PE Portfolio Company Case Study

EXT. MARKETING CLIENT STORIES

THREADING THE NEEDLE: AUDIENCE HYPERTARGETING

1

OBJECTIVE

A leading U.S. private equity firm and existing Ext. Marketing client, invests in companies in the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental industries.

To help optimize the value of one of their portfolio companies, Ext. Marketing was engaged to help them realign their messaging and brand, then launch a brand awareness campaign to capitalize on changing market and political dynamics.

2

CHALLENGES

• Complex, highly-technical, niche industry

• Decision makers in energy infrastructure projects related to renewable energy are hard to find

• Quick turnaround to capitalize on the uptick in demand for domestic energy

3 KEYS TO SUCCESS

• Revised key messaging and brand that aligned with market changes and audience pain points

• Hyper target audience and platform research

• Nailing the creative so the audience would visit and explore the firm’s website

KPIs

• Impressions

• Increased traffic to website

• Clicks

OUR APPROACH

After understanding the clients needs, we mapped out our approach that started with brand development and key messaging to resonate with this niche audience at a critical time, before we moved on to audience identification and launching the brand awareness campaign.

KEY MESSAGING & BRAND

RE-ALIGN THE BRAND TO RESONATE WITH THIS NICHE AUDIENCE AT A CRITICAL TIME

OUR APPROACH

• Industry research to determine the “white space” and differentiators

• Competitive research and benchmarking

• Interview stakeholders across the firm to uncover value proposition and authentic differentiators

• Formulate key messaging platform, including value proposition and key messaging pillars

• Evaluate existing brand system

• Build concepts and a brand strategy including unique, snackable videos for the campaign to tell their brand story

WE DELIVER RESULTS

Video long version: Interview different leaders and subject matter experts from a cross-section of the Client departments, to talk about why they deliver results, why each facet is significant in delivering results. We want to see the Client team live in action. Intercut by real operating environments and project shots. We want to look dynamic, technical, expert but human.

Story Line:

Every detail makes a difference to deliver results. Real people. Real results. The voices, people and ideas that are solving complexity at the Client.

Dean talks about the vision of the company. Engineer/Erik talks about the innovative approach. Environmentalist/Scott talks about delivering solutions. Project Manager talks about schedule and projects. Worker on the field talks about his job.

How do we solve for change at the Client?

How do we solve pressing/complex challenges?

How do we deliver sustainability?

How do we solve challenges efficiently?

What is the difference that ownership makes?

How does “self-performing” work make a difference?

What kinds of results do you deliver for your clients?

Why is safety important to the results?

In your area, how do you contribute to results for clients?

What equips you to solve these challenges and how do you do it differently from competitors?

Why are you innovative/leading-edge?

AUDIENCE HYPER-TARGETING

FIND THE RIGHT AUDIENCE ON THE RIGHT PLATFORMS FOR AN AFFORDABLE COST PER LEAD (CPL)

OUR APPROACH

Existing CRM data & website for geographic, demographic & key word analysis

Build audience through look a-like companies, job titles, interests, decision makers roles

• Shell, Par Petroleum Corp, Chevron, Talos Energy, American Natural GasSolutions, BP, Advantage Energy LLC

• Snr Geotechnical Engineer, Head of Procurement, Snr Civil Engineer, Snr Regulatory Specialist, Director of Procurement, Senior Regulatory Affairs

Uncover pain points

• Need of an expert: a company won’t hire just anyone to stabilize their building site orclean a chemical spill up.

• They don’t shop by price; they shop by reputation.

• Companiesneed expert guidance.

Set criteria for platform selection

• Audience (the platform’s inventory of prospects)

• Cost efficiency (CPL)

• Creative options (ad placements, design layout, etc.)

• Targeting capabilities (segmentation, keywords, interests, etc.)

CAMPAIGN STRATEGY & CREATIVE

DESIGN ASSETS IN ENGAGING FORMATS THAT ADDRESS DECISION MAKER PAINT POINTS

OUR APPROACH

• Put the Client in the conversation for new infrastructure projects

• Develop campaign creative based on creative strategy: “We deliver results”, including storyboarding, copywriting and production and buildout of videos/audiograms and all digital assets

Audiograms are recorded interview style voice-overs of the CEO added to visuals for social media, were used for a quick turnaround

A strategy of videos and static ads encouraged users to 'learn more' about the business on the website, exceeding industry benchmarks and KPI’s, showcasing the value of relevant messaging. This strategy also allowed for the quick turnaround needed to capitalize on the new demand.

LOWER COST WHILE INCREASING ENGAGEMENT OPTIMIZATION

OUR APPROACH

Continuous optimization efforts throughout the campaign led to significant improvements in performance metrics. Focusing resources on high-performing ads meant lowering costs and increasing engagement.

Optimization efforts in the second month resulted in:

• Google Ads: increased CTR of 76%, which resulted in 841.72% increase in the number of clicks

• Facebook: 18% increase in CTR, strong response to the new copy

• LinkedIn: copy optimization for messages led to a 182% increase in website visits and 20% increase in open rate

ANALYZEDATA

Within a few days of campaign launch, data (CTR,CPC,CPL, etc.) is collected and analyzed to inform optimization.

OPTIMIZECAMPAIGN

Optimization changes are made by pausing underperforming ads and allocating more resources to top-performing ads.

REPEAT

Daily campaign monitoring and repeating the process over and over drives the best results.

Static

Sponsored LinkedIn Message

REACH THE AUDIENCE, DRIVE ENGAGEMENT CAMPAIGN RESULTS

• 64% of impressions were generated by the male demographic, largely in the age group of 65 and above

• Most clicks, were generated from Greater Houston, DallasFort Worth Metroplex, and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale Area

8.5M Total Impressions

118,897 Total Clicks

High engagement from the target audience including sharing, tagging and in-bound leads validated that we found the right decision makers for the campaign with the right messaging from the first month.

Considering how small this niche audience is, the campaign was a success reaching millions, prompting 115k+ clicks and 70k new website visitors in a few months with a lower cost than industry average.

1.4%

Higher than industry average: 1%

Total New Website Visitors

70,255

The following data shows the performance metrics for all media channels combined, between March 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023. We have observed a positive improvement in metrics across all areas.

$0.75

Lower than industry average: $0.94

Cost-Per-Click (CPC) Display $0.11

Lower than industry average: $0.63