May 4, 2020
Extreme Makeover: How SmartRecruiters Flipped Their Marketing Strategy During COVID-19
From drawing up the blueprints to laying the foundation to erecting the walls, constructing a home is intricate. Every solid marketing plan is no different, as Tiffany Hsia from SmartRecruiters recently explained in her session at Sendoso’s virtual event, The Show Must Go On.
As a demand generation and ABM manager, Tiffany is heavily focused on helping sales set meetings and creating pipeline with large, enterprise named accounts. Because of who SmartRecruiters sells to, Tiffany knew their prospects and customers would be hit especially hard by budget cuts and subsequent hiring freezes.
Tiffany and her team moved quickly to flip their marketing programs overnight so all of their efforts weren’t akin to a home flop. Here’s how they did it.
The Foundation of a Marketing Program
- Marquee industry conference: Hiring Success 20
- Book authored by their CEO: Hiring Success
- Guide: The Definitive Guide to Hiring Success
The programs were supported by various tactics like direct mail, email, phone calls, advertising, and in-person events—like scaffolding, propping up the larger initiatives.
Here’s how that looked in practice: Prior to the Hiring Success 20 conference, they used Sendoso to send prospects an empty AirPods box and a scorecard to invite them to their event booth. If prospects met with SmartRecruiters at the event, they would receive the AirPods to fill the case.
After the package was delivered, AEs and SDRs were immediately notified and were able to follow up and build rapport quickly. After deploying this play, they saw a 14% conversion rate of meetings from the campaign and 2.5M in pipeline influenced.
But with COVID-19, the plans like this that they architected simply weren’t possible anymore.
Demolition and Remodeling for Marketers
Akin to demolishing a fixer-upper, they had to act quickly, knowing what to let go of and what to keep. Everyone loves a good before and after success story. Here’s the foundation they had planned and how they’ve remodeled and rebuilt—brick by brick:
1. Remove Old Flooring
Before: “How do you compete for the best talent?”
After: “How can you best prepare for what’s to come?”
2. Update the Kitchen
Before: In-person conferences and regional meetups
After: Virtual events and roadshows
3. Swapped in New Windows
Before: Physical packages
After: Address Confirmation, eGifts, and Charity Choice
4. Repainted the Walls
Before: CEO book tour
After: Podcast speaking tour
SmartRecrutiers is using every outreach channel to help their prospects and customers come out of this stronger, no matter what their current situation is. As Tiffany said, “we hope that the remodeled versions of our new campaigns still inspire, engage, and help our talent acquisition community emerge all the better from this tough time.”
Very much like flipping a home, build your new programs on your existing marketing foundation and you’ll come out of this with an HGTV-worthy marketing house.
Register for access to the on-demand version of The Show Must Go On to listen to Tiffany’s story.