Content Marketing Case Study

Funding Playbook

At CO.STARTERS, one of my primary jobs was to develop content that our leads and customers (nonprofit entrepreneur support organizations) would find valuable enough to engage with and share with their peers.

After conducting research that included sales call transcripts, surveys, and cold conversations at conferences, we learned that the top pain point our customers articulate is access to funding.

Based on that finding, I developed a 12 page playbook that would share the best advice and strategies for accessing funding from a variety of sources, drawing on pieces of content we had already created over the past few years.

Note: I take no credit for the visual design of any creative assets shown on this page. I am only responsible for the concepts, research & strategy, content flow, and copy.

Featured page of the CO.STARTERS Funding Playbook for ESOs and Ecosystem Builders
Featured page of the CO.STARTERS Funding Playbook for ESOs and Ecosystem Builders
Featured page of the CO.STARTERS Funding Playbook for ESOs and Ecosystem Builders
Featured page of the CO.STARTERS Funding Playbook for ESOs and Ecosystem Builders
Featured page of the CO.STARTERS Funding Playbook for ESOs and Ecosystem Builders
Featured page of the CO.STARTERS Funding Playbook for ESOs and Ecosystem Builders

Landing Page

Converting Interest to Action

For the landing page, we decided on a short, simple page that outlined the important features and benefits of the playbook while offering a few "sneak peaks" at the product.

Because the product was free, I didn't think the cost of converting was high enough to warrant a long landing page stuffed with content. The page's simplicity and concision forces the viewer to make a decision.

This page converted at 19 percent.

A scrollable screenshot of the landing page developed for the funding playbook

Hover and scroll to view full page.

Email Content

Engaging Our Leads

When creating email campaigns for a general lead list, I try to have each email attack from a new angle to cast as wide a net possible for the audience. As you can see, some are more informative, others more whimsical—but they all maintain a professional and authoritative tone.

In this case, it made sense to have a couple of the emails promoting the playbook come from our CPO's signature, since she was the "author" of the playbook. Her experience as a grant writer and nonprofit consultant was the source of much of the guide's content, so a personal touch made sense here.

Ad Creative

Driving Traffic

For our paid LinkedIn outreach, I opted for strong, clear copy that highlighted the benefits offered by the playbook: supporting more entrepreneurs, expanding organizational programming, less fundraising-related stress, and stronger downtowns.

I was personally rooting for the octopus variation, which came in third place at a 3.7% click-through-rate. Not bad for a three word headline!

average ctr
3.7%
average CPC
$0.78
average cpm
$20.89