case study

Case Study: NEXT with TIGER 21: Top 10 Podcast for CEOs, 760% Brand Boost

Launched TIGER 21 to Top 25% of Podcasts with Titans of Business and World-Changing Entrepreneurs

About: TIGER 21 is the premier peer membership organization for ultra successful entrepreneurs, investors, and executives.

Client: TIGER 21 (tiger21.com)

Industry: Mastermind, Business, Investing.
TIGER 21 is the world’s premier Ultra-High-Net-Worth Peer Membership Group

Service: Podcast Strategy, Production, and Marketing by Beetle Moment Marketing led by voice marketing expert Emily Binder

Objective: Launch and establish the 'NEXT with TIGER 21' podcast as a premier show featuring world-class guests and content tailored to ultra-high-net-worth investors. Ultimately this content marketing will drive impressions and brand awareness about TIGER 21 to attract new Members.

Ranked in top 10 Podcasts for CEOs (Entrepreneur)

Introduction

TIGER 21 is an exclusive global community of ultra-high-net-worth entrepreneurs, investors, and executives who are focused on preserving wealth and creating meaningful legacies. As a peer-learning network, TIGER 21 facilitates deep, impactful discussions on wealth preservation (featuring portfolio defense), investment strategies, family dynamics, estate planning, and philanthropy.

Hear more about Founder Michael Sonnenfeldt’s story behind founding this flagship group for successful entrepreneurs in the 2-minute NEXT with TIGER 21 podcast trailer.

What is TIGER 21? Learn more in this video: Behind The Scenes Of The Billionaires' Mastermind (TIGER 21) | Michael Sonnenfeldt Interview

The project: In Q4-2023, TIGER 21 engaged Beetle Moment to create a strategy, podcast brand, and production and marketing plan to launch the NEXT with TIGER 21 podcast. This show is aimed at providing Members and the broader audience of investors and prospects with insights from some of the world’s most influential leaders in business and entrepreneurship — both famous moguls as well as more under-the-radar success stories (like Episode 3: “Libby Connolly Alexander: Taking a Family Business from Millions to Billions”.)

Challenge

NEXT with TIGER 21 podcast launched in May 2024, produced and marketed by Beetle Moment

TIGER 21 had never ventured into podcasting but has a strong and well-respected brand recognized in entrepreneurial and finance circles for decades from word of mouth, media / PR, and Founder Michael Sonnenfeldt’s television appearances on CNBC, and more.

As a famous brand TIGER 21 has healthy followings on social media, including 25,000 LinkedIn followers and 3.3k on X (numbers as of August 2024).

The TIGER marketing team wanted to create engaging social content to showcase their Members, featuring more video clips and Shorts with consistent sharing. They needed a partner to handle every aspect of podcast creation and marketing, from strategy and production to promotion and analysis. They also wanted fresh, compelling social media content including copywriting and effective techniques for LinkedIn and X to grow organically.

The goal was to build a show that not only attracted listeners but also established a strong brand presence across multiple platforms, including YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and importantly: social media (LinkedIn and X). The team wanted greater brand awareness, visibility online, and education about what makes TIGER 21 so special: their Members.

Solution

Beetle Moment Marketing stepped in to provide a full-service solution, leveraging our expertise in podcast production, digital marketing, social media marketing, and SEO. We designed and executed a content strategy that included:

1) Full Video Podcast Production: End-to-end management of recording, editing, and publishing audio and video clips from remote Riverside recordings with host Michael Sonnenfeldt and guests. This included tech checks and detailed guest equipment guides as well as recommended gear and guidance to ensure smooth recording experiences even for inexperienced guests joining remotely, thanks to our on-call producer.

Here are a couple screen grabs from the customized gear and recording guides we created, including links to the best user-friendly podcast mics and webcams (shop our Gear List here):

We mastered and optimized audio along with creating new sonic branding (theme music). For the video clips we follow Emily Binder’s Buffalo Marketing (use everything), featuring the best highlights from guests like Dylan Taylor, Howard Morgan, Perianne Boring, David Jaffe and more. All clips on YouTube here.

NEXT with TIGER 21 podcast home page (voice content hub): https://tiger21.com/podcast/

2) SEO and Content Marketing: Optimized the podcast for discoverability using targeted keywords like 'Howard Morgan investor,' 'TIGER 21,' and 'best podcast company.' We created a YouTube Playlist for NEXT with TIGER 21 Clips, geared for YouTube SEO featuring all the horizontal and vertical clips (Shorts). We provided copywriting, layout, and widgets to optimize and create the podcast home page: tiger21.com/podcast.

3) Multi-Platform Distribution: Ensured the podcast was available on all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube with cilps shared on YouTube Shorts, X, and LinkedIn along with compelling custom-written captions and post text.

4) Storytelling: We scripted intros and a Trailer to tell the story of TIGER 21 and Founder / Host Michael Sonnenfeldt. Play the Season 1 Trailer:

5) Social Media Promotion: Launched a strong podcast presence on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram, engaging the target audience with clips, quotes, and highlights from each episode as well as guest tagging and engagement.

Check out clips on TIGER 21’s YouTube playlist:

How we optimize podcast videos and Shorts on YouTube:

YouTube description tip: add links to related videos or playlists. Helps SEO and UX.

  1. Write a compelling AND search-friendly video title. Example YouTube Shorts titles with names and hashtags:

    1. "Washington bet against me." -Perianne Boring #femalefounders #entrepreneur #cryptocurrency

    2. “David Jaffe: How my dad prepared me for CEO: Dressbarn / Ascena Retail. #fortune500 #familybusiness”

  2. Write user-friendly SEO descriptions including: keyword-rich text (such as “family business” or “generational wealth” or “Howard Morgan”, add clickable timestamps / chapters, and always finish with boilerplate website, podcast subscribe, and social media follow links).

    1. Example: "After My Exit, I Became the Wrong Kind of Investor" - David Jaffe, Ascena Retail Group

  3. Bonus: we add links to related videos or playlists - see image to the right/above (example)

  4. Graphics: create custom thumbnails on horizontal videos (mid-length clips) optimized for mobile view and scrolling

  5. SEO playlist setup:

YouTube Content and Results:

Before NEXT with TIGER 21, the channel published videos periodically but was not consistently active or strategic. We dropped the audio podcast bi-weekly on Wednesdays and published six videos to YouTube at the same time (with six episodes airing over twelve weeks).

Video Content:

  • 36 video clips plus one bonus clip = 37 total videos (from six one-hour audio podcasts)

  • Published the channel’s first Shorts, opening for discovery from a much larger audience

  • Created a podcast Playlist for handy marketing, listener nav, and easy embedding on tiger21.com/podcast

Results on YouTube:

  • 760% increase in brand impressions the first week following 5/15/2024 launch

Three months after podcast launch: during 5/15/2024-8/15/2024:

  • Drove 16,618 views (a 744% increase over prior period)

  • Drove 172.4 watch hours

  • Added 167 new subscribers to total over 1,123 channel subs

audio podcast Results

These downloads/plays put “NEXT With TIGER 21” in the top 25% of podcasts (Descript and Buzzsprout benchmark source below).

Spotify Performance (since 5/15/2024 launch, as of August 13, 2024 after 6 episodes, full season 1):

  • All-Time Starts: 1,259

  • Impressions (Last 30 Days): 3,839

Apple Podcasts Performance:

  • Plays: 3.8k

  • Hours Listened: 382

  • Subscription Rate: 80% of listeners follow the show (this is very high)

We published a Trailer and six 1-hour episodes in Season 1, on a bi-weekly cadence. Compared to weekly drops, bi-weekly is a more challenging schedule to establish a new following since the episodes are more spread out. However we chose more spacing for strategic reasons, such as giving breathing room for the six video clips to have max reach without being overshadowed, and without over-posting along with TIGER 21’s other marketing content.

Every S1 episode of NEXT with TIGER 21 surpassed the Top 25% of Podcasts benchmark for downloads within its first week. Podcast stats are notoriously nuanced, but here’s the source data:

If you want hard numbers about podcast downloads, current Buzzsprout data suggests that a top 25% podcast will have 120 downloads in the first seven days after the episode is published, whereas a top 5% podcast will have 1,120 and a top 1% will have just under 5,000 downloads in that timeframe. -Descript

Most Popular Audio Podcast Episode: Howard Morgan’s episode #1 achieved over 1,400 plays on Apple Podcasts in its first few weeks, making it the standout performer of Season 1. For a brand new podcast this is a great result.

Conclusion

The NEXT with TIGER 21 podcast, under Beetle Moment Marketing’s guidance, has quickly established itself as a must-listen show for entrepreneurs and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, as the topics that Michael Sonnenfeldt tackled with guests cover the key aspects of growing and selling a business, managing dynamics of a successful family business, and living a meaningful life after an exit or liquidity event.

By combining top-tier guest selection with expert production and marketing, we have positioned TIGER 21 as a leading voice in the world of entrepreneurship and investment.

To explore how Beetle Moment Marketing can elevate your podcast or digital marketing strategy, contact us today.

Featured social media video clips we created for TIGER 21:

LinkedIn copywriting and video clips:

Samples of X post copywriting and video clips:

Summary: TIGER 21 wanted to launch a podcast to showcase the extraordinary business stories of their Members. We produced and marketed, edited, and guided the show from soup to nuts. In episode 1 Howard Morgan revealed his inimitable career. In episode 2 the world’s leading solar developer Martin Hermann shared his story from a German apprenticeship to a software exit to Intel then founding BrightNight that can power 20 million buildings with clean energy. Episode 3 guest Libby Connolly Alexander shared her story of her father’s startup in retail audit recovery growning to a retail and health tech auditing firm recovering $2 billion annually and recently valued at $11 billion after a private equity sale. Plus much more.

We were thrilled to work with TIGER 21 and host Michael Sonnenfeldt to launch this limited podcast series showcasing TIGER Members’ as the impressive titans of entrepreneurship and business they are.

Ready to launch a podcast or un-podcast (just video clips)? Reach out here.

Case Study: 204% Referral Traffic Increase: Financial Advisor Podcast Production and Marketing

Find out how we got a financial advisor over 45,000 impressions, a 200% increase in referral traffic to his website, and over 1600% more YouTube views through our podcast production and marketing services. These were just a few of the results from a Season 1 launch for a brand new podcast host with a nascent company social media presence.

Background and landscape:

Podcasting is a competitive but highly rewarding endeavor when done right over time. It can deliver not only meaning, education, and even legacy — but also tangible business results for brand awareness, client retention, and eventually lead generation.

At Beetle Moment, we produce and market podcasts for discerning, visionary business leaders who understand the long-term value of content marketing. We’ve launched client podcasts and voice apps since 2017, having been fortunate to work with businesses including Ritholtz Wealth Management in their first iteration of The Compound Show.

This is a case study of a new podcast hosted by a New York City based financial advisor. We launched and produced Season 1 for a show that crosses over lifestyle, self-help, business and investing.

The Problem

Jonathan, Chief Behavioral Officer and Founder/CEO of Satovsky Asset Management (SAM), approached us with a desire to enhance brand visibility and foster engaging discussions with compelling guests. He wanted to create meaningful conversations across investing, meditation, health and wellness, psychology, acting, leadership, sports, and more to speak to the ethos of his company which centers on addressing and solving for behavioral blind spots.

From a marketing KPI perspective, he wanted engaging, evergreen content that would bring his brand and philosophy to life beyond the existing vlogs and blogs that weren’t getting many views.

Most importantly, like many busy professionals, SAM wanted for Jon, their CEO, to be able to “just show up” and be the talent. The podcast needed to be done-for-you.

The Solution

With an impressive personal network built on decades of work and outreach, Jon came to us with a potential guest list that was a podcaster’s dream. We recorded Season 1 guests including legendary investor Joel Greenblatt, Greg Harden (the famous University of Michigan mentor and coach to Tom Brady and Michael Phelps), NYT best-selling author, psychologist and professor Dan Ariely, “Mad Men” star, actor and director John Slattery, business mogul, CNBC contributor, and TIGER 21 Founder Michael Sonnenfeldt, Transcendental Meditation guru and leader Bob Roth, NFL star Ryan Nece, and more esteemed names.

That said, we were thrilled to embark on the launch of "Wisdom, Wealth, and Wellness" podcast. Read on to learn our podcast creation process, deliverables, and the results of our hands-on approach and meticulous execution that transformed SAM’s vision into a reality with a ten episode Season.

(As a note we only worked on Season 1 as the client planned to take Season 2 in-house.)

Click here to skip to Results

1. Crafting a Compelling Podcast Brand Identity

We delved into SAM's ethos to sculpt a brand identity that resonates. From conceiving the show title to crafting captivating visual and sonic branding (video clip), every element radiated SAM's essence. We created custom sonic branding with our friends at WealthVoice based on the attributes and songs that SAM provided, including Bob Marley as inspo.

2. Seamless Production and marketing Workflow

We orchestrated the production and marketing process, from setting up the RSS feed to curating YouTube Shorts and video clips and sharing to social media. Our attention to detail ensured seamless production, strong SEO, and continual content marketing benefits. We organized an efficient approval process with the RIA’s compliance officer.

Our podcast work included:

  1. Consult on guest selection

  2. Organize guest booking and outreach

  3. Provide instructions and prep docs for each guest

  4. Host and produce Riverside studio virtual recordings for host and guest

  5. Voice coaching and interview coaching for host

  6. Video and audio editing for podcast and YouTube + video clips

  7. YouTube channel upgrades: playlists, meta tags, SEO titles, and custom thumbnail templates

  8. Podcast RSS feed setup and management, publishing bi-weekly episodes and Trailer

  9. SEO friendly episode titles and show notes written and optimized including level-ups like Spotify Chapters (clickable timestamps)

  10. Social media content creation covering: episode announcements, video clips, video and text posts, guest tagging and company tagging for each network, and evergreen re-sharing schedule to maximize traction and engagement for months or years (instead of the average one week after airing)

3. Elevating Podcast Guest Experience

Prep docs personalized for each guest include technical guidance, recording checklist, and unique prompts (questions) to prepare for.

Some guests are more experienced than others. A common snag for podcasters is that a guest might show up in AirPods with no mic in a dimly lit room — despite sending a prep doc and recording tips ahead of time. To ensure high quality recordings and guest comfort level through knowing what to expect and how to prepare: we created in-depth prep documents and a tested approach to avoid common recording issues. Our prep docs include:

  • Equipment recommendations and setup guides with diagrams and links

  • Easy Riverside instructions to optimize audio and video quality

  • Unique, compelling questions based on extensive research into each guest’s work and their past podcast appearances (to avoid repetition)

  • Calendly for 5-minute test recordings with our producer

Our approach ensured that each conversation was crisp, audible, and imbued with fresh perspectives, captivating both guests and audiences alike.

Guest follow-ups and social media engagement:

After recordings we sent guests individualized thank-you emails with links to their Spotify and Apple episodes, YouTube clips, and 1-click social media posts to share.

This extra step goes a long way in getting engagement on episodes and providing tangible value to guests as a thank-you for their time.

It is not enough to tweet out one Apple Podcasts link and call it a day!

Our philosophy: Podcast episode promotion and guest re-engagement should happen over months to reap maximum rewards. Otherwise the investment in the content creation is wasted with ephemeral visibility.

4. Amplifying Content Reach

SAM's pre-existing online presence underwent a dramatic transformation. Through strategic content distribution across platforms, we garnered unprecedented engagement on their YouTube and social media channels. SAM enjoyed notable increases in engagement on:

  • YouTube

  • X

  • Company’s and CEO’s LinkedIn pages

  • Instagram

5. YouTube and video Focus

Recognizing that YouTube is the top podcast consumption platform, we always emphasize a dedicated strategy for videos with our podcast clients. For SAM in particular, knowing that they’re targeting wealthy people over age 50, YouTube was even more important.

YouTube was the most-watched streaming option over the past 12 months, according to data from Nielsen as of February 2024. In January 2024, YouTube accounted for 8.6 percent of usage in the US, followed by Netflix at 7.9 percent. That’s more than the next eight services combined.

Leveraging YouTube Shorts and video clips, we witnessed a staggering 1616% increase in views during Season 1 (September 2023-January 2024), propelling SAM's visibility to new heights.

“YouTube is not traditionally thought of as being in the same category as Netflix, but a Nielsen report revealed the video platform was the streamer with the most TV usage this January, its twelfth straight month as the No. 1 streaming service. In January 2024, streaming accounted for 36% of all TV usage, per Nielsen.”

YouTube made $7.95 billion in ad revenue Q3-23 = a 12.5% YoY increase. $GOOG overall topped Street forecasts but YouTube is what we’re specifically tracking.

YouTube stats:

  • Unbeatably #1 in video SEO because of Google

  • Strong discovery algorithm with Shorts

  • #1 in podcast listening (33% beats Spotify at 24%)

  • YouTube accounts for 9% of all TV screen time, more than any streamer (e.g. Netflix).

YouTube Shorts are one of the biggest content marketing plays of 2024: Shorts have the UX, SEO, and benefits of Instagram and TikTok with the added bonus of Google Search.

YouTube Audience Activation Funnel from Shorts to horizontal mid-lengths to subscribing and engaging

Stats on short form video marketing:

  • 2 in 3 people find short form video to be the most engaging content on social media (SproutSocial).

  • Video marketers report 66% more qualified leads and a 54% increase in brand awareness (OptinMonster).

  • Video marketers experience 49% faster revenue growth than competitors not using video (Wordstream).

6. Targeted Audience Engagement

Our strategy honed in on SAM's target demographic, resulting in a surge of engagement. With content tailored to a high-net-worth (HNW) audience engaged in self-improvement, mindfulness, wealth creation, and investing, this podcast offered compelling content to the target audience without coming off like an ad or sales pitch. Specifically, we researched content consumption patterns for people age 50-60 with at least $3mm in investable assets.

In the U.S., 45% of podcast listeners have incomes over $250,000, and 17% earn between $100,000 and $150,000. Around 28% of Americans earn $250,000 or more, indicating podcast audiences' financial success. As a marketer, it's vital to target this affluent demographic when planning podcast strategies. (Source: MusicOomph 2019)

Why video reaches the HNW, GEN Z, and Boomer audiences:

•73% of consumers prefer watching a video to learn about a product or service.

•82% of baby boomers watch videos on YouTube, and 60% of them watch videos on YouTube daily.

•Viewers retain 95% of a message after watching it in a video compared to only 10% when reading it in text.

•75% of baby boomers say they've taken some kind of action after watching videos on YouTube.

•People share videos 1,200% more times than links and texts combined.

So, what happened?

Results After Season 1

From significant growth in YouTube views to a threefold increase in website referral traffic, SAM's podcast emerged as a success for their foray into voice marketing. The audio podcast is statistically in the top 30% or greater of podcasts based on episode downloads in week 1.

Result 1: YouTube

  1. Youtube: 4.14.23-9.18.23 vs 9.19.23-2.25.24: a 1616% increase in views

  2. 904 views before podcast vs 15,201 during Season 1

  3. Doubled subscribers

  4. 485% increase in channel impressions due to podcast (we earned 53,700 impressions 9/19/23-2/19/24)

Result 2: Content performance

WWW Podcast is the top performing of all SAM published content … of all time.

Result 3: Website traffic

Drove 3x more referral traffic to company website. 9/19/23-2/23/24:

  • Referral traffic up 204%

  • Organic traffic up 5.12%

  • Podcast page:

    • 2,882 additional events

Result 4: Audio Podcast

In the top 30% of all podcasts based on average listens in first 7 days of episodes.*

  • *Buzzsprout monthly platform data. Recent numbers suggest that a podcast in the top 25% of shows will get 120 listens in first 7 days.

5-star rating on Spotify

105% average consumption on Apple Podcasts for top performing episode (E5, Joel Greenblatt) (note: 100% means the average listener finished the full episode)

Insights and Implications

From the engagement of SAM's discerning audience to the transformative power of YouTube, our insights on Season 1 shaped our strategy for future seasons and brand marketing:

Building a Sustainable Audience

Looking ahead, our focus remains on not only recording high quality episodes but on the important art of clipping and sharing. Podcasting is no longer about a long-form piece of audio but success hinges on the ability to clip and repurpose content, especially when a podcast snippet can answer one specific question at a time, which is the key to SEO.

The attention economy favors clips. Creating and effectively sharing those clips is the key to growth. YouTube Shorts lead the way for this particular audience. Through an emphasis on YouTube strategy, social media engagement, and future guest swaps we strive foster and activate the podcast audience.

Podcast production and marketing services - work with us:

Ready to share your voice? Launch a podcast or take your existing show to the next level. Reach out.

Instagram @beetlemoment

High-net-worth investors are updating their wealth management relationships—with 46% planning a change in the next 1-2 years. 39% have already switched advisors. But this is key: 😮 Financial advisors with defined marketing strategies onboard
🌟 Thrilled that the podcast we launched and produced, "NEXT with TIGER 21," has been ranked #7 in the Top 12 Podcasts for CEOs featured on Entrepreneur.com, right after "Diary of a CEO." Hosted by Michael Sonnenfeldt, "NEXT

We don’t just produce podcasts; we shape your brand’s narrative to create durable marketing that doesn’t chase — it attracts. See the rest of our marketing services here.

Follow us for branding and voice marketing tips: Instagram @beetlemoment and get our latest blog posts in your inbox:

Case Study: California Retirement Advisors (CRA) - Social Media and Video Content Strategy Success

Client Background:

California Retirement Advisors (CRA), also known as CRA Advisors, is a leading financial advisory firm based in California, committed to providing personalized retirement planning services to its clients.

Client's Challenge:

When CRA engaged with Beetle Moment Marketing approximately two years ago, they faced several challenges in their marketing efforts:

needing a Marketing leader and a plan:

Without a clear marketing strategy or priorities, CRA struggled to stand out in the competitive financial advisory space. Webinars and campaigns were happening in a one-off nature and they wanted to plan ahead on a quarterly basis targeting both evergreen and seasonal topics, e.g. year-end tax tips in Q1 or tax preparation in Q1.

Inefficient Resource Allocation:

CRA was overspending on redundant tools, software-as-a-service (SaaS) products, and underutilized resources, impacting their marketing budget and ROI. The list of tools and subscriptions needed to be trimmed in order to be efficient and cost-effective. Various vendors were running SEM and SEO campaigns but not reporting on results; there was too much unmonitored activity across contractors without a dedicated resource to hold all accountable and track progress.

Lacking social media Presence and optimized blog content:

CRA had a blog but it was not optimized for search and keywords. Its publishing schedule lacked a strategic approach and schedule. In fact, the blog had too much wide-ranging content without writing for their target avatar (ideal client). This bulk posting approach hurt their SERP rankings for subject matter expertise from a Google search perspective. They wanted to rank for terms related to California taxes and estate planning for successful people nearing or in retirement.

Their minimal social media presence was missing the opportunity to grow their audience and brand awareness, and to showcase the friendly, intelligent advisors on their team. The blog, email, and social content read as somewhat canned and not personalized or reflective of the high-touch thoughtful nature of their team and the financial planning experience that delights their clients.

Our Approach:

Beetle Moment Marketing initiated a comprehensive marketing engagement and we created a strategy to address CRA's challenges and elevate their marketing efforts. The process began with our signature Brand Strategy and Messaging - Discovery Phase, which included stakeholder interviews to gain insights into CRA's business goals, existing marketing strategies, and areas for improvement.

We charted out all marketing expenditures and results in a single dashboard (a source of truth) and found areas to save CRA money without impacting results. Through this phase, we identified cost-saving opportunities, resulting in a 20% reduction in CRA's marketing spend by eliminating redundant tools and optimizing resources. Within three months engagement had increased 64% and spend was down.

Most importantly, we applied the branding and messaging creative to an operationalized approach to streamline and organize sharing content on social media, email, blog, and YouTube.

Our team operationalized content marketing with a strategic milestone-based timeline resulting in efficient batch delivery of content to the compliance team.


Key Actions:

1. Strategic Resource Allocation:

Beetle Moment Marketing sourced and managed two freelance marketing hires—one specializing in social media content creation and the other in SEO and website updates. This strategic allocation of resources ensured that CRA's marketing needs were efficiently met while optimizing their budget. The new social media resource was more expensive but created more engaging and effective content, driving over a 300% increase in engagement the first year.

We planned, produced, and recorded YouTube and social media videos about topics the target audience of pre-retirees would search for, e.g. HSA (Health Savings Account) and healthcare costs

2. Content Strategy Enhancement:

We devised seasonal financial content themes for CRA's social media platforms, focusing on engaging and informative content. This included guiding the content writer on optimizing YouTube and social media short-form videos to maximize audience engagement.

Off-site SEO strategy for CRA included Google Maps / Google My Business listing hygiene

3. Personalized Video Content Production:

We produced Riverside video recordings featuring CRA team members, highlighting their financial advice expertise. These recordings were edited into engaging social media videos, enriching CRA's brand presence and fostering audience connection.

4. Introducing Content Themes:

Beetle Moment Marketing introduced distinct content themes, such as "Core Definitions," to simplify complex financial concepts like Stretch IRA and See-Through Trust, making them more accessible to CRA's audience. We also grouped their YouTube videos into SEO-friendly YouTube Playlists.

5. Thematic and Topical Posts:

Beetle Moment Marketing created thematic and topical posts addressing important financial topics such as HSAs and healthcare costs in retirement, further establishing CRA as a trusted source of information.

Instagram grid for California Retirement Advisors mixes IG Reels and engaging graphics. We showcase their advisors and tax tips.

Results:

Significant Increase in Engagement:

In October 2023, CRA experienced a remarkable 204% increase in social media engagements compared to October 2022, showcasing the effectiveness of Beetle Moment Marketing's strategies.

optimized Video Format:

A/B testing of various video formats, including long-form widescreen for YouTube, square videos for social media, and one-minute vertical Reels and YouTube shorts, helped optimize content delivery and enhance audience interaction.

Boosted Overall Social Media Engagement Rate:

In November 2023, CRA achieved a 6.3% overall social media engagement rate, marking a significant 146% increase over the previous year.

Consistent Growth:

Throughout 2023, CRA witnessed consistent growth in engagements on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X, reaping the benefits of the organic work and efforts invested in both 2022 and 2023 content.

Their email marketing open rate and click rates each increased by over 14% YoY thanks to our updated email template design and content guidance.

See our work (multimedia showcase):

Samples of the content we created for California Retirement Advisors:

See Maili's YouTube Playlist on Financial Education

Conclusion:

Beetle Moment Marketing's collaboration with California Retirement Advisors exemplifies the transformative power of a strategic social media and video content approach. By implementing tailored strategies, optimizing resources, and fostering engaging content creation, CRA witnessed substantial growth in brand presence and audience engagement, positioning them as a prominent player in the competitive financial advisory landscape.

For more information on how Beetle Moment can elevate your marketing efforts, see our services or send us a message.

Case Study: Brand Messaging Strategy for BPO Company

Spoke is a premier Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company who partnered with Beetle Moment Marketing to enhance its brand presence and communicate its unique selling proposition (USP) more effectively through website, messaging, sales materials, and social media.

The Challenge 

Despite boasting an industry-leading 83% retention rate, Spoke struggled to express its superior value proposition, especially their remarkable integrity. As a BPO company (business process outsourcing), Spoke needed a way to reach their target audience of startup founders and introduce their time-saving talent placement solution. Employee surveys pointed towards an urgent need for more robust brand representation and an engaging social media presence.

Essentially, Spoke had a high value offering with the stats to back it, but the world couldn’t tell from their website and marketing materials.

Brand positioning & messaging strategy

Spoke needed to bottom line the essence of their brand so the target audience would understand their solution.

The Approach 

To fully grasp Spoke's unique challenges and potential, Beetle Moment initiated a discovery phase involving Spoke's CMO, CEO, founder, and representatives from various departments. This intensive engagement period, lasting two months, revealed a roadmap to accentuate Spoke's brand and offerings. 

As a messaging foundation, we summarized our discovery meetings into what the brand is and is not.

We surveyed stakeholders and employees about the Spoke brand. This is the resulting word cloud, inspiring the messaging to focus on keywords such as: trustworthy, innovative, and employees having a voice.

Key activities included an internal stakeholder survey, brand spectrum exercise, competitor analysis, developing engaging messaging, curating enticing taglines, enhancing website design, and optimizing SEO, all aimed at educating prospects and website visitors about Spoke's BPO offerings.

We updated Spoke’s sales deck to optimize language and graphics.

We also evaluated their sales materials such as pitch decks and email marketing to identify opportunities for stronger messaging to convince leads to become clients.

The Solution 

We took their strongest stats about retention and promotions to create compelling visuals for Spoke’s marketing and sales materials.

The project resulted in a comprehensive messaging package, complete with updated website content, design recommendations, and an improved case study showcasing Spoke's success stories. The team crafted a series of ready-to-use social media content, including tweets and LinkedIn posts, alongside suggestions for PR, media, and podcast appearances.

Further, an in-depth competitor analysis was performed, assessing the websites, SEO, advertising presence, CPM, and social media content of the top three BPO competitors.

Highlights from our recommendations:

  1. Target avatar summary (the ideal client’s behavior, goals, interests, challenges, values, and Spoke’s value proposition)

  2. Website content and messaging (copydeck, navigation, UX flow)

    1. Structural upgrades such as: website domain. The current domain was a .co and missed keyword opportunities (including BPO, a high volume search term for their target audience), strong readability, and equity for the brand name.
      Original: gospoke.co
      Recommended: spoke-bpo.com

  3. Competitor website analysis and comparison including search volumes and keywords

  4. Marketing content strategy including:

    1. SEO blog posts, whitepapers, case studies (assets written and delivered to Spoke)

    2. Organic and PR opportunities such as podcast appearances and media coverage

    3. Social media engagement strategy and content (multimedia text, video, and YouTube)

    4. Strategic partnerships to pursue

    5. Awards and recognitions to pursue

We delivered five tagline options like these, for Spoke to use on their website and marketing materials, social media profiles, and sales decks. Tagline creation was one of our favorite parts of this project because the challenge of distilling a brand into one sentence is easily the most difficult but impactful part of brand messaging. #foundation

The value of great messaging

We delivered multiple tagline options to A/B test, slogans, social media posts, email marketing content, and a messaging hierarchy to use across marketing and sales channels. This gave Spoke’s brand a consistent voice, emphasizing the trustworthy brand attribute that 90% of employees identified.

The Impact

This strategic initiative not only provided Spoke with the tools to revamp their website and initiate a competitive social presence, but it also reinvigorated the leadership team. Equipped with a new playbook, they felt inspired to lead the charge in enhancing Spoke's brand identity and digital footprint.

For your transformative brand messaging solutions, contact us.

Case Study: Financial Advisor Client Onboarding + Alexa Skill (Podcast / Voice Marketing)

Welcome new clients or customers with an Echo Dot welcome kit so they can access your content on Alexa. The right client gift will boost positive regard and lower churn. Voice adds value and builds trust. Here’s why this technique is so effective:

Before we discuss the psychology of giving a gift, let’s talk about CAC.

The average Client Acquisition Cost (CAC) of a financial advisor is $3,119 per client. The cost of the marketing method below averages under $75 per client (using the Echo Dot, or under $200 with the Echo Show) and it will pay dividends because these WealthVoice welcome kits:

  1. Build your brand

  2. Let you communicate authentically

  3. Encourage word of mouth referrals

  4. Reduce churn through positive sentiment and trust over time (with your voice updates)

These most-scalable ‘standout’ marketing strategies included client referrals (which amongst top advisors generated an average of almost 19X the new revenue as the cost to acquire the referral), books (an average 10X multiplier of revenue/cost for top marketing firms), direct mail (a 9.1X multiplier), paid web listings (8.3X multiplier), COIs (7.8X multiplier), marketing lists (7.2X multiplier), and SEO (6.8X multiplier).

-Michael Kitces

If you delight a client, they will talk about you to their friends, and say nice things. This will get you referrals and grow your business. This will reduce churn. A great way to delight them is to demonstrate your tech savvy, your accessibility, and your commitment to offering helpful guidance: send a badass gift like a smart speaker with your custom Alexa skill so they can get your updates hands-free.

Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the customer gets out of it.

-Jay Baer, customer experience marketing expert

When you make a purchase decision, you typically experience some degree of uncertainty afterward. Important decisions are all the more taxing and incite more powerful feelings after pulling the trigger. It’s called buyer’s remorse when a decision leads to an undesirable outcome.

Your Clients / Customers Want to Feel Good About Their Decisions

The good news for your business is that social science research reveals that we are psychologically motivated to be satisfied with our decisions. People want to think they’ve chosen well. It’s usually pretty easy to help them feel that way.

Decision making is stressful. Clients want to be reassured they’ve chosen wisely.

Decision making is stressful. Clients want to be reassured they’ve chosen wisely.

Smart marketers know that the period after purchase is a sensitive time where there’s an opportunity to reassure your customer they made the right choice. This is why after a product purchase, you’ll often get follow-up emails that educate you on the great features you can access. Marketers want to reduce any potential for buyer’s remorse, a return of the purchase, or churn.

When someone hires you in a professional role, like as their financial advisor or any type of consultant, it’s important to reassure them they chose wisely. Doing this helps avoid churn and starts the relationship off on the right foot. Here’s how we helped our client do this with their end clients using a gift and voice marketing.

The Psychology of Gifts

From an evolutionary perspective, gift giving includes tactical motivations, such as creating a good impression, displaying financial resources, or as a means for seduction. This applies to your personal and business life.

From an evolutionary perspective, gift giving includes tactical motivations, such as creating a good impression, displaying financial resources, or as a means for seduction. This applies to your personal and business life.

Gifts are part of our universal social fabric. For thousands of years, gifts have been exchanged to build political and social relationships. They evoke feelings. They are loaded. They are powerful. Gifts usually become a sentimental value to the receiver because it helps recognize the special connection with the gift giver. In this sense, gifts are a way to show caring or commitment and a way to communicate.

First we built Protect Your Assets, an Alexa Skill and Google Action, for Liberty Group LLC (a financial advisor in the Bay Area). (Read more about our social media strategy and podcast marketing for this client.)

The challenge:

  1. Level up their client onboarding

  2. Educate clients about the Protect Your Assets smart speaker voice apps and all the interactive features like hands-free access to Protect Your Assets podcast and interactive quizzes on long term care and gray divorce

The solution:

We created a voice marketing hub page for Protect Your Assets on Alexa and Google Assistant, and accordion insert card to be shipped with Echo Dots (with Clocks) to each new client.

Our process:

  1. We designed the insert cards to fit in the square blue boxes, just like Amazon’s (why reinvent the wheel?) - the cards have simple language to welcome clients and educate them on using the Alexa skill

  2. We included QR codes and one-shot invocation phrases to enable the Alexa skill: “Alexa, enable Protect Your Assets.”

  3. We included sample phrases to access more content

  4. We tested the process with three existing clients we hand picked. Then we asked for their feedback via survey.

  5. Based on the trial and error around printing, packaging, and shipping we streamlined the process to send an Echo Dot Welcome Kit to every new client.

Here’s the new client greeting from David Hollander. It plays when you say:

“Alexa, tell Protect Your Assets that I am a new client.”

New Client Greeting (voice recorded on Alexa by CEO/Founder David Hollander):

You may have a mix of assets ranging from a business you own, to real estate, to investments, a 401k, IRAs, art, or cryptocurrency. And sometimes you also want tax and legal advice. We're here to help with all of it to get you on track and keep you strategically invested for the retirement you've always dreamed of. I'm David Hollander, Founder of Liberty Group. Welcome to our family and thank you for trusting us to protect your assets. You can say "learn more", "play the latest podcast," or "goodbye"

WealthVoice is a voice marketing platform to easily build your Alexa skill and send clients voice updates on their smart speaker with notifications. You reap the benefits of podcasting without the time commitment or competition. Get a spot on the waitlist:

Case Study: From Radio to Podcast Audiograms - Voice Marketing (Financial Advisor)

David Hollander is an attorney and financial advisor, and the Founder of Liberty Group LLC headquartered in Oakland, CA. Liberty Group is an RIA (registered investment advisor). Unlike most financial advisors, they provide estate law, wealth management, and tax planning all under one roof.

Award-winning financial advisor and attorney David Hollander, Founder of Liberty Group, shows you how to protect your assets at 8:00 a.m. Saturday mornings on KNBR 680, and on his popular podcast, Protect Your Assets.

Award-winning financial advisor and attorney David Hollander, Founder of Liberty Group, shows you how to protect your assets at 8:00 a.m. Saturday mornings on KNBR 680, and on his popular podcast, Protect Your Assets.

For about ten years, David has hosted Protect Your Assets on the Bay Area’s number one sports radio station, KNBR. PYA airs Saturdays at 8am. David’s show is also a podcast by the same name. He successfully acquires leads from the radio show who convert into clients for Liberty Group. Many of these leads call into a phone number given during the live radio show.

The problem:

David recognized that while his main marketing channel of his popular radio show was effective and his business was booming, he needed to ensure his marketing methods would be future proof.

We rebranded Protect Your Assets and upgraded its brand strategy and social media presence, also launching an interactive voice app on Alexa and Google Assistant so listeners could simply ask to hear the latest episode or learn more about Liberty Group.

Liberty Group’s target demographic of pre-retirees and retirees are aging. People listen to terrestrial radio less and less each year. (Edison Research has shown for years in their Smart Audio Report that radio is declining in favor of spoken word streaming audio such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more podcast apps, sometimes called podcatchers).

The number of radios in the average household is declining in the U.S., going from a 3.0 mean in 2008 to a 1.5 mean in 2020 via Edison Research, Infinite Dial 2020

The number of radios in the average household is declining in the U.S., going from a 3.0 mean in 2008 to a 1.5 mean in 2020 via Edison Research, Infinite Dial 2020

David also had a minimal social media presence and wanted to share more engaging bite size audio content to engage new people online and drive more subscribers to his podcast which is adapted from the radio show and airs three segments weekly.

five-fatal-retirement-mistakes-protect-your-assets-podbean-widget.png

He wanted to take all his audio content to the next level and grow his podcast audience.

We showed the team how to generate audiograms from their podcast episodes then share to social - like this tweet from @pyaradio. Engagement increased 36% in the first week of this effort.

We showed the team how to generate audiograms from their podcast episodes then share to social - like this tweet from @pyaradio. Engagement increased 36% in the first week of this effort.

We rebranded the podcast logo to be more visible than the previous one which was dominated by more empty white space and the Statue of Liberty; in this logo we feature David’s alter ego/nickname, The Sandman as a heroic cartoon character who helps y…

We rebranded the podcast logo to be more visible than the previous one which was dominated by more empty white space and the Statue of Liberty; in this logo we feature David’s alter ego/nickname, The Sandman as a heroic cartoon character who helps you sleep at night (because your assets are protected).

The solution:

  • We created a content calendar to promote his podcast content and implemented dozens of tactics as part of a level-up strategy

  • We rebranded the PYA podcast graphics and boosted the quality and frequency of his social media sharing featuring Instagram audiograms like this.

  • We created brand consistency across all social channels for Liberty Group and Protect Your Assets including homepage updates and the podcast page getting a Plink universal sharing link

  • Podcast SEO and discoverability: We renamed all past podcast episodes with keyword rich titles and set a format for new titles going forward to take advantage of podcast search engine indexing around terms like “investing” and “retirement”. Examples:

    • Before:
      https://libertygroupllc.com/radio-show/week-37-market-segment (no keywords)

    • After:
      https://libertygroupllc.com/radio-show/last-minute-tax-tips/ (more search friendly now)

  • We created audiograms and a process for generating at least two audiograms each week like this

  • We leveled up his YouTube presence, giving specific video filming training to his advisors on creating videos relevant to investing and retirement

  • We gave the team a process and format to optimize each episode’s show notes/blog post embedding their podbean audio player widget and creating at least a paragraph of unique intro text with keywords and a strong URL

  • We created a YouTube SEO strategy utilizing titles, descriptions, and all-important thumbnails to help people find his videos

  • We taught the team how to repurpose YouTube videos into blog posts like this

  • We created a blog on libertygroupllc.com, which previously didn’t have one. This would allow us to create content around important investing and retirement topics and be found organically, a goal for the team (to decrease ad spend and boost inbound content marketing for lead gen)

  • We created a New Client Welcome Message available on his custom Alexa Skill and Google Action called Protect Your Assets (more info on the voice apps coming soon in a separate case study):

  • New client greeting on Alexa:

    “You may have a mix of assets ranging from a business you own, to real estate, to investments, a 401k, IRAs, art, or cryptocurrency. And sometimes you also want tax and legal advice. We're here to help with all of it to get you on track and keep you strategically invested for the retirement you've always dreamed of. I'm David Hollander, Founder of Liberty Group. Welcome to our family and thank you for trusting us to protect your assets. You can say "learn more", "play the latest podcast," or "goodbye".

”Alexa, ask Protect Your Assets to play the latest podcast.” Quick Link here to launch


”Alexa, ask Protect Your Assets to play the latest podcast.” Quick Link here to launch

Results:

  • 36% increase in podcast downloads

  • 5 star reviews on Alexa on Google

  • 23% increase in Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn engagement

  • Highest number ever of leads registering for weekly webinars and booking introductory calls

Case Study: Podcast + Alexa Flash Briefing for Women-Led Wealth Management Firm

Aspen Wealth Management is an RIA based in Fort Worth, Texas. Their daily audio briefing embodies their transparent approach to financial planning with an emphasis on relationships. (Photo by Enrique Macias on Unsplash.)

Aspen Wealth Management is an RIA based in Fort Worth, Texas. Their daily audio briefing embodies their transparent approach to financial planning with an emphasis on relationships. (Photo by Enrique Macias on Unsplash.)

Financial advice "by women, for women, and the men who love them."

Relationships are the keyword for Aspen Wealth Management. They’re a fee-only, comprehensive financial planning firm located in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Aspen Wealth Management offers an honest and transparent approach to financial, retirement, tax and investment planning for individuals, families, and small businesses, with an emphasis on building relationships.

A Strong Foundation, Not Just Investing Results

Helen Stephens founded Aspen Wealth Management in late 2011. Helen has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional since 1993, an Enrolled Agent (EA) since 2009, and has more than 20 years of experience in the field of financial services.

Helen Stephens founded Aspen Wealth Management in late 2011. Helen has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional since 1993, an Enrolled Agent (EA) since 2009, and has more than 20 years of experience in the field of financial services.

Candace Scholz is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and joined Aspen Wealth Management in 2015.

Candace Scholz is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and joined Aspen Wealth Management in 2015.

During our second planning call, Candace shared this insight about what makes Aspen unique:

Most clients will say that investment returns are key. In fact, Dimensional Fund Advisors polled the clients of other advisors who are the same size as our firm. Across the board, most clients responded that the most important factor in their satisfaction with their advisor was their investment returns.

Except for our clients. They said that their overall financial plan is key. 

It is NOT just about investing, it’s the value of understanding all the facets of your life and how this impacts your finances and your future. Having a strong foundation to move confidently forward in your life - this is what our clients value in Aspen as their financial guide.

DFA cornered us and said: “You’re the only firm with these results (where clients highly valued the holistic plan).”

The Solution

We helped Aspen Wealth Management launch Purposeful Planning, a daily briefing featuring investing and retirement advice. It’s a mini podcast and is available on Alexa Flash Briefing (Alexa’s native news feature).

We helped Aspen Wealth Management launch Purposeful Planning, a daily briefing featuring investing and retirement advice. It’s a mini podcast and is available on Alexa Flash Briefing (Alexa’s native news feature).

Candace explained, “Every member of our team focuses on making our clients and their families feel comfortable when discussing financial decisions that can potentially be stressful and could have a great impact on their lives.”

How could we translate those values into content marketing?

We help people.

What really stood out after getting to know the team at Aspen Wealth Management is how passionate they are about helping clients. This is a reason we love working with financial advisors. People in this profession really do care. You can hear it all in Helen’s emotional and touching client stories that she shared on the pilot episode “Good Cop, Bad Cop” on TD Ameritrade’s podcast, Beyond the Portfolio:

“Helen has a strong personality and no-nonsense attitude. But, more importantly, Helen knows when to play good cop and when to play bad cop.” Listen on Overcast.

Alexa Flash Briefing allows anyone with an Amazon Echo or the Alexa smartphone app to get short daily news by saying, “Alexa, news.” This is an easy way to push out helpful content in bite size chunks.

We created a content plan and specific step-by-step guidance to help Aspen launch a mini podcast.

How We Named the Show:

We went through a branding exercise together, having them team free associate with adjectives and nouns or phrases that embodied their brand. After coming up with a dozen options for show names, we settled on one of our earliest ideas.

Because the purpose behind their planning is their foundation, the title Purposeful Planning with Aspen Wealth Management was an obvious choice for meaning as well as keywords for search.

Podcast and flash briefing features:

  • Length: 2-3 minutes average, new episodes every weekday

  • Audio only: available as an Alexa Flash Briefing and as a standard podcast

  • Multiple voices/hosts - showcasing the Aspen team

  • Original sonic branding that we created with a partner musician (intro / outro music, play a sample below)

  • Weekly and monthly themes incorporating seasonality or current events (such as a presidential election, tax season, or handling the COVID-19 stock market and volatility)

We trained the team in best practices and tools for producing a daily 3-minute briefcast (AKA mini podcast). Play a sample briefing:

Results

  • 328% increase in plays over past 30 days (as of August 2020)

  • Over 1,100 listens in the first three months with zero advertising (only organic social media promotion)

  • Ranking #1 on Alexa Skills search for terms like “financial advice”

  • Social posts with audiograms from the briefing garner 66% increased engagement on Twitter and Facebook

Aspen Wealth’s Flash Briefing skill is ranking #1 on Amazon under Alexa Skills for search terms such as “financial advice”

Aspen Wealth’s Flash Briefing skill is ranking #1 on Amazon under Alexa Skills for search terms such as “financial advice”

Hear Purposeful Planning Everywhere:

  1. On Amazon Alexa: Enable the Alexa skill here then say, “Alexa, news.”

  2. 1-click enable the podcast in your favorite app

  3. On Google Assistant (Google Home smart speaker, Google Assistant iOS app, or Android device):

    1. Say, “Hey Google, play the latest episode of Purposeful Planning with Aspen Wealth Management”

How do you grow an Alexa Flash Briefing?

  1. To organically grow your Alexa skill, optimize your skill icon, title, description, and keywords on your settings in the Alexa Developer Console following SEO best practices.

  2. Share clips as audiograms on social media.

  3. In social posts or emails, include clear instructions and links for people to enable the skill, play the Flash Briefing, and subscribe to the podcast. More tips here: how to grow your flash briefing.

Audiograms are still images with audio and captions that get high engagement on social media. Podcast hosts can share short clips effectively with audiograms. See this audiogram tweet featuring Candace hosting the flash briefing.

Audiograms are still images with audio and captions that get high engagement on social media. Podcast hosts can share short clips effectively with audiograms. See this audiogram tweet featuring Candace hosting the flash briefing.

See those social posts from Tip #3 above in action: Aspen is now sharing audiograms like this and this.

By the way, you should really have a Plink if you have a podcast. It’s that 1-click podcast link we shared above.

Here’s why (video) or read more about podcast marketing tips on our blog.

Get your Plink here.

Have a specific marketing need? get 30-minute coaching.

Book a marketing session with Emily Binder.

Case Study: Content Marketing + Alexa Voice Strategy for UX Design Agency - Nine Labs

Nine Labs is an Atlanta-based user experience and product design firm with clients including major airlines, hotels, and startups.

The problem:

With years of blog posts, podcasts, videos, white papers, and ebooks there was plenty of content but no strategic method to effectively share it on social media. Potential traffic and leads were left on the table. Nine Labs wanted to organize and share all their content to increase engagement, brand recognition, and ultimately leads.

Nine Labs: Made with ❤️in Atlanta, GA


Nine Labs: Made with ❤️in Atlanta, GA

The solution:

We created a robust social media marketing strategy and guide to help Nine Labs with content marketing. We also launched an Alexa Flash Briefing to establish a voice presence in the UX design category. Then we provided ongoing guidance in implementing, empowering their in-house team to manage it.

Custom Content Marketing Strategy

Goals:

  1. Increase blog traffic

  2. Increase leads

  3. Increase social engagement

  4. Establish voice presence on Alexa

Strategy characteristics:

  • Content buckets and monthly themes based on Nine Labs’ driving principles from 4 Steps to a Human Centered Business Model

  • Specific guidelines to create social posts (text, graphics, video, and audiograms) for different social channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn - each with different goals and slightly different audiences

  • Introduction of audiograms

    • Guidelines on creating effective, short audiograms for Instagram and Twitter by repurposing past podcast and YouTube video content

Audiogram for Instagram (static image with 1-minute audio and captions)

Audiogram for Instagram (static image with 1-minute audio and captions)

Alexa Skills search ranking in app for “UX design” keywords - Nine Labs Flash Briefing

Alexa Skills search ranking in app for “UX design” keywords - Nine Labs Flash Briefing

  • Brand separation from executive profile: Clarity and direction on content strategy for CEO (and helluva smart guy) J Cornelius’s personal brand and the Nine Labs brand

  • Strategy and launch of Design Driven, an Alexa Flash Briefing about UX and product

    Fact: Design-driven companies outperform the S&P by 228%.

    Interested in the intersection of business, design, UX, and product development? Enable this daily briefing about using design to build great products and lasting companies.

  • Repurposing and repackaging high quality content instead of starting from scratch, saving the client time

  • Optimize lead magnet forms on blog and website

  • Strategically drive traffic to lead magnets, downloadable PDFs, and blog

  • Optimized Alexa Flash Briefing keywords, description, and daily content. Hear past briefings below:

Results of 8-week marketing engagement:

Obsess over your customers. #uxdesign

Obsess over your customers. #uxdesign

  • Increase in social engagements:

    • Facebook up 21%

    • Instagram up 893% (from 312 to 3,100)

    • Twitter up 178%

    • LinkedIn from 0 to 48 average weekly engagements

  • Increased blog traffic and leads from social

  • VOICE SEARCH OPTIMIZATION: Within two weeks, ranked on page 1 , top three results of Alexa Skills search results for terms including “ux”, “product design,” and “ux design”

  • Empowered marketing team to efficiently run with this strategy on their own

“Emily has an incisive mind about marketing and how voice is rapidly changing the landscape. She worked hard to find the right use of the technology without compromising quality or our brand message.”
— J Cornelius, Founder and President, Nine Labs

Why We Love Nine Labs

If you need guidance on designing a digital product, we recommend J Cornelius and his ace team at Nine Labs. Hands down, they’re the best. Nine Labs understands design and how it fits into business as a whole. They also run killer workshops and training.

Get the best thinking from startups and enterprise to give your projects the support to succeed. https://ninelabs.com/

Case Study: Josh Brown's Mini-Podcast "The Compound Show" - Alexa Skill

What if you could listen in on regular conversations between professionals working in money management?

We created the strategy and built a custom Alexa Skill for Ritholtz Wealth Management called The Compound Show. After launching their Market Moment Flash Briefing in 2018, in 2019 the RWM team wanted to expand on the voice marketing strategy to increase their early adopter voice marketing footprint.

As trailblazers in blogging and social media in the personal finance and investing space, the Ritholtz Mafia wanted to be early to voice, too.

Josh and Emily discuss Ritholtz's Alexa Skills. Hear why RWM is "kind of a big deal" when it comes to voice in the finance space.

Read more about Josh Brown (@reformedbroker) and Barry Ritholtz (@ritholtz), the forces behind some of the most popular investing blogs, videos, television, and social media accounts: Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz: From breakout bloggers to RIA rock stars

Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz. Image courtesy of Citywire USA, 2018.

Josh Brown and Barry Ritholtz. Image courtesy of Citywire USA, 2018.

THE COMPOUND SHOW (Original version) - MINI-PODCAST AND ALEXA SKILL

Ritholtz Wealth Management is an RIA with roughly $2.57 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of May 2023.

In March 2019, we launched a first-of-its-kind custom voice Alexa Skill and mini-podcast about investing based on the popular The Compound YouTube channel.

Josh Brown explained our project “The Compound Show” in its first iteration and how his goal was to disrupt the traditional lengthy podcast format:

I invented the mini-podcast. All the financial industry and investment-oriented podcasts are an hour long or more. I think that’s because the person whose podcast it is feels bad about asking a guest to come on and then cutting them short. Some podcasts should be an hour – Patrick O’Shaugnhnessy interviewing Michael Mauboussin, for example, or Barry Ritholtz interviewing Ray Dalio, or Michael Kitces interviewing Ric Edelman.

But most podcasts are too long and not every guest has an hour-plus worth of stuff you want to hear. However, the format persists.

I think it’s just something that’s become a tradition – to interview each guest for an hour and change – even though that’s not what the listener actually needs or wants from every conversation.

-Josh Brown

…read more about The Compound Show on The Reformed Broker

The original Compound Show Alexa skill icon (new branding replaced this in 2020)

Original logo for The Compound Show mini-podcast and Alexa Skill

For this podcast, Josh recorded 10-12 minute phone calls with investing experts to give the audience a behind-the-scenes glimpse. We synced the RSS feed to his custom Alexa Skill available by voice command.

2021 update:

With a growing audience, Ritholtz and team rebranded and expanded the show, making it a weekly full length YouTube podcast. It’s fantastic and has topped the Apple Podcasts top 10 financial podcast rankings as of 2023.

You can hear it on your favorite podcast app or hands-free by saying: “Alexa, play The Compound and Friends” or “Hey Siri, play The Compound and Friends.”

Case Study: Fintech - Social Media Strategy for Global Payments Provider (Remittance)

The problem:

Screen Shot 2019-04-22 at 4.49.36 PM.png

A successful fintech company with a monopoly on maritime payments had little to no brand presence on social media. As part of a brand overhaul and website update, we began a strategic effort to build the professional brand and thought leadership presence. As an award-winning fintech, this client wanted their LinkedIn and Twitter presence to reflect their commitment to democratizing global payments with innovative technology. Also important to convey: healthy culture and a great place to work with people who care.

beetle-moment-case-study-linkedin-fintech-social-media-growth-chart.png

The solution:

We focused on three audiences: local business and fintech, job seekers and candidates, and current employees. Through content marketing, hands-on daily management, and community building, after six months we had great results:

Objectives:

  • Post consistently on LinkedIn and Twitter (@BrightwellApp)

  • Increase overall social engagement rate

  • Grow followers

  • Establish a presence as subject matter experts and a source of industry updates

Organic growth - fintech brand Twitter account

Organic growth - fintech brand Twitter account

July-December 2018 Organic Follower Growth:

  • 4x increase - Twitter

  • 57% increase - LinkedIn

Tactics - content we shared and promoted:

  • Variety of topical articles from quality industry publications and users

    • Add commentary and insights for original viewpoint

  • Tag engaged users and authors

  • Behind the scenes photos (conferences, events, office culture)

  • Relief campaigns for disaster relief in users’ home countries such as Indonesia

  • Job posts

  • Twitter: Built original Lists to curate quality content faster

LinkedIn Followers (Organic)

Brightwell began with 1,085 followers. After our work, they had about 5,000 followers and a 201% increase in monthly page views.
Relief campaign for natural disaster: went viral organically on Twitter

Relief campaign for natural disaster: went viral organically on Twitter

LinkedIn and Twitter:

  • We established consistent brand presence beginning in July 2018

  • We created steady organic follower growth

  • What happened?

    • LinkedIn post engagement:

      • Before our work: 2%

      • After two months: 19%

Case Study: Fintech App Adoption: Facebook Advertising for Brightwell Payments

We launched an organic and paid social media strategy from ground zero, resulting in over a 110% increase in app MAU (monthly active users) in 2018.

About Brightwell:

Brightwell is an Atlanta-based fintech company offering end-to-end payment solutions through cutting edge technology and unparalleled support, serving cruise lines such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Costa, Princess, and AIDA.

End Users (Audience for Ads):

Cruise crew members and seafarers who live all over the world, concentrated in Indonesia, Philippines, and India. Many of these seafarers are unbanked or underbanked. They work on ship for months at a time and travel to their home countries in between.

Carnival Cruise employees are paid through Brightwell.

Carnival Cruise employees are paid through Brightwell.

Our Goal:

Educate and increase app adoption among a user base largely unfamiliar with digital payments, credit cards, and banking. Change habits from mainly cash and ATM use to online transfers within the Brightwell Navigator app.

Challenges:

  • Language barriers

  • Technology barriers (many crew lack experience with online banking)

  • Spotty and slow Wi-Fi onboard ship

  • High turnover of active crew

  • Crew’s mistrust of payments providers due to past negative experiences

  • Cash-centric cultures such as Philippines

Strategy:

Facebook and Instagram advertising targeting crew members, encouraging app install and adoption through features and benefits as well as persona-based messaging.

We created customer personas (AKA avatars) for each nationality on ship because culture plays a key role in relationships with money, both emotionally and logistically when it comes to banking.

Year 1 of Facebook Advertising:

launch, test, iterate, optimize, repeat

Results:

  • Over 110% increase in MAU (monthly active users)

  • Decreased CPI (cost per app install) to one-tenth that of the benchmark / goal

  • Optimized CPC and CTR with over 60% and 35% improvement, respectively

Brightwell remains a client as they continue to establish themselves as a major player in the payments space and one of the fastest growing companies in Transaction Alley (Atlanta’s fintech ecosystem).

Details available upon request.