Finding a new voice: How Lead Monitor matured

It is widely accepted that companies will rebrand every seven to ten years, and this will be a major facelift rather than adding an extra loop onto the logo.

And when we talk about a rebrand, it means the whole caboodle. After all, according to Global Banking & Finance Review, 82% of investors believe brand strength and name recognition is becoming more influential in their investment decisions.

Surprising then that Lead Monitor – New Statesman Media Group’s (NSMG) proprietary AI-driven content marketing tool built into all their websites – decided to drastically change their website after just two years.

As it transpires, there were plenty of reasons behind this bold move.

“The new design and look of Lead Monitor came at a pivotal time with the decision to move away from a focus on products to work closer with our clients and create solutions that complement their business strategies.

“We also put more of an emphasis on our community and content, and how being a thought leader within the market can help us craft the solutions we offer, epitomised by the strapline: By marketers, for marketers,” revealed Sam Fairburn, Marketing Director at NSMG.

This sense of community clearly flows through the new Lead Monitor website and look and feel, especially in terms of the many content pieces housed in practically every vertical.

“Content is so important for both clients and the larger marketing community”, confirmed Phillip Othen, NSMG’s Senior Writer.

“Our aim was always to build up a massive bank of engaging and knowledgeable articles, deep-dives, white papers, interviews and case studies which marketers across all industries and sectors will actually find useful.

“After all, expert-led content is what we offer companies who sign up with us, so it makes sense to also be a content-first hub, all sculpted around themes marketers are telling us they want to hear about.”

To this end, the design and UX of Lead Monitor’s rebrand was central to readers connecting each solution with associated content ensuring a fuller understanding of what was on offer.

“We’ve implemented new engagement technologies to enable one-to-one conversations at scale. Research by software giant Salesforce indicates that more than 80% of B2B buyers want to be treated like a person, and not a number, and this is important to winning their business,” B2B Marketing Manager Jack Tyacke revealed.

“Our UX and design has been created with the user journey front and centre, and our aim is to guide readers through our solution in the same way as our campaigns are built. This helps ensure user buy-in to the process before they even reach a salesperson.

“We’ve also embedded interactive elements and call to actions throughout this journey, and improved contact forms. This enables customers to supply as much or as little information they have on their potential project.”

The Lead Monitor website sits as one of many under NSMG’s portfolio, which also includes The New Statesman, Press Gazette, Tech & Capital Monitor, Spear’s, The World of Fine Wine and Elite Traveler, as well as separate events and data teams.

As a company they aim to tell stories about how the world is changing for the people across the globe delivering that change. It is in this way that Lead Monitor provides the perfect commercial opportunity for clients wanting to reach decision-makers and thought leaders.

“Lead Monitor is an industry-leading commercial solution using AI to ensure every piece of our clients’ content reaches its desired valuable audience,” says CEO Ken Appiah.

“To us as a company, the next step in its development was to build a Lead Monitor website which showcases not only the available solutions, but also our own engaging content, written with some of the biggest names in marketing.

“This demonstrates to future clients that we already work with their peers, and know exactly the sort of problems they might be experiencing.”