Client: Cisco Networking Academy

Project: B2B Growth Strategy

Capabilities: Interviewing, Analytics, Journey Mapping, Stakeholder Presentations, Process Improvements, Quantitative Surveys, Agency Management, Personas, Content Model, Information Architecture, Content Strategy, Wireframing, Copywriting

When working with legacy organizations, introducing change can be seen as threatening. This requires an approach of tact and grace, using data to back up your decisions, and making sure you take time to truly relate to and understand the existing systems.

I worked as a freelance resource for the Cisco Networking Academy team for about 3 years. During that time, one of the projects I worked on was the development of a new B2B growth strategy that would help the organization reach and convert instructors.

Conducting a thorough review

After spending several weeks reviewing past audience research, interviewing stakeholders and industry experts, and digging into the analytics, I had a pretty solid grasp on the landscape.

Next, was a thorough mapping of the current lead flow process, including a review of the communications pieces, automation, technology stack, and conversion rates. This led to a boiled down list of recommended areas for improvement.

Identifying the problems we needed to solve and building a content strategy

One of the things we uncovered early on was that the main problem wasn’t in total traffic to the site, or conversion rates on the page, but rather the qualification of the leads. The leads coming into the system were either:

• Unqualified

• Qualified but not ready to make a purchasing decision in the next 6 months

• Qualified, and ready to make a purchasing decision, but needing a lot of additional education to be able to do so

Typically, a sales team and sales operations process can handle all three of these scenarios, but in our case, no true dedicated sales team existed. To alleviate the tension, we began the creation of a content strategy that could do 85% of the prospect education.

First off, I defined the buyer stages and how far the website needed to take them before passing them off to the onboarding team.

From content model, to wireframe, to design

Next, I wireframed a two-page website that could walk a buyer from awareness all the way through to conversion, without skipping any of the previous stages of education gathering.

All of this messaging, layout, and approach were brand new to the organization. Click on the images below to see the content model, wireframes, and visual designs of the two pages in more detail.

Creating interactive content for lead generation and qualification

One of the key content pieces to support the launch of the new growth strategy and web pages was an interactive Informational Packet, which included a secondary content piece, ‘Evaluate your Readiness’ assessment.

Below you’ll find the Trello board I created to manage the content creation process as well as a content wireframe of the Informational Packet. Click on the images to expand them.

In Summary

• More than 4 years later, the work still stands. The longer I’ve done creative work, the more I’ve become focused on the aspect of longevity. How do I build something that lasts? This project certainly has done that.

• This was certainly a team effort, though I will say, a very small team.

• An entire timeline and all key documentation can be viewed using the link below.