Valpak Automates Retargeting Initiatives, Generates $1.2M In Efforts

Challenge:

Valpak, which provides print, mobile and online advertising solutions, primarily targets SMBs and aims to drive leads for their franchises [partner companies in various sales regions]. One of the company’s main challenges was an inability to gain visibility into all the leads it generates for its franchises.

“Whether [leads] converted, or didn't, we weren't able to tell,” said Amber DeBlieck, Marketing Planning and Strategy Director at Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, in an interview with Demand Gen Report. “We also didn't have a location to nurture these leads if necessary.” 

Solution:

The company started using Salesforce Pardot in 2015. The primary goal was to enable Valpak to run reactivation campaigns to engage cold leads.

“It only took a couple months to get up and running,” said DeBlieck. “We're non-tech users, but it didn't take much for us to learn since the plugins were really intuitive.”

DeBlieck and her team first identified their ideal targets for reactivation campaigns: the prospects who had not engaged with Valpak in more than 13 months . Using Pardot, Valpak turned these retargeting campaigns into an automated, ongoing process.

DeBlieck notes that the campaign triggers are tied to user engagement, such as when a prospect interacts with multiple emails. “This gradually increases their score, and once they reach a threshold, we pass it along to sales.”

A key perk for Valpak is Pardot’s Engage, which allows Valpak’s sales reps to start their own campaigns. DeBlieck added that it “lets sales reps customize and personalize their messaging, and also allows reps to easily add leads into a 90-day drip campaign.”

Also, Pardot helped provide visibility into how leads were engaging with Valpak’s new website. DeBlieck added that the company is now “able to measure that behavior by a page-by-page basis.”

Results:

Within the first 90 days of implementing Salesforce Pardot, Valpak drove more than 5,000 leads to its new website, which is double the company’s monthly average. The company now boasts conversion rates of around 30%. Additionally, the company generated:

• $1.4 million from its website alone thanks to the redesign and Pardot integration; and
• $1.2 million in retargeting and nurturing efforts through the help of Salesforce Pardot.

Valpak started off with 230 sales reps using Engagement Studio. In the 90 days, these reps saw a 65% average email open rate, along with a 7% action rate.

DeBlieck noted that the company now plans “to extend it to our entire sales network, so it can be a part of our sales reps' daily work lives. We want to continue to expand our use to maximize our investment.”