Building a pipeline of leads for a global railroad leader
Millions
In 12-month ROI
11%
Direct Mail Return
Challenge
BroadBased worked with CSX, the largest railroad on the East Coast, on a commodity-based initiative to grow revenue for the railroad’s building materials buyers and sellers.
The campaign was tasked with growing revenue on the railroad by relocating customers to rail-served locations, utilizing reload centers and warehouses, bringing customers back to the railroad and promoting growth for existing customers by handling new commodities or an increasing volume of current commodities.
Materials needed to resonate with many different types of target audiences such as existing customers, prospects, buying groups/co-ops, and internal sales and marketing groups.
Solution
Working with the CSX sales and marketing team and using a mailing list developed by the
client, BroadBased created an integrated marketing approach that included printed sales
collateral materials, direct mail, a premium giveaway, a tradeshow booth, and an assortment of digital marketing materials.
Results
- The client received an 11% response rate through the direct mail initiative.
- While the sales cycle was long (12+ months) the client projected CSX would realize millions of dollars in revenues as a result of the initiative.
Key Insights
- Vet any existing customer list very carefully to confirm and update contact information so your important offerings get reviewed by the right person.
- B2B lists are usually of a manageable size, which allow you to invest more per piece to make a powerful impact. Consider oversize materials or a video brochure that will capture attention.
- Digital whitepapers and other online access are often used as call-to-action or conversion measure. Consider additional incentives that can generate response from your audience such as an industry-specific premium. With this building materials audience, we offered a heavy duty tape measure that was well received.