Traction Case Study: Enztec

A New Zealand success story.

When Enztec was established in Christchurch in 1992, the company had a single and unwavering focus: to produce high-quality medical instruments. After spending its initial years producing devices for a wide variety of disciplines, from cardiovascular to gynaecological, the team began to specialise in orthopaedics. They haven’t looked back since.

Fast forward to today and the now 70+ strong Enztec team concentrates solely on orthopaedic instrumentation, which they create in their 2000m2, purpose-built Christchurch facility. With the overwhelming majority of their clients residing overseas, the challenges for this Kiwi company have been many and varied – not least in the fields of regulation and compliance.

That said, such instrumentation-specific challenges fall well within Enztec’s comfort zone. One issue however proved less familiar: digital marketing.

A business grounded, a challenge set

Over the course of almost three decades, Enztec grew on the back of regular international trips. The company would visit Europe and the US to see clients and to exhibit at international medical device conferences. Beyond that, their marketing leaned more toward the traditional, with a heavy reliance on content generation.

Then, in early 2020, the pandemic hit, and travel became impossible almost overnight.

“For the first time in our history, we were unable to reach customers through our usual channels,” explains Iain McMillan, CEO of Enztec. The company would need to change tack, attempting to grow our business without the usual travel.

“A big part of our marketing plan was built around meeting our clients in their home countries,” adds Sarah Thompson, the company’s Business Development Manager. “In a matter of days it was ripped out from under our feet. We had to start thinking very differently, very quickly.”

Iain knew the route that he and his team needed to take, though it didn’t make things any less daunting. “We knew we had a lot to learn about digital marketing: how to access customers, grow our audience and measure success. We knew that it was important, and we had plans for more digital in the future, but it was when COVID hit that we felt compelled to act.”

On the back of a trusted recommendation, Enztec soon found the help they needed: Traction.

Investing in the right expertise

While Enztec brought a decent level of expectation to this new business relationship, Traction soon exceeded it.

“I remember asking Sarah how much of a briefing Traction had received about our business,” says Iain, “and when she answered none, I remember wondering how they managed to get such a grasp on our business so quickly.”

“It was obvious that this relationship was going to be impactful, and that these impacts would come sooner than I realised. The Traction team instantly understood our major concerns and brought the level of urgency and skill that we were looking for.”

These thoughts are echoed by Sarah: “The pace, the understanding and the detailed knowledge that Traction brought to our organisation was epic. It also felt like a great culture fit – I felt that the Traction team would work well with our own internal marketing team.”

“Traction brought a systematic approach to digital marketing. They broke it down into elements, covering strategy development, implementation and bringing our in-house marketing team up to speed. They were driven; here to make a real difference, not to muck around. At the same time, they were personable and engaging, and offered an adaptable service that continually changed in-line with our evolving needs.”

“We genuinely saw Traction as part of our team,” Iain adds. “Our internal marketing team has learnt a tremendous amount, and has become more confident in terms of digital marketing.”

As COVID gripped the world, Traction helped Enztec to better utilise digital marketing, getting their brand in front of a far-flung customer base that included major instrumentation brands in the US (Zimmer Biomet, Exactech, Stryker, DJO) and Europe (Mathys, Lima, Corin, Smith+Nephew.) They also helped Enztec to construct a new website that was more adept at converting this audience.

A future-proofed international business

Two years after the pandemic hit, the proof of Traction’s expertise is in the pudding. Enztec has seen an appreciable uptick in traffic and conversions; US site visitors, for example, grew almost ten-fold, while US conversions increased by 600%.

According to Sarah, the team capitalises on analytics in a way that they’ve never done before. “We make more informed decisions. We know how we are performing. We can predict how impactful a change might be. We have more of the right information.”

When asked to summarise their Traction experience, Enztec are glowing.

“It’s had a very positive impact on the team,” says Sarah. “It’s brought us to a new level of marketing internally. Our team is more engaged and has more direction.”

Iain, meanwhile, is reflective. “Our messaging is clear and our content is compelling. Without Traction’s help, we wouldn’t be where we are.”

There’s no doubt that the Enztec team will jet-set again, exporting their premium and distinctly bespoke brand of instrumentation expertise to the world. But they can now do so while also capitalising on the endless opportunities offered up in the digital space, ensuring that they make the most of the now while preparing themselves for whatever might come.