The Story at a Glance
A regional IT services provider was stuck in neutral, unable to break through to the high-value clients they knew existed in their market. Despite their technical expertise and solid reputation among existing clients, they couldn’t seem to get in front of the decision-makers at larger, more sophisticated companies. Everything changed when they brought in a marketing partner who helped them execute a surgical, multi-channel ABM campaign targeting 900 carefully selected local companies. The result: £138K in new annual recurring revenue and a projected lifetime value of £690K—finally positioning them as a premier provider in their region.
The Problem: Locked Out of the Market They Wanted
The High-Value Wall
The company had carved out a decent business serving small to medium-sized local clients, but it’d hit a ceiling. The larger, more lucrative accounts in their region seemed perpetually out of reach. These weren’t companies halfway across the country—they were right in their backyard, facing IT challenges the provider could absolutely solve. However, they couldn’t seem to schedule meetings.
Scattered Efforts, Scattered Results
They’d tried the usual suspects: digital advertising campaigns that burned through budget without generating quality leads, telemarketing efforts that resulted in endless voicemails and gatekeeper rejections, and various regional networking initiatives that produced pleasant conversations but rarely converted to business.
Nothing was working because nothing was focused. They were trying to be everywhere at once instead of being exactly where they needed to be, saying exactly what needed to be said, to exactly the right people.
The frustration was compounded by knowing they could serve these accounts brilliantly—if only they could get a foot in the door.
The Strategy: Precision Over Volume
Identifying the Perfect 900
Rather than blasting their message to every business in the region, the marketing team took a completely different approach. They started by defining what an ideal client actually looked like, then systematically identified 900 companies that fit the profile.
The selection criteria were rigorous:
Industry fit – Sectors where the IT provider had demonstrable expertise and relevant case studies they could point to
Company size – Large enough to need comprehensive managed services but not so massive they’d require capabilities beyond the provider’s scope
Growth indicators – Businesses showing signs of expansion or technology investment, meaning IT support would be a priority rather than an afterthought
Geographic proximity – Close enough for responsive on-site service, which remained a key differentiator against offshore or remote-only competitors
Each prospect was researched individually. The team identified decision-makers, understood organisational structure, and gathered intelligence about current technology environments and pain points. This wasn’t a list pulled from a database and called it a day—it was a carefully curated roster of genuinely qualified opportunities.
Crafting Messages That Actually Resonated
Generic IT marketing sounds the same everywhere: “We provide reliable technology solutions to help your business succeed.” Prospects are numb to it.
Instead, the campaign developed segment-specific messaging that spoke directly to the distinct challenges each type of company faced. Healthcare organisations heard about compliance and security. Manufacturing companies heard about operational technology integration and uptime requirements. Professional services firms heard about productivity tools and remote work infrastructure.
The content wasn’t just tailored—it was relevant in a way that made prospects think, “These people actually understand our business.”
Orchestrating the Touchpoint Symphony
With the right targets identified and the right messages crafted, the execution came down to coordinated, sequenced outreach across four channels:
Direct mail kicked things off with physically impressive packages that demanded attention. Not oversized postcards or cheap flyers, but substantial, well-designed pieces that communicated seriousness and sophistication.
Email campaigns followed with valuable content that reinforced the themes introduced in direct mail. These weren’t product pitches—they were educational pieces, industry insights, and thought leadership that positioned the provider as experts worth talking to.
LinkedIn engagement ran parallel, with personalised connection requests and messages that built social proof and established credibility in a professional context. Decision-makers could see real people, real expertise, and real clients similar to themselves.
Phone outreach came last, after prospects had been warmed through multiple channels. By the time calls were made, they weren’t cold anymore. Prospects recognised the company name, had seen their content, and were primed for conversation.
The Technical Backbone
Behind this coordinated dance were several technical optimisations that dramatically improved performance:
Direct dial access bypassed receptionists and reached decision-makers directly, transforming phone outreach from an exercise in frustration to actual conversations.
Email infrastructure enhancements ensured messages reached inboxes instead of spam folders, leveraging proper authentication, reputation management, and sending patterns that ISPs trusted.
Professional direct mail design elevated perception immediately. The physical quality of materials signalled the quality of service prospects could expect.
Compelling copywriting cuts through the noise with clear, specific value propositions instead of industry jargon and empty promises.
Sophisticated data management prevented the fatal error of over-contacting prospects, tracking every touchpoint across all channels to maintain optimal frequency—persistent enough to stay top-of-mind, but never crossing into annoyance.
Everything flowed into a centralised tracking system that showed exactly how prospects engaged with each channel, enabling real-time optimisation throughout the campaign.
The Results: Breaking Through
900 Companies Engaged
Every single one of the 900 target companies was reached through the multi-channel campaign. This wasn’t spray-and-pray marketing hoping for a few hits—it was systematic engagement with a precisely defined market segment.
£138K in New Annual Recurring Revenue
The campaign generated £138K in new annual recurring contracts from clients who had previously seemed unreachable. These weren’t small wins or one-off projects—they were substantial managed services agreements providing predictable monthly revenue.
For a regional provider, this magnitude of recurring revenue fundamentally changed the business model. Forecasting became reliable. Investment decisions became confident. Growth became sustainable rather than hopeful.
£690K Projected Lifetime Value
Looking beyond the first-year revenue, the five-year projected lifetime value of these new client relationships totalled £690K. This figure accounts not just for the base support contracts, but the additional projects, software licensing, infrastructure upgrades, and expansion opportunities that naturally emerge from strong client relationships.
This is where ABM’s focus on fit really pays dividends—when you win the right clients, not just any clients, retention and expansion become far more likely.
Beyond the Numbers: The Real Transformation
Cracking the Regional Market
The most significant outcome wasn’t captured in any single metric—it was the repositioning of the company within their regional market. They’d finally broken through to the tier of clients they’d always been capable of serving. The campaign didn’t just generate leads; it established credibility and presence among exactly the audience that mattered most.
A Growth Engine, Not a One-Time Campaign
Before this, business development was reactive and unpredictable. A good quarter happened when referrals came through or an existing client expanded. A slow quarter just… happened, with no clear way to change trajectory.
Now, the company has a repeatable system for generating high-quality opportunities. They could turn the dial up when they wanted more growth or dial it down when delivery capacity was constrained. They were in control.
Focus Where It Matters
When you’re constantly scrambling for the next client, excellence suffers. Sales distraction bleeds into delivery. Strategic thinking gets pushed aside by urgent firefighting.
With lead generation running systematically in the background, leadership could refocus on what they did best: delivering exceptional IT service. Client satisfaction improved. Retention strengthened. The team’s energy shifted from hunting to excellence.
Why This Worked When Other Approaches Failed
Surgical Targeting Instead of Broad Reach
The difference between 900 carefully selected prospects and 10,000 random companies in a database can’t be overstated. Every dollar and every minute of effort went toward genuinely qualified opportunities. There was no waste.
Genuine Personalisation, Not Mail Merge
Personalisation doesn’t mean inserting someone’s first name in an email template. It means understanding their industry, their challenges, and their context well enough to say something relevant. The campaign achieved this at scale through thoughtful segmentation and custom content development.
Multi-Touch Coordination Creates Momentum
No single touchpoint won deals. It was the accumulation of impressions across channels, each reinforcing the others, that built credibility and created urgency. A prospect might ignore an email, miss a LinkedIn message, or be too busy for a call—but they couldn’t ignore everything everywhere all at once.
Quality Over Quantity in Every Decision
From prospect selection to message crafting to channel optimisation, the entire campaign prioritised quality. It’s the difference between doing things right and doing things fast. The former wins enterprise clients. The latter just burns the budget.
What Comes Next: Building on Momentum
The success of this initial campaign opened several strategic opportunities:
Expanding the target list to adjacent market segments where the same playbook could be applied
Deepening relationships with newly acquired clients through account-based expansion programs, identifying upsell and cross-sell opportunities
Refining messaging based on what resonated most strongly, doubling down on winning themes and iterating on what didn’t quite land
Scaling the model now that the economics are proven, investing more aggressively in a system that demonstrably generates returns
The foundation is solid. The process is validated. The market has responded. Everything that seemed out of reach before—the high-value clients, the recurring revenue, the market positioning—is now a reality.
The Takeaway
This case study illustrates a fundamental truth about B2B marketing: focus beats breadth almost every time.
Nine hundred prospects sounds small compared to the tens of thousands in your average marketing database. But those 900 were the right 900. They matched the ideal customer profile. They had a genuine need. They were reachable through coordinated effort.
The regional IT provider didn’t need to be everywhere. They needed to be exactly where their best prospects were, saying exactly what those prospects needed to hear, through channels those prospects actually paid attention to.
For similar B2B service companies feeling stuck—unable to break into higher-value markets, frustrated by scattered marketing efforts that never quite work, wondering how competitors seem to win deals that should be yours—this approach offers a clear path forward.
Define your perfect 900 (or 500, or 1,200—the number matters less than the precision). Understand them deeply. Reach them systematically. Engage them authentically. Track everything. Optimise constantly.
It’s not about marketing tricks or growth hacks. It’s about doing fewer things better, for the right people, consistently over time. That’s what transformed a stuck regional provider into a market leader generating six-figure recurring revenue streams.
The same approach could work for you.