How Cato Networks Used Contact-Level Advertising to Engage Enterprise Decision Makers
About Cato Networks
Cato Networks is a pioneer in cloud-first secure networking infrastructure for enterprise firms. But when they decided to venture into large enterprise sales, they faced challenges in accessing and engaging the small group of decision makers within this segment. This expansion also introduced complexities and longer sales cycles, which required a fresh approach.
The Сhallenge
Despite generating steady enterprise deal flow through existing marketing efforts, Cato Networks observed lackluster response to their content and poor engagement from sales reps' outreach. This indicated a need for change in their approach to effectively target and engage decision makers in the enterprise segment.
The Solution
Cato Networks analyzed their ideal customer profile and developed key buyer personas, which led to the creation of their 'perfect customer' list. To engage the accounts and individuals on this list, they adopted a Contact-Level Advertising (PBA) approach. Their top-of-funnel campaigns focused on delivering valuable content such as guides, comparisons, and analyst reports.
With PBA, Cato Networks achieved a match rate of approximately 60-70% with their target audience. By precisely targeting their desired audience, they eliminated content gates, ensuring a frictionless experience for prospects. This approach enabled Cato Networks to engage, re-engage, and strengthen their strategy for the enterprise segment.
Through analyzing Click-Through Rates (CTRs), Cato Networks learned the importance of refreshing their banner ads every two weeks to maintain campaign performance. This data-driven approach allowed them to continuously improve visual creative and messaging, ensuring optimal resonance with their audience.
The Results
The success of Contact-Level Advertising extended beyond generating interest in decision makers. Cato Networks discovered that targeting relevant influencers surrounding the decision-makers' Buying Group Marketing was also effective in initiating conversations with decision makers.
The PBA campaigns yielded impressive results. The marketing team was able to reach around 70% of the target audience, which covered 9,583 targets. from 3,077 accounts.
The audience generated 411,000 impressions that resulted in 790 clicks and 550 website visits.
These numbers clearly indicate the effectiveness of Cato Networks' PBA approach in generating interest and engagement within the enterprise segment. Additionally, the use of PBA led to the re-engagement of previously inactive prospects, further expanding their potential customer base.
One prospect downloaded an asset in January, 2018. There were multiple web visits and even a webinar attendance through November. After attempts by our reps to reach the person, it went completely cold. Then in April, 2019, the account was added to an Influ2 campaign and 317 impressions later, we saw some very meaningful interactions and the sales rep turned the account into an opportunity.
Cato Networks effectively addressed the challenges of expanding into the enterprise segment by adopting a Contact-Level Advertising approach. By precisely targeting their ideal customers and delivering valuable content, they achieved remarkable results in terms of audience reach, engagement, and the conversion of prospects into opportunities.
