Pivoting to Digital: Rapid Online Marketing Transformation for an Industrial Services Leader
Background
A leader in the industrial services sector with offices across the U.S. traditionally relied on events, conferences, and in-person sales activities to drive business development. When COVID-19 hit, the company faced an urgent need to pivot its go-to-market strategy to online communications—an area where they had very limited experience. The sudden shift threatened customer relationships and revenue growth without a rapid digital transformation.
Objective
The company sought to quickly develop and execute online marketing strategies to maintain brand visibility and customer engagement during the pandemic. Leadership needed to ensure the brand and its value proposition remained visible to clients and prospects immediately. Empirical was engaged to develop a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, execute tactical initiatives including webinars, and establish sustainable online marketing infrastructure for future growth.
Methodology
Empirical deployed a rapid digital transformation approach combining immediate tactical execution with strategic foundation-building, which included:
- Database Optimization – Cleaned and segmented the existing database to enable targeted, effective digital communications.
- Webinar Strategy & Execution – Developed and fully executed a webinar series, handling all logistics for online events to quickly establish digital engagement channels.
- Social Media Development – Created a social media strategy with ongoing compelling content to maintain brand presence and audience engagement.
- Brand Refresh – Updated the brand, brand standards, value proposition, and accompanying messaging to resonate in the digital environment.
- Digital Asset Creation – Developed sales collateral, online materials, and digital advertising elements to support the new digital-first approach.
- Crisis Communications – Crafted COVID-19 notices and both internal and external communications detailing corporate responses to the pandemic.
- Sales and Marketing Alignment – Ensured alignment between sales and marketing functions with appropriate analytics and measurement systems.
- SEO/PPC/AI Search Strategy – Developed and implemented a comprehensive search engine optimization and pay-per-click strategy to drive online visibility and lead generation.
Results
- Generated $1M in new orders immediately after digital marketing efforts launched and the first webinar took place.
- Successfully pivoted from in-person to digital engagement in a matter of weeks, maintaining customer relationships during crisis.
- Built $3M pipeline of potential new business after three webinars and accompanying online marketing efforts ramped up.
- Established sustainable digital marketing infrastructure including social media presence, webinar capabilities, and SEO/PPC foundations.
- Enhanced brand positioning through updated messaging and value proposition aligned with digital channels.
- Created measurable marketing engine with analytics and alignment between sales and marketing functions for ongoing optimization
