began our process by assessing areas of their current campaigns that provided opportunities for several quick wins.
Within the first quarter of working with TriStar, we were able to drive the cost per lead down by an impressive 74%. That meant they were able to get the same (or slightly more) leads for about 25% of the previous cost.
Can We Get More Leads?
However, it took several quarters to optimize the campaigns in the direction that boosted the level of quality leads they were collecting.
Using a methodical optimization process, we were able to increase lead levels by 62%.
The optimization process picked up speed, increasing lead levels by another 112%.
Overall, from Q4 2015 to Q1 2017, we helped TriStar grow their number of quality leads per month by an impressive 231% (from 15 to 55).
"At Conveyor, we LOVE pay-per-click advertising (Google/Bing, LinkedIn, Facebook) because you can turn on (and off) highly targeted, positive ROI leads with the flip of a switch. Plus, we learn so much about what the prospects really want by testing various value propositions. Why guess when you can know for sure?"
– Patrick McDaniel, Paid Search & Social Strategist, PMG
BY THE NUMBERS
PMG helped TriStar grow their lead count by 231%
Conclusion
Some Unforeseen Benefits
Understandably, TriStar was thrilled with the results. But they were also enjoying other aspects of this new partnership—how our agency communicated regularly with them, for example.
CEO Richard Cedrone elaborates: "We love how Conveyor explains exactly what our PPC campaigns are doing, and how they are working to improve results even further. We have a high level of confidence that our campaigns are optimized and operating at peak efficiency."
No longer did TriStar's executive leadership wonder if everything was being done to maximize visibility and lead generation efforts. They knew exactly what was being done – and why. They could now focus fully on what they did best: manufacturing.
Discovering a Persuasive Selling Point
One other unexpected benefit of the PPC partnership with Conveyor is the valuable intelligence their team is gaining from their pay-per-click data.
Interestingly, Google ads provide a unique way to discover what is most attractive to a company’s ideal prospects. In TriStar’s case, which of their value propositions resonates the most with their target audience:
- Extensive expertise (thousands of applications in 70+ industries)?
- In-house engineering department?
- Complete prototype to production services?
- Direct engineering help in choosing the right solution?
- State-of-the-art fabrication facilities?
- Fast turnaround and delivery?
- Extensive in-stock inventory?
In our initial value proposition testing, they equally rotated two different ads focusing on:
- TriStar’s extensive expertise and their willingness to leverage it to help companies find just the right solution for the problem they were facing. (We called this one Problem Solvers)
- TriStar’s in-house engineering department that can help companies develop custom solutions from the prototype phase all the way to production. (Referred to as Full Service)
The results were statistically definitive… and dramatic. Prospects turned into customers at double the rate (120%) when served ads touting their full service capabilities.
Now, instead of throwing value propositions at prospects indiscriminately (and hoping one will ring their bell), they can promote specific value propositions that are proven to be most persuasive, ultimately turning more prospects into customers.
A Highly Profitable Partnership
This story just goes to show that making one seemingly inconsequential decision (how your B2B company approaches its pay-per-click advertising efforts) can yield some pretty powerful results. Not to mention some incredibly valuable insight into the wants and needs of your prospects.
Simply because TriStar's team had a sense that PPC could be performing better, they have been rewarded many times over for jumping off the horse that didn't seem to be going anywhere!
