Implementing a pan-European unified eCRM platform
Introduction
Our client was keen to leverage the benefits of marketing automation in communicating with an HCP audience, but its ambitions were stymied by a fragmented eCRM system which had evolved organically over the years. We were approached to recommend and oversee the introduction of a unified marketing automation system capable of supporting both centrally and locally initiated email marketing campaigns.
Insight
Our first job was to understand and define the precise nature of the challenges our client faced, as well as their future ambitions. Through careful questioning of key global and local stakeholders, we distilled issues down to the following points:
- A lack of support for one-to-many communications severely limited the scale of marketing automation activity
- The current system led to siloed workstreams with no clear overview in terms of the content, branding or tone of email communications. This in turn meant duplicated efforts client side and limited learnings on either a cross-territory or cross-therapy area basis.
- A lack of integration between marketing and sales databases meant valuable data was lost to the business. For example, there was no clear view of communications received or engaged with by any given individual.
- A lack of integration meant the process for updating consent records was clunky and time consuming
- There was a clear need for a scalable solution capable of supporting the activity of both global and local teams, with global teams able to access local databases and local teams (and their agencies) having direct access to execute discreet regional eCRM campaigns when appropriate
- Requirement to integrate existing third-party applications, including survey software, videos, live events, telemarketing and webinars
Implementation
Implementation took around six months and consisted of three phases:
- Phase 1: Audit
During this phase we undertook a thorough analysis of how data was currently used in an email marketing context and built a detailed picture of the current technology stack; something which would be vital to ensure full integration was achieved. We also worked with stakeholders to build current and future use cases to ensure our recommended approach would meet all requirements. - Phase 2: Solution Development
With the audit complete, we were in a strong position to review leading marketing automation programmes and assess them against our criteria. A shortlist of options was produced with a clear recommendation of our preferred provider, Marketo.Following a workshop which objectively compared Marketo to its closest competitors, the client understood our rationale for choosing Marketo and gave their seal of approval. Our inhouse development team then set to work using Marketo’s functionality, along with Workato middleware, to engineer the bespoke system illustrated below:
- Phase 3: Implementation, testing and deployment
With the solution developed we then undertook vigorous inhouse testing, before working collaboratively with the client’s IT team to complete client-side testing. All testing was carried out on both a global and local basis. Finally, to ensure a high adoption rate in local markets, we hosted a series of pan-European demonstration and training events.
Impact
The successful implementation of this project brought significant benefits to the client including:
- Enablement of one to many email communications at scale, both locally and globally, enabling the client to fully leverage a highly valuable communication channel which was previously limited.
- The flexibility of the system has led to take up in nine markets with six local agencies also accessing the system on behalf of the client. As a result, in 12 months an estimated 70 marketing campaigns have been executed reaching an estimated 15,000 HCPs. One example is the World AIDS day campaign which was carried out by Life Sciences by Stickyeyes.
- Dramatically improved information flow between legacy sales and marketing databases, ensuring data is shared between departments and consistent consent records are maintained.
- Full visibility eCRM activity at a global level aiding brand consistency, asset sharing and wholistic reporting, further driving performance.
Maximising our efforts to connect and engage with HCP audiences is crucial for us. Life Sciences by Stickyeyes were a great partner in helping us understand and navigate our existing, complex landscape, make informed recommendations and implement the solution. We’ve already seen fantastic results both at a regional and local level for the brand.
- Client Feedback
- Got a question about this case study? Want to know more about our capabilities? Get in touch at life.sciences@stickyeyes.com. We’d love to hear from you.
