WMS Underfloor Heating

Sector:
Building Products | Manufacturing | Technology

Services:
Digital Marketing Strategy | Positioning | Communications

Overview:

WMS Underfloor Heating is a family-owned business, which celebrated its 20th birthday in 2023. It works with architects, local authorities and developers ‒ including big names such as Landsec, Cala Homes and Berkeley Homes.

BFM first worked with WMS between 2015 and 2017, when we were appointed to review and develop the company’s marketing and sales strategy. Then in 2023, WMS commissioned us to act as its outsourced marketing department ‒ a role we held until handing over to a new in-house business development manager in autumn 2024.

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The Challenge:

WMS lacked the digital marketing infrastructure necessary to gather useful tracking data. As a result, it was difficult for the company both to quantify the return on investment for its marketing budget and to record and pursue marketing qualified leads.

The solution and results:

BFM’s priority was to create a marketing plan closely aligned with WMS’s strategic business objectives, with rigorous key performance indicators to allow clear measurement of ROI. To support the plan, BFM upgraded WMS’s digital tracking and reporting systems to:

· monitor the effectiveness of its campaigns
· quickly identify and proactively manage underperformance
· improve capture and follow up of marketing qualified leads

At the same time, BFM developed a strategic comms plan with quarterly campaigns focused on themes demonstrating WMS’s industry expertise and foresight. The integrated plan covered advertising, editorial, social media and email campaigns. KPIs included marketing reach, clicks through from advertising and editorial, marketing qualified leads and website visits.

The first campaign celebrated WMS’s 20th anniversary with a video showing founder and managing director Ashley Cooper going “Back to the Floor”. Posted on YouTube in October 2023, the film was promoted and supported through a campaign of LinkedIn posts, including shorter soundbite-style videos.

That month, WMS’s YouTube video views numbered 820 compared to 170 in the previous month. In November, that figure shot up to 3000 views. And on LinkedIn, impressions in October reached 35,700 – an increase of more than 300% on the previous month.

As well as celebrating WMS’s heritage and values, “Back to the Floor” also paved the way for low-carbon focused marketing messaging in 2024. This centred on a research paper demonstrating how underfloor heating systems run in reverse can provide cooling, helping housebuilders to meet part O of the building regulations.

Alongside communications planning and delivery, BFM reviewed WMS’s existing CRM system, creating a refined database of contacts for email marketing campaigns. And adding calls to action to the website provided a new stream of specific contacts to follow up.

As a result of BFM’s new strategy, improved analytics, regular detailed reporting and proactive management, WMS’s marketing campaigns soon demonstrated a clear return on investment. Most KPIs were met or exceeded from January 2024. LinkedIn reach increased sixfold between January and June 2024, and UTM leads from editorial regularly exceeded the KPI target – by as much as 700%.

Beyond the numbers, BFM’s clear, focused messaging promoted both WMS’s reputation for innovation and the values underpinning its success – reliability, a can-do attitude and a commitment to excellence.

BFM undertook a rapid but thorough competitor research exercise, focusing on the consumer market. This provided useful insights into TuffX’s rivals’ products and pricing as well as their social media presence and online reputation.

A simultaneous website analysis highlighted two key issues with the TuffX site. First, while most of the company’s business comes from trade buyers, the design, content and navigation of the site were geared to consumer customers. Second, TuffX’s consumer products were not easy for customers to find, as having an e-commerce site bolted onto a trade website undermined SEO.

BFM recommended a new online strategy with the twin aims of improving online consumer sales and creating a better user experience for trade customers on the TuffX website.

Before implementing the online strategy, BFM developed persona’s for two target customer groups: homeowners interested in home improvements and building companies that work on small domestic projects. While homeowners would be sensitive to website aesthetics and might value reliability, customer support and quality over price, building companies would focus on product cost.

The new online strategy was launched in July 2024, supported by a coordinated communications campaign.

For Built for Marketing a marketing strategy is aligned to a business’s overall plan. For marketing, this plan includes reaching prospective customers and converting them into an active customer base for either their products or services. Our client, marketing strategies ensure the company’s value proposition, key brand messaging, data on target customer demographics, and other high-level elements are fully understood and communicated internally and externally.

We improve the company’s positioning by developing research within each of the key markets the client works within. Our efforts are focused on capturing of costumer and marketing perceptions through comprehensive surveys and carry out local market/competitor analysis.

The results of the research enable to communicate on a local level with each of the key markets defined by the client.

BFM manages the full process of launching a new product. We will cover everything from overview brochure, photorealistic renders, new technical data sheets, launch posters to a complete online communications plan. We also have the ability to create and manage launch events or corporate gatherings. 

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    What WMS Underfloor Heating® says

    “ Built for Marketing came recommended to us, to help us improve our focus and to create a strategy to drive our business forwards. Jules’ natural ability to identify need and opportunity made working with her inspiring and enjoyable”.