How SolarWinds Created Intent-based Demand and ABM Programs 

Leveraging the Informa TechTarget portfolio to create a fully integrated program 

For SolarWinds, a provider of observability and IT management solutions, continuous transformation is a part of their company’s DNA. And on the heels of new product innovation and a department reorganization, their marketing leadership team saw a prime opportunity for a go-to-market (GTM) transformation. They wanted to evolve their demand gen models, with a specific focus on improving their funnel – fixing leaks and removing breakdowns and silos across organizations so they could focus on driving business value and more revenue. To transform their processes quickly, they selected Informa TechTarget because of its alignment with their markets and the depth and breadth of the capabilities available. By quickly implementing a combination of the Informa TechTarget Portal (formerly Priority Engine) intent data platform, intent-based qualified leads, content syndication solutions and target advertising to deliver hyper-engaged accounts and new opportunities. 

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One reason we partner with [Informa] TechTarget is because it is a digital watering hole. We know that our buyers are hanging out [on Informa TechTarget sites], we know that the buying centers are there and [as a result] we see that audience reach that we don’t have, and access to data that we don’t have inside our own ‘house’.”

—Mary Beth Labuda

Head of Digital Technology and Performance Marketing

Breaking down silos and building better programs 

With the pursuit of more revenue as their guiding force, SolarWinds sought to evolve their current demand gen models to capture as much demand in the market as possible. Their 1:Many approach to campaigns often resulted in a transactional buyer experience. Instead, SolarWinds wanted a more targeted, personalized way to connect with buyers and move buyers through the funnel. They decided to transition to a targeted intent-driven model, which would enable their demand performance, marketing technologies, marketing analytics and marketing operations teams to have better insight into the buyer journey and account activity. 

To help, SolarWinds looked for a partner who could provide orchestration across many touchpoints and would enable SolarWinds to expand their audience reach through Informa TechTarget’s own digital watering hole where buyers are already going to conduct buy-cycle research. 

Revving up the intent-driven demand engine and ABM program 

To quickly transform their demand programs, SolarWinds started with foundational work: revisiting and redefining their ideal customer profile (ICP), segmenting accounts according to opportunity within the new ICP parameters and developing personas so they were really clear on what buyers they wanted to engage. 

From there, the SolarWinds team took this foundational information and paired it with data to build a plan of how to reach their target audience. They used research and first-party data to create keyword sets for each intent category, leveraged intent data to create more meaningful campaigns and activated omni-channel campaigns pointing to where target personas are conducting research. 

Finally, the team turned their focus to how they would manage and optimize their funnel within this new strategy. They mapped out buyers’ movement through the funnel and funnel velocity, established the right KPIs and created a process for utilizing intent metrics to inform and optimize messaging, personalization, content creation and more. 

SolarWinds’ core intent-driven programs 

As the need for a modern demand gen engine gained urgency, SolarWinds wanted to expand their audience reach and buyer insight and knew pairing their evolved demand gen approach with Informa TechTarget’s proprietary audiences would make a huge impact on outputs. Now, at SolarWinds: 

• Targeted advertising on Informa TechTarget’s sites enables SolarWinds to build brand awareness with buying personas that fit their ideal customer profile. 
• Content syndication, specifically running relevant content on Informa TechTarget’s site and webinars on BrightTALK helps SolarWinds fill the top of its funnel with in-market buyers. 
• Custom content created by Informa TechTarget’s analyst firms, fills SolarWinds’ content library with relevant, high-value content buyers need.
• The Informa TechTarget Portal provides direct access to more of the active buyers SolarWinds needs to convert to grow revenue. 
• Confirmed Projects provide down-funnel leads (who have intent to purchase) so SolarWinds can grow market share. 

Intent-driven sales 

Any successful demand gen or ABM program requires close alignment between Marketing and Sales. With intent data, there’s even further urgency to ensure marketers and sellers are fully taking advantage of the rich intent data available to them. SolarWinds placed a strong emphasis on enabling their entire sales force on how to use purchase intent data and the Portal platform to improve performance. The key for SolarWinds was to make the insights from intent data as easy to consume and action on as possible, which they did by creating sales rep and team-specific dashboards, so sellers could quickly explore the information relevant to their territory and accounts. As a result, SolarWinds sellers can effectively personalize prospecting and identify opportunities for customer upsell and cross-sell. 

A global program that delivers hyper-engaged accounts, leading to new opportunities 

Unlike more generic account surge data, the Informa TechTarget Portal surfaces the actual individuals of a buying team and what each member cares about most. This has proven to be especially useful in enabling SolarWinds’ new intent-driven demand gen and ABM programs. Targeting the right organizations and people within those organizations, effectively engaging with buyers and expanding market share were all critically important to SolarWinds’ success. Today, 75% of all SolarWinds’ opportunities are influenced by their ABM programs before that opportunity is created. 

The impact of Informa TechTarget solutions across SolarWinds’ GTM