Curated B2B corporate gifts accrue $1.7M in pipeline

Sendoso has helped create deeper connections and have sales look at marketing through a slightly different lens.

Bazaarvoice connects clients and their customers by facilitating the creation of user-generated content (UGC). As the leading global UGC provider, Bazaarvoice helps companies leverage that content across multiple marketing channels.

One way brands and retailers can collect fresh UGC is through targeted sampling campaigns, or custom VoxBoxes. The boxes are filled with complimentary products. Shoppers try the products in exchange for a review.

Direct mail marketing with VoxBoxes

Bazaarvoice wanted prospects and customers to get a first hand glimpse of their shoppers’ experience. So the account-based marketing team created an internal direct mail marketing campaign. The ABM team created and sent VoxBoxes to prospects and customers to promote how their VoxBoxes worked.

“It’s a great way to showcase the experience of what a custom box could look like for their brand if they partnered with Bazaarvoice for their product sampling campaigns,” said Caitlin Burge, database marketing manager. “This gives them a first-hand experience.”

By sending prospects VoxBoxes, they could see the power behind UGC marketing.

Prospects easily saw how product sampling can be used to collect ratings, reviews, and social content.

Scaling and streamlining direct mail

The first VoxBox campaign was a success. The sales team loved the opportunity to leverage direct mail for outreach. It only took a few months for Bazaarvoice to see significant contributions to marketing sourced pipeline.

However, Bazaarvoice needed a way to scale and streamline its resources.

Enter Sendoso to help automate corporate gifting.

Bazaarvoice incorporated Sendoso into its VoxBox outreach strategy. The automated gifting platform provided the sales team with solutions to generate pipeline and move sales deals down the funnel.

Before Sendoso, the VoxBox campaigns were executed manually. Bazaarvoice employees sourced, packed, and shipped the boxes themselves. Their efforts were time consuming and results had to be tracked by hand as well.

Bubbling up VoxBox success with automation

One of the first VoxBox campaigns that Bazaarvoice ran through Sendoso was the ‘Sips and Sparkles’ custom VoxBox campaign.

This versatile VoxBox included all the goodies that prospects and clients might need to host happy hour at home (plus tips and tricks for crafting a successful UGC strategy):

• Tumbler
• Cocktail shaker
• Mixing spoon
• Jigger  

To jazz up their cocktail (or mocktail) of choice, recipients could throw edible glitter on top along with a few garnishes. The box also included a set of TableTopics cards designed to keep the happy hour conversation flowing.

Sendoso’s Marketo integration made it easy for clients to submit their delivery information. The sending platform then took care of delivering and tracking the boxes. That information helped the Bazaarvoice team be more proactive in their outreach efforts rather than waiting for tracking numbers and following up weeks later.

The campaign was overwhelmingly popular. Bazaarvoice blew through its initial order of 450 boxes in just 40 days. Within six months, the company has amassed $1.7 million in pipeline and about $400,000 marketing-sourced bookings.

The campaign paid for itself – hitting 5X the return on investment ROI.

Expanding the VoxBox marketing campaigns

Moving forward, Bazaarvoice intends to use the same VoxBox strategy but with new themes. Some ideas include a taco box, a cookie bundle, and a sustainability-focused VoxBox.

They also intend to create boxes to celebrate life’s biggest moments, like welcoming a new baby, human or fur, into the family.

The Bazaarvoice team said  it’s worth noting these boxes are appropriate year-round. With Sendoso, they can trigger sends in a timely fashion without worrying about seasonal back stock.

eGifts support account-based marketing strategy

Sendoso eGifts are another tool the Bazaarvoice team uses to open a line of communication with prospects.

For example, Bazaarvoice sales development representatives (SDRs) creatively use eGifts to encourage and set meetings. Their messaging is intentional when they deliver a gift card.

Instead of sending a prospect a gift card and asking for a meeting in exchange, they position it with a softer tone.

Sales development representatives reach out to prospects saying they would love to chat about their UGC strategy. Along with that message, they send a Starbucks eGift and suggest discussing it over coffee.

Driving results with corporate gifting automation

Before onboarding with Sendoso, Bazaarvoice’s direct mail marketing was based on spreadsheets. The campaigns were also sourced, packaged, and developed internally.

Sendoso made VoxBox-based campaigns easier. But Sendoso also provides Bazaarvoice with a wider range of corporate gifting options.

The Bazaarvoice team also touts results that are easy to interpret via the Sendoso Salesforce integration. They found increases in several areas, including influenced and sourced pipeline, influenced and sourced bookings, and retention rates.

“Direct mail has been one of the biggest drivers for marketing sourced attribution for account-based marketing because it runs so closely alongside sales,” said Burge. “In the account-based space where it can be difficult to show marketing sourced pipeline and revenue, [Sendoso] really is a game changer.”

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