January 23 2020
Integrated Approach Success Story: Manufacturing Industry
Since 2004, Heritage Building Systems has been the leading metal building retailer of Cornerstone Building Brands (NYSE:CNR). As one of the largest integrated manufacturers of metal building components, custom-engineered metal building systems, and metal coil coaters in North America, Cornerstone Building Brands is able to offer world-class resources to their customers.
Heritage has been partnering with TopSpot for their industrial digital marketing since 2015. Using historical data from Google Analytics, their TopSpot Customer Relationship Team identified specific messaging that speaks straight to Heritage Building Systems’ target users. The digital marketing strategy created for the metal building manufacturer was recognized with a Crystal Award from the Houston American Marketing Association.
Location-Based Digital Strategies
Heritage Building Systems is headquartered in Arkansas but manufactures metal buildings for customers nationwide. In order to appeal to their target audience across the US, the TopSpot Team suggested implementing a geo-focused PPC (pay-per-click) campaign to attract more visits from customers searching for a steel building in their area. Within the first full month the new campaign was live, it generated 41.75% of the program’s online form submissions!
Based on the success of the paid search program, the Enterprise Team working with Heritage recommended implementing a geo-location tool to their homepage. Users searching for a product supplied by Heritage would be greeted with a custom message based on the user’s location. This provided a clear and personalized experience for each user, regardless of their location.
Data-Driven Recommendations
When looking at internal site searches for Heritage, the Team discovered many users were looking for specific building sizes using the internal site search on the homepage. This prompted them to suggest adding a tool to the homepage where users could easily enter a building’s custom dimensions (width, length, and height). Once the dimensions were entered, the user would be prompted to also include their contact information before hitting the submit button. This tool was added to the homepage with the goal of increasing website leads for the manufacturer.
Immediate Improvement
The Fast Free Quote Form and the geo-specific messaging was implemented, along with a refreshed design of the homepage. Within one month, the homepage saw an increase of 88.09% in landing page lead conversion rate.
Based on the immediate success of the new strategic changes, a plan was put in place to create a secondary design featuring the new quote form and the geo-location tool for all internal pages. In the meantime, the Broad and Geo-Modified PPC campaigns were directed to the homepage, to provide the best user experience possible and increase paid search leads.
Improving User Experience
Project Gallery
When digging deeper into Google Analytics, the Team also discovered that the most commonly viewed page after the homepage was the Project Gallery. With user engagement being important in driving leads, it was recommended that the Gallery call to action be moved higher on the homepage.
Data-Driven Content Strategies
When looking at internal search queries, the Team also noticed that users were looking for buildings to be used in ways that Heritage had not previously highlighted. Pages were added and blog posts created to discuss the merits of using Heritage buildings for churches and religious centers, as well as for kenneling animals. Organic traffic to the Heritage blog increased by 531.25% in average monthly sessions during the next year. Overall organic traffic to the Heritage website increased by 81.83% within the same date range with 95.15% of their organic visits coming from new users!
The Team also noticed that users searching for roof and wall panels were originally only provided with diagrams on the landing pages. By adding in useful information such as cost efficiency, installation, appearance, color availability and warranties, the pages became more useful for the customer, as well as boosting their organic and paid search leads.
Overall Digital Marketing Results
Thanks to the data-driven strategies produced by the TopSpot Team and the collaborative efforts from the Heritage Buildings Team, the custom building manufacturer saw some significant wins:
Since the data-driven homepage improvements were made, form submissions (tracked as goal completions) from users landing on the homepage increased by 731.35%!
Website form submissions increased by 212.11% year over year and website-driven phone calls increased by 31.84%, resulting in an overall website lead increase of 119.71% during the same time frame.
The secondary website design that was set into action after seeing the success of the Fast Free Quote Form on the home page was rolled out at the end of 2018. Within just a few months, the site saw a 128.99% increase in overall website leads.