Full Service Marketing for VES

Vacuum Engineering Services (VES) builds and supplies helium leak testing machinery for a wide range of industries around the globe, from automotive to HVAC, refrigeration, and pharmaceuticals. After being introduced to Studiowide through The University of Liverpool Management School, VES brought us on board to conduct a deep dive into their marketing activities and help them chart a course for the future.

The goal? To get a clear snapshot of where VES stood in the market and then, together, create a vision statement and plan that would outline the strategy and actions needed to take the company to new heights.

During our analysis, we mapped out all the strategic and tactical activities VES needed to focus on. 

We detailed the marketing programmes that would propel the company forward and how we, as a full-service marketing partner, could help them meet—and exceed—their goals.

One big reason VES chose to work with us was our end-to-end service offering and our scientific approach to marketing. Our relationship with The University of Liverpool, where we regularly provide marketing workshops, also played a part. Luke Sansby, Sales Director at VES, attended one of our workshops and instantly recognised how our approach could solve the marketing challenges his company was facing.

Like many small-to-medium-sized engineering firms, VES didn’t have a full-time, in-house marketing department. They relied on a traditional sales approach to grow their business, with a mix of internal and external sales teams driving growth. However, with digitisation rapidly spreading across the B2B sector, VES realised they needed to step up their marketing game to stay competitive.

Their initial attempts at digital marketing were a start, but they were fragmented and unsustainable. Plus, the internal resources needed to maintain momentum were becoming a challenge. VES needed someone to translate their business objectives into actionable marketing strategies that would directly impact revenue growth.

The sales team was feeling the strain too. Buyers were increasingly doing their own research online, gathering all the information they needed before ever reaching out to a sales rep. VES needed a way to engage with these potential customers earlier in the buying process.

Studiowide stepped in to conduct a thorough analysis with VES’s senior team, performing a Lead Generation Audit to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses in generating qualified leads. We then provided a detailed report outlining exactly what we would do—and when—to help VES smash their marketing goals.

We didn’t just hand over a plan and walk away. Throughout the analysis stage, we supported VES every step of the way. 

We introduced them to concepts like CRM solutions, Marketing Automation, and Lead Generation, backing up each new idea with user guides and videos to ensure they understood how these technologies fit into the overall marketing ecosystem.

One major gap we identified was the lack of a marketing system or process. We quickly addressed this by creating a Lead Process Map that laid out exactly how all proposed marketing activities would work together, forming a cohesive ecosystem.

Given the scale of the task, we focused on the marketing channels that would deliver the biggest return on investment in the first year. Using our marketing channel evaluation tool, we carefully selected the lead generation activities that would provide the most value for money and objectively justified their inclusion in the strategy.

To align Sales and Marketing, we worked with the sales team to define the criteria for when a lead would be considered “Sales Ready.” This critical handover point was added to the Lead Process Map, ensuring everyone knew when it was time for Sales to step in.

With everything mapped out—lead acquisition, lead generation, lead nurturing—the next step was to implement the technologies that would bring this programme to life.

Since VES didn’t have a suitable CRM system in place, we built a temporary CRM online and integrated it with a bespoke marketing automation email platform, which was directly installed into the back-end of VES’s WordPress website. This integrated approach not only provided a cost-effective solution but also ensured all contact and campaign information was kept in one place, securely within the company’s domain.

We then turned our attention to the types of marketing communications needed to engage VES’s target customers. We held a workshop with VES’s senior team to establish buyer personas for each target market, giving us valuable insights into their challenges and pain points. This allowed us to tailor emails, blog posts, case studies, social media posts, and landing pages that resonated with each customer group, showing that VES not only understood their needs but had the perfect solution.

With a clear picture of who the buyers were, we focused on the buying process. Previously, VES only became aware of potential buyers after they had done extensive research online—a stage that’s often too late to influence decisions. We recommended creating communications that would act as lead magnets, hooking potential buyers during the “Discovery” stage.