How Manufacturer Rep ITNH Increased Their Online Lead Generation by 1,286%

At the time they approached Vital, ITNH was dealing with a problem that’s become widespread in the manufacturing and distribution industry:

Their website was underperforming, which meant they weren’t able to take advantage of any online lead generation opportunities.

As a nationally recognized distributor of industrial printers, inks, media, and printing accessories, ITNH had primarily focused their marketing efforts on trade shows for lead generation — a strategy that manufacturers have long relied on.

But tradeshows aren’t always enough in the age of digital. Consumer behavior has changed, and businesses in every industry are turning to online marketing tactics to attract and convert leads.

The Diagnosis

At first glance, it was clear that ITNH’s website was far too limited for everything they offered. Their second-to-none customer support and elite portfolio of the best brands in printing — like Mimaki, Mutoh, and Epson — weren’t translating through their website, which was stifling their potential for online lead generation.

After a foundational assessment, Vital found that ITNH had a lot of the same digital marketing problems that many other manufacturer’s reps do:

No Lead Generation Strategy
No eCommerce Store
No Tracking or Reporting Capabilities

Recognizing their potential, owner and partner Mike Terlizzi started his search for a digital marketing agency.

“We needed to significantly increase our digital footprint, from our overall brand to how we attracted and engaged with visitors,” said Terlizzi. “Vital really understood our unique challenges and needs as a distributor, so we were excited to start working with them.”

Launching a New Website & Digital Marketing Foundation

As the heart of their digital presence, ITNH’s website needed to be reimagined from the ground up. After meetings, calls, and an in-depth discovery period, the Vital team came up with a plan that consisted of:

New Content Management System (CMS) & eCommerce Platform

WordPress: ITNH’s new website was custom built on the WordPress platform. This allows their team to easily update content and create new pages when necessary.
Magento: For the eCommerce pages, Magento was used to give ITNH maximum flexibility and scalability. The eCommerce shop integrates the technology needed to create a sophisticated product experience, like customizable product filtering for upselling and cross-selling opportunities.

Optimized Design

A responsive framework was developed to help the site work on any device and operating system. This made the website available to a wider audience and future-proofed it for new devices.

Conversion Strategy

Vital outlined a conversion funnel and user-friendly navigation to encourage more visitors to convert.

Tracking & Reporting Capabilities

Vital believes that if something can’t be measured, it can’t be improved. Therefore, the ITNH website was set up to easily report on traffic, site speed, and other statistics.

After months of planning, design, content strategy and development, ITNH’s website officially relaunched, with their new eCommerce platform launching a month later.

The improvements were instantly noticeable and the increase in website traffic and leads soon followed.

Starting a Digital Marketing Retainer Strategy

After their website build, ITNH opted into Vital’s digital marketing retainer program, which is custom designed to each client’s unique situation to maximize the potential for lead generation and sales.

Within the digital marketing retainer, Vital deployed a barrage of tactics aimed at increasing website traffic such as:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Success here hinged on creating 20+ net new pages on the site, all aimed to target specific keywords and topics.
Email Marketing – This included announcing promotions, new products, and upcoming events. A consistent email strategy keeps ITNH top of mind.
Email Lead Nurturing Strategy – Automated lead nurturing email campaigns launched via HubSpot’s marketing automation system.
Paid Advertising – A combination of search advertising on Google combined with a remarketing strategy across multiple advertising platforms.
YouTube Videos – ITNH knew many of their prospects were watching printer reviews on YouTube, so it was crucial for them to have a presence there. Vital created 15+ videos for ITNH that racked up over 90,000 views in a very short period of time. These videos are also used across the website to help improve conversion rates.

While these tactics substantially increased the website’s traffic, Vital also deployed the following tactics to improve the website’s conversion rates:

Gated Content – Creating new downloadable offers such as eBooks and printer guides, gated behind forms.
Chat Bots – Automated website chat bots (built in HubSpot) that run chat scripts that interact with website visitors to answer common questions and even set up sales meetings.
Live Chat – Vital worked with the ITNH team to roll out live chat software that their inside sales team could use to communicate with website visitors and help them with all their sales questions.
Pop Ups – These pop up offers were deployed across the site to help convert traffic that would have otherwise left the site.
Resource Center – Vital created a best-in-class resource center to organize all of ITNH’s expert downloadable content assets. This helps visitors quickly filter and find content assets they’re looking for.

ITNH also signed on to a paid media retainer to extend their reach, and increase their traffic and leads via pay-per-click advertising strategies.

The digital marketing retainer leverages a monthly project calendar and a dedicated team of strategists, account managers, copywriters, designers, developers, and SEO specialists. With this in place, ITNH had ongoing support for whatever they needed, as well as monthly marketing goals that were determined by Vital.

The Outcome

In the two years following launch, the new ITNH.com saw *drumroll please*:

Leads increased by 536% YOY in Year 1, 117% in Year 2

Website traffic increase by 395% YOY in Year 1, 324% in Year 2

“Our new website is now an incredible representation of our company,” said Mike Terlizzi. “As a new avenue for lead generation, this website, coupled with a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, has been a game changer. And the eCommerce platform has opened up additional revenue opportunities for us that wouldn’t have been available before.”

These results have been the cherry on top of a beautifully designed, responsive and user-friendly website. Not only does the new ITNH.com showcase their extensive portfolio and robust customer support services, it also gives them the ability to generate sales through their eCommerce platform.

Want to learn how you can see the same results? Contact us and let’s talk.