Discover how B2B marketers are adapting to AI — and preparing for the future — in our State of AI report. 🙌 Read now

Get started
Get started
HIMA | Case Study | ON24

Discover how B2B marketers are adapting to AI — and preparing for the future — in our State of AI report. 🙌 Read now

Get started
Get started

Hima increases pipeline by 30% with ON24

  • 80%

    Total leads generated from digital events

  • 30%

    Converting into SQLs and net new opportunities

  • #1

    Pipeline generating source

Capabilities

Industry

Use Cases

Number of Employees

  • 251 to 1,000

About

The HIMA Group is the world’s leading independent provider of smart safety solutions for industrial applications. With more than 35,000 installed TÜV-certified safety systems worldwide, HIMA qualifies as the technology leader in this sector. Its expert engineers develop customized solutions that help increase safety, cyber security and profitability of plants and factories in the digital age.

Introduction

For over 45 years, HIMA Group has been a trusted partner to the world’s largest oil, gas, chemical, and energy-producing companies. Headquartered in Germany, HIMA was ready to expand its global reach – first by establishing a brand presence in Asia. 

Problem

Like most manufacturing companies, the team at HIMA relies on a network of resellers to distribute their products and services to customers and end users. To connect with resellers, educate them on the latest product offerings, and give them the tools and information they needed to successfully sell, Keith Kng, Regional Marketing Manager at HIMA, and his team use educational webinars and in-person events. 

But, until recently, the team had been operating under a hit n’ run content approach, with no real structure or digital strategy in place.

“I realized there was a lack of digital content to push out to audiences and customers at large,” said Kng.. “Physical events are costly, we needed something sustainable and that our customers could access on their own terms and timeline.”

Although the team had already discovered the power of webinars as an effective channel of engagement, they were not getting the kind of results with their previous software solutions that their competitors were touting. Kng knew he needed to up the ante and start delivering quality digital experiences that would get audiences standing up in their virtual seats. 

“I realized there was a lack of digital content to push out to audiences and customers at large,” said Keith Kng, Regional Marketing Manager at HIMA. “Physical events are costly, we needed something sustainable and that our customers could access on their own terms and timeline.”

Keith Kng, Regional Marketing Manager

Solution

Getting buy-in from HIMA leadership was easy for Kng who had no trouble proving that a digital engagement strategy was the right next step for the company, and that ON24 was the right platform for the job. 

“There was a very clear difference between the video conferencing tools we had been using and the ON24 platform,” said Kng. “ON24 made it possible to put our customer at the center of our programs and drive better engagement.” 

With ON24 Webcast Elite, Kng started building serialized webinar programs customized to target different segments of their audience – from distributors just learning about their product offerings, to end users in the decision making phase. 

“The educational content is great for establishing awareness but, because of the nature of our business where sales cycles are much longer,” said Kng, “this kind of educational (webinar) content is actually very effective in nurturing leads after the awareness phase as well.” 

To drive interactivity within these webinar experiences and to generate valuable first-person insights, Kng and his team utilize ON24 Engagement and Conversion tools. Based on real-time responses to these polls, surveys, live Q&As, “book a meeting” CTAs and more, the team is able to qualify and segment their audience for more personalized follow up. 

They also include additional content offers on relevant topics and upcoming events – a great way to keep attendees engaged with the brand even after the live event is over. 

Though their standalone webinars and digital experiences were attracting audiences across the buying journey, the team wanted to go a step further by implementing an on-demand strategy to accommodate audiences unable to attend live webinars and events. 

“Putting customers at the center of your digital marketing strategy is the most important thing you can do,” said Kng. 

Using ON24 Engagement Hub, they created Netflix-style content libraries where resellers, distributors and end users could self-select their way through the content most relevant to them. 

“Putting customers at the center of your digital marketing strategy is the most important thing you can do.”

Keith Kng, Regional Marketing Manager

Results

What are the 3 most important components to building a successful digital engagement strategy? According to Kng, they are “customer interaction, sustainability and the ability to measure results. The ON24 platform has allowed us to do all three.” 

With live and on-demand webinars and digital experiences, HIMA has been able to reach wider audiences than ever and expand into new industries, including oil, gas and rail sectors. 

To date, they run 4-5 live webinars a week, have created a searchable on-demand content hub of over 100 unique digital experiences, and have “built a community of repeat viewers where customers can leave their feedback and interact  with us in real time.” 

These live and on-demand webinar experiences account “easily” to about 80% of total leads generated, with 30% converting into SQLs and net new opportunities at a fraction of their previous cost-per-lead budget. 

“This is something that is repeatable and scalable,  and something we have achieved at a very low cost per lead. There is no reason we would go back to a physical-only event model or to a regular video streaming service.” 

Download this story

Download

See other customer stories