Case Study · LexisNexis, Nextens & XpertHR
Turning SmartStart Eloqua into fully independent, high performing teams
LexisNexis is a global leader in legal, regulatory and business intelligence. I partnered with two of its brands, Nextens and XpertHR, to turn underused Eloqua instances into mature, scalable marketing automation engines that their teams could run themselves.
Over six months I rebuilt their Eloqua foundations, wired in Salesforce and Hadoop, designed lead scoring models and trained the teams to build sophisticated multi step campaigns without relying on the central automation group.
Client background
LexisNexis is one of the world's leading providers of legal, regulatory and business information and analytics. With more than 10,000 employees in over 130 countries, the company is part of RELX Group and supports customers that depend on accurate information and efficient workflows.
Within this wider group, Nextens and XpertHR operate as separate brands with their own product portfolios, commercial teams and marketing organisations. Both had invested in Oracle Eloqua through a SmartStart engagement, which meant the platforms were technically live but far from mature.
A central LexisNexis marketing automation team acted as a service desk for multiple brands. Nextens and XpertHR wanted to break that pattern. Their goal was simple. They wanted to own their own Eloqua work, run their own campaigns and move at their own speed without waiting in line.
At a glance
- Sector: Legal, tax and HR information
- Brands: Nextens and XpertHR
- Platforms: Oracle Eloqua, Salesforce, Hadoop
- Role: Eloqua implementation and enablement
The challenge
Nextens and XpertHR had Eloqua instances that had gone through SmartStart but stopped there. The platforms existed but the marketing teams could not really use them. There were several connected problems.
Underused and underdeveloped platforms
SmartStart had provided a basic configuration. Templates were minimal, data design was light and automation was almost non-existent. Most work still went through the central automation team, which created bottlenecks and slowed campaigns down.
The instances were not broken. They were simply not mature enough to support serious demand generation.
No internal Eloqua capability
The marketing teams had enthusiasm but not experience. They did not have the practical skills to build templates, design programs, work with integrations or troubleshoot issues. Every change meant asking the central team for help and waiting.
On top of that, both brands needed Eloqua to integrate properly with Salesforce and Hadoop so that leads, customers and activity could be tracked and reported in a meaningful way.
The brief was clear. Turn both instances into fully functional, integrated Eloqua environments and bring the teams up to a level where they no longer needed to depend on the central group for day to day activity.
My approach
This became one of my strongest Eloqua implementation and enablement engagements. The work combined platform rebuild, integration design, lead scoring and very hands-on training. The end goal was not a technical cutover. It was independence.
Workstream 1
Rebuild Eloqua templates
I created branded, reusable templates for emails, landing pages, forms and campaign canvases. These were designed so that marketers could build fast without breaking anything and still respect brand standards.
Workstream 2
Integrate Eloqua with SFDC and Hadoop
I architected and implemented the integrations with Salesforce and Hadoop. That included field mappings, sync rules, error handling, data hygiene and making sure each system had the information it needed for scoring and reporting.
Workstream 3
Design lead scoring models
I worked with each brand to identify the signals that mattered for fit and intent. These were translated into lead scoring frameworks and then implemented as Eloqua programs that sales could trust.
Workstream 4
Custom training and enablement
I developed and delivered training tailored to how Nextens and XpertHR actually worked. This covered email and landing page builds, forms, campaigns, segmentation, scoring and reporting with real examples from their own pipeline.
Workstream 5
Coaching to independence
The final part of the engagement focused on making myself redundant. By the last training sessions, the teams were already building complex multi step campaigns and using advanced logic without needing me to sit beside them.
Impact
Over a six month period, Nextens and XpertHR moved from underused SmartStart instances to fully functioning Eloqua environments that their own teams could run confidently.
- Modern, reusable templates for emails, landing pages, forms and campaigns
- Stable integrations between Eloqua, Salesforce and Hadoop
- Lead scoring models tuned to each brand's reality
- Marketing teams able to build multi step campaigns on their own
- Reduced dependence on the central LexisNexis automation team
Even in the final training sessions, the teams were already presenting campaigns they had built themselves. These were not simple one shots. They were serious multi step flows with proper logic, segmentation and follow up.
In my words
This was one of my best implementation and transformation programs. I spent a lot of time flying between London and Amsterdam and it was worth every trip. The teams were eager to learn, took the training seriously and pushed themselves. By the end, they genuinely did not need me anymore, which is exactly how a good consulting engagement should finish.
- Greg Staunton
Need to take Eloqua from SmartStart to serious
If your team has Eloqua switched on but not fully used, I can help you rebuild the foundations, integrate your systems, design scoring and train your marketers so they can run campaigns without leaning on a central bottleneck.