Software Company Doubled Leads, Tripled MQLs and SQLs in 1 Year with HubSpot

Aptify provides membership and associatation management software and services to enterprise-level, membership-based organizations. When they came to IMPACT, their team was making the transition to a more inbound marketing-focused approach.

The Problem

When Aptify first prioritized inbound marketing, they were starting from scratch, with no inbound architecture in place. But with an older website and lack of transparency with their own metrics, as well as a desire to boost website traffic and lead numbers, they knew it was time for a pivot.

They needed buyer personas, a content strategy that shortened the sales cycle, an optimized website, and lead scoring and segmentation. It was a clean slate, and we took the ball and ran with it.

The Solution

Aptify had the right team in place -- both internally and with IMPACT -- and the budget to do things right. With our potent combination of talent and access to resources, we set out to build the best inbound marketing machine possible.

A New Website 

Aptify was hosting its website on a proprietary platform before they started working with us and signed up for HubSpot.

Our top priority was moving their website, as well as all of their landing pages, onto the HubSpot Website platform. This would allow us to better track user metrics and understand what was -- and wasn't -- working.

First, we migrated all of their content. This included gating resources behind HubSpot landing pages and forms, and replacing their old calls-to-action (CTAs) with new HubSpot CTAs.

While we made small tweaks to get the data we needed, we conducted buyer persona interviews and keyword research to formulate a launchpad website to follow HubSpot’s Growth-Driven Design approach. 

Instead of simply migrating over the Aptify website to the HubSpot Website platform as it was, however, we capitalized on the opportunity to give their brand a much-needed refresh.

This included a new site structure, as well as shifting the brand from corporate to a clean, relaxed look and feel that we knew would resonate with their target buyer personas through our research.

Within two months of launching their redesign, conversions through the website increased 91%.

Site traffic and landing page performance, pre- and post-site launch.

After the launchpad site launched, we practiced continual GDD iteration cycles to improve Aptify's site performance month-over-month. 

Inbound Content Strategy

As we developed the launchpad website, we created a content strategy that spoke to Aptify's personas at each phase of the buyer's journey.

We started by optimizing existing content that was already performing well. Then, we developed a content marketing and distribution plan that addressed the pain points of Aptify’s audience.

To accomplish our goals, we used the HubSpot blogging tool for publication and HubSpot's email marketing and social media tools for promotion.

Content Marketing Strategy Overview

Aligning Marketing and Sales

We didn’t forget about bottom of the funnel either.

We developed an SLA with both Aptify’s marketing and sales teams and met weekly to build alignment between to two teams. Together, sales and marketing defined what constituted a marketing qualified lead (MQL) and sales qualified lead (SQL), and how to use HubSpot Lead Scoring to segment their database.

Aptify’s sales team moved from internal tools and spreadsheets to HubSpot Sales. This ensured that sales would have instant access to insights on potential prospects gained from Aptify's new, robust inbound marketing efforts.

Blog Optimization Campaign

Over the course of three months, we developed and executed a multidimensional blog subscriber campaign that involved:

• Optimizing existing blog content;
• Creating new long-form blog content;
• Launching an influencer offer in exchange for subscription, and;
• Implementing a new blog layout with our Blog Optimization Package.

The campaign generated 133% increase in blog views and a 24% lift in blog subscriber conversions. The content and layout continue to generate 100 subscribers each month.

What Aptify and IMPACT Accomplished

While we are still iterating and implementing new ideas and strategies, we can now look back and see the following results from our initial inbound efforts. Over the course of one year, we:

• Doubled Aptify's visitor-to-lead conversion ratio and doubled their overall landing page conversion rate.
• Grew Aptify blog subscribers from 100 to 1,500. We continue to add roughly 100 new subscribers per month.
• Doubled leads and tripled MQLs, SQLs, and opportunities.

“Hiring IMPACT was one of my first decisions and certainly was my best as a new CMO. In that time our leads are 2X and our SQLs and opportunities are 3X. Our pipeline is stronger than ever (in the history of the company). Is there any better recommendation I can give?”

Dave Martin
Chief Marketing Officer, Aptify