Project Background

Many businesses reach a point where they have big growth aspirations but don’t necessarily have the internal marketing team, or the capacity, to support that growth. That was the case for Hydro-Chem Systems.

For more than 50 years, Hydro-Chem has been a leading fleet washing solutions provider that manufactures automated fleet wash systems, develops innovative cleaning chemicals, and services wash equipment.

In 2021, Hydro-Chem partnered with 1 Bold Step to create a marketing process that not only gave them clear direction but built a strong foundation for growth. Since then, we have worked alongside its internal team to grow their business each year and earn a 7.2x Return on their Marketing Investment (ROMI).

Building a Strong Marketing Foundation

Every company should have a strong marketing foundation. That foundation begins with a clear marketing plan that directly supports the business goals. 

To execute on that plan, we needed to do 4 things: 

1. Make sure we built a team with the right skill set to execute the plan
2. Leveraged agile marketing to keep ourselves accountable to our goals
3. Established a strong relationship with the sales team
4. Used data to inform all of our decisions

Together with the VP of Sales & Marketing, we set clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to give ourselves ambitious targets to aim for and hold ourselves accountable. 

Here’s how we helped attract new business opportunities with their marketing team:

1. Ad strategy: We refreshed the digital ad strategy to capture warm leads with high purchase intent, and continued to optimize the ads throughout the year. 
2. Inbound content strategy: We studied their target audience and consistently published both educational and high-value content. 
3. Sales & Marketing alignment: 1 Bold Step met regularly with Hydro-Chem’s in-house sales team to involve them in the marketing plan and make sure we were supporting their needs. 
4. Social Media: Together with the sales team, we developed an organic social media strategy focused on building up both their personal brands and the business brand.

Positioning Sales to Drive Revenue

Bringing sales and marketing together opened the door to greater revenue opportunities. 

Marketing is now able to implement strategies and tactics that put the sales team in the best position to close more deals. 

Over the last three years, Hydro-Chem Systems has achieved impressive results. 

1. Their organic traffic has increased by 279%, resulting in 1000+ new leads
2. In 2023, they had a massive 1400% Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS)
3. They earned a 5.8x Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) for 2021.
4. They earned a 7.8x Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) for 2022.
5. They earned a 8x Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) for 2023.

The combination of a clear marketing strategy, experienced fractional marketing team, and alignment with the sales team has allowed the internal Hydro-Chem marketing team to focus on doing the things they do best to drive revenue. 

With clear targets to hit, the marketing stays focused. And with the inbound marketing machine and demand gen campaigns, significant numbers of qualified leads continue to land.