Contacts That Stick: How AOI Built a Cable Broadband Audience From the Ground Up

Who Is AOI?

AOI designs, manufactures, and supplies fiber-optic networking products used in data centers, cable broadband, fiber-to-the-home, telecom, and sensing applications. Its products range from laser transmitters and optical transceivers to hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) networking equipment.

This program focuses on AOI’s cable broadband business, which sells amplifiers, nodes, and remote HFC network management to cable operators. That team runs a lot like a startup inside a larger company, and its buyers are engineers, technology leaders, and field operations teams at a specific set of cable companies.

The Challenge: Building a Database and a Brand at the Same Time

When AOI’s cable broadband team launched, it had almost no marketing contacts in its target market. Michael Ballard, Senior Director of Marketing, faced a few challenges at once:

• Build a database from scratch, filled with the right roles at the right cable operators.
• Get AOI’s name known in a market where deals are large, sales cycles run long, and wins come from relationships.
• Reach beyond the decision-maker. AOI’s sales team already works one-to-one with key contacts. Everyone else at those accounts was a gap.
• Keep the workload light. A lean team couldn’t afford a program that created more manual work.

AOI needed a partner that could put its brand in front of the right people and turn those people into accurate, lasting contacts.

The Approach: Precision Targeting Across Two Channels

Michael didn’t shop around. He had worked with Anteriad’s team before and trusted our data, lead quality, and service. Our strengths also lined up with his biggest need, building a targeted database from scratch. Setup took only a couple of weeks.

Step 1: Start with the right accounts and roles.
Anteriad’s team built the program around AOI’s account-based marketing (ABM) list, focusing on specific cable operators and specific roles in technology, engineering, and field operations. The targeting ran far tighter than a typical campaign.

Step 2: Run two channels together.
Programmatic advertising kept AOI’s brand in front of its target accounts, while content syndication put AOI’s assets in the hands of the right people and captured their contact information.

Step 3: Sharpen the message.
Our team shaped how to market AOI’s content to this technical audience, including writing the email copy that carried it.

Step 4: Connect directly to HubSpot.
Anteriad set up a direct integration with AOI’s HubSpot account, so new contacts and intent data flow straight in. No spreadsheets, no manual uploads. As Michael puts it, “It eliminates workload for me.”

Michael credits the team for keeping things simple. Anteriad told him exactly what we needed from him, then did the bulk of the work.

The Results: Net-New Contacts That Outperform Every Other Source

Eighteen months in, the program delivers a steady stream of quality new contacts month after month. AOI compared Anteriad contacts with those from its other sources, including LinkedIn lead forms, publisher events, and on-site tabletop events. Anteriad came out ahead across the board:

• 86% of contacts are net-new to AOI’s HubSpot database
• 15% lower email bounce rate, proof the contact data is accurate
• 21% lower unsubscribe rate, proof these are the right people and they want to hear from AOI
• Nearly nine in ten stay active, emailable marketing contacts in AOI’s database

The bigger win shows up in the field. AOI uses these contacts to market across entire buying organizations with an ABM approach, building awareness well beyond the people its sales team already knows. When AOI’s sales reps work an account now, the company isn’t an unknown name. We’re proud to help this team build its market presence from the ground up, and AOI plans to continue the program and explore expanding into other markets.

FAQs

How can a B2B team build a marketing database when it’s starting with almost no contacts?

Start with a tight target list and channels that capture contact data while building awareness. AOI paired content syndication with programmatic advertising, both aimed at an ABM list of cable operators and specific roles. Eighteen months in, the program keeps delivering quality new contacts every month, and 86% are net-new to AOI’s database.

Why did AOI choose Anteriad?

Michael Ballard, AOI’s Senior Director of Marketing, had worked with Anteriad’s team before and trusted the data, lead quality, and service. He didn’t need to shop around. Anteriad’s strengths also matched his biggest need: building a targeted contact database from scratch.

How do Anteriad contacts compare to leads from events and LinkedIn lead forms?

For AOI, Anteriad contacts had a 15% lower email bounce rate and a 21% lower unsubscribe rate than contacts from LinkedIn lead forms, publisher events, and on-site tabletop events. Nearly nine in ten Anteriad contacts stay active and emailable. That points to accurate data and contacts who want to hear from the brand.

Can content syndication build brand awareness, or only generate leads?

It can do both. AOI uses its Anteriad contacts to market across entire buying organizations with an ABM approach rather than chasing individual leads. With long, relationship-based sales cycles, that awareness means AOI’s sales team walks into accounts where people already know the name.

How does Anteriad deliver contacts and intent data into HubSpot?

Anteriad’s team can set up a direct integration with a client’s HubSpot account, so new contacts and intent data flow straight in. For AOI, that removed manual uploads and cut workload for its marketing lead. Setup for the full program took only a couple of weeks.

How can manufacturers reach engineers and field operations teams at target accounts?

Precise targeting matters more than reach. Anteriad’s team built AOI’s program around specific cable operators and specific roles in technology, engineering, and field operations. Our team also wrote the email copy used to market AOI’s content to that technical audience.

What metrics show whether B2B contact data is high quality?

Look past volume to what happens after contacts land in your database. Email bounce rate shows whether the data is accurate, unsubscribe rate shows whether you’re reaching people who care, and the share of contacts still active over time shows whether they stick. AOI tracks all three, and Anteriad contacts outperform its other sources on each.