“We’ve given our business and brand a massive boost by engaging more personally and proactively with prospects. With Pardot, we can make smarter decisions and use sharper processes.”
– Brian Coles, Marketing Automation Manager SimCorp
More than $19 trillion dollars worth of assets are managed via SimCorp’s fully integrated investment management solution. The result of more than 40 years’ development, SimCorp Dimension is used by almost half of the world’s top 100 investment managers.
Increasing brand awareness is vital to securing sales and driving profitable growth for SimCorp. “To be seen as a trustworthy company, we need to have a strong brand presence across the industry,” said Brian Coles, Marketing Automation Manager at SimCorp. “We want to send high quality, relevant marketing content to the right people at the right time.”
A lack of integration between its customer relationship and content management systems and email and social channels made it difficult for SimCorp's digital marketing department to achieve these goals.
“We had no idea how potential customers were engaging with our brand; our website was more or less a glorified brochure,” explained Coles. “Email campaigns were based on what we thought the customer should read, not what they wanted to read. We knew something had to change.”
And that change came when SimCorp implemented Pardot, a marketing automation solution from Salesforce. “We were already using Sales Cloud, and wanted a solution that would integrate seamlessly. Pardot offers great functionality,” said Coles.
With Pardot, SimCorp can generate more digital leads, nurture more prospects, and pursue more sales. “We’ve given our business and brand a massive boost by engaging more personally and proactively with prospects,” said Coles. “With Pardot, we can make smarter decisions and use sharper processes,”
Every time a visitor fills out a form on SimCorp’s website to download a whitepaper or register their interest in an event, they automatically become a lead in Pardot.
Coles and his team can then send a personalised triggered email. “We can now target and engage with the people that actually want to hear from us, rather than using a scattergun approach,” he explained. “With more relevant messages, we’re getting the amazing click-through rates.”
By segmenting hundreds of active prospects in Pardot, the digital marketing team can take a similar personalised approach to its ongoing nurturing efforts. “We used to have a one-size-fits-all newsletter that we sent out quarterly. It’s now tailored with dynamic content based on an individual’s interests, location, and role,” said Coles.
TAKING THE LEAD
The lead information captured in Pardot means that SimCorp can qualify prospects, so only the strongest leads are followed up by the sales team. “We are no longer calling people who haven’t even heard of the company,” said Coles. “With Pardot, the sales team can see how a prospect has engaged digitally with our brand, which helps them start a more relevant conversation.”
“We are no longer calling people who haven’t even heard of the company,” said Coles. “With Pardot, the sales team can see how a prospect has engaged digitally with our brand, which helps them start a more relevant conversation.”
Via the Pardot integration with Sales Cloud, an email alert prompts sales representatives to accept or reject a new opportunity; rejected leads are handed back to the marketing team for further nurturing. “We now have a much better relationship with the sales team,” explained Coles. “They see the marketing team as more of a partner, and appreciate the value we bring to the sales cycle.”
And that value is constantly increasing. As well as personalising all marketing content, Coles and the team are looking at progressive profiling for web forms and social posting.
“Our digital marketing team focuses on efficiency, so with Pardot and clever ideas, we can achieve an awful lot,” said Coles. “With more opportunities and better lead nurturing, we’ll be able to help the business achieve its growth goals.”
And that value is constantly increasing. As well as personalising all marketing content, Coles and the team are looking at progressive profiling for web forms and social posting.
“Our digital marketing team focuses on efficiency, so with Pardot and clever ideas, we can achieve an awful lot,” said Coles. “With more opportunities and better lead nurturing, we’ll be able to help the business achieve its growth goals.”

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