With a global reach, delivering network connectivity to enterprise and government sites in over 190 countries, Expereo has been helping businesses stay securely connected since 2004. However, in late 2022, Expereo faced significant challenges in their marketing efforts.
Marc Brunel-Walker, Expereo’s Director of Global Demand Generation, has worked in marketing for over 25 years. Shortly after joining Expereo, Marc had a career-changing moment when he brought in 6sense. “I couldn’t imagine doing what I do now without having 6sense in my pocket as part of the team. It’s integral to everything we do – when I speak to our CRO, the first question he asks is, what does 6sense say?”
The Challenge: When Marketing Goes Wrong
When Marc joined Expereo in November 2022, the marketing situation was dire. The Chief Customer Officer bluntly described it as, “It’s all crap.” The state of play was chaotic:
- Of the 2000 MQLs generated, 1700 were unqualified banner clicks.
- 95% of leads sent to sales weren’t from the target market.
- A million dollars spent on events yielded no attributable results.
Sales and marketing were so misaligned that sales had started organizing their own events. The existing tech stack failed to provide usable insights, leading Marc to realize, “I spent my first 8 weeks lifting up the hood and saying what’s wrong with this engine? Before I realized, ah, it doesn’t exist.”
In a bold move, Marc decided to switch everything off to rebuild the marketing foundations from scratch.
Rebuilding the Marketing Foundations
Identifying the issues was straightforward: spray-and-pray tactics, untargeted ‘always-on’ display ads, and skyrocketing CPLs. The challenge was determining the solution. Expereo had a non-linear buying experience and unclear primary personas.
Re-establishing trust with the sales team was paramount for Marc. “You need some stress between sales and marketing – but if the balance is all one way, it gets out of hand.” Marc’s search for a replacement for his B2B directory led him to 6sense, which hooked him with its data, intent engine, and account-based insights.
With 6sense in place, Marc had a vision for a brighter future.
The Solution: 6sense
6sense’s intent data provided an initial clarity that Marc quickly leveraged across his strategy. From account targeting and planning to content syndication, 6sense became integral to nearly everything Marc was doing.
“We went from being an absolute mess 18 months previously – 1.5% of MQLs from our target environment, to 87%. Transformational doesn’t quite cut it.”
From Guess-Led to Data-Driven Insight: 6sense in Action
Previously, any signal indicated high intent, which meant none were truly high intent. With 6sense, Marc could track marketing impact at an account level and determine buying stages.
“We did a comparison for the first 6 months and before – by the end of last year, we were 14 times more likely to find an opportunity in the first 90 days of prospecting as a result of the knowledge 6sense provided. When we turned it on, this was less than 1 in 3.”
Marc Brunel-Walker
Director of Global Demand Generation, Expereo
The chaotic data and strategy were streamlined, transforming Expereo’s approach from ocean fishing to targeted, high-probability engagements.
An Evolving Strategy: MQLs to MQAs with 6sense
Sales and marketing were now walking in lockstep, allowing Marc to focus on evolving Expereo’s strategy. “If I’d said to people 6-9 months ago, I’m going to deliver not just MQLs but fully-fledged MQAs, people would have laughed at me. But suddenly that doesn’t seem so funny at all.”
Marc’s team is building an MQA scoring model based on engagement, intent, and buying signals, already yielding impressive results. “When marketing can hand over not just a few hot leads, but 5-10 highly qualified leads with strong data on 80-90 people within an IT team, it becomes a different ball game.”
Results Powered by 6sense
The transformation driven by 6sense led to phenomenal results from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024:
- 10x increase in opportunities valued at $3 million and over.
- 6x increase in opportunity value across the board.
- 90% of engagements now from Marc’s target list (from 1.5% MQLs from target to 87%).
- 14 times more likely to find an opportunity within 90 days for MQAs.
- 34% of leads via Content Syndication convert to MQLs.
Expereo’s success was recognized at the B2B Awards in the US, where the judging panel verified the impressive 34% conversion rate for content syndication.
Conclusion
“When I say 6sense is at the heart of everything we do now,” Marc said in closing, “I really mean it. I wish I’d had it five or six years ago. I believe it’s the future of transformation.”
Expereo’s journey from a marketing mess to mastery with 6sense demonstrates the power of data-driven insights and alignment between sales and marketing. This case study highlights how leveraging the right tools can lead to transformational success.
