Client Spotlight: Echologics
Introduction:
Echologics, a Mueller Technologies company, develops water infrastructure diagnostic technologies for water loss management and pipe condition assessment. Echologics is dedicated to helping water utilities reduce water loss while creating subsequent monetary, environmental and health benefits for local communities. Echologics is one of our earliest clients and has experienced great success using WatrHub over the years in powering their digital marketing campaigns.
WatrHub recently had the chance to speak with Mike Stadnyckyj, director of marketing and communications at Echologics. Mike has accumulated nearly 20 years of experience in the water industry, and has been leveraging sales and digital marketing trends in the recent years. Let’s see what Mike has to say about these transitions within the water industry and how he uses WatrHub to power his digital marketing campaigns.
Q: You have been a visionary for digital marketing in the water industry. Perhaps we can start with, what is digital marketing in your mind?
Mike: Digital marking is taking advantage of readily available data to predict market potential and better target prospective customers.
Q: What are digital marketing trends, particularly in the water industry?
Mike: I think the biggest trend is that more and more information is being captured on the Internet. As this information is made available, there is a huge opportunity to leverage it, whether on a macro level or individual level. Further, companies are shifting their marketing investments from traditional channels, such as tradeshows and print advertising, to digital channels. This is a more attractive option because an immediate return on investment can be observed due to the tracking tools that are available online.
Q: What were your specific goals as a business that led you to explore WatrHub?
Mike: We were searching for information that wasn’t available through other industry associations, industry reports, or research firms. It was very specific, so we turned to WatrHub to uncover very niche and segmented information that supported our key growth platforms. WatrHub has allowed us to optimize our marketing and sales approach by targeting individuals who have the greatest need for our solutions.
Q: What made you pick WatrHub’s solution over others in the industry?
Mike: When you first approached us, you had a very unique service, which I hadn’t seen in the water industry before. There are some other data mining companies external to the water industry, but they focused across many segments. I think that your exclusive focus on the water industry, especially with your team of analysts, helps to generate better results at the end of one year projects. I suppose that your competition could include industry research groups, but they tend to provide higher level guidance instead of specific, actionable data. Market research groups don’t dig down to the level of market segmentation that we require.
Q: What was the biggest success that WatrHub generated?
Mike: Our biggest success has been receiving very accurate contact lists of people who can benefit from our solution in the market that we operate. We’ve generated pilots and sales as a result of using WatrHub, but I think it’s the ability to have the contacts in our possession, and then to establish relationships with them. This is of utmost importance given that we have a handful of sales people covering a large North American territory.
Q: What feature of WatrHub has been the most helpful?
Mike: The feature that has been the most helpful has been the accuracy of the data that WatrHub generated, especially in terms of the individual contact lists provided. Previously, my only option was to purchase lists produced by third parties. In the past, those have had error rates of 60% and have had limited data related to contact titles, email addresses, and phone numbers. The lists generated from WatrHub are, on average, 97% accurate. This is amazing, and it’s really the backbone of any campaign that we execute. If the initial list isn’t accurate, then any money or time afterwards is essentially wasted.
Q: What advice would you give to your peers in the water industry facing the same challenges you did?
Mike: You don’t know what data exists, so you have to try it. Using Google greatly limits the potential of data that you actually comb. The data might not come in the form that you anticipate, but it is important to be creative and work with the available market data on the list. Actioning data from WatrHub has been crucial for moving our company forward.
Conclusion:
We’d like to thank Mike for his time, insights and advice in this spotlight. He is a rare digital marketing visionary in our industry and has a wealth of knowledge on developing and executing successful campaigns leveraging WatrHub’s market data.
We believe that water infrastructure businesses who embed digital marketing approaches into everything that they do — such as Echologics — are able to optimize their sales and marketing efforts as they pursue growth mandates in a fragmented water industry.