Navigating Industry Shifts: Recapturing Market Share with a Strategic Marketing Approach

Situation

EcoLogic Engineering Services (not the real company name) is a family owned and operated business with a 20 year legacy based in Northeastern US. The services they offer range from environmental impact assessment, remediation and clean up, air quality monitoring and control, sustainable infrastructure design, environmental compliance and permitting, ecological restoration and water resource management.

The daughter of the owner inherited a long-standing family business, immersing herself in its operations under her father’s tutelage while completing her university education. The company thrived for years, primarily acquiring clients through word of mouth in a market with limited competition, particularly in specialized environmental engineering services.

However, the landscape shifted dramatically over the past two decades as environmental issues became a forefront topic for many businesses and local governments.. Technological advancements and evolving government regulations  ushered in a wave of competitors in the environmental engineering space all competing for a slice of the market share. This growing market competition challenged the effectiveness of their traditional referral-based growth strategy. Smaller, more nimble firms emerged, offering swift services at competitive rates, outpacing EcoLogic Engineering Services.

Despite enjoying a strong brand presence in the past, the lack of proactive marketing left them vulnerable as newer players aggressively invested in brand building. The industry became saturated with similar service providers, eroding EcoLogic Engineering Services’ market share.

Recognizing the urgent need for change, albeit hesitantly, they conceded to allocating resources towards marketing efforts, acknowledging its critical role in ensuring the sustainability of their business.

Challenge

With minimal barriers to entry, numerous independent consultants were establishing their ventures, assembling teams, and aggressively expanding their networks to gain traction in the market.

EcoLogic Engineering Services grappled with a multitude of issues, including dwindling market share, intensifying competition, and revenue vulnerability due to heavy reliance on two major clients. Their struggles to expand their customer base had persisted for years.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, they understood the imperative to invest in marketing efforts to explore new verticals.

Despite having a sales team in place, their focus had long been confined to nurturing existing business, a zone of comfort. Lacking dedicated marketing support, they had overlooked the crucial task of generating leads and cultivating new opportunities.

Solution

The initial focus was for mitigating revenue risks by diversifying revenue sources and cultivating new business opportunities in burgeoning verticals.

This approach aimed to address both the vulnerability associated with relying heavily on two major accounts and the challenge of diminishing market share.

The first step involved conducting comprehensive market research to gain insights into prevailing industry trends and trajectories. This entailed gathering data on competition levels, key market players, barriers to entry, innovation levels, compound annual growth rates (CAGR), market segmentation, and concentration, providing a clearer picture of the vertical’s appeal.

Subsequently, we evaluated the market’s size by analyzing the total addressable market (TAM), the serviceable available market size (SAM), and the potential serviceable and obtainable market (SOM) size.

With this groundwork laid, our focus shifted to developing a strategic marketing plan geared towards optimization and testing, particularly given the technical and niche nature of the targeted verticals. Despite limited budgetary resources, we prioritized the creation of value-driven content.

Leveraging owned media channels such as blogs, email campaigns, and social media platforms enabled us to effectively distribute this content. Additionally, forging partnerships with industry associations facilitated increased visibility and broader distribution of our content.

Results

Through meticulous market research and strategic planning, we identified promising verticals to explore and devised a marketing plan aimed at organically validating these options, prioritizing owned media over paid channels to optimize expenditure effectively.

Confident in the viability of certain channels, such as events, we actively participated in them, resulting in the generation of between 50 to 76 highly qualified leads.

With an average conversion rate of 22% and an average contract size exceeding $200k, the outcomes were significant:

  • Built pipeline revenue of $2.5M
  • Expanded market opportunities by expanding into three new verticals
  • Generated more medium sized customers derisking revenue reliance on 2 large tier 1 accounts
  • ROI from marketing activities estimated at 790%

Let us help you diversify your revenue by building a go-to-market strategy that will help you attract new customers and navigate through the evolving industry shifts.