Webinars that generate revenue? It can be done!

Some documents need to be stored and preserved. Others, need to be destroyed outright. One thing is certain though, no matter the industry, handling sensitive information requires a commitment to information management.

For more than a century, Iron Mountain has been doing just that. In fact, you’ve probably seen an Iron Mountain truck shuttling sensitive documents for storage or destruction.

But in a digital world, information management has a new meaning. Not all documents are printed, much less capable of traveling by truck or being shredded. Cloud computing and the internet have changed this permanently. However, information security and management remain just as important as ever.

Iron Mountain saw an opportunity to educate and lead its customers through the digital transformation of information management. It would use its deep expertise and thought leadership to engage customers, generate demand and steer its industry forward.

The origin story

When Iron Mountain approached Arketi Group in 2018, they had a big idea: create, promote and host an educational webcast series to share information management thought leadership, plus create opportunities for customer engagement and demand generation.

But there wasn’t much time. With roughly six weeks to drive registrations before the launch date, Arketi hit the ground running with a four-pronged promotional strategy – email, landing pages, organic and paid social and a year-long media buy with the flagship publication of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA).

The first webcast series secured more than 1,500 registrants across four webinars and generated a sales pipeline greater than $1.5 million. Plus, attendees stayed on the webcasts for an average of 45 minutes, confirming their interest and quality of the education.

Expanding to new heights

The inaugural series was such a success that Iron Mountain signed up for a second. And a third. In fact, over the next five years, this annual webinar series became an industry staple, with a dedicated following.

Each series follows a similar formula with four to five webcasts spread across the year. This way, Iron Mountain can dig deep into emerging topics and have some room for flexibility as new trends arise. The company now has a robust archive of thought leadership, and in fact, ARMA has now gone so far as to certify Iron Mountain’s webinars for Information Governance Professional (IGP) Continuing Education Credits.

Building on the success of our program, Iron Mountain and Arketi expanded our promotional campaigns to increase our audience reach and engagement using:

• Annual eBooks recapping the most-recent series and promoting next year’s to existing and new audiences.
• Post-event content, including a branded newsletter to promote learning materials, on-demand replays and upcoming events.
• Organic and paid social media posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter targeted to American and Canadian markets.

Onward and upward

Our program shifted public perception within the industry. Iron Mountain is no longer viewed solely as a “shredding service provider,” but as a trusted partner pushing the industry forward with its innovative information management practices and thought leadership.

Today, the series regularly secures thousands of registrants, an equal number of content downloads and an attendance rate greater than 50%.

What do those results look like in dollars?

In the first six months of 2022 alone, the program generated a sales pipeline of $30 million, secured $13 million in bookings and accounted for more than 20% of Iron Mountain’s yearly North American revenue target. We can say with confidence this marketing program pays off, generating revenue and accelerating growth.