During the summer of 2022, Quadient launched a customer recognition program as an internal campaign called “Summer School.” We distributed thousands of badges to Quadient Inspire users who completed certificate programs through Quadient University. We watched as Inspire users were celebrated by their peers, managers, and former colleagues. These social likes, shares, comments, and other interactions generated millions of impressions that highlighted our customers' skills and commitment to CCM excellence.
The Summer School campaign concept was conceived in a marketing brainstorm session. We wanted to develop a way for the achievements of our Inspire CCM software users to be highlighted across their social media networks, while maintaining our own social media momentum in the traditionally quiet period between conference seasons. Since Inspire Days 2020, Radim Šnajdr, the Head of Education at Quadient, has been showing me the ins and outs of Quadient University. We noticed that some University users posted PDFs of their certificates on social sites. As we looked for ways to make it easier for our 10,000+ Quadient University members to share certificates, we learned that Libor Nunvar, Quadient's Partner Success Manager, had already evaluated customer recognition software vendors for an earlier project that was never implemented. So, we dusted off his RFP and selected BadgeCert as our digital badge vendor.
In order to garner maximum attention for our customers, we had to understand the intricacies of the social platforms that we'd be allowing them to share their badges on. That’s when our Digital Marketing Specialist, Michele Otaluka, joined the project to create and manage our LinkedIn strategy. She adjusted the badge releases to avoid peak holiday times, separated the release into waves to ensure every accomplishment received a moment in the spotlight, and maximized opportunities for meaningful sharing. Michele’s guidance delivered more than triple our initial interaction projections.
With the scope approved and vendor selected, it was time to design the badges. That’s where graphic designers Meriem Mellouli Daouas and Yulia Makeeva clearly understood the assignment. They came up with a variety of design concepts that highlighted customers' individual expertise, clearly identified the level of the badge, and attracted attention to the badge earner. Their orange (basic,) purple (advanced), and green (special expertise) badges let our customers' colleagues know which skills they've mastered. Quadient’s vibrant badges are quite different, as they are designed to put the focus on the earner and the skill. The badges raise the profile of our customers within their companies as they become experts in using Quadient's CCM solutions to create and manage personalized communications.
While designing badges is important, an unclaimed badge makes the same noise as a tree falling in an uninhabited forest. That’s where Nicole Kaplan, CXM Field Marketing Specialist, brought her expertise by creating the layout and copy for the badge eligibility and issuance emails. Her copy must have worked, because we saw above-average badge interactions—above 40%.
It’s almost impossible to implement a program without some form of negative consequence, though. Our professional services partners are a very important group of stakeholders with massive representation in the community of certified Quadient users. Not all of them liked the idea of their amazing talent sharing their accomplishments on social, because highly decorated users can become easy targets for recruiters. After several discussions with key partners, we decided to move ahead with the program because it highlighted the incredible amount of skill that is present in the Quadient partner community. With this critical decision made, it was about time to hit the “send” button!
Wait! Not so fast…it's unthinkable to send thousands of emails in the age of privacy and compliance. So, we partnered with our IT team and Marketing Operations teams to review the content, security, and structure of the program. We had to approve some IT integrations, review email security, and implement the ongoing, automatic delivery of credentials from the Quadient University portal. With that approved, we initiated the program and awarded our first batch of badges!
Following the success of the initial “Summer School” campaign, the program has since become a year-round operation. Now, any time an Inspire user earns a certificate, they are automatically emailed their badge, which can immediately be claimed and shared. We added badges for our key partners, which completed Libor’s original project. Next, we are adding badges for our Quadient Accounts Receivable by YayPay certified users.
As we close this blog, consider celebrating, liking, commenting, or sharing badges you encounter (from Quadient or any other source). It’s a great way to spread skills awareness across your network, reward people for investing in their career, connect your skilled connections with opportunities, and celebrate wins with the people in your network!
