A marketing content strategy to support Trusted Employees’ successful acquisition
Trusted Employees had invested heavily into content, but had little to show for it. Despite making a huge investment, the company received hardly any inbound sales. When I asked the CEO about this, he said, “Our content program is a zero.”
Over the next year and half, my team and I partnered with them to deliver a holistic content strategy. Within 6 months of starting, their web traffic increased by 50% (over 60,000 unique visits per month) and their sales staff was using our content as a tool to close deals. These powerful results led to Trusted Employees being successfully sold to MRI Software.
Project details
Role: Content Strategy Manager and Lead
Scope: Develop buyer personas, brand voice, and sales funnels, refine marketing copy across site, enhance UX, manage creation of 200+ pieces of content
Audience: SMB owners, hiring managers, and volunteer organizations
Constraints: Limited client budget and access to SMEs, largely undefined marketing strategy, no dedicated design team from the client
Goal: Maximize the return on investment for existing content, improve site conversion rates, develop new top of funnel content to increase site traffic
“Our content program is a zero right now.” - CEO, Trusted Employees
Exploring the problem space
We started with a content audit and a workshop with the client team.
Key findings
Positioning statements were bland and didn’t speak the customer’s language
Content was factual, but didn’t address pain points or goals
Storytelling and examples weren’t used to simplify complex topics
A large content library that wasn’t search engine optimized
Website UX was clunky and didn’t support every stage of the customer journey
A strategy for consistent marketing wins
Trusted Employees relied on paid ads and cold calls to grow. These methods were costly and left little room for profit. To find their true opportunities for growth, we needed to take a long hard look at their landscape.
Buyer personas
I interviewed 24 customers and created 3 buyer personas. This work showed that Trusted Employees terminology and content were mismatched with customer needs.
Competitive analysis
I analyzed top competitors to understand why they seemed to grow at an exponential rate. This revealed a huge gap in the market, competitors didn’t address the needs of small business owners with fewer than 20 employees.
Key differentiators
Finally, I combined the research we had gathered to formulate a value proposition: Trusted Employees is a brand that supports small business owners throughout the hiring process, it just happens to sell background checks.
Creating a better user experience
After finalizing the content strategy, I turned my attention to Trusted Employees’ UX. While there wasn’t a budget for iterative design or research, there were many easy messaging, usability, and visual design improvements. (Note: Some content doesn’t reflect my writing.)
Before
The original home page lacked a value proposition, created an artificial decision point, and wasn’t visually appealing.
After
We removed the social icons from the navigation, left-aligned the content and added a picture of a “customer,” removed the artificial decision point, and most importantly added a value proposition.
Delivering on the holistic strategy
Before we could start producing new content, we needed to create the right content operations model. I worked with Trusted Employees’ VP of Marketing to identify our SMEs, approvers, and compliance officers. Together we developed a process that minimized touchpoints, while giving everyone visibility.
Next, I started training my team of writers and strategists on how to produce content for Trusted Employees. This included training them on the strategy, identifying industry SMEs, and acting as final approver for their work.
Over the next year and a half, my team delivered over 200 pieces of content. Including: long and short-form blog posts, copywriting, email campaigns, downloadable resources, UX recommendations, and sales enablement training.
Key outcomes
Created foundational content strategy, buyer personas, and brand positioning
Search engine optimized existing library of content
Developed end-to-end sales funnels around high value keywords
Implemented a new content operations model
Increased site traffic by 50% within 6 months and improved top of funnel conversion rates
Marketing results led to the successful sale of the company one and a half years later
“The reason we could sell the company was because our content program was finally working for us.” - Head of Marketing
Contact me
I’d love to learn more about you. Let’s talk.
I’m always interested in building my network, learning about projects, and exploring new opportunities.