As a leader for more than ten years in open source application security, Mend specializes in protecting organizations against the most critical vulnerabilities while reducing risk and increasing the productivity of security and development teams. In addition to being a pioneer of software composition analysis (SCA), Mend also offers custom code security through static application security testing (SAST), which integrates easily into the developer workflow and helps companies create new applications easily without compromising on their security.
The Challenges
Mend was looking to increase its online presence within the US, UK and Israel. The company did not have an in-house social media manager and needed support with reaching more developers on social networks, engaging with influencers, and developing and distributing high-value content to its target audiences. In order to achieve these goals, Mend turned to Inspired Marketing for support with its social media marketing services. Mend also wanted to utilize its social media channels to simplify the world of open source usage for its audience, and discuss the challenges of open source management.
"When I joined Mend as a Global Communications manager in Jan 2021, I inherited Inspired Marketing’s social strategy. Working with the Inspired Marketing team was not only easy, but also led to excellent results. Inspired Marketing built and maintained a significant presence for Mend on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn follower growth and above-benchmark engagement rates were consistent throughout the years of our collaboration. Farrah and Rose, our account managers, were self-sufficient when it came to researching and crafting content. They needed minimal guidance from me and easily interfaced with different marketing and HR functions, just as if they were part of our in-house team. Responsive, resourceful and forward thinking, they were also always up for odd jobs, like running employee training on advocacy tools or compiling any type of custom report I could think of. I found them to be indispensable, and their name doesn't do them justice! It should be Inspiring - not Inspired Marketing.".
Shanie Weissman
Global Communications Manager | Mend
The Goals
- Increase awareness about Mend’s solutions among potential customers through social media and content marketing
- Generate new leads and nurture them until they converted into sales opportunities
- Strengthen the brand and convert satisfied customers into promoters
The Process
In order to achieve these goals, the Inspired Marketing team started to work with Mend in late 2019. The team offered social media services, which included the creation of content to help the company stand out on social media, making sure the content appears in front of the right audiences at the right time, attracting new and potential customers, and engaging existing customers.
Our process included the following:
1: Research and Strategy
Shortly after the Mend team approached Inspired Marketing, we scheduled a kick-off call to learn about the company’s specific social media and content marketing challenges, offering, goals and desired outcomes. Next, we conducted extensive research and assessments of the industry, target audience, competitors, keywords, hashtags, and influencers. Based on this research, we defined a social media marketing and content strategy.
2: KPIs and Deliverables
To make sure we were on track in meeting Mend’s goals, we defined the deliverables such as campaigns, posts, PDFs and gifs, and KPIs, which included metrics such as reach, clicks, followers, impressions, and shares. By monitoring these metrics, we could laser focus on the best-performing social campaigns and content strategy. We also used analytics from each channel to create new insights for the company’s social communications and future social strategy.
3: Campaigns and Content Promotion
After creating a social media marketing strategy, we used a combination of paid campaigns and third-party tools to grow a relevant following on Twitter. We also worked with the client to develop special campaigns, such as a month-long holiday promotion, and to promote the Secure Coding Virtual Summit – an all-day virtual conference. Then, we collaborated with the client on a content promotion schedule and ideation of special content, including PDFs and gifs.
4: Ongoing Regular Meetings and Idea Sharing
At Inspired Marketing, we prioritize close collaboration between our team and our clients’ marketing executive team. To this end, we set up regular meetings with Mend to share ideas and stay updated on company news. The insights from our regular meetings helped us leverage time-sensitive opportunities and develop ideas for special content and campaigns. For example, we helped Mend promote the news of its $75 million Series D funding, announced April 7, 2021, to its social channels. We also supported the company in getting the word out after acquiring Diffend, an open-source malware security and threat detection solution that provides software supply chain security.
5: Employee Advocacy Platform
We managed Mend’s employee advocacy platform, ensuring there was a constant feed of content for employees to share with their networks. We also provided employee training to help them get started using the platform, assisted with onboarding, and collected feedback on what types of content employees were more likely to share. With our help, Mend’s employees now interact with and advocate for the company’s content, messaging and announcements. They consistently show their support by sharing, commenting, and reaching out to the target audience.
6: Agility and Responsiveness
Our team worked with Mend to integrate seamlessly in its processes by using the company’s project management and communication tools. To stay agile and responsive, we created our social strategy, content promotion and campaigns, and shared them on Mend’s project management systems. By being transparent about our process, we worked closely with Mend to create content and design, and effect suggestions in response to the insights we pulled from monthly analytics.
The Results
By collaborating with Mend and leveraging our tailored social media and content marketing strategies, we were able to help achieve the following:
By the end of 2020, Mend achieved the following results on its social channels:
90% growth in Twitter following
52% growth in LinkedIn following
By the end of 2021, Mend achieved the following additional goals for the year:
27% growth in Twitter following
32% growth in LinkedIn following
Engagement rates above industry benchmarks:
1.4% Twitter in 2021
10% LinkedIn in 2021
By the end of 2021, total engagements increased by 25% compared to 2020 and total clicks increased by 42% in 2021 as compared with 2020.
This impressive growth was made possible through the close collaboration, idea sharing, tech savviness and strong relationship between Inspired Marketing and Mend, and by the proven social marketing methods that we use with all our clients.