Case Study How We Helped Three B2B Companies Increase Leads and Site Traffic

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Table of contents

Graphical Summary Case One: B2B Consulting Firm Case Two: Enterprise B2B IT Service Provider Case Three: Niche B2B Software

What Sort of Results Can Be Achieved by Partnering with Us?

This document is intended to help B2B companies get a sense of when they can expect to hit certain quantifiable growth milestones while working with Madison Marketing Group.

Rate of growth in this regard varies—sometimes significantly—from client to client, and we can never guarantee that we will hit certain growth milestones for any client. But collectively, these three case studies provide some data points within the range of possible outcomes.

These companies came to us with varying needs as well as different strengths and weaknesses (which are described in brief). All had the goal of generating more qualified leads from their websites in the long term.

About the data

In an effort to fairly compare the results achieved for these clients, which each partnered with MMG at different points in time, we gathered data from four full quarters prior to when they partnered with us to: 1) launch a redesigned website and 2) use it to publish the sort of content needed to help them achieve their goals.

This quarterly average from prior years' data is the benchmark against which we compare each full, quarter-long interval after partnering with us, which starts the day each clients' new website went live.

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Graphical Summary

Compared to the quarterly average in the year before working with MMG, we helped three B2B companies...

Generate an average of 21% more sales-qualified leads (SQLs) by the fourth quarter and 229% more by the sixth
Graph Quarterly SQLs

Generate an average of 47% more leads by the fourth quarter and 178% more by the sixth

Graph Leads Generated

Increase organic traffic (sessions) by an average of 67% by the fourth quarter and 120% by the sixth

Graph Organic Search

Increase overall traffic (sessions) by an average of 18% by the fourth quarter and 45% by the sixth

Graph Overall Sessions

Case One: B2B Consulting Firm

Intensive content creation

This long-time client—a B2B consulting firm in the pharma/medical device space—came to us having invested significantly in a HubSpot subscription and Google Ads without much to show for it.

The client sensed that there was an opportunity to generate leads via its website, but was missing the steps needed to get there. After some false starts and early learnings, we settled into a marketing strategy centered on frequent content creation. Given the complex web of regulations around the space, the client was able to reach thousands of quality prospects each month by writing content about these regulations that helped them do their jobs.

Note that we cut off ineffective ad spend for this client shortly after site launch, which hurt overall traffic numbers in the short term.

Primary deliverables:

  • Redesigned website on HubSpot CMS, followed by:
    • ~Weekly blog post publication
    • Quarterly conversion content creation (whitepapers, webinars, etc.)
    • Starting ~five months post-launch: paid LinkedIn campaign management

Short-term results: second quarter, post launch, compared to one-year quarterly average leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: down 11% (deflated by reduced ad spend)
  • Organic traffic: up 14%
  • Leads generated: up 92%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: up 92%

Traffic actually dipped in the short term for this client, which is not uncommon in the first few weeks and months following a new site launch. Google and other search engines sometimes "pull back" and test new site designs with smaller groups of users for a while before sending more traffic when confidence in UX is restored.

The improved site layout doubled the overall visit-to-lead conversion rate, which kept lead generation numbers high despite the drop in traffic.

Medium-term results: fourth quarter, post launch, compared to one-year quarterly average leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: up 8% (deflated by reduced ad spend)
  • Organic traffic: up 68%
  • Leads generated: down 4%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: down 33%

By the time a year had passed, organic traffic had grown enough to substantially increase overall traffic, which was initially down after we cut ad spend entirely from what had previously been several thousand dollars a month. Lead generation numbers at this point were still languishing below the previous years' pace.

Long-term results: sixth quarter, post launch, compared to one-year quarterly average leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: up 42% (deflated by reduced ad spend)
  • Organic traffic: up 108%
  • Leads generated: up 167%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: up 367%

After about 12 months of campaign work, our lead generation KPIs ticked up dramatically, finally catching up with the positive leading indicators we saw in previous months (overall and organic traffic).

Case Two: Enterprise B2B IT Service Provider

More modest content creation supported by advertising

Results here might be a bit skewed by the pandemic, which aligned almost perfectly (or from our perspective, imperfectly) with the launch of the redesigned site and the start of our campaign work for this client.

On the other hand, this client also had the advantage of a longstanding domain with its area of service right in the domain name. This put it on higher ground than usual from the beginning from an SEO perspective. Search was an attractive channel for this client on both the paid and organic side, so our recommended approach included both content creation and Google Ads campaign optimization.

Note that we cut off ineffective ad spend for this client shortly after site launch, which hurt overall traffic numbers in the short term.

Primary deliverables:

  • Redesigned website on HubSpot CMS, followed by:
    • ~Monthly content publication
    • ~Twice yearly conversion content creation (whitepapers, webinars, etc)
    • Google Ads management

Short-term results: second quarter, post launch, compared to one-year quarterly average leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: down 8% (deflated by reduced ad spend)
  • Organic traffic: up 5%
  • Leads generated: up 173%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: up 91%

Similar story here as seen in Case One, with traffic taking a short-term hit post-launch, but with improved site visitor-to-lead conversion rates mitigating that hit and propping up lead gen KPIs. The pandemic likely depressed these numbers. (It was Q2/Q3 2020.)

Medium-term results: fourth quarter, post launch, compared to one-year quarterly average leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: up 14% (deflated by reduced ad spend)
  • Organic traffic: up 67%
  • Leads generated: up 108%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: up 30%

Fully removed from the more immediate effects of the pandemic and with 10+ long-form blog posts published, results were positive across the board after one year, post launch. Lead generation numbers mostly held their solid early gains.

Long-term results: sixth quarter post-launch, compared to quarter leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: up 47% (deflated by reduced ad spend)
  • Organic traffic: up 132%
  • Leads generated: up 190%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: up 91%

Across the board, all of our KPIs reached their apex (at least within the bounds of this piece's 18-month window) in the sixth quarter of our campaign work. While lead gen KPIs are inherently victim to the small-sample-size roller coaster, the steady, up-and-to-the-right trendline on each of the traffic KPIs for this client represents an ideal case study for our work.

Case Three: Niche B2B Software

Existing content optimization and modest content creation supported by modest advertising

This company had been creating content for a long time prior to working with us, but lacked a defined content strategy and had a slow, poor-performing website.

By cleaning up its existing corpus of content and improving site speed and user experience, we were able to achieve results for this client faster than normal before settling into a campaign strategy that consisted of modest content creation and ad campaign management on both Google and LinkedIn.

Primary deliverables:

  • Website optimization and transition to HubSpot CMS, followed by:
    • Existing blog and conversion content audit and optimization
    • ~Monthly content publication
    • Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads management

Short-term results: second quarter, post launch, compared to one-year quarterly average leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: up 62%
  • Organic traffic: up 85%
  • Leads generated: up 70%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: up 90%

Just over six months post-launch, the site’s traffic and lead gen numbers had all improved when compared to pre-launch data. Particularly notable is the fact that traffic increased right away following the move off of the old, slower site. Google likely saw early, positive UX and page speed data and started sending more traffic right away.

Medium-term results: fourth quarter, post launch, compared to one-year quarterly average leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: up 31%
  • Organic traffic: up 67%
  • Leads generated: up 37%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: up 67%

Initial gains mostly held in this case despite our client undergoing its acquisition and merging with a larger company.

Long-term results: sixth quarter post-launch, compared to quarter leading up to launch

  • Overall traffic: up 9%
  • Organic traffic: up 59%
  • Leads generated: up 73%
  • Sales-qualified leads generated: up 67%

While organic and overall traffic to the site dropped, sales-qualified lead generation remained steady, and overall lead generation nearly doubled.

Final Thoughts

While each B2B client came to us in a different situation, by partnering with us, they were each able to increase the amount of traffic coming to their sites and, more importantly, the number of users that converted to qualified leads after doing so. By and large, KPIs improved in fits and starts in the first year of our campaign work together before settling into a more steady up-and-to-the-right growth curve in months 13-18.

If your company is considering investing in digital lead generation, we might be able to help you achieve similar results.

Drop us a line today to discuss which lead generation methods could best grow your company.

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