Alex Embling founded Strategic IC as a full-service agency in 1995 when the internet was still its infancy, and Google had yet to launch.
“As the web evolved, clients began to understand the importance of improving their sites’ visibility, and that’s where my marketing background came into play. We started doing things like SEO, PPC advertising and content creation,” explains Alex Embling, Strategic IC’s managing director.
The agency proliferated, taking on large clients in the enterprise tech, professional service and pharmaceutical sectors. However, it was using a collection of disconnected point solutions for its online marketing activities, which made it difficult to produce truly integrated campaigns and prove ROI to customers.
“Inbound was a natural transition for us. One of our clients mentioned that he wanted to try the HubSpot software, and I began to research it. Once I saw what the company was achieving and how it could benefit our clients, I was convinced. Within two weeks, I had signed up to the HubSpot Partner Program and was attending INBOUND in Boston. That was in 2014, and we’ve been growing ever since.”
Alex wanted Strategic IC to be its own best case study for the inbound methodology and started by defining the agency’s buyer personas.
“We identified four – the enterprise decision-maker, the enterprise influencer, and what we call the medium-size decision-maker and the medium-size influencer. In terms of size, the enterprise companies we target typically have 10,000 or more employees and revenues of $1 billion-plus.”
The team created a host of content on the inbound methodology, including ebooks and a frequently updated Blog, and added Smart Calls to Action and Smart Forms. They also use the Social Inbox to promote the agency’s offerings across social media.
Strategic IC uses the HubSpot growth stack – a combination of the Marketing, CRM and Sales software. The CRM gives it a clear view of each lead’s journey through the website, while HubSpot Sales allows the sales team to automate and improve their follow-ups with prospects.
The agency began attracting interest and quickly signed up several clients to the HubSpot software.
“Today, we generate 80% of our customers through inbound marketing – they come to our website from social media and organic traffic, and then are automatically nurtured until they’re ready to speak with us.”