SST / ShotSpotter Security Solutions

Sr. Vice President, Marketing 2014-2015

SST / ShotSpotter is now recognized as a leading authority on gunfire and gun crime in this country. With vast expertise in detecting, locating and alerting on actual gunfire in less than a minute, SST / ShotSpotter set out to offer a solution for active shooter situations. While active shooter scenarios were (sadly) becoming more common, there were few solutions on the market and they had not won any market share. We had the most credibility and solid technology in this area, with a legacy of effectively reducing / preventing illegal gunfire in more than 100 cities across the USA.

Challenge

Our goal was to leverage the trusted ShotSpotter brand and encourage people to invest in an early gunfire detection solution that could save lives in the event of an active shooter attack. Our challenge was in defining and targeting the market: active shooters had struck in businesses, malls, government buildings, schools, utilities substations, military bases, hospitals and churches.

SOLUTION

To define our market, we embarked upon a multi-faceted marketing plan to test the many verticals that had experienced active shooters, and prioritize them based on receptiveness. Content for all our outbound marketing programs — webinars, collateral, PR, telemarketing, eBlasts and trade shows — was customized by vertical.

Achievements & Work Samples:

Our multi-faceted lead generation program proved highly successful:
- First, Sales and Marketing agreed on the criteria of a "sales ready" lead. Our goal was to turn over as many "sales ready" leads as we could to our Sales team. Our plan was to let them take it from there and work their magic, bring in the P.O.s.
- Our marketing mix consisted of PR announcements, webinars, eBlast campaigns, SEM/SEO, and trade shows. All of our marketing was tailored for, and implemented in, a variety of verticals. For example, we identified key publications in eight verticals for the contributed article program, wrote and pitched thought-leadership pieces customized for those publications.
- A telemarketing campaign tested a variety of verticals with a custom script and a tailored offering. We tracked ShotSpotter awareness by vertical and tested our messaging to determine interest levels in each vertical. The final step of the telemarketing was to arrange a meeting for Sales.
Supporting materials included:
- All-New Web site (with strong testimonials to the legacy business.)
- All-New Video on the ShotSpotter Security Product Line:
- Datasheets on all SST Security products feature ShotSpotter SiteSecure (... for Buildings, Transportation, Utilities, Hospitals) and SST SecureCampus.
- Contributed articles written for and published in these key magazines (a subset):
  Note: Often I ghost-wrote articles for other executives, so my work was published under their names as they built credibility in the security space.
  - Buildings Magazine, Jan. 2015
    "Gunshot Detection Technology: A New Advantage in Your Security Arsenal"
  - Buildings Magazine, May. 2015
    "Why Retrofit Educational Facilities with Gunshot Detection Technology?"
  - SHRM, Society for Human Resource Management, June 2015
    "Can HR Help Prevent Shootings in the Workplace?" (Ghost-written)
  - Healthcare Business & Tech (for Hospitals), June 2015
    "The right prescription to mitigate active shootings in hospitals"
White Papers & an eBook on active shooter best practices.
Active Shooter Webinars for a variety of Verticals; i.e. "SubStation Security" (for Utilities) and "Preparing for an Active Shooter on Campus"
Stellar PR resulted from our strategic approach:
- Our SST SecureCampus announcement generated numerous articles, including two in USAToday in November, 2014.
- Our announcement that Newark High School deployed SecureCampus was covered on all major TV networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX) in June 2015.
- CBS Evening News ran a 2+ minute segment on dozens of affiliate stations across the country in June 2015.
- Also earned great coverage in Campus Safety Magazine in June 2015.
  "California School Adopts Gunfire Detection, Alert Solution to Improve Safety"
- Our much-acclaimed online media kits helped facilitate the journalists' work.

Net net: We built a solid foundation to form a growing revenue stream for this brand new business, both in strong visibility and actual generation of "sales ready" leads. Between introduction in Sept. 2014 and Sept. 2015, we generated 750+ leads that were deemed "sales ready", based on our pre-defined criteria.