Business challenge
Growing demand & revenue for Customer Education
Marketo University has long been the most reliable training resource for Marketo customers. As training offerings expanded, the University Team needed a new approach to effectively market and sell a variety of education services. However, internal Marketo Sales and Customer Marketing resources were limited. The new Marketo University marketing and sales strategy needed to align with company initiatives and minimally impact internal work flows — all on a modest budget.
Objectives
Partner with an experienced provider
As the leading provider of engagement marketing software and solutions, Marketo is no stranger to the positive impact of targeted and personalized marketing along with consultative selling. The University Team wanted to capitalize on that impact and knew they needed an experienced partner to help them achieve their goals. This made ESG the perfect fit. With their experience marketing and selling customer education for top tech companies, ESG was able to quickly assess needs, identify growth opportunities and devise action plans to fill the pipeline.
As the relationship between Marketo and ESG strengthened, long-term success was the focus. ESG used Marketo’s platform and University-specific data to build ongoing processes and paths that promote certification, training subscriptions, attendance at training and certification events, and more. This provided ESG Education Sales Consultants with steady, qualified lead flow.
Working hand-in-hand, ESG Marketing and Education Sales Consultants developed sales tools, such as battle cards, data sheets, and custom presentations, to improve close rate. Plus, Education Sales Consultants built one-on-one relationships with Marketo Customer Account Managers and Services Engagement Managers to help identify and convert training opportunities within their customer and prospect base.
Results
Record breaking revenue & attendance
Leveraging the expertise and support of the ESG staff helped Marketo University achieve impressive milestones.
First million dollar quarter
With the help of ESG, Marketo University celebrated its first $1M booking quarter. Hard work and collaboration were critical to achieving this goal. From curriculum development to marketing, sales and training delivery, ESG and the Marketo University team worked in sync to exceed expectations.
The Marketo University VP of Global Education and Learning, Jesse Finn, had this to say about the partnership, “We’re thrilled with our record-breaking $1M quarter! The commitment and collaboration from ESG and across our own Marketo team was fantastic in achieving this success.”
Record attendee rate for University Day and Certification at Marketo Marketing Nation® Summit
University Day and Certification at Marketo’s Marketing Nation Summit 2015 was the largest in Marketo University history, with more than 800 University Day attendees and 500 Marketo Certification registrants. ESG Marketing utilized a targeted promotional strategy encompassing email, social, and web campaigns to drive the record-breaking registration numbers. Plus, the Marketo University and ESG team focused heavily on creating a positive customer experience with timely communications to keep registrants apprised of key information. When all was said and done, University Day registration increased by 57% and Certification registration increased by 58% over the prior year’s event.
Marketo University has a lot to be proud of. Growing at such a fast rate requires flexibility. Partnering with ESG allowed them to scale marketing, sales and operations resources as needed with minimal impact to the budget. Plus, the relationships forged between ESG, Marketo University and other cross-functional teams helped streamline processes and develop opportunities to market and sell more training. In return, goals were achieved, records were broken, and Marketo University continues to expand.