The Challenge

DS Smith wanted to strengthen relationships with key accounts in strategic industries across Central and Eastern Europe. The key objective was to drive genuine, focused conversations relevant to specific industries, countries and even selected companies. To inspire meaningful industry-level and company-specific conversations, we built a varied messaging and content matrix, including industry reports, webinars, educational posts, and case studies. We then used value proposition retargeting to keep each account on a tailored path from first touch to lead.

Always‑On Communication Strategy

As a leader in sustainable packaging, DS Smith’s marketing team has a deep understanding of its target audiences and industry landscape - valuable insights that provided the foundation for truly personalised messaging. Working in close collaboration, we shaped campaign narratives that not only resonated strongly with decision-makers but also brought genuine value to target companies, ensuring every communication felt relevant, credible, and grounded in real market challenges.

Building on this foundation, we developed a continual content strategy that combined gated, trend-relevant content with authentic thought leadership posts. Each stream had an audience-specific messaging to showcase our client’s extensive expertise in each of the market segments. The content addressed e‑commerce, FMCG, and industrial audiences, with a clear, tangible educational element per segment and language localisation where needed.

Leader-led Content

Selected DS Smith leaders published first‑person, industry‑specific posts that invited comments and direct messages rather than one‑way announcements. When relevant, posts pointed to a matching gated asset to continue the dialogue without sounding promotional.

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Campaign Management and Optimisation

With a list of target companies and ideal customer profiles provided by the client in hand, we prepared a LinkedIn-ready list of target accounts. Then, using LinkedIn Matched Audiences, we reached and tracked engagement from them. This ensured consistent exposure across all campaigns to the same target account list, improving the brand recall and enabling more precise optimisation.

The Results

Across several industry- and region-specific campaigns, we reached top-tier target accounts, which contributed to improved brand awareness. Thanks to diversified and localised content, thought leadership posts consistently outperformed standard company content in engagement, from both key accounts. Selected DS Smith thought leaders who participated in the programme grew their LinkedIn follower base and built more meaningful connections to nurture the target accounts further. 

Moving Forward

We continue running campaigns to reach the same target account list, growing the number of digital touchpoints, and building brand exposure of DS Smith over time. In parallel with paid promotion of leader content, we are launching structured LinkedIn outreach from selected leaders. Using engagement signals to identify priority companies and contacts, we then follow up with content tailored to their industry and needs at the company level. The goal is to move from initial warming to relationship building—direct messages, comments, and personal exchanges that open the door to deeper conversations.

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