We’ve all heard the saying: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
You can apply that same thought experiment to B2B marketing content production: If a blog post was written, and no one reads it…was it ever written? 😉
All jokes aside, the sentiment still remains. Most marketing teams spend the majority of their time in the content production phase, devoting hours to copywriting, editing, and designing, with little thought given to content distribution and promotion — the very activity that gets their content in the hands of their readers (and buyers!).
However, organizations like UpLead that invest in content distribution have tremendous results to show for it. When UpLead partnered with Growth Gorilla to boost their digital presence through SEO and link building, the company saw a +1,400% increase in organic web traffic and a +213% increase in free trial sign-ups. In this case study, UpLead’s Founder & CEO, Will Cannon, shares the factors leading to their decision to work with Growth Gorilla, their experience partnering together, and the incredible results they achieved.
Company Background
UpLead is a fast-growing B2B technology company based in Southern California. The company’s sales intelligence software provides real-time, verified contact information, allowing customers to execute effective sales prospecting campaigns.
The Challenge
In 2018, Will Cannon, Founder and CEO of UpLead, decided it was time to focus their attention on building their brand through SEO. At the start, Cannon took on most of the heavy lifting on execution, but as the company grew, he realized it was time to rely on external resources to help hit their goals.
With a small, existing library of published articles, UpLead realized they needed support specifically on distribution and promotion of those articles through link building. Their search found them evaluating a number of different growth marketing agencies. Among them, Growth Gorilla stood out for several reasons. From the beginning, Cannon appreciated Growth Gorilla’s strategic approach and focus on transparency and process.
Furthermore, it was important for UpLead to work with a partner that understood the ins-and-outs of the link building landscape and could deliver high-quality work.
We needed a partner who not only had the subject matter expertise, but could also effectively communicate what the process would look like and what to expect. We felt confident in Growth Gorilla’s ability to deliver on those requirements
Will Cannon, Founder Upelad
With this match, UpLead chose to move forward with Growth Gorilla.
The Solution
UpLead had a solid content foundation to begin with. The team had already published several long-form, educational articles targeting specific keywords with good traffic potential. Armed with this content, Growth Gorilla began their outreach process. For the first two months, they focused solely on the distribution of one of UpLead’s top articles.
As UpLead grew their content library, the partnership grew as well. Growth Gorilla provided their recommendations to increase UpLead’s SERP rankings based on findings from a routine and comprehensive keyword “linkability” analysis performed each quarter.
Eventually, Growth Gorilla was managing link building efforts for over several dozen articles for UpLead.
The Results
Over the course of the partnership, Growth Gorilla secured over 300 backlinks to UpLead’s content. In addition to a dramatic improvement in UpLead’s domain rating, the backlinking efforts yielded some impressive top-of-funnel marketing and sales metrics:
- Organic web traffic increased by 1,400%
- Free trial sign-ups increased by 213%
| Month | Nr of links acquired | LTV of links |
|---|---|---|
| October 2018 | 7 | 7 |
| November 2018 | 8 | 15 |
| December 2018 | 2 | 17 |
| January 2019 | 12 | 29 |
| February 2019 | 13 | 42 |
| March 2019 | 7 | 49 |
| April 2019 | 12 | 61 |
| May 2019 | 16 | 77 |
| June 2019 | 13 | 90 |
| July 2019 | 12 | 102 |
| August 2019 | 12 | 114 |
| September 2019 | 11 | 125 |
| October 2019 | 10 | 135 |
| November 2019 | 9 | 144 |
| December 2019 | 10 | 154 |
| January 2020 | 9 | 163 |
| February 2020 | 11 | 174 |
| March 2020 | 10 | 184 |
| April 2020 | 10 | 194 |
| May 2020 | 10 | 204 |
| June 2020 | 10 | 214 |
| July 2020 | 9 | 223 |
| August 2020 | 9 | 232 |
| September 2020 | 10 | 242 |
| October 2020 | 10 | 252 |
| November 2020 | 10 | 262 |
| December 2020 | 11 | 273 |
| January 2021 | 10 | 283 |
| February 2021 | 10 | 293 |
| March 2021 | 12 | 305 |
Reflecting on the partnership, Cannon believes they wouldn’t have achieved the same level of success without Growth Gorilla. On top of the results they saw, Cannon has been pleased with the overall experience working with Growth Gorilla.
Working with a new vendor or agency always comes with some level of risk, but Growth Gorilla put any concerns we had to rest with their professionalism and consistency in managing all areas of the partnership — from expectations to project costs to results
Will Cannon, Founder Upelad
Looking back, the relationship saved the UpLead team a lot of time while maximizing potential outcomes.
Going forward, the two teams will continue working together to support new SEO and growth initiatives for UpLead.