SEFE (SM&T)

SEFE Marketing & Trading is a B2B wholesale energy trading and shipping organisation whose operations extend across Europe.

Its retail clients in the UK include government bodies, NHS, local councils, and a wide variety of industrial and commercial businesses. BANC has worked with SM&T for 6+ years.

“A global event massively shifted the scope of BANC’s web build for SM&T. The design and development teams did amazing to re-brand mid-build and adapt to a new brief – delivering to timelines and budgets.”

CHRIS BALME, PRODUCTION LEAD

What the client thought they wanted

SM&T were really struggling with attracting new talent. They relied heavily on external recruitment firms – something that accounted for 85% of placements – and the approach was costing them dearly. They tasked us to help reverse their dwindling direct recruitment numbers.

What we realised they needed

After investigating their web presence a little more, it was clear that SM&T’s outdated website and lack of marketing channels was doing them no favours.

With nothing mapping the way towards increasing their acquisition and application numbers, a full Digital Marketing strategy was going to be essential. That’s exactly what we set about creating.

What we did for them

We first carried out a Discovery phase so we could learn more about the people SM&T wanted to target, as well as a Testing phase to deliver the best possible results. Following this, we created a Careers Portal using WordPress to advertise their vacancies. This handiwork has since been incorporated into their corporate site – a brand extension and website build for which we also later delivered.

Next up, we also created and delivered a Digital Marketing strategy to step up their SEO, PPC, Content, Digital PR and LinkedIn activity.

How it helped

The new Careers Portal helped increase their numbers in a big way. No longer relying on costly external recruiters to bring in applications, the portal meant placement numbers seriously skyrocketed compared to two years prior.

As for the Digital Marketing strategy we laid out for them, the improvements we made here saw increases in traffic & engagement, far stronger employer branding, and most importantly: more and more target candidates flocking to apply to SM&T’s vacancies.

89%

of all placements via Portal (12% two years prior)

£2m+

fee saving through reduced reliance on recruiters

340%

YoY increase in organic traffic

“Our work with SM&T shows just how valuable a strategic roadmap can be – as well as how valuable Digital Marketing really is. Without a direction, SM&T were spending huge amounts of money on recruiters. By providing them with that much-needed transformation, we achieved their goals for a fraction of the cost”.

JONATHAN BRANNEY, STRATEGY DIRECTOR