Client: Adobe
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Objective: To expand the perception of Adobe as a leader in digital marketing technology, especially in the sphere of social media analytics.
The strategy behind Adobe‘s new SocialAnalytics software campaign is similar to any solid marketing push with a well-thought out focus, said Joel Giullian, account director at Adobe’s agency of record, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners. It has a tight, targeted message combined with targeted media and contextual placements. What makes this campaign unique is how Goodby so skillfully communicated with the campaign’s savvy target audience of marketers, social tacticians and CMOs.
The software, which launched in October, is a new tool within the Adobe Online Marketing Suite that is designed to give users the ability to measure, easily monitor and ultimately monetize their digital advertising and social media footprints — a niche but necessary product that Steve Weeks, Adobe’s senior manager of media strategy and planning, said is “designed to narrow in on those social media strategists who are in the trenches.”
Giullian, who works on all of Adobe’s digital marketing initiatives, said the messaging for the product, which is part of a larger umbrella campaign promoting the Adobe brand, had to be tighter than ever in this case, considering the audience for the product could “see right through any marketing speak.”
STRATEGY: In order to touch as large an audience as possible without losing its tight focus, Goodby rolled out the Adobe campaign in two stages. Print and online worked together to drive general awareness, after which the message was elevated to reach a CMO-specific audience, said Weeks.
The first phase, which ran in December 2011 with print ads in high-profile publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, cast a wider net intended to appeal to all social analysts and strategists. The second more targeted — and purely digital — phase of the campaign, which launched in January and ran through February, had VP-level marketing directors and influencers in the crosshairs, combining a Twitter and LinkedIn push with static-rich media banners, social sponsorships and homepage takeovers. All creative drove traffic to a landing page where visitors could learn more about the product.
The messaging cited numbers that would resonate with the target audience, including statistics gathered by UK-based independent research group Econsultancy. One banner ad proclaimed: “Only 13% of companies can tie a significant portion of their social media spend to an ROI figure. Can yours?”
“We had to pay attention to the tone quite a bit,” he said. “We used straightforward language, not that we were conversational, but we were trying to strike the right balance so what the audience hears is clarity not business speak,” Giullian added.
RESULTS: The SocialAnalytics initiative garnered a 400% increase in visits to the landing destination as compared to previous creative components from earlier on in the Adobe brand campaign.
The conversion rate was also robust. Once on the landing page, roughly 20% of visitors opted to submit their personal information, Weeks said, allowing them to access additional content, including exclusive white papers and case studies related to SocialAnalytics success stories.
“We’ve seen such high conversion rates, which means the message is right on,” said Weeks. “It’s straightforward, it’s meaningful to them and compelling enough to them to make them want to take the time to find out more,” he added.
The software campaign’s effectiveness can be traced back to its relevance, said Guillian.
“This is the right product at the right time with the right messaging and the right targeting,” he said. “All the elements for success.”
