Full-funnel LinkedIn strategy delivers material impact for Matmatch

Matmatch is an online platform that brings together end users and suppliers of engineering materials – from steel bar to carbon ceramic powders to specialised glass ceramics. To grow sustainably it needed to build awareness, momentum and scale on both sides of the buyer-supplier relationship. Targeting all stages of the funnel on LinkedIn not only helped to deliver rapid user growth on the buyer side – it also proved the crucial ingredient for building a pipeline of supplier leads.

Challenge

•  Build awareness among an audience of engineers looking to identify and source the right materials for their projects 

•  Generate high-quality, relevant leads among the suppliers that Matmatch’s sourcing platform needs 


Why LinkedIn?

•  Only channel able to target Matmatch’s specialist audience with accuracy
•  High quality of leads
•  Range of marketing formats to integrate awareness-building and lead generation activity

Solution

•  Video for Sponsored Content and Carousel Ads to build awareness
•  Sponsored Content and Sponsored InMail with LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms to translate supplier awareness into high quality leads
•  Targeting of key sectors with tailored messaging using LinkedIn profile data
•  Account-Based Marketing(ABM) targeting lists of high-value prospects and trade-show attendees
•  Retargeting of visitors to the Matmatch platform, to encourage full sign-up to the service

Building momentum on the buyer side

Matmatch’s business model requires awareness, momentum and scale on both sides of the buyer-supplier relationship, each of which represented a different marketing challenge. “On the buyer side, our platform has most value to add in the early stages of engineering projects when engineers are considering their options and haven’t yet decided which material they are going to use,” explains Ben Smye, Head of Growth at Matmatch. “On LinkedIn, we were able to target engineers in key industries like oil and gas and use Account-Based Marketing (ABM) to reach companies that we’ve identified as relevant prospects.”

Matmatch used Sponsored Content and Carousel Ads to raise awareness of Matmatch’s proposition – and its key point of difference it helping engineers research their materials options. “We educated our audiences through Video for Sponsored Content and were then able to retarget those who visited our site and promote the value of signing up to our full service,” says Ben. In less than a year, this full-funnel approach to the buyer side helped to grow Matmatch’s user base from a few thousand to over 150,000 monthly users.

Results

•  Awareness campaigns and retargeting on LinkedIn helped to grow Matmatch’s user base to more than 150,000 in less than a year
•  LinkedIn directly generated around 1,000 qualified leads among potential suppliers, growing the size of the supplier pipeline 10x
•  The combined LinkedIn activity reduced Matmatch’s cost per qualified lead by more than half