• by Jess Nelson , July 18, 2016

NetApp, a data management and cloud storage solution, boosted Web site engagement and conversions after partnering with the Adobe Marketing Cloud for insight-driven multichannel marketing.

NetApp increased click-through rates by 170% and conversion rates by 13% by collecting data on customer accounts with the Adobe Marketing Cloud and identifying specific segments for targeted marketing outreach.

Segmenting email marketing outreach by customer activity is a surefire way to boost email engagement. Segmented campaigns increase email opens by more than 14% and clicks by almost 64% when compared to non-segmented campaigns, according to a study of more than 2,000 MailChimp users.

Zann Aeck, director of digital experience at NetApp, discussed how Adobe’s analytical services help her better identify customer segments and discussed the differences between marketing in the B2B and B2C space in an interview with Email Marketing Daily. 

“Targeting in a B2B space is absolutely different than a B2C space,” says Aeck. “It’s very difficult to identify people from accounts in a B2B space, and there’s a longer purchasing cycle. It can take up to a year for a sales purchase -- it’s not a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing.”

Aeck testified that it's harder to create segments for marketing outreach in the B2B space.

“You can’t rely on firmographic or demographic data, because that says nothing about what problem customers are trying to solve,” says Aeck. 

To better understand customer behavior spanning several months, Aeck partnered with Adobe to conduct a Big Data analysis of NetApp Web site traffic and discovered that NetApp customer behavior identifies specific steps in a buyer’s journey.

NetApp now segments its marketing outreach by the level of engagement of potential prospects on their Web site. For example, the company produces marketing campaigns focused on first-time visitors, prospects who have downloaded at least one type of content such as data sheets, customers who have watched product demos or have completed form entries, and company super users -- usually existing customers.

The key difference in the B2B space comes down to qualifying a lead, says Aeck, and to identify what type of engagement will entice a prospect to advance to the next step of the buying cycle.  

In addition to Web-based promotions, NetApp also reaches out to prospects and customers through segmented campaigns across email marketing, paid search and paid media.