Act-On Success Story
Danny Walls’ journey to marketing automation began five years ago when the agency he owns, Great Guns Marketing, was generating leads for clients primarily through outbound calls. His company was using CallPro CRM to manage that process, and Danny discovered the platform could also send emails and track web activity.
Two years passed, and when Danny saw that telemarketing by itself was becoming less effective, he decided it was time to expand Great Guns Marketing’s digital marketing capabilities. He wanted to leverage social media and run campaigns with forms and landing pages, but he quickly learned that his existing systems didn’t provide that functionality.
The data we get from Act-On allows us to connect with our buyers more deeply and optimize our campaigns to deliver better results.
Danny Walls
Director
Challenge
“That was the ‘eureka’ moment that got me thinking outside the box,” Danny said. “I saw where the industry was heading and the value that kind of functionality could bring to Great Guns Marketing and our clients.”
Danny saw that the MarTech landscape was rapidly changing and knew that if he wanted to stay competitive, he had to find a powerful marketing automation platform that would strengthen Great Guns Marketing’s ability to market across all channels and promote itself and its customers.
Solutions
As luck would have it, Great Guns Marketing was in the same building as Act-On, so Danny was able to speak frequently with Act-On staff about finding the right platform. But that didn’t stop him from doing a broader search. He also evaluated HubSpot, InfusionSoft, and SharpSpring, but ultimately decided Act-On was the best choice.
“Act-On was more powerful than the other platforms we considered, and I liked that the company had an office in the UK,” Danny said. “I knew our audience would appreciate a local presence as well. It fosters a greater sense of trust, and underscores Act-On’s commitment to our market.”
Many of Great Guns Marketing’s prospective clients are in construction and manufacturing, and almost all are unfamiliar with digital marketing, so as soon as Danny had Act-On implemented he began using it to educate them. He built Act-On forms and landing pages that captured their contact information, then used Act-On’s automated programs to deliver content that explained how marketing automation could benefit their industries.
Act-On was more powerful than the other platforms we considered, and I liked that the company had an office in the UK. It fosters a greater sense of trust, and underscores Act-On’s commitment to our market.
Danny Walls
Director
Act-On’s social marketing tools help us maximize our presence on LinkedIn and other platforms by allowing us to schedule posts weeks in advance and see which ones are driving traffic to our site.
Danny Walls
Director
The platform has raised our visibility in the market and streamlined all our efforts.
Danny Walls
Director
Approach
“We wanted them to know that telemarketing was just one part of an integrated campaign we would develop for them, and that Act-On was an extremely cost-effective way to implement it,” Danny said. “And we designed the programs and varied the content we sent, based on the links prospects clicked on and the web pages they visited, so the material prospects received became increasingly relevant.”
Danny and his team then used Act-On to track and score how prospects interacted with the campaigns. Prospects received a certain number of points for each interaction, and when their score rose to a certain level, Danny’s team would review their activity history and reach out to them directly.
“Knowing how prospects interact with our content helped us understand their interests and engage with them more effectively. It also revealed the value of our material, for example by showing us which pieces they were willing to complete a form to view,” Danny said.
“The data we get from Act-On allows us to connect with our buyers more deeply and optimize our campaigns to deliver better results.” Great Guns Marketing is also using Act-On to increase its brand awareness and productivity.
The digital revolution is well underway, and Act-On is helping us beat the competition and ensure the success of our customers.
Danny Walls
Director
Results
Danny said Act-On has enabled his team to implement campaigns twice as fast and better analyze how they perform. But those benefits are just the beginning. “Act-On has made it simple to nurture potential clients and demonstrate the added value we bring to our telemarketing services,” Danny said. “Our Act-On campaigns have increased our lead generation by more than 30%.”
The platform has also directly impacted Great Guns Marketing’s bottom line. “The more we know about our prospects, the easier it is to convince them we have the skills and experience to address their concerns.” Danny said. “The buyer intelligence we’ve gained with Act-On has fueled a 70% increase in new business and helped us achieve ROI in less than four months.” Danny credits Act-On with transforming Great Guns Marketing’s marketing, and he’s excited to see the growing role it’s playing in the services they offer.