Forge began working with Keronite on an ambitious content marketing strategy in 2017. Following a comprehensive consultation and set-up period we collaborated to deliver content marketing which has uncovered leads from some of the biggest companies operating in the UK and wider world. This case study focuses upon the period from September 2017 onwards; a time of huge growth, backed by measurable results.
Keronite is a materials science company operating a global production network. They’re specialists in Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation; a unique process for strengthening metal components. They provide a bespoke service for their clients; crafting a tailored solution for each unique application. That might all sound rather niche, but their coatings are used in all sorts of industries, from aerospace and automotive to sports equipment and mobile phones. They work with some of the biggest brands in the world.
Keronite surface treatments are truly innovative. But they always had a problem explaining this to people.
Prior to working with Forge, Keronite had no leads of their own and relied solely on referral and sales team generated business. Keronite’s investors and management team have a clear 3-year growth plan for the company. In order to achieve this, they needed to build a robust pipeline of high value clients. That’s where Forge come in.
Build a targeted database of engineers and scientists working for high-value manufacturing businesses
Position Keronite online as world-leading materials scientists who deliver industrial scale solutions
Be the primary source of information for plasma electrolytic oxidation online
Generate a pipeline of highly qualified leads to pass to the sales team to close
In order to gain access to a UK network of high-value leads, we prescribed a content-based approach to marketing Keronite online. Content marketing is broadly underutilised in the B2B sector and this was no different in the materials science industry. Many companies — aside from being digitally inexperienced — are fearful of ‘giving away their secrets’. We knew better, and convinced Keronite to share.
After careful examination of Keronite’s target persona we realised an inbound marketing approach was essential. Keronite want to attract engineers with an immediate problem to solve. Engineers Google things (even more so than the average person) and like to read and research topics of interest to them. Through the creation of high-quality and informative articles, we knew we could get them interested in Keronite’s innovative surface treatment technology.
We work with Keronite on an ongoing basis to generate targeted content marketing campaigns. We interview engineers, scientists and members of the sales team to create a list of common pain points for Keronite’s customers. We examine trends related to surface treatments and analyse what keywords engineers are searching for. The intersection of these different strands of insight and analysis allow us to devise, research and write highly targeted articles and eBooks ready for consumption online.
Keronite have seen a 280% increase in website sessions year on year.
In addition to our ongoing content marketing work with Keronite, we completely revamped their website in 2018. This became a priority in order to further capitalise upon the marketing work we were doing and help convert visitors into potential leads. The delivery of a cutting edge new site enabled us to reposition Keronite as a world-leading brand.
We were careful to develop a professional aesthetic and tone-of-voice establishing Keronite as leading materials scientists who can deliver solutions on an industrial scale. Forge re-wrote or adapted all the website content to reposition it for the new target demographic. With a defined user-flow and great search engine optimisation, the website is built to generate high-quality leads.
We’ve integrated the Hubspot marketing software into Keronite’s website. This allows us to continuously monitor and analyse our content marketing and provides complete transparency; enabling Keronite to see the value we provide at a glance. We have also integrated HubSpot’s CRM into Keronite’s sales process, creating a seamless conduit between marketing and sales.
We optimise content for common search terms to make Keronite the go-to destination for information about PEO and metal coating science. This brings in a continuous stream of new web traffic.
We constantly monitor conversation rates on our landing pages and iterate the design, copy and layout to get the best results.
Using HubSpot software, we’re able to accurately track what our target demographic are doing on the website. We gain insight into what resonates, allowing us to provide more targeted content.
Over the past year we’ve been able to carefully calibrate what we define as a ‘qualified’ marketing lead. We don’t hand thousands of leads to the sales team. What we do is give them is a handful of red-hot leads that are worth tens to hundreds of thousands of pounds in new business.
We research and analyse our clients target ‘persona’ on a continuous basis. We find out what makes them ‘tick’ so we can create content which resonates with them.
We devise content titles to research and write and back this up with a plan for delivery including email marketing, social media marketing and link building/PR.
Aside from the articles we create and publish, we also research and write eBooks for Keronite. These form the main call-to-action for our readers. Having read articles online, they are happy to provide information about themselves and their business in return for a downloadable guide about a topic of importance to them.
We manage the entire marketing process with a dedicated campaign manager to keep on top of output and deadlines. We have designated weekly calls with members of the Keronite team and quarterly meetings with top level management including investors to make sure everything stays on track. We also generate monthly reports highlighting activity and results over the previous four weeks.
Forge have totally transformed the consistency and quality of leads that we are getting from our marketing efforts. We wouldn’t have dreamed that we’d be able to get content in front of our dream clients, but we have. I’m certainly sold on what they do.
Matt Hamblin / Chief Engineer Officer
