How Dennis built a lead generation arm ready for the future
"When the team came in talking about everything Convertr could do, it was just making an awful lot of sense. We saw that the industry was moving away from spreadsheets and this was the future."
Paul Franklin
B2B & B2C Group Publisher
Revenue Growth
Hours Per Week Saved By Automating Data Processes
Invalid Leads Filtered
About Dennis
Founded by Felix Dennis in 1974, and now the 6th largest consumer magazine publisher, Dennis has transformed its business from its traditional print publishing roots to a true multi-platform, award-winning media company.
Thanks to their forward-thinking ambitions, Dennis has thrived in the new Publishing world with a portfolio of over 30 brands operating in four areas; Current Affairs, Tech, Auto and Lifestyle.
Dennis Publishing is now one of Convertr's longest-term customers
Led by Paul Franklin, their B2B and B2C tech division was among the first to delve into lead generation opportunities in their industry – and feel the rewards that came with the new venture.
Their Challenge
From the beginning, Dennis saw promising returns from their lead generation initiative, but it quickly became apparent that their Excel-based processes would hinder their ability to scale and cope with demand.
In fact, the more business they won, the more they found themselves maintaining their system instead of fuelling it.
When you start winning more and more campaigns, you've got hundreds on hundreds of leads.
...It's messy, it's complicated, it's difficult to organise; difficult to retrieve and difficult to work though. We had to leave the medieval practices of Excel behind.
Paul Franklin
B2B & B2C Group Publisher
What had been manageable in the early days was no longer feasible
With nearly 70% of their time dedicated to maintaining the process, Dennis was missing out on key commercial insights and opportunities as a result.
It was more than a case of 'bad data' – their growth was being blocked by the time needed for manually de-duplicating, verifying and standardizing data into the format their clients wanted, and that their tech stack needed to operate properly.
In order to keep up the pace, Dennis had to future-proof their most promising revenue opportunity from excessive manual workloads and address:
Commercial opportunities missed from a lack of real-time data.
Time-intensive data management and lead review.
Lost subscribers due to frustrating user experiences.
Data compliance risks posed by manual tasks.
While many commercial tools can handle one or several of these tasks, Dennis struggled to find one that would take on the heavy lifting from end-to-end. Ultimately, they needed a platform that could enhance their data quality and accelerate their lead management processes to the standard that they needed to thrive.
Their Vision
Dennis had seen the opportunity in lead generation and the chance to provide more value to their clients. But it required a technology partner focused enough to deliver what Dennis' B2B vision needed.
True to their nature, the team at Dennis looked beyond a 'quick fix' data cleanse or single-point reporting system, seeking a comprehensive, capable solution that would transform their workflow, moving them away from spreadsheets and managing their entire process from data capture to delivery.
The Solution
The answer to their ambitious vision came ready-made: With Convertr, Dennis had a platform to house, validate and report on their leads at scale.
When we learned about everything Convertr could do...we saw that this was the future
Paul Franklin
B2B & B2C Group Publisher
The Results
With Convertr's infrastructure at their core, Dennis has evolved their lead generation arm into a business that's both ready for the future and better serves their customers:
Confidence In Compliance
From a compliance standpoint, processing thousands of leads on spreadsheets is a risky business. So a key factor in the decision process was ensuring their new platform would protect their data, their subscribers and their team.
With a 'compliance by design' approach, Convertr's system has made day-to-day security simple for Dennis. In the long term, the platform proved to be an invaluable asset in the wake of GDPR; supporting the team with easy opt-in forms, PII masking and Subject Access Request tools.
Stronger Client Relationships
3 years ago, it was typical to expect an average 3% lead rejection rate per campaign: With Convertr, Dennis's lead rejection has dropped to less than 0.1% – making them one of the most dependable partners on their clients' roster.
In the first month alone, Convertr helped Dennis see that 23% of their incoming leads were invalid and instantly protect their campaign efforts with a 2-step verification process. Using this technology, Dennis has found it far easier to filter unsuitable leads and consistently impress clients with leads that are both accurate and match their campaign criteria.
Making Everyday More Productive
Before Convertr, Dennis' Lead Gen team spent 70% of their working week simply fixing data errors and maintaining the end-to-end operational process.
With an end-to-end platform in place, Dennis' team could finally streamline their lead generation process: Instead of relying on 8 different tools, they now use just 3 powerful platforms and have cut their manual maintenance time to just 5%.
The Pillar for Supporting Data Systems
As well as impressing clients, these cleaner, consistent data sets have allowed Dennis to enhance the capabilities of their supporting platforms.
By gaining richer data and more accurate pictures of their subscribers' activity, Sales teams have been able to better leverage other tools, such as Selligent Marketing Cloud, and use detailed campaigns recommendations in their pitch for new business.
In the words of Camille Peetroons, Dennis' Commercial & Data Product Manager, centralising their content service and working closely with Convertr's analytics means that Dennis is now delivering the "right conversations at the right time" to a relevant, engaged subscriber base.
Camille Peetroons
Commercial & Data Product Manager
Why Dennis Recommends Convertr
In a market where many media owners are shrinking, Paul and his team are adamant that Convertr has been key to their business' growth.
By moving away from the 'Dark Ages of Excel', Convertr has given Dennis the tools they need to thrive with their agile, forward-thinking approach to audience engagement and lead generation.
We were right to move away from Excel, and the fact that we find ourselves as part of that ecosystem with quicker integrations, with quicker access to all of the data in one central system, to have a system that is GDPR compliant...all of those things validate the initial trepidation of being an initial investor in Convertr all those years ago.
"Fundamentally though, Emma and her team made it possible. Emma's passion and enthusiasm is unparalleled and the support from account managers, both technical and day to day has been fantastic.
Paul Franklin
B2B & B2C Group Publisher