Securly's Strategic Expansion
Venturing into new geographies and personas
Industry
B2B SaaS
Audience
IT Administrators and Superintendents at Educational Institutions
Solution
Product LaunchaAudience Launch, Product Launch, Geography Launch
Challenge
The rapid digitization of the educational sector brought forth a challenge for Securly: to distinguish itself in an increasingly crowded market with formidable competitors. With a vast clientele of schools and students, there was an urgent need for the company to optimize growth, tap into new markets, and retain its existing customer base.
GTM Motions
Implemented a referral program to incentivize user engagement and accelerate market penetration by leveraging existing customer networks.
Focused on daily social media engagement and weekly blog content, our inbound approach leveraged these platforms to captivate new personas and support product launches effectively.
Developed an email marketing campaign to facilitate the entry into the South American market, arranging meetings for account executives. This initiative was further supported by the implementation of Twitter advertising to enhance outreach and engagement
Trade shows enabled us to engage with IT Superintendents directly, understanding their needs and further nurturing relationships with key decision makers at our prospective and existing accounts.
Google Forums and active engagement on Twitter provided platforms for interaction with Technology Superintendents, positioning Securly as community leaders and amplifying its presence among key stakeholders.
Strategy and Implementation
Analytics and Engagement
Usage analytics provided deep insights into user engagement, guiding continuous improvements in the overall user experience.
Comprehensive analyses of the customer support function to streamline operations, and my direct involvement in roles such as Sales Development Representative expedited processes directly scheduling appointments for Account Executives.
South America was in our crosshairs, demanding a tailored approach that understood its local demand, competition, and cultural dynamics.
Directly engaging IT Superintendents at trade shows bolstered our brand presence and facilitated relationship-building. Securly merchandise and rotational staff attendance reinforced our commitment.
Digital Marketing Strategeies
ROI-centric campaigns, especially on Twitter, where the decision-makers (IT administrators at schools) were highly active, worked well. In addition, our experiments with Facebook and Google Ads proved fruitful, especially the retargeting campaigns focused on parents who visited our online portal to monitor their child’s activity. This strategy significantly boosted orders for the Hub by Securly – WiFi Security offering.
Focusing on parents in affluent neighborhoods using zip codes was key in promoting our direct-to-consumer Hub offering.
Our active participation in Google Forums with Technology Superintendents helped us grasp the intricacies of their professional challenges and fostered a tight-knit online community. This community-driven approach immensely contributed to our positive NPS scores, indicating higher customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Our investment in automation was pivotal for our email marketing campaigns. By ensuring consistent and tailored communication, these campaigns became instrumental in generating a steady and reliable sales pipeline, driving both engagement and conversion.
Utilizing geo-detection, we dynamically showcased logos of nearby customer schools on our landing pages. This tailored approach boosted trust and familiarity, leading to higher demo scheduling rates.
To enhance customer relationships, we rolled out a referral program that was manual at first with a $20 Amazon gift card and then we worked with Referral Sasquatch to automate it. This allowed us to identify and strengthen ties with our most active customers. Simultaneously, insights into less satisfied customers were relayed to the CRO, ensuring prompt action by our customer support team.
Digital Marketing Strategeies
Strengthening ties with industry analysts and leveraging public relations (PR) boosted visibility and credibility in the market. Our PR partner agency was responsible for consistent media placements, coverage, and circulations. The sales team was able to use these assets to nurture prospects down the funnel.
Weekly meetings to review sales rep activity and collaborate on customized campaigns that can support sales with their initiatives.
STRATEGIC GROWTH INITIATIVES
Expanding Horizons
We aimed at parents, engaging them through the Parent Portal and targeted email marketing. Our geographical expansion strategies were holistic, considering local nuances and leveraging robust email marketing. The introduction of “Hub by Securly WiFi Security” showcased our commitment to diversifying revenue streams, with prior interest generated through targeted ad campaigns facilitating its successful adoption.
Conclusion
Securly’s expansion strategy highlights the potency of a well-orchestrated, data-driven approach in the B2B SaaS domain. Amidst challenges in the digital educational sector and a saturated market, Securly stands out by deeply understanding its audience, leveraging data, and innovating consistently. Their comprehensive strategies, ranging from event engagements to geo-targeted campaigns, have cemented their reputation as a reliable partner for educational institutions. As education undergoes further digital transformation, Securly’s forward-thinking and customer-centric initiatives place it at the forefront of digital safety and security.
