From GTM to 8-figures ARR

How we built Welcome Software’s GTM strategy from scratch and fueled their rapid growth, resulting in a major acquisition in less than two years.

Quick stats

0 to 8 figures ARR

in 18 months with content based on original research

Solid foundation

Category, positioning, and messaging developed from ICP insight

9-figure acquisition

by Optimizely in less than two years

About

While working with NewsCred, we partnered with them at the very beginning stages of developing and launching their new SaaS product.

The result was Welcome Software, a marketing orchestration platform (now Optimizely’s Content Marketing Platform).

Refining and perfecting the work we did with NewsCred, they leveraged our ongoing research as the entirety of their content marketing and demand generation strategy.

We also helped develop their positioning and sales materials at launch with research from their ICP.

Objectives

Build brand awareness and drive demand through content built on original research

Identify or create Welcome Software’s category based on ICP insight

Establish core positioning, messaging, and brand narrative based on ICP insight

Key Approaches

Quarterly surveys

We developed quarterly surveys strategically aimed at current topics that were both relevant to their ICP and within the scope of their solution, getting more intentional about the topic and goals with each project.

The result of the surveys were multiple blogs that educated their target audience on the challenges they were facing.

We followed these up with webinars that allowed Welcome to capture demand by positioning their product as the solution to problems addressed in the blogs.

You can read more about how we used the same approach in our NewsCred case study.

Quantitative target audience feedback

We recruited a statistically significant amount of responses from across marketing functions to identify Welcome’s ICP, including their role.

Survey respondents then received a description of the product, along with its features and benefits.

To understand their ICP’s pain points and clarity of their messaging, this was followed by questions about:

1. How important the features and benefits were to them

2. Their understanding of how Welcome could help them achieve said benefits

Qualitative target audience interviews

To confirm and strengthen our quantitative findings, we also performed a series of long-form interviews with potential buyers.

We used the feedback to refine the initial sales pitch and help inform the positioning, messaging, and copy.

Category creation

We tested Welcome’s product category by educating respondents on what Welcome Software is and asking how closely it aligned with various product category options.

The result was a new category called Marketing Orchestration Software.

Outcomes

Efficient and effective content

Following the success of NewsCred, the Welcome team built their content strategy exclusively through ongoing Sirkin Research surveys.

Numerous studies in quick succession resulted in a streamlined process for content creation and distribution.

Each survey was targeted to highlight a different area that was topical and relevant to their ICP.

Our work enabled Welcome to follow the blog and webinar formula to create and capture demand. We expanded our role to support the ultra-lean Welcome content team by co-hosting five webinars.

Sales enablement

In addition to demand generation content, our work positioned the sales team for growth.

Our surveys identified the most relevant challenges for their ICP, which became key discussion points that resonated immediately with prospects.

Meanwhile, relevant statistics and quotes played a supporting role as well.

Unrelated to research but still leveraging our analytical expertise, we also developed a new predictive account-based sales targeting model for Welcome.

This improved their inbound lead scoring and led to a 3x higher conversion rate from their outbound efforts.