Decibel is a digital experience analytics company that enables enterprises to understand their customers’ online experiences. With Decibel’s technology, brands instantly discover where their website and app users are frustrated or engaged, and understand exactly where, how, and why to improve experiences for greater conversion, loyalty, and sales.

After working together for more than three years on PR and content programs, Decibel enlisted V2 in January 2020 to run point on establishing an influencer program as well. The goals of this program were to build awareness and achieve credibility of the Decibel brand and technology among new audiences, namely professionals responsible for organizations’ digital marketing, digital experience, and web optimization programs.

The program took shape through the following strategies:

  • Formalizing and elevating CMO Shane Phair’s influencer status, in which V2:
    • Started and curated content for a weekly newsletter on Shane’s behalf, called The Digital Roundup. The newsletter provides hot takes on news shaping the digital marketing landscape along with a Q&A with two V2-sourced influencers to extend the newsletter’s reach.
    • Executed strategic thought leadership media and speaking/event campaigns to foster message-rich stories that speak to Decibel’s value proposition.
    • Developed content for Shane’s social media to ensure he’s posting regularly and engaging with other influencers and media to extend his reach.
  • Collaborating with top industry influencers on various activations:
    • This required V2 to do research to develop:
      • “Scorecards” for each influencer, enabling V2 to understand the reach and value each influencer would provide Decibel and prioritize them—scoring them on 40+ categories ranging from social media reach and frequency, news reach, event participation, content creation/blogging, webinar or podcast participation or hosting, relevance of topics they discuss, etc.
      • A formalized fee structure to outline reasonable payment for each influencer (if they required payment) based on their scorecard ranking, the specific activations and the value Decibel would receive.
    • Upon research completion, V2 worked with each influencer on activations including:
      • Presenting on one or more of Decibel’s ongoing webinar series by offering relevant industry expertise and advice. The webinar series drove Decibel’s third-party influencer program, and V2 secured 14+ influencer-hosted webinars with the average number of viewers hovering around 600.
      • Sharing quotes/advice for Decibel-owned content, such as eGuides and The Digital Roundup newsletter.
      • Posting content on their social channels that promotes Decibel news, content, etc.

The influencer program served as a catalyst for unlocking awareness in a way that functioned in concert with the company’s core news and media relations efforts. The visibility and credibility that came with myriad industry influencers touting the Decibel brand across channels helped capture the attention of prospective customers and potential acquirers alike. Decibel was acquired by Medallia Insights in March 2021.

V2 is more than a media relations house. They developed and led an integrated PR and marketing program that built Decibel’s brand awareness by identifying and building relationships with influencers in our space. We tapped into influencers’ networks through various engagements – from webinars to joint content to social media. V2 also helped me elevate my own status as an influencer by developing content for my weekly newsletter and social media channels. The influencer program that V2 ran for Decibel functioned in concert with the rest of our PR and marketing efforts and built brand credibility.
Shane Phair
CMO Decibel