How We Used Contact-Level Signals in Our ABM Gifting Strategy (+ Results)

Before coming to Influ2, I led pipeline driving & organic social gifting at Sendoso.

At one point, I may or may not have been described as the “Gifting Queen.” 

Either way, it’s safe to say I know how it’s done. 

What I didn’t know was how much better it could be done with Influ2. 

We recently launched our first ABM gifting campaign using engagement signals from Influ2 to inform our recipient list. The results were…impressive. Like, 60% conversion from gift to meeting impressive. 

I’m going to tell you what we did and why it worked. 

According to Sendoso, 84% of buyers are sick of cold calls, and 82% are overwhelmed by sales outreach emails. 

But no one gets tired of a no-strings-attached gift. At least, as long as it’s a good one. 

In any gifting program, there are a few things you need to get right. If you don’t, you may find yourself running campaigns like: “Take this call, and we’ll give you 50 bucks.” 

Enticing? Yup. 

Effective? Not really. 

Sure, you might get some meetings. But it’s a lot of budget (and a lot of sales time) to waste on leads that want the gift, not you.

To avoid that, I’m intentional about: 

A good gift is an experience. It connects to your offerings and tells a story about your brand. 

It’s also: 

• Cost-effective: It’s scalable and won’t lead to angry emails from your CRO
• Desirable: People actually want it, unlike another branded water bottle
• Relevant: It tells your story in a creative, interesting way

A well-thought-out gift can tip a prospect from “curious” to “actively evaluating.” It’s part of the reason why Reachdesk reports that 88% of marketers say gifting provides the highest ROI

But gifting only works when it reaches the right doorstep at the right time. So, when I build recipient lists, I look for real engagement from real people who would see real success with our product. 

This is where Influ2’s contact-level insights come in handy. Without those signals, you’re stuck sending gifts to people that might be interested, not people who are. 

People are key—more on this later. 

First, send an invite. I’ve done this many ways—one email or a sequence, sent by an executive or a familiar AE. There’s not one “right way.” 

Next, ship the gift. Platforms like Sendoso, Reachdesk, and Goody have built businesses around gifting. So have vendors like Forefront Store. 

Have them do this part for you. They’ve built the infrastructure and the systems to make it easy. Unlike you and me, they won’t wind up holding an empty roll of packing tape at 2 a.m. with 20 gifts left to finish. Totally not speaking from experience there.

Finally, deliver an incredible experience. Small details like box design and brochure copy all influence how recipients perceive your value. Do it right, and they just might take the next step.

Humans are reciprocal creatures; we feel weird getting something for nothing. But I don’t want a gift to create an obligation. I want it to grab attention.

Interest is a top commodity today. If a gift earns us mindshare with the right people, that’s a success. 

Because when you target the right people (like you can with Influ2), that recognition will eventually lead somewhere. Maybe it’s interest today. Maybe it’s interest a year from now, when budget finally frees up. Either way, it’s a win. 

Examples make everything easier. Here’s what I mean: 

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how we executed our first ABM gifting campaign at Influ2, with the help of our own contact-level intent signals. 

Oura Ring is a popular smart ring that tracks biometric signals like sleep quality and stress level. 

Maybe you get where we’re going with this: Oura Ring translates biometric data into insights, much like Influ2 does for buyers.

We used this parallel to tell a story that connected Oura’s value to our own and, to keep things cost-effective, set clear criteria for our recipients. They needed to be: 

• The right segment: Mid-market and enterprise organizations
• The right fit: Organizations with mature ABM functions
• The right title: ABM marketing managers and related roles

But generic criteria only took us so far. We also looked for:

• The right interest: High ad engagement (courtesy of Influ2) 

Because Influ2 ties ad engagement signals to a real person, we built our list with actual (not assumed) interest. 

We looked at contact-level ad engagement in Influ2’s Signal Center and, based on each person’s context, decided if it was the right time in their journey to send a nudge. 

And that’s how we gave the best, most engaged people a really cool experience.

One caveat before I explain:  We did have a couple of advantages here: 

• Because of the signals in Influ2, we knew we were targeting the right people and could show up confidently, without expecting anything in return.
• We targeted ABM marketers, and a well-executed gifting campaign might work better on them than others. Game recognizes game, you know? 

That aside, here’s how we did it. 

First, we sent an invitation. We partnered with our SDRs to send an email that basically said: “We’re betting an Oura Ring that we’re right for you.” 

But when people opted in, they didn’t get their gift right away. 

Instead, we mailed them a sizing kit and a brochure with a QR code to request their ring…and maybe also learn a bit about us along the way.

The QR code led to a short, self-guided walkthrough (we used Navattic to create it, but tools like Storylane, Walnut, and Consensus work just as well).

As prospects clicked through, they learned about biometric signals, buyer signals, and why they matter. At the end, they could submit their gift request, and we would send it on its way. If they wanted to chat, we gave them the option. If they didn’t, they still walked away with a shiny new ring. 

And that was it. 

No demo demand, no meeting requirement. 

Just a cool gift, a great story, and a confident (and informed) guess that, if we got the right people’s attention, we wouldn’t need to require meetings. They would happen naturally. 

I may be new to Influ2, but not to direct mail. I know what results you tend to see, and the results I saw when pairing intent signals from Influ2 with a traditional direct mail campaign were pretty amazing.

Just to set the stage: At Sendoso, we got excited by a 43% conversion rate from gift to meeting.

With Influ2 in the mix, we beat that by 17 percentage points. A few highlights: 

• Opt-in → meeting: 60% of sent gifts converted to a booked meeting 
• Meeting → SAL: 88% of meetings converted to a sales-accepted lead
• Gift → SAL: 35% of all sent gifts converted to a sales-accepted lead

So, when I say gifting works better with Influ2, I mean it. 

The right combination of consumer psychology and contact-level insight helped us outpace the impact of the average direct mail campaign. 

And with this playbook for contact-level gifting, you can do the same. 

I’ve led a lot of gifting programs in my time. Direct mail, e-gifts, events—you name it. 

They’ve done well. But few have done this well.

The Oura Ring x Influ2 campaign tells me that contact-level signals make my gifting campaigns more effective. It also tells me that it’s time to start planning the next, and the next, and the next… 

Want better ROI from your gifting programs? Give yourself the gift of Influ2. 

You deserve it.