ApprovalMax had spent over a decade helping their customers streamline accounts payable and receivable by automating the approval of bills, invoices, and other documents. They were ready to bring their award-winning platform to the U.S. market, but their messaging and content had been built primarily for their existing markets in the UK, Europe, and APAC. Entering the U.S., a market with its own buyers, competitors, and expectations, meant starting that conversation over.
So we went directly to the audience who'd actually be using it, and let them tell us what to say.
THE BRIEF
ApprovalMax needed a starting point for U.S. messaging built on more than assumptions. We were brought in to unearth deeply qualitative insights from accounting and finance audiences inside the QuickBooks Online ecosystem, refine ApprovalMax’s U.S. messaging strategy around what we found, and give the team practical tools to carry it forward into their marketing execution.
MARKET RESEARCH
To avoid ApprovalMax building U.S. messaging in a vacuum, we set out to uncover what accounting and finance audiences in the QuickBooks Online ecosystem would actually respond to. We ran four virtual focus groups, split between QBO accountants and CFOs and controllers. ApprovalMax demoed the product, then left the room, so the people in each session could speak candidly about market perception, adoption motivators, and how they saw the competition in the U.S. AP and AR space. Then we led five one-on-one interviews with finance leaders and CFOs for deeper qualitative insight.
“Companies go into a new market with a lot of assumptions. ApprovalMax knew how accountants worked in Australia and New Zealand, but the U.S. is different in ways you don’t see from the outside. And often you know who your competitors are, but you don’t know the right questions to ask. One good question tends to lead to three more.”
STRATEGIC SYNTHESIS
We also ran a 90-minute workshop with ApprovalMax's CMO, CRO, and product team, hearing directly from leadership on what they believed set the product apart and what brand work was already underway. Between the two sessions, we had now heard from ApprovalMax on one side and the audience they were trying to reach on the other. From there, we brought our own strategic read to the research, pulling out the insights that would shape ApprovalMax's U.S. positioning and messaging.
“When you’re inside a company, you end up talking about your product in circles until it doesn’t mean anything anymore. There’s no agenda on our side. We’re not trying to steer anyone’s budget or push the product in a particular direction. The findings are just the findings. That’s hard to do when it’s your own product.”
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Our market research surfaced a critical, previously unrecognized need: a payment feature the U.S. market would expect that wasn't in the works yet. With payments already being considered as a feature, the focus groups validated the decision to invest in it. Surfacing this pre-launch let ApprovalMax recalibrate their product priorities and development pipeline before entering the market, avoiding an expensive misstep.
“The ApprovalMax team were already working through where the product was headed and how to talk about it. The research ended up feeding both of those conversations at the same time.”
INFLUENCER INTRODUCTIONS
As part of an ongoing partnership with ApprovalMax, we researched and identified relevant influencers across accounting, finance, and the CFO audience, active specifically in the QuickBooks Online ecosystem ApprovalMax was targeting. We made direct introductions on ApprovalMax's behalf, along with recommendations for co-marketing and thought leadership opportunities, giving ApprovalMax a way into relationships it didn't have access to on its own.
results
Influencer Outreach
Entering a new market on assumptions instead of evidence? Here's the full scope of what we delivered for ApprovalMax.
Facilitated four virtual focus groups and five one-on-one interviews with QBO accountants, CFOs, and controllers to uncover real market perception and adoption motivators.
Delivered objective, outside perspective on brand and competitive positioning, then translated it into U.S. messaging pillars through a collaborative leadership workshop.
Gave the product team direct, real-time access to research findings so they could apply it to active development decisions.
Surfaced a previously unrecognized need for a payment feature before launch, letting ApprovalMax adjust its roadmap ahead of time.
Identified relevant accounting and finance influencers and made direct introductions as part of an ongoing partnership.
“We show the product, then kick the client off the call. Lovingly! But that’s when people get honest. And honestly, the people who aren’t customers yet are often the ones with the most useful things to say.”