Softcat partners with Rawnet to enhance digital strategy and stream-line user experience
Softcat, a computer support and services business, is growing to become the leading voice in the IT infrastructure, product and services industry – maintaining, and exceeding, levels of customer and employee satisfaction. With offices in Marlow, London, Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol and Manchester, Dublin and having staff across all functions at all of the locations, the organisation is an FTSE 250 listed company that has grown rapidly to reach an annual turnover of more than £1billion with over 1500 employees.
Softcaft aims to offer its service to a wider range of enterprise-level customers. As well as this, the business’s potential to grow is huge. In order to achieve this, Softcat recognised the importance of lead generation and how its website has a vital role in this growth trajectory. Having met Rawnet organically during a workshop, the two businesses partnered off the back of the great relationship and brand connection.
Challenges with the customer journey
Softcat was experiencing a few challenges which were holding the business back from reaching its goals. Before partnering with Rawnet, the website had been built by a previous web developer and without any real digital strategy, the company was simply adding information to irrelevant web pages. The site had no real purpose, other than just supplying presence online. The sales and marketing team were affected the most because of this and they were not integrated due to the customer journey being disjointed. Therefore, clients were not able to use the website as a tool to communicate and connect with Softcat, suggesting that there was an issue with digital strategy.
One of the main challenges that Softcat was experiencing was that it was presenting a complex offering, which on the surface looked simple; IT infrastructure products and services for businesses of all sizes and the public sector. However, the detail was complicated and the possibilities for customers were almost endless, meaning that there was an issue with the communication of its differentiators. For example, its people and its customer service are what set them apart in the industry. Softcat wanted to find the right balance between the cultural representation, solutions and services and how it could best highlight this. When launching new campaigns or updating content/services, the lead generation was strained.
The organisation also wanted to provide more assistance to the sales team, as they were driven primarily by outbound sales. This meant that the website and supporting information were not playing a prominent role in the process. Resources, data, and customer insights are extremely valuable for creating the correct business leads, so finding the right place for digital within the sales team was important. The website needed to be useful, assist sales and not be seen as a blocker or hindrance.
Improving the digital strategy
When partnering with Rawnet, the agency was able to simplify the user journey around the site as well as providing more insights and data. The design of the Softcat website was updated to be more visually engaging. To support the sales and marketing team, Rawnet was also able to introduce all key points and provide a positive drive through the channel for customers.
The success of the new digital strategy led to an increased sales-oriented user experience as Softcat’s customers have had a much simpler journey as a result of the reduction of the number of pages. Potential customers were able to look at the integrated resources, which had been refined before launching, showcasing Softcat’s latest news and insights. This also allowed the company to receive more in-depth data and insights for the wider business. The site became a conversational marketing tool rather than just a site, which assisted leads on a journey to the sales team. What’s more, Softcat was now able to communicate with users, not just through the overall journey, but with a chatbot tool (Drift) where businesses can leave enquiries. The new site triggers events for database building, as well as an improved SEO strategy.
Increase in lead generation
Overall, Softcat’s partnership with Rawnet resulted in a 13.5% increase in goal conversion, as well as a 41.3% increase in the average session time. The business saw a 181% increase on the average per month from the old website. In addition to this, by adding, updating and curating the new site and integrating the chatbot tool, 15.9% of contact enquiries from the website converted into leads in month one.
Looking forward, Rawnet continues to support Softcat to strengthen the digital strategy of the site and assist the business to achieve its goals within the market.
“The Rawnet team brought energy, creativity and a results-focused approach that helped us to streamline our online offering and create a customer-centric experience that generates quality leads. As a result, we now have a site that strengthens our market position, delivers value to the business and will continue to grow and adapt as our marketing evolves.” - Cherie May, Digital Marketing Manager at Softcat.