There are countless consequences that the Covid-19 has brought to the life of companies and many of our customers: an impetus in the path of digitization, the discovery of new communication tools, the possibility of working on a stronger community. A series of opportunities often associated with strong critical issues.
For ISILine, a Piedmontese internet provider that has been committed to a local marketing strategy for years, there were also some critical issues. However, in its case the lockdown has played an important role in brand awareness, bringing out, more and more, the need for a stable and fast internet connection in its territory.
The pandemic did not imply abrupt changes of direction in ISILine’s marketing strategy, which has always been oriented towards brand awareness and the generation of new contacts. On the other hand, ISILine has had to face a exponential growth in demand with a consequent increasing pressure on customer service. And, with the closure of the three territorial physical stores during Phase 1, it had to do so by moving from a multi-channel on/offline approach to one exclusively online.
Who is ISILine
ISILine is a fast internet provider in Piedmont. Founded in 1995 in Saluzzo, in the province of Cuneo, today it is the reference provider for business network services in its province.
It also owns a fibre optic network and this allows it to offer a FTTH (fiber to the home) service in various municipalities in the area: Bernezzo, Bra, Busca, Caraglio, Carmagnola, Chieri and many others.
An innovative service for the area, in which the fiber stops at the cabins in the street to pick up the fiber to the home with an old connection through the copper telephone wire, causing a weakening of the signal capacity and significantly reducing the performance of the fiber.
The challenge
If until March 10, 2020 the signal capacity and the speed of the connection to the network were known and pressing issues only for a part of the population of the territories of the Granda, since the beginning of the lockdown internet has become an essential resource for the life of all. For the smart working of many workers working outside the province or in the company, who suddenly found themselves in need of the same standards of connection even at home. For teachers and students struggling with distance learning. In general for the whole population forced at home with the whole family, who suffered the limits of a slow and inefficient connection.
The lockdown has brought out the limits of a territory without an optimal coverage of optical fiber, and has generated a surge of requests of the services offered by ISILine. An exponential increase in demand and a substantial change of the same, much more transversal and composed also by people not very accustomed to technology. Two concomitant events, again due to the lockdown, the closure of the three physical ISILine stores and the shifting of all sales and assistance services to remote channels: telephone and online services.
A great challenge for ISILine, which was able to respond promptly to this sudden change of pace, thanks also to the new settings of the local marketing strategy suggested by ADV+.
The answer
We have been collaborating with ISILine for about a year and until 10 March 2020 we have set up a social advertising strategy that is very territorially oriented, working on the construction of the public in an almost surgical way. Following the lockdown we have suggested three changes of direction:
- More campaign coverage.
Surgical precision has given way to wider coverage to expose more people in the area to ISILine’s messages. - A change of creativity.
We focused on creativity and messages focused on the most pressing issues for the period: smart working, distance learning, fast connection in the family. - A strengthening of the tools and activities of follow up, assistance and customer service.
In order to make up for the closure of the three physical stores and to cope with the increased commercial and service demand.
ISILine has taken all the suggestions and together we have carried out activities in the three directions, without missing all the appropriate tests and the experimentation of different creative formats.
For example, to support brand awareness at a local level and obtain maximum visibility in an extraordinary moment of service request, ISILine launched the “bring a neighbour” promotion, a local marketing version of the classic “bring a friend”.
While to favour a faster and more direct contact with the public interested or in difficulty, in addition to establishing and communicating a single telephone number, ISILine has opened a WhatsApp Business channel and inserted it in the posts sponsored on Facebook, the direct button to communicate with the company via Messenger.
The results
A rapid increase in demand does not automatically mean that results are achieved. Very often the rapid growth in demand puts a strain on the organization of any company, especially if it is operating in an uncertain and critical environment such as that of the past months.
As in other sectors, the lockdown has revealed gaps and critical issues, clearly showing the limits of a weak, unstable, sub-optimal internet connection, especially in the face of a different and greater demand. ISILine has seized this opportunity by handling commercial and assistance requests in a timely and impeccable manner. Among the results achieved in a few weeks we can mention three:
- Increased brand awareness at local level
ISILine today operates in an area with a transversally more aware population, not only of the services offered but also of the brand itself. Feedback and reviews suggest an appreciation of the work done. And the social community has increased as well as the leads generated. - More effective social campaigns
Another remarkable result is a ten times greater effectiveness than the campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. - Tank of experiences and contents
These weeks have represented an unprecedented moment in terms of current and potential customer service throughout the entire customer journey. Answers and solutions provided in a dedicated and specific way, constitute a valuable reservoir for the subsequent development of content marketing strategies.
ISILINE says about us
“I’ve been working with ADV+ for a year, in this time they have never disappointed our expectations, on the contrary they have often gone far beyond, not only for their preparation and ability to follow you closely and in a dedicated way, but for their proactive attitude. They are always on the piece and often manage to give you advice and solutions even when you don’t ask for them and outside of their specific tasks, such as the suggestion to use a tool like WhatsApp Business, which has proven to be very effective in handling the mass of support requests. That’s why over time the relationship with ADV+ has evolved and is growing more and more. We started with social adv consulting, today ADV+ is also taking care of the organic part of our social networks, it is collaborating in the construction of the new ISILine site and lately it is taking care of Google Ads. In short, when you find collaborators you start a virtuous path for both of them”.
Virginia – marketing office of ISILINE
