McCrindle
A social research agency.
Focused on creating a clearer picture of the trends that inform strategic thinking.
Summary
Project:
Strategic journey mapping – online & offline
My Role:
Marketing strategy
UX Design
Team Management
My Process / Deliverables:
Business analysis
UX review
Stakeholder interviews
Persona creation
System Map / Information architecture
Website design
Monthly performance reporting
Details:
2019-2020
Fulltime employment
Brief
Desire to convert huge media traction into new business opportunities
Problem Statement:
McCrindle benefits from a huge presence in the media. As a leader in social research, McCrindle is often relied upon for social commentary on a range of demographic, sociographic and leadership topics.
Despite these opportunities, there was a breakdown in the journey towards converting into commercial projects.
Providing a smoother journey from brand awareness to conversion of new commercial projects was key to the success of my role at McCrindle.
The Team: I led the strategy and implementation of developing this marketing journey. While leveraging the research team, design team, communications teams to produce content and redesign online platforms.
Challenges
1. Strategy from scratch
While in the past there had been a number of marketing tactics implemented, there had never been an over-arching strategy employed.
Developing a strategy and getting team buy-in was crucial in clarifying the user experience throughout the whole customer journey.
2. Transition period needed
CRM and email marketing platforms were established, but not fit-for-purpose and under utilised.
The process of transitioning to new systems required planning and gradual implementation over two year period.
3. Empowering individuals and teams
There were no full time content creators or marketers at McCrindle. I needed empower internal team members to write content and leverage the design team for visual design of the content. This needed to happen in ways that didn’t dramatically impact other areas of their work.
Process
Strategic User Journey
By developing this User Journey I was able to communicate to the rest of the company the key areas we should look at improving. From there we could do further user research to determine the requirements of customers at identified stages.
This was then refined into a more detailed User Journey Map with detailed tasks to undertake. In order to develop a smoother user journey for each of the 4 different personas.
Persona development
Four personas were developed. One for each of the primary verticals McCrindle specialises in. These personas were developed by: interviewing McCrindle staff, interviewing favourite clients, analysis of sales data and some desktop research into each vertical.
These personas formed the focus when developing the detailed User Journeys and content plans.
Targeted content plans
Content plans for developed. Once personas were identified, ideation workshops were help to conceive and compile the next two years of content.
Solutions
Providing users with tailored journeys
One simple addition to improve the user experience was the ability for the user to select their area of interest (industry) immediately on the homepage of the website.
This dramatically increased traffic to relevant landing pages and onward through the personalised user journey for each vertical.
New McCrindle Speakers website
McCrindle Speakers website. Establishing clear, intuitive journeys for event organisers to book speakers. Highlighting the unique strengths and personality of each of the speakers.
Guiding journeys through content
Call To Actions were implemented more strategically throughout the blog posts. Use of categories guided the users to further related content.
Industry specific research reports
Lead magnets were setup. Guiding traffic towards insight-rich research reports. Users were captured and segmented in a CRM system. Then encouraged to access additional related insights and further opportunities.
Results
4
new user journeys created
1150%
increase in marketing qualified leads
3200+
registrations to first 4 webinars held
60%
increase in sales enquiries
Feedback
"We were delighted to have had Garth work with our team on implementing marketing systems, lead automation, and bringing design excellence to our output. Not only is he world-class in the solutions that he brings but his customer service, personal character, and warmth are superlative."
Mark McCrindle
Director & Demographer
