what if you didn't have to settle?
new strategy?
no problem.
When market forces shift, a change in strategy can make a huge difference. But what if your tech stack was chosen for last week's approach? A new gameplan requires new ways of looking at the existing playbook. Are you prepared to pivot?
goals & challenges
FutureThink had an exciting strategy. They'd bring their 20+ years of experience leading seminars inside some of the world's largest companies directly to the customer--a "Netflix for Online Learning." There was just one problem--research showed their customers weren't interested. So they did what any successful company would do--they pivoted.
redesign futurethink.com as a lead generation machine.
Squarespace appeals to beginners by making templates with rigid guardrails. For this project, customization was required.
segment new leads by topic interest and nurture for sales.
Salesforce dominates CRM. But its marketing automation and data management tools require a steep learning curve.
pivot site content to laser-focus on skill building.
Pardot and Squarespace each have form builder tools. But neither have advanced functionality needed for modern lead nurturing.
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modify cms
modify cms
In order to meet design specs, customization was required. JSC expanded native functionality with code blocks, plugins and APIs, tightly integrating Squarespace forms, events and workflows with Salesforce.
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activate data
nurture leads
Futurethink's pivot to skill-building meant creating affinity groups for lead nurturing. Multi-step automated workflows turned skill-building surveys into emails, CRM updates and more. Metadata collection enhanced sales reporting with timestamps, tags and survey results.
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automate process
add interactive features
Futurethink's original plan took static content and intended to deliver it to a captive audience. Its lead generation ambitions required a more interactive experience. Quizzes, games and lead magnets vetted visitor interest and intent. Follow-up and segmentation were automated based on user behavior.
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build dynamic reports
deliver for sales
Sync issues between marketing and sales created issues. Our integration passed all data cleanly, formatted and delivered where it was most needed. We passed previously inaccessible fields to enrich CRM data, and protected form submissions by storing on multiple platforms.
What is John Steele Consulting?
My name is John Steele and I am a 12-year veteran of digital marketing & communications. For most of my career, I have served the startup/SMB tech space, usually joining as the first or second marketing hire. And, in building marketing operations from the ground up, I saw how agencies either took advantage of or neglected small businesses. I started JSC to offer something better to startups--an agency built for founders.
How are you different than other agencies?
We're different from other agencies in two key ways:
First, we are not a traditional consulting firm in that we do strategy and execution--building strategies and executing them, often in the same project scope.
The second is our flexible pricing. With our fee-for-services agreement, I can work on anything within your tech stack for one low hourly rate. You can tag me in on any project--from web development to custom APIs to analytics.
With our project-based contracts, we limit the scope to a core list of deliverables over a set period.
Both of these agreements are 100% committment-free. Just pay for what you need.
Cool! How can we get started?
Great question! The best way is to schedule an intro consultation by clicking one of the buttons at the top or bottom of this page.
These intro calls give me a chance to learn about your business and explore ways we can address your challenges most efficiently.