4D Technology Corporation

Product Marketing & Site Optimization For A World Leader In Optical Metrology

Overview

When Multi-Channel Lead Generation Translates Into a $40-Million Acquisition

4D Technology was founded in 2002 and quickly became one of the world’s foremost innovators in optical metrology solutions for large optics. Their equipment is used to check for defects on some of the largest and most advanced telescopes in the world. Soon after the launch of their product, the 4D InSpec, a handheld defect measuring device built for production and manufacturing devices, they utilized Nuanced Media to help with discovery and lead nurturing for this exciting new market vertical. Under a year later, the company was acquired by Nanometrics Incorporated.

Challenge

A New Market For An Old Problem

Prior to the launch of the 4D InSpec, it was not uncommon for quality assurance engineers to measure minuscule surface defects on large, complex components such as turbine engines with their fingers or mechanical tools. In order to gather more potent data from measurements, it would have been necessary to utilize lab services to measure these parts, with no in between. The 4D InSpec is a cost-saving measure in the long run for these engineers but solved a problem many engineers already had ideas about how to solve. Thus it was necessary to overcome preconceptions among this very specific niche and expand the market opportunities for them by varying target industries and channels.

Market Research & Knowledge Sharing: The foremost challenge was market research in this industry, which is populated primarily with individuals with advanced degrees in mechanical sciences
Opportunity Assessment & Finding Channels: The next challenge was finding a market. Our initial probes into search marketing proved inconclusive and had low conversion rates on traditional landing pages. The market niche needed to be found on other channels.
Demographic Aversion To Landing Pages: As a highly educated demographic, it seemed as though the majority of clicks on our landing pages, while highly targeted, preferred to reach out directly rather than go through a landing page.

Solution

A Nuanced Approach To The High-Tech Sector

4D Technology partnered with Nuanced Media to develop an approach to very challenging niche marketing in order to build an online presence that both projected the knowledge and authority of a highly regarded developer of Metrology solutions, while also communicating the value of the tools to previously unexplored industries.

In-Depth Research & Strategy: Our market research team devoted itself to developing language and copywriting strategies in tandem with the team at 4D and coming to terms with the pain points of an extremely marketing-averse demographic.
Multi-Channel & Cross-Channel Visibility: After targeting professional groups on various social media channels with direct on-platform lead generation ads, we saw their online cost per lead drop to a tiny fraction of its previous level and helped nurture extremely high-quality leads, including several senior scientists from Fortune 500 companies.
“Conversion Alchemy”: After realizing that landing pages were not converting as well as they should, it became apparent that we should be optimizing their product pages on the website. We created a customized system that intelligently identified new users and allowed them to download content like product fact sheets while also capturing their lead info, with minimal effort from the user.

Results

Huge Gains for Conversions

Our contributions to modernizing 4D Technology’s digital marketing completely rewrote their approach to online marketing and gave them a big boost in both lead capture, and provided crucial insights which provided incredible value over their investment.

Total New Product Leads Increased

Website Lead Capture Rate Increased

What Our Clients Are Saying

Steven G. Zylstra of Arizona Technology Council recommends Nuanced Media.