Closing the gap between marketing and sales can be a difficult task for any company. More often than not, the disconnect comes from busy schedules and sometimes dueling work styles. 

As marketing has evolved over the past decade from traditional outbound strategies to inbound approaches, the technology behind it has taken significant steps forward––from analyzing website visits to click-through rates, email open rates, and social media engagement, there’s a tool for everything. 

All of the marketing technology advancements have impacted the way the industry interacts with its sales counterparts. More data is available today for advancing both of these areas in close synchronization. 

One company looking to help further the marketing and sales sync up is the inbound agency Spitfire Inbound. 

Founded in 2017, Spitfire Inbound specifically implements data-driven marketing strategies. Recently, we sat down with its cofounder and strategic director Alison Leishman.

Leishman is responsible for examining client behavior and putting together those insights into a custom inbound marketing strategy. In our conversation, she shared with us the challenges Spitfire Inbound faced with looking at many places to gather data and the time it took to compile client reports. 

The Challenge

Using clients’ data to turn marketing tactics into a powerful sales machine can be cumbersome. Today’s marketing agencies are turning to software platforms for assistance. 

Here are the challenges Spitfire Inbound faced: 

• Multiple Data Sources: With the goal of being data-driven, Spitfire Inbound needed a way to connect all of its clients’ data in one central location. 

“We were looking in multiple technologies to put together reports,” said Leishman. “We needed a way to give a much better single view to the customer.” 

• Data Aesthetics: Client reports were pieced together and were in need of a more polished look. 

“Sometimes we would present all of that information to accounts which can be overwhelming,” shared Leishman. “Sometimes we would pull things into Google Sheets and build a graph. All of this didn’t make for the most easy-to-understand data story.”

• Time: Building out reports for each client took too long. “Spending a whole day or more to create a report is just not productive,” said Leishman. 

“The time it took to get all the data from the various sources was really intensive,” shared Leishman. “The manual process for this was long and burdensome for our internal team.”

The Solution

Shortly after the company’s founding in 2017, Spitfire Inbound began using Databox. Prior to using the platform, Leishman’s team was using screenshots from multiple platforms to create reports and then write up marketing steps. Google Sheets was also used in the early days of the company but it was all time-consuming and a painful process.

“We use Databox for every single one of our clients,” said Leishman. “It’s included for all of our retainer clients. Our clients love Databox.”

Here is how Databox solved Spitfire Inbound’s challenges:

• Multiple Data Sources: By implementing Databox across internal and external systems, Spitfire Inbound was able to report from multiple sources and had an enhanced single point of view for their clients. 

“When we were looking at Databox, having every platform connected in one central location solved a lot of immediate issues,” shared Leishman.

Now, Spitfire Inbound has these data sources connected for its internal team: Teamwork, Google Sheets, Google Search Console, Instagram Business, HubSpot CRM, LinkedIn Company Pages, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Seventh Sense, Facebook Pages, Twitter, HubSpot Marketing, Google Analytics.

Spitfire Inbound’s Top Integrations

For clients, these are the data sources integrated into their Databox use:  Google Analytics, HubSpot Marketing, Google Ads, LinkedIn Company pages, LinkedIn Company pages, Google Sheets, Facebook Pages, Twitter, Zapier, MailChimp, and Google Search Console. 

• Data Aesthetics: Spitfire Inbound creates custom reports for its clients which have all received positive feedback on its polished outcome. 

“When we used Databox for the first time for client reporting, we received great feedback on how professional it looked and how easy it was to understand,” said Leishman.

To help elevate the data aesthetics for its client reports, Spitfire Inbound has built out Databoards for marketing and sales insights, blog performance, social media performance, contact performance, email performance, landing page performance, year-to-date performance, content overview, sales overview, and website performance.

“We use Databoards as a kick-off point for client conversations,” shared Leishman. “They also help us to set expectations and set Goals whether it be monthly, quarterly, or annually.”

• Time: Using Databox helped the Spitfire Inbound team to better pinpoint unique data stories in a shorter period of time.

Through the use of Databox’s Query Builder for Teamwork, Google Analytics, and HubSpot alongside its Data Calculations for open rates and engagement, Spitfire Inbound has been able to significantly reduce the time it takes to build out reports.

The Results

As a direct result of including Databox as part of its clients’ retainers, Spitfire Inbound has added 20 new clients to Databox in the past three years. Conversion rate from online visitors has seen a significant increase of 772% while customer growth saw a 22% bump. 

Having a well-oiled machine like Databox has allowed Spitfire Inbound to instill a sense of confidence in its customers.

Here are the results Spitfire Inbound has seen from its Databox use to date: 

• Multiple Data Sources: The single location and viewing for all its clients’ data have proven to be invaluable to Spitfire Inbound. It helps the team prioritize tasks and provide better counsel to its clients.  

• Data Aesthetics: Client decisions are based on Spitfire Inbound’s monthly reporting. With this new polished look, there’s been an added bump in client engagement. 

“Now, our clients are able to see the overall data story,” said Leishman. “With everything condensed to a single reporting slide in a visually appealing manner, we can focus on the strategy and tactics as opposed to just the data.” 

• Time: Databox has enabled Spitfire Inbound to cut its reporting time in half – from on average 6-8 hours they now spend 2-4 hours creating reports. Its people have more time to focus on insights, strategy, and making the presentation look good.