Test, learn, refine

LinkedIn’s powerful demographic insights gave Vivun the data they needed to hone their Account Based Marketing (ABM) strategy. “With any campaign that you launch, you’re going to have waves while you are testing out new things,” says Skye Downie, Strategic Marketing Specialist. “Much of the initial process is testing and learning. We’ve made some adjustments based on campaign performance data that have pushed our success forward.”

Photo of a woman working at her laptop
Photo of a man sitting at his desk and talking at the phone

Targeting, messaging, and tracking

  • Vivun knew that to pull off a successful ABM campaign, they would need to define target personas and segment that audience so they could deliver optimized content and messaging based on which stage prospects were along the buyer’s journey.
  • LinkedIn’s demographic performance data made it easy for Vivun to execute their segmentation plan while delivering insights on campaign impact and funnel analysis.
  • Sara vonDohren, Director of Demand Gen, was impressed by the segmentation tools available in Campaign Manager. "We knew we needed to segment from a perspective of what personas we wanted to reach and where they’re at in the buying stage. I don’t think we necessarily knew how easy it was going to be and how trackable it is with LinkedIn."
Getting strategic

Vivun had previously run campaigns on LinkedIn, but these ABM campaigns required a more strategic approach.
  • Having a clearly defined persona is key for ABM success, as Skye Downie explains: “It’s important to really understand your target persona and develop content around what’s going to speak to them the most.”
  • Vivun strives to build on that personal connection by demonstrating the value they offer to the whole organization. “Since we’re targeting titles like Director and VP, we know they’re looking for tools that will benefit the whole company,” Downie says. “We found a lot of success in crafting messages around what’s going to potentially raise the morale of their entire organization.”
  • Vivun developed highly resonant content such as reports and webinars that spoke to their audience’s needs and mindset. Their most impactful assets were their on-demand webinar How to Close The Customer Feedback Loop with Product Gaps, The War for PreSales Talent Industry Report: Learn How to Avoid the Great Resignation, and their Gartner Cool Vendor Report.
  • These assets served as a first point of contact for target companies that eventually resulted in marketing-sourced opportunities.

 

Photo a woman looking at her tablet
1. Breaking ground

Vivun’s ABM goal on LinkedIn is to break into new accounts and build out the pipeline.
  • By implementing two strategies at once – one- to-many and one-to-few – Vivun was able to cast a wider net for new accounts while simultaneously retargeting to accounts they had previously engaged.
  • Vivun understands the importance of nurturing target accounts through the buyer’s journey by sharing educational content at the top of the funnel, then transitioning to product-focused content, all while measuring the impact of these assets through the funnel.
  • Persona-based messaging was the right way to win over some of those hard-to-reach accounts. “As a sales manager it is difficult to hit every buyer with the right messaging,” says vonDohren. “But we found that is exactly what was happening with these LinkedIn campaigns. We received feedback from buyers saying they clicked on our ad because it resonated so strongly with them.”

2. Winning hand-raisers

  • Individuals who reach out, ready to see a demoand talk to sales, are what Vivun calls hand- raisers. LinkedIn Campaign Manager’s persona- based segmentation and targeted ad delivery have made it easier for Vivun’s marketing team to deliver the specific information individual buyers need to get their hands in the air.
  • “It’s the job of the marketer to make sure that those buyers know everything that they should know, in a way that they should know it,” says vonDohren. “And that all has to do with messaging. We get them in the door by delivering messages that show how our product solves their problem.”
Photo of two women working at a laptop
Sara vonDohren
Director of Demand Gen
Vivun
Skye Downie
Strategic Marketing Specialist
Vivun