Generating Leads for Blackboard with an Interactive Assessment

How Tendo created a high-value assessment and ecosystem of content to help educate Blackboard’s audience and convert leads
CHALLENGES
- Lack of brand awareness in the professional arena
- Disengaged buyer audience with lack of quality leads
- Many potential customers already had similar systems in place
RESULTS
- Created an integrated campaign anchored by a gated interactive eBook
- Developed a 20-question assessment with personalized recommendations
- Exceeded client expectation, generating more than 400 leads in a month
TENDO SERVICES PROVIDED
- Demand creative and strategy
- Campaign planning with content creation
- Development of emails, offers, and social assets

About Blackboard
A category leader in learning management systems (LSM) for educational markets, Blackboard (now part of Anthology) is considered best in class in the educational space. Despite the ability of Blackboard’s learning environment to educate and train employees online, Blackboard was not well-known in the professional arena. While it sells solutions to corporations and government agencies, many already had a solution in place.
- Blackboard
- Boca Raton, FL
- Educational technology
- 3,600 Employees

The Challenge
Blackboard’s Professional Education marketing team needed to drive leads, but Blackboard’s lack of awareness in the category put it at a distinct disadvantage. They first needed to engage the audience in a meaningful way, and tell the Blackboard story. How could Blackboard break through the clutter to build a compelling case and demonstrate its value to the industry? We started, as we always do, by examining the buyer.

The Solution
By conducting interviews with customers and subject matter experts, we identified the insight that led our strategy: By assessing the potential benefits of what a world-class learning management system could provide, buyers would be curious to discover how they might best achieve them. The result was an integrated campaign, anchored by a gated interactive eBook with factoids and best practices, and a 20-question assessment with personalized recommendations.
The Results
We included in the eBook-centered campaign an ecosystem of content, including an infographic, social media posts, emails, online advertisements, and blog posts. The bottom line: The campaign was a resounding success. Though the initial goal was to generate 200 leads over the life of the campaign, the ebook generated more than 400 leads in one month, greatly exceeding Blackboard’s expectations.