Discover how making the switch to Redpoint for their research partner, Automox improved the quality and performance of its report, the data it gathered, and launched their campaign on time.
Top 3 Results
3X the leads in one month compared to an entire year
1/3 of leads from non-paid channels
14% YOY more leads with their second report
Previous research partner was “pretty underwhelming”
For the past several years, Automox, an automated endpoint management solution, has produced an annual State of ITOps report. This report, which surveys approximately 500 ITOps professionals, has become a landmark piece of content for the company. The report is intended to position Automox as a thought leader as well as provide interesting data to their audience about what their peers are doing, how they compare, and other industry trends.
“The State of ITOps report enables us to engage with our target audience and positions us as a thought leader. It provides IT teams with a snapshot of the state of the industry and helps them benchmark their organization against their peers,” says Jon Levenson, Manager of Content and Community at Automox.
However, prior to switching to Redpoint as their research partner, there were a number of struggles with producing this annual original research-based report. Throughout the process they felt “pretty underwhelmed” with the previous vendor both in their approach and the deliverable.
In fact, the demand team had trouble even finding interesting stats to pull out of the prior vendor’s report. “We spent a good deal of our budget, and collaborating with the previous research vendor was… laborious to say the least,” says Levenson.
As a result, Automox began looking for a new research partner. Their past approach had been to use a vendor that was a subject matter expert in ITOps, but this time, Automox was more interested in finding a partner who could gather objective data and then present it in a compelling way.
A better process every step of the way
For Automox, every aspect of the process was better with Redpoint than their experience with their previous vendor – from survey design and content creation to how the project was managed.
Their previous vendor, for example, had relied heavily on the Automox team to help with the development of the survey questions. “Managing and producing surveys to elicit the most pertinent data isn’t really in our wheelhouse,” says Levenson, noting that part of the problem with the data they received from previous reports indicated the questions were poorly presented. The data just wasn’t as relevant.
"Redpoint's approach is collaborative and its leaders accessible as we hone in on the audience we need to target and the questions we need to ask."
Project management was also much smoother with Redpoint. Being able to stay on schedule for such a large and involved project can be challenging. “Redpoint is so good at maintaining project schedules,” says Levenson, “This relieves a great deal of stress and allows our team to focus on the process, making sure the end product is top-notch and something we’re proud to publish.”
“Because we promote the State of ITOps Report through outside distributors and vendors and generate significant promotional material around the report, we have many outlets relying on us. Redpoint not only works with your ‘go live’ date, but it also builds in time for u-turns, delays, and extended collaboration.”
The final product – the report itself – also was of exceptional quality right out the gate, which made everything easier and better.
“Redpoint is always there to help you brainstorm, answer your questions, and respond with thoughtful analysis promptly. Seriously, we’ve never waited more than a couple of hours for a response to any email.”
Having a solid report on first draft also allowed Automox to stay on schedule. “Because we promote the State of ITOps Report through outside distributors and vendors and generate significant promotional material around the report, we have many outlets relying on us. Redpoint not only works with your ‘go live’ date, but it also builds in time for u-turns, delays, and extended collaboration,” says Levenson. With the previous vendor, Automox quickly got off their timeline because they were spending more cycles than anybody anticipated providing edits or going back and forth.
Redpoint’s 3R research process is rigorous, reliable and delivers results
Automox has gone from a mindset of wondering if their annual “report was worth the investment,” to seeing a strong pay off right out of the gate.
“We keep returning to Redpoint to create our State of IT Operations Report (our tentpole content piece for the year) because it performs so well. Last year’s report garnered three times the leads in one month than the previous year’s report saw over an entire year and this year, we’ve increased that another 14% and counting,” says Levenson.
From a lead generation perspective, in the first month of releasing their first report with Redpoint, Automox has already seen three times the leads that they got compared to an entire year when they were using another vendor to conduct the research and write the report. The second report they did with Redpoint has also performed exceptionally well – garnering another 14% increase in leads from the first year, and the year’s not over yet.
A less tangible result for Automox has been how the data is fueling new content for the entire year. “The current report supports the creation of new content throughout the year by providing benchmarks, statistics, and quotes from which we spin off interactive quizzes, develop narrative themes for the entire year, and base several podcast interviews with industry experts addressing trends or questions raised by the report,” says Levenson. “It really does fuel our content team’s work for an entire year. “
“The current report supports the creation of new content throughout the year by providing benchmarks, statistics, and quotes from which we spin off interactive quizzes, develop narrative themes for the entire year, and base several podcast interviews with industry experts addressing trends or questions raised by the report.”
Finally, because the quality of data and the report were so high, Automox has been able to proudly stand behind their report and better use it to build its thought leadership in the industry. In fact, in the past, Automox had used the research brand’s name to leverage third-party credibility, but now Automox feels confident in the quality of the data and the report and has stepped out and owned the industry research their doing.
“Redpoint helps us target the right audience and craft, curate, and edit the report so specifically, it’s a no-brainer to brand the piece exclusively under Automox. The data is trustworthy, well-phrased, accessible, and compelling. Why wouldn’t we want to put our name on something so impactful?”
“It’s just one of those types of content that just keeps on giving… I keep coming up with new ideas all the time.”
The team continues to mine the dataset for industry-specific insights and personalization opportunities, extending the research’s value far beyond its initial release.
Quick Summary
Challenge
- Lack of interesting data with previous report
- No guidance on survey design resulting in less compelling data
- Report quality was low and took a lot of the team’s time to edit
- Missed deadlines and delays were common
- Poor performance of report
Solution
- Expertise in research, storytelling, and the IT industry
- Applied survey design and research best practices to ensure quality data
- Detail-oriented processes and communication
Results
- 3X the leads in one more compared to all of last year
- 1/3 of leads generated from unpaid channels
- 14% YOY more leads with their second report
- Minimal editing of report, saving team a lot of time
- Interesting data that can fuel new content for entire year
- Campaign hit every milestone and launched on time
