Case Study
Revolutionizing Demo Requests at Cirrus Insight
Persona-Based Campaigns for Dramatic Results
312%
Increase in qualified demo requests
22%
Improvement in close rates
41%
Reduction in sales cycle length
The Challenge
A Critical Sales Process Challenge
When I joined Cirrus Insight as Senior Product Marketing Manager in February 2022, the company was facing a critical challenge with its demo request process. Cirrus Insight, a Salesforce extension add-on for email inboxes, had built a powerful solution that streamlined sales workflows for Account Executives (AEs), Sales Development Representatives (SDRs), and Customer Success Managers (CSMs). However, the company struggled to effectively demonstrate this value to prospects early in the sales cycle.
For a tool designed to make sales processes more efficient, our own sales process was ironically inefficient. Sales managers—our primary buyer persona—needed to see clear ROI potential before allocating time for their teams to evaluate yet another sales tool. Without an effective way to demonstrate value early, we were fighting an uphill battle to earn their attention.
Key Challenges
- Low demo request volume: Despite having a solution that salespeople loved once they used it, we weren't generating enough initial interest
- Poor qualification process: Many demo requests came from prospects who weren't a good fit, wasting valuable sales resources
- Lengthy sales cycles: Without early value demonstration, prospects required multiple calls to understand the product's benefits
- Misalignment between marketing and sales: Marketing materials weren't effectively setting up sales conversations
- Generic messaging: Our outreach wasn't specifically addressing the distinct needs of our three core user personas
The Approach
Reimagining the Demo Experience
After analyzing the funnel data and speaking with sales team members, I realized we needed a fundamental shift in our approach to demos. Instead of treating demos as simply a stage in the sales process, we needed to transform them into a value-demonstration engine that would qualify prospects while showcasing immediate benefits.
1. Persona-Based Segmentation
Account Executives
Focused on deal velocity and relationship management
SDRs
Prioritized prospecting efficiency and follow-up management
CSMs
Concerned with customer engagement and relationship tracking
2. Self-Guided Demo Experience
The centerpiece of my strategy was the creation of an innovative self-guided demo experience that allowed prospects to see immediate value without scheduling a full sales call.
- Interactive playground environment using mock data sets
- Persona-specific demo paths
- Realistic email and Salesforce interfaces
- Progressive feature discovery paths
- Frictionless qualification data collection
3. Multi-Channel Acquisition
Paid Media
Targeted LinkedIn campaigns with messaging specific to team composition
Content Marketing
Persona-based content addressing specific pain points
Email Campaigns
Segmented outreach sequences with personalized use cases
4. Qualification-Focused Data Collection
I completely redesigned the information collection process to simultaneously qualify prospects while enhancing their experience:
- Replaced long forms with progressive, conversation-like interactions
- Collected only essential qualification data at entry
- Gathered deeper insights during the demo experience
- Implemented behavioral scoring based on feature engagement
- Created real-time qualification scoring for sales follow-up
5. Sales and Marketing Alignment
To ensure the entire demo request process seamlessly connected marketing to sales, I:
- Developed a shared qualification framework
- Created automated lead routing based on qualification score
- Built custom Salesforce fields for demo engagement data
- Designed personalized follow-up templates
- Implemented regular feedback loops with sales
The Execution
Implementing the Strategy
With the strategy developed, I led cross-functional implementation across marketing, sales, and product teams:
Development and Launch of the Self-Guided Demo
Working closely with our product and engineering teams, I led the development of the self-guided demo experience that allowed prospects to "play" with Cirrus Insight in their specific context before committing to a full sales conversation.
The interactive playground used realistic mock data and persona-specific paths that highlighted key features relevant to each role, providing immediate value demonstration while collecting qualification data.
Channel Optimization
For each marketing channel, I developed and optimized specific approaches:
- LinkedIn Campaigns: Created highly targeted ad sets with persona-specific messaging, achieving a 43% higher CTR
- Website Experience: Redesigned key landing pages with clear persona paths
- Email Marketing: Implemented behavior-based triggers inviting prospects to the self-guided demo
- Retargeting: Developed campaigns highlighting specific features based on previous site engagement
Data Integration & Training
To make the qualification process actionable for sales, I:
- CRM Integration: Connected demo engagement data directly into Salesforce
- Lead Scoring: Developed a model weighting both demographic and behavioral factors
- Sales Training: Conducted sessions on leveraging demo engagement data in conversations
- Playbooks: Created persona-specific scenarios based on demo journeys
The Results
Transformative Impact
312%
Increase in qualified demo requests
22%
Improvement in close rates
68%
Increase in average deal size
47%
Reduction in no-show rates
41%
Reduction in sales cycle length