Case StudyExecuting a Targeted Content Campaign for a New Product, Delivering Revenue Ahead of Schedule

PROFILE

NAME : Ryan AxfordEMAIL : RyanAxford@gmail.comPOS : Inbound Marketing Manager

Ryan is an Inbound Market-ing Manager delivering triple digit gains and an additional million dollars in revenue at Falafel Software. Ryan is full funnel certified and has been strategic as well as hands-on in the creation of inbound marketing campaigns. His

content campaigns have helped SmartBear Software to drive millions in revenue, and he’s also delivered ana-lytical, ran multi-variant and A/B testing, and is capable designing and coding email and landing pages.

Falafel began working on a new package of services for Xamarin in July of 2014. Ryan was asked to initiate contact with a new market and drive thought leadership and awareness. The end goal was to drive revenue for the product by Q1, 2015. Ryan was tasked with building the GTM Strategy and a strong lead database, while man-aging the production of funnel-mapped content through a series of campaigns.

The audience, developers, is a familiar market to Falafel and Ryan, but this product-specific target group had mostly never heard of Falafel’s services.

PROBLEM

SOLUTIONThe solution was to spend time speaking with Xamarin, researching our own analytics, forums and so-cial media to find the topics most popular around the product. Ryan found most conversations revolving around Xamarin.Forms. A developer at the company wrote a series of articles around the topic, and Ryan built a massive campaign around that content. The campaign included a 70 page eBook, multiple webi-nars, and slideshares, followed by a drip campaign promoting the repurposed content and our services. The campaign was designed to collect leads at the top of the funnel (eBook), then utilize targeted webinars and nurture campaigns to push them further down the funnel and into MQLs. The campaign consisted of one eBook, three webinars, and a 5 email nurture campaign. Ryan was also responsible for delivering sales enablement content to the sales team in conjunction with the campagin.

The result was substantial, with over 2,500 new leads flooding our system. The qualified leads were contacted by sales, and the rest continued the drip campaign until they showed the right interest. The new services were slated to begin driving revenue in 2015, but thanks to the successful campaign, it began 3 months early.

A number of new clients were signed across all three of Falafel’s main offerings - training, consulting and development.

Falafel is currently recognised as a thought leader in Xamarin, with the original articles, which had been written at Ryan’s recommenda-tion, have driven nearly 100,000 views. Leads continue to pour in for Xamarin services.

RESULT

TESTIMONIALS

Ryan is an all-around marketing powerhouse. I was fortunate enough to work with Ryan for a year at SmartBear. Graphic design, social media, and project management are just a few of his stand out skills. He’s the kind of person who can take the initiative to drive a project from start to finish, and make sure the process runs smoothly along the way. One thing to note about Ryan is that he is truly a team player. His willingness to assist others during tight deadlines, and dedication to completing any task presented proves that he would be a strong asset to have on any marketing team.

- Rick DeCosta, Marketing Operations Manager, SmartBear Software

Ryan was a referral from a well-respected colleague and I am so glad that he decided to join the SmartBear Marketing Team. From the minute he started, Ryan worked on a brand-new marketing program to provide a video library for the flagship SmartBear product, Test Complete. This training library was designed in conjunction with our fabulous partner, Falafel Software, and Ryan’s consistent efforts led to 100 brand-new videos, a certification exam, and a program that knocks the socks off anything else out there. Ryan researched, wrote, created, developed, posted, and did everything possible to make it a success. A long time in the making, Ryan was able to cross the finish line with this massive undertaking, delivering revenue and success to the company.

- Jeanne Hopkins, Senior Vice President and CMO, Continuum

Ryan is a well-rounded and creative marketer. This guy can do anything! I had the pleasure of working with Ryan for a year at SmartBear where he acted as graphic design ninja, social media consultant, and production management leader. Ryan respects process and organization. I appreciated his willingness to assist in team projects and his honesty about deadlines and work cycles. Ryan’s technical skills and dedication to teamwork make him a great addition to any fast-paced marketing team.

- Kendal Peiguss, Marketing Manager, Toast INC

Ryan is a great asset for any marketing team. He’s the type of guy you can put on any task and he’ll knock it out of the park. A true marketing generalist. He has a GREAT eye for designing ef-fective landing pages and corresponding CTA graphics. His knowl-edge of social media management is far superior to anyone I’ve met. He took on every task at SmartBear with enthusiasm and professionalism. It was a pleasure to work with Ryan.

- Adam Barker, Director of Demand Gen, Continuum