The Challenge
An HR technology platform focused on employee engagement and experience analytics competed in a saturated market flooded with similar promises and generic feature sets. Marketing campaigns generated high-volume lead flow but with minimal qualification—most leads lacked urgency or fit. The company needed to break through the noise by establishing clear thought leadership in employee experience, while simultaneously attracting higher-quality, more conversion-ready opportunities. Leadership and marketing teams saw this as a pivotal moment to shift from volume-based to insight-led demand generation.
The Approach
Thinker Media Group designed and executed a comprehensive EX benchmark and demand generation program:
- Global Executive Research: Conducted a multi-country benchmarking study surveying 500+ CHROs, HR Directors, and People Operations leaders to quantify the business impact of digital employee experience initiatives on retention, productivity, and employee sentiment.
- Benchmark Development: Created the “Next-Gen Employee Experience Index”—a proprietary benchmark showcasing which executive practices and investments correlated with the strongest business outcomes, positioning the client as a data-driven authority in the space.
- Insight Assets: Developed interactive dashboards, industry benchmarks by company size and sector, and custom one-pagers for CHROs, EX leaders, and IT stakeholders, each addressing specific role-based priorities and concerns.
- Segmented Demand Generation: Built a sophisticated demand engine using the Index as the primary offer, with gated benchmark reports, interactive “EX maturity assessments,” and tailored email nurture sequences by segment and buying stage.
- Multi-Channel Activation: Deployed integrated campaigns across LinkedIn, email, webinars, and industry events, positioning the client as the authoritative voice on employee experience.
The Results
- Lead Quality Transformation: Demo requests became significantly more self-qualified, with prospects arriving prepared and explicitly referencing Index insights, reducing SDR qualification time by 35%.
- Thought Leadership Attribution: The share of opportunities originating from insight-led campaigns increased from 12% to 38% of total pipeline within six months—demonstrating clear ROI on the research investment.
- Win Rate & Deal Size**: Opportunities influenced by the executive Index and thought leadership assets showed 22% higher win rates and 18% larger average contract values compared to traditional campaigns.
- Reference Customer Growth: Several marquee reference customers in multiple regions were acquired directly through the Index and became advocates for the platform in the broader market.
- Repeatable Asset: The Index became an annual research publication, creating sustained competitive advantage and ongoing demand generation momentum year-over-year.
Key Takeaway
When you shift from selling a product to publishing authoritative research, you attract buyers who are already educated, motivated, and pre-sold on your credibility—turning marketing into a revenue engine.
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