Star Wars Day B2B marketing campaign wins IT prospects

We literally whipped our campaign up the night before. Sendoso made it so easy!

Automox isn’t just the leader in modern IT and security solutions. The IT operations company also leads when it comes to understanding their audience.

Marketing leaders at the company are leaning into their clients’ hobbies to book dozens of demos, open doors, and accelerate deals.

Automox summoned the Force when they dreamed up a May the Fourth Star Wars Day campaign with no prep time. Sendoso had the right gift to wow prospects.

The project blasted off into B2B account-based marketing hyperspace.

In just two weeks, their on-a-whim direct mail campaign generated half a million dollars in new pipeline.

Doubling account-based marketing ROI with Sendoso

The Automox team understands that clients and their personal interests go hand in hand.

Overall, Automox has leveraged corporate gifts with Sendoso to double its ROI within the first half of the year.

But it was a spur-of-the-moment Star Wars campaign that really made an impression on prospects. It led to ten meetings booked in one day. It also gave them a repeatable play for continued successful campaigns.

Building ABM campaigns around tech culture

Automox serves up IT and security solutions by automating patches for software and network giants in need of updates. Their B2B customers are squarely rooted in tech, and so are their interests outside work.

“With our audience, we know they like Star Wars,” said Laura Partyka, senior manager of Automox’s account-based marketing.

That’s why when a team member wrote Partyka about May the Fourth, her ears perked up.

“My business development representative (BDR) manager messaged me at 5:00 p.m. on May 3rd,” Partyka laughed. “We didn’t think ahead on this one, but that’s the beauty of Sendoso because you can do it fast.”

May the Fourth, celebrated on May 4, of course, started as pop-culture fun. But now it’s blossomed into a day dedicated to the entire Star Wars universe. It’s a play on words from the Jedi mantra: “May the Force be with you.”

Partyka saw the potential in connecting with decision-makers over a shared love of Wookiees, Yoda, and lightsabers.

She searched Sendoso Direct and found a Star Wars drink gift set. The cocktail shaker and glass are a sleek combo of matte and shiny black, just like Darth Vader’s and Kylo Ren’s helmets.  

“I found the drink set within about two minutes and added it to Sendoso about two minutes after that.”

Quicker than the Millennium Falcon speeding away from Tatooine, the campaign was on the move.

Star Wars gift set pays off

Sales development representatives bring their best game to reach out to potential customers. They have to catch the client’s attention, prod continued progress, and achieve a goal. Automox’s goal was to book demos.

“Every Wednesday is Prospecting at Automox” said Partyka, “and Star Wars was the central theme that day.”

Demos can be a challenge. It’s a bigger ask of the client than a quick phone meeting. The quality of the direct mail gift has to match the request.

The Star Wars drink set was both high-value and unique enough to create a perfect pair.

With little time to spare, the team whipped up a straightforward message plan:

• Note the Star Wars Day holiday.
• Offer up the commemorative drink set for a demo.
• Showcase the gift in waiting with an embedded picture.

“We wanted them to know this was cool,” said Partyka.

Just a few more lines touting Automox’s capabilities and successes, and that was it. It was a pure and simple direct mail outreach. The foundation was the shared love of Star Wars.

It was extremely effective. Almost right away, replies came zooming in.

Clever outreach garners quick responses

Quantifying direct email marketing campaigns can be tough when responses are a slow trickle. But for Automox, it was a matter of days to measure the ROI.

“We got our first meeting from it about an hour later, and then the meetings just started flowing,” said Partyka.

Their clients jumped at the chance to toast like a Sith Lord.

“You got my attention with that drink set picture,” wrote one prospect. “That thing is pretty snazzy looking.”

“Yes, I would be interested in a demo of Automox and the gift set,” wrote another.

The metrics were loud and clear. Within two weeks, the May the Fourth campaign drew $500,000 in pipeline. SDRs booked more than ten demo meetings with B2B companies on the first day of the campaign alone.

“It was like ‘BOOM,’ meeting after meeting after meeting, and now they’ve converted them into opportunities,” said Partyka.

Expanding opportunities with IT holidays

Automox’s May the Fourth campaign was a success because they studied their market.

It’s a play that can be scaled and repeated: recognize a shared interest and leverage a product that is highly desirable.

Now that Automox has hit its stride and seen how holidays can fast-track decision-making, they’re quickly building out their monthly calendars.

They set their sights on building campaigns around summer holidays like Independence Day. Partyka used Sendoso sends like red, white, and blue cake pops and patriotic wine shots.

Automox is also venturing into another tried-and-true direct marketing approach: fun puns that crack a smile to generate leads.

“Pop into the holiday weekend!” said Partyka, excited about the puns her team came up with for the cake pop campaign.

They plan to start adding more lighthearted messaging to accompany their outreach, as well as new gifts from Sendoso’s marketplace.

“The BDR managers are so creative,” she said. “I gave them the link to the catalog and I said, ‘Whatever you want to do, test it out, try it out.’”

The Force is strong with Sendoso

Personalization, creativity, and connection launched Automox’s campaign to the stars, even on a tight timeline.

Sendoso scouted the gifts and provided the quick turnaround Automox needed to reach their prospects.

Facilitated by Sendoso Direct, the Star Wars gift set shipped straight from the vendor. It bypassed global shipping delays, saving Automox precious days for accelerated deals.  

“We especially love the Sendoso Direct catalog; keep those great gift options coming!” said Partyka.

Team up with Sendoso, and results like those from Automox’s Star Wars Day campaign are much closer than a galaxy far, far away.

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