In today's fast-paced business world, marketing can't just be about catchy slogans, bloated budgets, and colorful campaigns. It needs to be about driving real, measurable (and sustainable) growth.
When I stepped into the head of marketing role at Passport, my mission was clear: develop a small but mighty engine that proves marketing can contribute meaningful results to the company's bottomline.
And guess what? We're doing it.
Here's how.
1. Define a Clear Strategy Focused on Quality Leads
First things first: strategy. Without a clear, focused strategy, you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks.
First we defined our key audience and turned off the tactics that weren't working. We developed new personas, honing in on decision-makers at larger prospects. By creating more detailed buyer personas and new brand & product messaging, we could start tailing our efforts to attract the right prospects.
Quality over quantity was our mantra.
In Q1 (my first full quarter with the company), we saw a drop in total inbound leads—a very scary sight for any marketer! However, when we dove into the data, we saw that we were reducing the too small leads that weren't a good long-term fit for our business, meanwhile starting to ramp up the larger, profitable leads that the business needs.
By weeding out the bad upfront and laser-focusing on the good, we're able to throw the full efforts of our resources in the right areas to make a bigger impact.
2. Test New Tactics Along the Funnel
Next, we got experimental (on a conservative budget). Marketing isn't a set-it-and-forget-it game. We've tested new free and low-cost tactics at every stage of the funnel, from top-of-funnel awareness campaigns to bottom-of-funnel conversion strategies.
The awareness building tactics we implemented started to drive more web traffic, social followers, and even created buzz among big name partners, like Shopify.
The improvements we've seen so far have us gaining more confidence in what works and where we want to slowly scale our efforts and spend.
3. Deploy an Efficient Team of Executors
A great strategy is useless without the right team to execute it. On a lean marketing team, each person is critical in bringing your strategy to life.
I brought in new marketing professionals—both full time hires and part-time agency / freelance support—who could work efficiently, as well as tapped into more internal resources from across the company to accelerate our overall output.
Strategic thinkers who can see the big picture, while also rolling up their sleeves to get things done. This balance has been crucial in implementing our new strategy swiftly and effectively.
4. Update Your Website with Fresh Content
Your website is often the first touchpoint for potential customers. It needs to be a reflection of your brand and a conversion powerhouse.
After getting to know the company during onboarding, it was clear that our website wasn't putting our "best face forward." So, we refreshed our website's look and feel (as well as migrated to a more user-friendly and SEO-friendly CMS platform), ensuring it was not only more visually appealing but also packed with compelling, easily editable content.
This overhaul has made a huge impact on being able to more clearly tell the brand story of who we are, what value we provide, and how we can help prospects.
5. Collaborate with Sales & Success to Improve the Feedback Loop
Marketing and the rest of the Revenue team (sales + success) should be best friends. By working closely with our leadership team and reps, we established a better feedback loop on inbound leads and happy customers. This collaboration helped us adjust our lead forms and targeting, as well as better gauge which leads were qualified (and which weren't) and why.
By interviewing and surveying the team, we've also been able to greatly improve our collateral, case studies, and training to help boost win rates among those quality ICP (ideal customer profile) leads. The materials we're creating are in our new evolved and more modern brand look, awhile also shifting the messaging from features-focused selling to benefits and impact-focused selling.
Results Speak Louder Than Words
Within two quarters, these steps have led to some remarkable outcomes so far. Our estimated annual recurring revenue (ARR) from marketing-sourced wins roughly tripled. But that’s not all. We also saw a significant increase in the average deal size of closed marketing-sourced customers—up by about $40,000 in just three months. This means each prospect now has a higher lifetime value (LTV), contributing even more to our bottom line in the long run.
A Fun and Informative Journey
Revamping our brand’s messaging, look, and website hasn't just been a box-ticking exercise. It has been a fun, creative journey that has brought the entire company together. Seeing the tangible results of our efforts—increased traffic and followers, higher quality leads, bigger deals, and a scaling pipeline—has made all the hard work worthwhile.
If you're a marketing leader looking to make a quick and tangible impact, remember these key steps: define a clear strategy focused on quality over quantity, test new tactics, deploy a strong executional team, update your website, and become an asset to the rest of the Revenue team.
These aren't just theoretical tips—they're proven strategies that have driven success for us at Passport. So, roll up your sleeves, get creative, and watch your marketing contribution soar.
For a look at how we've been applying these strategies in action at Passport, check out our new website or follow us on LinkedIn.
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