Founded in 2000, Italian communications agency Del Monte & Partner initially concentrated on creating above-the-line advertising campaigns. However, after a decade in business, it decided to ramp up its content services, and it now writes an average of 5 million words every year.
“We wanted to do more to add value for our clients,” explains Luciano Tolomei, inbound marketing evangelist at DM&P. “We were creating a great amount of content, but so were a lot of other companies. There is a lot of competition at the low-end of the market and quality is not the main concern.”
DM&P wanted its content to work harder and start driving its clients’ leads through the sales funnel. It began to research potential strategies and discovered the inbound methodology.
“It was the perfect fit for our agency, but we knew that if we were to get most out of it, we would need a powerful automation platform. We looked at Marketo and Autopilot, but we were most impressed by the HubSpot software. It was ideal for the companies that we target; it was easy-to-use and offered a clear path to results.”
The agency joined the HubSpot Partner Program in 2016.
“We trusted the technology, but more importantly, we trusted HubSpot. With the Partner Program, we would get the training and support we needed to get ourselves and our customers on the road to success.”
DM&P used the HubSpot growth stack – a combination of the Marketing, CRM and Sales software – to turn its own website into a model of inbound in action. It began by defining its buyer personas and creating content that matched their needs and interests. It now has a regularly updated Blog as well as a library of ebooks, guides and checklists on Landing Pages.
The agency uses the SEO tools and the Social Inbox to call attention to its content and to encourage website traffic. Visitors are nurtured through the funnel with Smart Calls-to-Action (CTAs) and Smart Forms and then siloed into specific Contact groups.
“We use Workflows to create automated follow-ups with our leads, and all their information – from where they come from to how they have interacted with us – is logged in the CRM. That gives us instant insights – we wouldn’t be half as effective without it.”
Luciano is also a fan of HubSpot Sales Pro software; he uses the Sequences tool to send personalised, timed emails to prospects, which frees up his time and ensures that they don’t slip through the cracks.
The agency’s new approach quickly proved its worth, and it signed up its first inbound client in November 2016.
“That company was only getting eight leads a week, and it wanted to increase that to 22. After six months of working with us, it was getting an average of 45. They’re delighted, we’re happy, and these kind of results have become our calling card.”
DM&P is committed to helping its clients take advantage of all that the inbound methodology has to offer, and many of them now use the growth stack for themselves.
“We also encourage them to use the HubSpot Academy and to get HubSpot certifications,” says Luciano. “We focus on the content and make sure that they have the knowledge and the tools to run their campaigns themselves.”
