CONTENT
Content Strategy & Lead Generation
bids&tenders
I created the content strategy for the bids&tenders brand, which included a specific schedule of events and content creation to drive leads into the sales funnel. The strategy focuses mainly on our target market, but also includes a few pieces specifically designed to reach more niche and emerging verticals.
The main pillars of the content strategy are:
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Webinars, in these categories:
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Thought leadership with guest speakers (e.g. "Inclusion and innovation" panel)
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eProcurement education
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bids&tenders-specific presentations
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Email marketing to prospects and existing customers
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Social media
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Blog articles (e.g. How bids&tenders supports our clients)
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Downloadable whitepapers & resources (e.g. Myths & facts about switching to eProcurement)
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Case studies (e.g. District of Squamish innovates procurement from the ground up)
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Conferences & trade shows
For bids&tenders, I write all the lead generation content and coordinate design with the Graphic Designer. I also write and create promotional video content, such as this short demonstration of Contract Builder. I am responsible for distributing the content per the strategy, via social media, email marketing, and other channels. Based on key metrics such as CTR, downloads, close rate, etc. I also update lead scoring for those pieces to align them more accurately with our sales funnel expectations. Content ideas come from organic conversations with customers, prospects, and the team; industry trends; and competitive research.
*Note: As lead generation tools, many of these content pieces require form submission to download. I am happy to provide access to PDF or paper versions during the interview process. My paper portfolio vastly exceeds what is available here.
Website Content
bids&tenders
I'm responsible for the creating and updating the bids&tenders website, including all the Resources and Success stories.
Updating the website, which was launched the same week that I started in this role, has been a monumental task. I had to learn a new CMS (Umbraco) at the same time I was learning a new role and product. While basic content existed then, it became clear from our searches, Google Analytics, and unexpected behaviours, that the site required better information and structure. For example, a previous iteration of our "How it Works" page simply listed (in seemingly random order) the functionality of the site. The new "How it Works" page addresses the different modules of our product, making it clear which items are part of the base package and which are at an additional cost, but also speaking to how it helps our clients achieve their goals, rather than simply how it functions.
The site's performance is measured using HubSpot and Google Analytics. Updates have significantly improved SEO ranking, decreased bounce rate, increased lead generation, and optimized the customer journey.
Skyline Living
At Skyline Living, I wrote the content for a variety of websites, including:
This content of these sites was purposefully targeted at the desired demographic for the specific buildings, and optimized for location and common search terms. I was also responsible for writing and, occasionally, re-writing the content of the property pages for SkylineLiving.ca.
I have also been tasked with rewriting existing sites to better communicate the intended messaging of a building. In the example below, the site's text-heavy content had been written by the property developer, and spoke more about the development company than actually highlighting the features for residents. I rewrote the features of the site to be more on-brand with Skyline's messaging and better communicate the features of the building.
Email Marketing
bids&tenders Lead Scoring
For bids&tenders, I write all the email communications to prospects, warm and hot leads, and existing customers. Using HubSpot, I implemented a lead scoring system to track and send specific emails based on the customer journey. This ensures prospects are receiving timely information, and also helps to alert the sales team when leads are warm or hot. This involved designing multi-step workflows within HubSpot, analyzing the existing close rate and customer journey based on specific entry points, and writing over 30 different sequencing emails.
Leads enter the workflows through HubSpot form submissions, specific link clicks, content downloads, and webinar or trade show attendance. By scoring each of these events based on their probability to close and place in the sales funnel, I can use data to predict a potential close date. Deals are created and assigned to sales people accordingly.
Skyline Living Short & Suite
When I first started at Skyline, residents received a quarterly print newsletter. This was extremely costly, time consuming, and environmentally unfriendly due to the volume of printing.
Under my guidance, the newsletter evolved gradually into a monthly email communication, the Short & Suite. Originally just an e-version of a PDF of the previous newsletter, this new communication became less time-consuming for our team, more environmentally friendly, and accessible. Each month I wrote the articles, coordinated design, updated our email list, and sent to over 6,000 residents. Open rates averaged approximately 35%, about 15% higher than industry averages.
Hydropool Email Drip
At Hydropool, I coordinated the setup of a lead tracking system that incorporated an email drip campaign. Depending on whether a prospect was interested in a hot tub, swim spa, or service, they received different emails at a different rate. Salespeople were able to see when and how often a prospect was engaging with the content in order to time their contact. When used appropriately, the email drip appeared to decrease the average length of the sales funnel by as much as 30%.
Editorial & Industry Content
Sault Living
As part of Skyline's efforts to attract residents in Sault Ste. Marie, I contributed a regular piece to the Sault Online website, called Sault Living. This was part of a larger marketing strategy that helped reduce vacancy in Sault Ste. Marie buildings by 40%.
Rental Housing Business Magazine & The Annual
In my capacity as a marketer in the industry, Rental Housing Business (RHB) magazine asked me to produce a series of monthly articles, which were featured in their subscriber email spotlights on the last Monday of the month.
The first article, Introduction to Marketing Strategy, introduces the column and outlines the structure for the remainder of the year.
RHB also produced “The Annual” in January 2016, which featured a variety of articles of interest to rental housing providers. I was asked to produce the “Brand Management” section of this publication. The Annual is available online, and approximately 5,000 copies were sent out to subscribers.
Award Submissions
As part of Skyline’s strategy to increase brand awareness and credibility in the rental housing market, we developed award submissions for the Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO) awards, the Rental Marketing Awards (RMAs), and a number of others.
Skyline’s first submission to the RMAs for “Marketing Strategy of the Year” won at the 2016 award ceremony. As a member of the marketing team, I played a vital role in executing this award-winning campaign, and also wrote and developed the award submission (in 6 hours).
Skyline was nominated for five FRPO awards in 2015, and won four of them. I wrote and developed the submissions for two winning awards: Resident Manager of the Year, and Property Manager of the Year. I also developed the nominated submission for Customer Service Award of Excellence – this was the first year Skyline had ever been nominated in this extremely competitive and sought-after category.
The winning Resident Manager of the Year, Helen Howard, also won the Canadian Federation of Apartment Association (CFAA) award for On-Site Staff of the Year based on the same submission.
