Case Type: Comprehensive Digital Marketing Strategy and Playbook

Partner Type: A successful membership-based B2C/B2B financial technology and information services marketer

Challenge: This Marketer, while highly profitable, had an aging account base and overdependence on non-recurring revenue from too few sources. Poor-performing broadcast spending was consuming too much budget, member retention was suffering, and digital customer acquisition and activation was underdeveloped.

Solution: In this type of work, we find there are only facts and myths. In this case, facts were hard to come by initially. Myths about what worked and what did not work abounded. Future vision was a bit murky. The iSOCRATES Consulting team suggested starting with a full-on discovery period to be followed by a formal written and socialization process leading to a finished written work product (i.e., the Marketing Plan) that could be used to organize, to budget, for change management, and to raise recapitalization and growth capital.

Approach: The iSOCRATES team investigated the Company customer data and found three facts that presented themselves almost immediately: one, the Company was losing 40% of its first-year new accounts due to lack of account communication and online account activity; two, the actuarial age of current customers were too old to support senior management’s desire for dramatic growth; and, three, the Company was too dependent on too few cost-effective new account marketing channels. After a Marketing Assessment (including Resource and Practices Audit), the iSOCRATES Consulting team determined the Company needed: a new value proposition, a new product plan, and a new fact-based, multi-channel go-to-market strategy with detailed action plan.

Results: Working closely with senior management and other Company advisers, iSOCRATES delivered a detailed C/Board-level proposed future state plan blending current strategy and assets with dramatic new vision, capabilities, customer acquisition and activation strategies, and growth plan. The plan was used to gain financial commitments in excess of $20mm in recapitalization and growth capital. Ultimately, the Company was acquired at a premium by a strategic investor.