VMWARE IS A TRAILBLAZER
“The Success Cloud team was in the hallway with us, giving us feedback, helping us figure out which technology to use, coaching us on which way to build a journey and how to optimize it.”
VMware’s new business takes off on a new marketing platform.
Nick King had recently started as the Vice President of Cloud Marketing at VMware in 2017 when his manager approached him with a challenge.
VMware, a leader in cloud infrastructure and digital workspace technology, was preparing to launch VMware Cloud, a portfolio of 17 products and services. The company needed to build a new marketing platform to reach new audiences as well as existing customers. And it needed the platform to be ready in 90 days for its annual VMworld conference.
King described launching the new platform in time for the conference as “one of those moments when you had no choice but to land it.”
VMware is a Trailblazer in virtual technology for business.
Since the late ’90s, VMware has been a leader in virtual machine technology. The company’s software allows businesses to virtualize their infrastructure, helping to reduce IT costs and boost efficiency.
When King joined VMware, the company had multiple instances of Salesforce and a hodgepodge of marketing campaign tools. To unify the company’s many different systems and give its team consistency, VMware decided to build its new marketing platform using only Salesforce solutions, centered on Sales Cloud and a variety of Marketing Cloud products, including Marketing Cloud Account Engagement.
Choosing Salesforce reduced VMware’s integration costs. “And it allowed us to really focus on building and innovating on top of the platform versus debating which platform was better than the other,” King said.
VMware also partnered with Success Cloud, which provides resources and expertise to help Salesforce customers achieve their goals faster. A success manager, a Salesforce architect, and a technical account manager from Success Cloud helped King’s team launch the marketing platform successfully.
Success Cloud helps VMware innovate rapidly.
Integrating so much technology together quickly “was like playing a chess game,” King said. The Success Cloud team helped VMware integrate each piece in the right order, sharing best practices and referring VMware to others who had completed similar initiatives.
“What usually would have been a four-week consolidation of all these different pieces of information was a half-hour phone call, maybe two days where we’d meet with someone else. And then by the end of the week, we’re implementing,” King said.
Within 90 days, the team successfully built a complete marketing automation platform in time for the VMware Cloud launch at VMworld.
“It definitely felt like we were bending the rules of physics,” King said. “It was a lot of fun.”
More Tips for Trailblazers
“What usually would have been a four-week consolidation of all these different pieces of information was a half-hour phone call, maybe two days where we’d meet with someone else, and then by the end of the week we’re implementing.”
Connected systems lead to smarter marketing.
With a connected marketing platform, VMware seamlessly executed its marketing plans for the new product launch.
Offering free trials of VMware Cloud was key to the marketing strategy. VMware used Engagement Studio to manage leads that filled out free trial request forms. Product teams used Sales Cloud dashboards to review the status of requests so they could respond quickly.
Next, VMware emailed activation links to approved customers with an application programming interface (API) connection to Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. Then, customers received an onboarding email from Engagement Studio.
VMware builds customer journeys and connects on social media.
Marketing Cloud helped VMware reach prospects who attended VMworld but didn’t request a free trial. The company then used Social Studio to publish content and engage with customers on social media.
Throughout the process, the Success Cloud team was “in the hallway with us, giving us feedback, helping us figure out which technology to use, coaching us on which way to build a journey and how to optimize it,” King said.
Working Together with Salesforce
A new platform creates a more collaborative culture.
Their new integrated platform helped VMware communicate its new narrative and demonstrate its strategy for the future. That gave the public confidence, King said. VMware team members also felt confident knowing the company could deploy solutions quickly.
The new platform also enabled marketing, sales, and support to work together more cohesively and complete tasks across functions. Sales teams can run campaigns and engage customers one-on-one. Marketing can close sales opportunities. Support can be involved throughout each of those processes.
“One of the beauties of having Success Cloud partner with us is that they helped us understand the different pieces,” King said. “They understood our entire landscape at VMware. And they helped us quickly bring together these teams.”
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