Integrating sales and marketing to fire up the funnel on LinkedIn

Combining thought-leadership with lead generation and a content-led sales approach helped the software business transform awareness levels and build a healthy new business pipeline in the critical Energy and Natural Resources sectors. Within just three months, Dassault Systemes grew the value of its pipeline by 27% while doubling engagement levels on LinkedIn.

Dassault Systèmes’ full-funnel strategy for generating demand and nurturing leads helped to drive new levels of engagement between its sales and marketing teams. Insights from sales played a key role at the top of the funnel, helping to identify target accounts for the awareness campaign. Equally important were insights on the priorities for businesses operating in the Energy and Natural Resources sectors. It was the frontline experience of sales teams that helped marketing to develop content that felt personalised and relevant to the decision-makers.

Deploying a range of different marketing and sales tools on LinkedIn helped Dassault Systèmes to deliver appropriate and relevant experiences at each stage of a potential customer’s journey. The experience of decision-makers at target accounts began with relevant content appearing in their LinkedIn feed, and promoted through personalised dynamic ads. LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms helped to connect them to Dassault Systèmes with just a few clicks – and follow-up Sponsored InMails then delivered additional value by pointing them to a repository of relevant, in-depth content. Leading with content in this way enabled the sales team to demonstrate expertise and value from the start. Alerts from PointDrive then kept them aware of the interest that their leads were showing in different areas and identified opportunities to reach out with suggestions and solutions.

In just three months, this full-funnel approach had started to transform growth prospects for Dassault Systèmes in sectors where it had suffered from low awareness in the past. Engagement with the brand’s content doubled, with click-through rates for sales’ Sponsored InMails increasing 82% amongst those already exposed to sponsored Content in the feed. And an increase in the flow of leads translated swiftly into increased potential for revenue growth. The value of Dassault Systèmes’ business pipeline in Energy and Natural Resources grew 27% during the first three months of the campaign.

Integrating sales and marketing to fire up the funnel on LinkedIn

The Challenge

Content creation driven by sales insights

The Solution

Integrating sales and marketing tools for a seamless customer experience

The Results