Abstract
Vertiv is a global leader in digital infrastructure technology, with its Chinese subsidiary focusing primarily on providing power supplies and air conditioning systems to data centers. Starting in 2020, Vertiv's Marketing Department experimented with digital marketing, aiming to build the Vertiv brand and boost sales. Initially, after collecting leads through digital marketing, Vertiv would input them into its customer relationship management system, where the sales team would decide whether the leads were worth following up. More often than not, however, the leads generated through digital marketing had little value, resulting in a lack of motivation for the sales staff to follow up and, ultimately, a significant loss of leads. Later, the marketing team noticed that the traffic-oriented distributors valued these leads more than other types of distributors. This was because they faced inventory pressure and saw these leads as potential sales opportunities. By properly assigning the leads, the Marketing Department increased the lead conversion rate. In 2022, Vertiv went a step further by building the Smart Space for its traffic-oriented channel partners. After a period of operation, the Smart Space reported a lead conversion rate of over 12%, far exceeding that on Baidu (1.5%). But overall, Vertiv's sales were still largely driven by its B2B business (55%), with its B2C business, which was greatly influenced by digital marketing, representing only 5% of the total.
Vertiv believed that digital marketing played a key role in both building up the brand and driving sales growth, but the revenue from digital marketing still made up only a small portion of its total sales. With a tight budget, Michael Tian, Vertiv's Marketing Director, was considering how to best allocate future digital marketing efforts and what aspects of the current marketing approach could be refined.
Translated title of the contribution | Vertiv: A B2B Company’s Explorations in Digital Marketing |
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Original language | Chinese (Simplified) |
Number of pages | 15 |
Publication status | Published - 20 Jul 2024 |
Case number
MKT-24-068Case normative number
MKT-24-068-CCCase type
Field CaseUpdate date
24/02/2025Supplement
For more details, please visit www.chinacases.orgPublished by
China Europe International Business SchoolKeywords
- inbound marketing
- B2B(Business-to-business)
- digital marketing
- value chain
- Customer Journey
- outbound marketing
- mobile technology
- the 5C Analysis framework
- Social Media
Case studies discipline
- Marketing
- Sales
Case studies industry
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services