From brand transformation to predictable demand engine

Strategic brand evolution

Datel needed to maintain their 40-year heritage and credibility while appealing to entirely new buyers with different expectations. We executed a complete rebrand that preserved their established trust while creating a modern identity that resonated with their new target audience.

HubSpot-powered website

The website transformation represented a fundamental shift in strategy and approach, enabled by HubSpot Content Hub's features.

As Emma noted:

"We had to attract a different type of buyer for a different type of software going through a different buying cycle. And from a standing start, so we had to establish a brand in that space."

Emma Pownall, Marketing Director at Datel

This complete departure from traditional lead generation to buyer enablement recognised that Intacct prospects wanted comprehensive information before engaging.

HubSpot Content Hub provided the essential platform for this transformation, enabling consistent brand presentation across all digital touchpoints while giving Datel's team easy content management without technical dependencies.

The platform supported their demand generation strategy through comprehensive content distribution, with HubDB integration handling complex product information and resources.

The site was completely reimagined around buyer needs rather than company structure.

Customer microsite

Recognising that 50% of their customers stay with them for five years or more, Datel needed a dual-website approach. The main site focuses on attracting new prospects, while a dedicated customer microsite provides a VIP experience for existing clients, using a darker brand treatment to create a premium feeling space.

From foundation to growth: demand generation strategy

With the brand and website in place, Datel and Blend moved into the next phase, driving demand at scale.

Blend developed a comprehensive 12-month demand generation strategy that acted as a roadmap for growth. This involved deep analysis of Datel’s market position, buyer behaviour, messaging, channels, and budgets.

The strategy defined:

• Who Datel needed to reach and why

• How they should position and differentiate in the market

• Which channels would drive the greatest commercial impact

• Where to focus investment to maximise return

This became the framework that connected all ongoing activity.

Capturing in-market demand with Google Ads

Google Ads played a critical role in capturing buyers actively searching for Sage solutions and implementation partners.

Blend worked with Datel to focus on efficiency, intent alignment, and conversion rate optimisation rather than simply increasing spend.

This included campaign restructuring, clearer segmentation by buyer intent, improved messaging, and the creation of dedicated landing pages designed specifically for paid traffic.

As a result:

• Paid search session to MQL conversion rate increased from 0.3% to 2.91%

• Paid search MQLs grew 150% year on year

This allowed Datel to generate significantly more qualified leads while reducing wasted spend, dramatically improving return on ad spend.

Creating future demand with LinkedIn Ads

While Google captured in-market demand, long-term growth required Datel to be present before buyers entered the market.

LinkedIn Ads were used to build brand associations and memory with senior finance leaders, ensuring Datel was already a trusted, familiar brand when buying intent emerged.

Using LinkedIn’s native targeting, we built highly focused audiences aligned to Datel’s ICP and produced creative designed to stand out in-feed and reinforce credibility within the Sage Intacct ecosystem.

LinkedIn was also used as a key retargeting channel, converting existing website traffic and LinkedIn engagers with more mid-to-lower funnel creative focused on trust and validation.

One of the clearest indicators of success was increased branded demand. Using Google Search Console, Datel saw:

• Branded search clicks for “Datel” increase 75% year on year.

This reflected stronger brand recognition and consideration, ensuring Datel was top of mind when buying triggers occured.

Building sustainable demand through organic search

While paid media enabled speed, long-term growth required a predictable, organic engine.

Blend developed an SEO strategy designed to attract buyers across the entire journey — from early informational research through to high-intent commercial evaluation.

The approach combined high-quality content production, clear topic clusters, internal linking, and optimisation of commercial pages for conversion-driven searches.

As a result:

• Organic search sessions grew from 45% year on year.

• High-intent MQLs increased by 48% year on year.

Organic search became a scalable, repeatable source of demand — reducing long-term reliance on paid media while continuing to drive qualified opportunities.

Ongoing creative support

Following the brand transformation, Datel continue to work with Blend as an extension of their creative team.

We provide ongoing creative support across the business, including video, hand-drawn illustrations, and bespoke visual assets, ensuring every touchpoint aligned with the brand and demand strategy.

This consistency plays a key role in reinforcing trust, improving engagement, and supporting conversion across channels.