How RH Blake Transformed a Word-of-Mouth Business into a Lead-Generating Powerhouse through Strategic SEO and Thought Leadership

TL/DR

Factivity, an MES software provider, struggled with a non-scalable word-of-mouth sales model and poor online visibility. RH Blake implemented a prioritized SEO and thought-leadership content strategy through its Growth Roadmap™, resulting in a 50% increase in organic traffic and an 815% increase in cumulative leads.

Company

Headquartered in Rocky River, Ohio, Factivity is a manufacturing execution systems (MES) software provider that serves the broader manufacturing ecosystem. Their MES solution is easy for operators to use and provides the flexibility to fit within data collection and job reporting processes. It also provides job visibility with real-time data gathered from multiple types of machines and equipment on manufacturing plant floors.

Challenge

Factivity faced a critical growth ceiling caused by a complete dependency on word-of-mouth referrals. While a referral-based model often indicates strong customer satisfaction, it is ultimately neither sustainable nor scalable for a technical firm looking to expand its market share. This passive acquisition model left the company’s future in the hands of its network, resulting in a seldom-and-sporadic lead-generation cycle that made it impossible to forecast revenue or plan for long-term expansion.

This lack of control was exacerbated by a significant gap in digital visibility. While Factivity’s target audience was increasingly moving toward self-directed research and online solution exploration, the company remained nowhere to be found in the search engine results pages (SERPs) where these decisions begin. In the manufacturing sector, buyers form preferences and rely on trusted expertise long before they ever engage with a sales representative. Consequently, Factivity’s invisibility meant they were being systematically excluded from the buying journey during its most critical early phases.

The pain of this challenge was compounded by the fact that Factivity did not have a huge budget, meaning they could not afford a broad, unfocused marketing spend. They were caught in a difficult position. They required a consistent way to generate inbound opportunities to fuel their business, but they lacked the data-driven strategy needed to identify which specific technical keywords and content would deliver the highest return on their limited investment. Without a shift toward a structured digital presence, the company risked stagnation as competitors with stronger search visibility captured the growing volume of high-intent online prospects.

Solution

RH Blake utilized its Growth Roadmap™ process to develop a customized, data-driven marketing strategy for the firm. The solution featured four pillars.

1. Strategic Research & Growth Roadmap

RH Blake applied its proprietary Growth Roadmap™ process to shift Factivity away from passive lead acquisition. This stage involved deep Voice of the Customer (VOC) research, where the agency conducted interviews with both end customers and internal subject-matter experts to uncover the inside story behind the buying journey.

By identifying the specific pain points and challenges faced by manufacturers, RH Blake aligned Factivity’s strategy with the reality of a complex, high-stakes sales cycle where risk avoidance often outweighs feature differentiation. This foundational research allowed the agency to define target customer personas and understand the compelling events that trigger a search for MES solutions, ensuring every subsequent marketing dollar was spent with purpose.

2. Prioritized SEO Strategy

Recognizing Factivity’s modest marketing budget, RH Blake recommended a highly prioritized Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy as the primary driver for inbound opportunities. The research revealed that while the target audience was actively performing self-directed research, Factivity lacked the digital visibility to be discovered.

RH Blake collaborated directly with Factivity’s subject matter experts to identify and prioritize the exact keywords and technical phrases used by engineers and operations leaders. This went beyond simple search terms, involving a comprehensive SEO checklist to ensure crawlable URLs, primary and secondary keyword integration, and an investigation of search engine result pages (SERPs) to meet specific searcher intent and solve the tasks the audience was trying to complete.

3. Content & Digital Overhaul

To support the SEO efforts and provide a professional digital storefront, RH Blake executed a complete website and content development program. Since buyers in the manufacturing ecosystem form preferences long before contacting a vendor’s sales team, RH Blake focused on creating high-value technical content that established Factivity as a trusted expert.

This included the creation of core thought leadership, such as whitepapers and blog posts, designed to attract and engage the right buyers through every stage of the sales pipeline. The new website provided a technically sound platform that allowed search engines to easily parse and index this content, while simultaneously educating potential clients about the unique value of Factivity’S software through clear, compelling communication.

4. Corporate Identity Development

RH Blake undertook a corporate identity development initiative to ensure Factivity’s brand resonated with a highly technical and professional manufacturing audience. In an industry where organizations rely on trusted expertise rather than vendor claims, the agency refined Factivity’s identity to drive awareness, preference, and trust.

This process involved creating a messaging framework that defined the company’s unique value propositions and differentiated it from competitors in the MES space. By building a cohesive identity, RH Blake helped Factivity transition from a referral-dependent business into a recognizable leader, providing the professional image necessary to compete for large-scale contracts with sophisticated stakeholders who value long-term reliability and specialized experience

Results

The strategic shift from sporadic referrals to a structured digital program produced remarkable business growth:

815% Increase in Cumulative Leads

The implementation of the Growth Roadmap™ triggered an exponential rise in inbound opportunities, culminating in an 815% increase in cumulative leads over the course of the program. By shifting away from a passive, word-of-mouth-dependent model, Factivity established a high-volume pipeline that captured the attention of previously unreachable prospects. This data-driven approach ensured that lead acquisition was no longer left to chance but was instead fueled by targeted content and strategic SEO. The dramatic documentation of this growth serves as clear evidence that specialized manufacturing marketing can deliver high-impact, measurable business expansion.

Over 50% Increase in Organic Traffic

Prior to partnering with RH Blake, Factivity was virtually invisible to buyers conducting independent online research. Through a highly prioritized SEO and technical content strategy, the company achieved an increase in organic traffic of over 50%. This result was significant because it placed Factivity directly in the path of their target audience during the critical “Solution Exploration” phase of the buying journey. By identifying and ranking for high-intent technical keywords, Factivity successfully built a digital presence that converted searcher intent into meaningful business engagement and established long-term visibility.

Transformation to Consistent Pipeline Growth

The most profound result was the fundamental shift in Factivity’s operational sustainability. President John Leibert noted that the program transformed lead generation from a “seldom and sporadic event to a frequent and consistent process for improvement.” This transition solved the core challenge of scalability, providing the leadership team with a predictable way to generate opportunities regardless of their referral network. By establishing a structured marketing engine, Factivity moved beyond the limitations of a referral-based business, gaining a distinct market advantage through a reliable, scalable process for attracting and securing complex manufacturing contracts.