Formed in July 2017, Ignys is an electronic design company based in the Innovation Centre at Nottingham University. They work with a range of companies, from smart home technology to telecoms to security.
IGNYS LTD
From 1 to 8 staff in two years
The Client
Their Needs
Early in 2018 the owner, Richard Fletcher, recognised a need to make his marketing more consistent and effective.
Ignys already had a pretty full diary, in work terms, but was reliant on one big client. Richard wanted to increase the number of clients and reduce the reliance on that one client. Particularly as the contract was due to end in October 2018.
What did we do?
In February 2018, our three-stage strategic process developed:
- A clear picture of what marketing was working – and what wasn’t.
- A set of Ideal Clients, including key messages to attract their attention and interest
- A marketing plan for the next 12 months.
Once the marketing strategy and plan had been agreed, we started to support Ignys with our Virtual Marketing Director service. This included:
- Working with Richard to develop content for a new website
- Managing the production and launch of the new site
- Managing the production of a regular flow of new blog content, reviewing each piece to guarantee it read well and to improve SEO performance
- Maintaining a regular flow of communication with their network, primarily through email and social media
- Managing a specialist SEO company to further improve SEO performance.
Results
Since March 2018, Ignys has employed a full-time electronics engineer and a part-time firmware engineer.
- Turnover has increased by 130%
- Website traffic levels are up 149%
- Search engine rankings for key phrases, such as electronics design company, are now appearing on the first page of Google.
What the client said
“ I knew we were good at what we did and was aware that sitting in a room waiting for customers to turn up wasn’t going to work. We’d tried sending out brochures to companies on science parks but that hadn’t generated much interest.
We needed to do something to better market our services, so I did a Google search for SME marketing services. SME Needs stood out in that search which I took as a good sign as a marketing business must be able to market themselves. I think I must have filled in a web form with some details as 10 minutes later Nigel called to understand what I was looking for.
We had an initial chat where he explained what he did. This resonated with me and made lots of sense so we started working with him to see which parts of out marketing had been effective (not much), defining our ideal customers and then developing a marketing plan.
Our website, www.ignys.co.uk, which Nigel managed the complete redesign of, is far removed from our early attempts and gives a professional shop front to the world. ”
“ The real benefit of working with Nigel and his team is tapping into his wealth of experience, discussing and being gently driven to try out various channels and on being kept accountable for the regular communication with the world.
Nigel excels at ensuring that even in the busiest of times the marketing isn’t forgotten. It is very easy to stop talking to prospects and past customers when there is a peak of work. In the electronics design industry this is dangerous as there can be a 3-6 month lead time before starting a project, we have to ensure we are constantly engaging with potential customers to keep our orderbook full.
If we hadn’t started working with SME Needs early in 2018 we would still have had the old website, wouldn’t have been talking to customers and wouldn’t be growing the business to serve more and more customers. With the continually growing needs for Internet of Things (IoT), Electric Vehicles (EV), Home Automation and Industry 4.0 there is a clear demand for Electronics design services, SME Needs is a key part of our ambitious growth plans. I see Nigel not as an external services provided but as one of the Ignys team. Thank you Nigel. ”
Richard Fletcher
Managing Director, Ignys Ltd
