BOARDROOM  METRICS  SUCCESS  STORY  Ken  Steven  –  Marketing  Consulting  

   Ken  Steven  is  an  experienced  marketing  and  advertising  executive.  He  started  his  career  in  brand  management  with  two  well-­‐known  Canadian  consumer  packaged  goods  companies  and  rose  to  senior  leadership  positions  in  internationally-­‐based  advertising  agencies.    Ken  already  had  his  own  consulting  business  when  he  joined  Boardroom  Metrics  in  2011.  Seeking  to  even  out  the  peaks  and  valleys  in  his  business,  Ken’s  hope  was  that  Boardroom  Metrics  might  provide  new  clients  for  him  to  consult  to.    

Happily  for  Ken,  his  hopes  were  fulfilled  quickly  when  Boardroom  Metrics  introduced  him  to  a  Bay  Street  investment  advisor/group  interested  in  using  social  media  to  attract  clients  to  their  burgeoning  ETF  practice.  The  senior  advisor  in  the  group  reached  out  to  Boardroom  Metrics  management  after  becoming  aware  of  and  interested  in  how  Boardroom  Metrics  had  built  its  own  highly  visible  on-­‐line  presence.      Up  first  was  the  company’s  website.  Using  information  and  introductions  provided  by  the  client  as  well  as  his  own  research,  Ken  developed  in-­‐depth  personas  of  the  high-­‐end  investors  his  client  was  hoping  to  attract.  These  personas  formed  the  basis  for  understanding  the  ETF  purchase  process  and  the  role  of  the  website  and  other  social  media  in  fulfilling  potential  client  needs  at  different  stages  of  the  process.    Through  this  research,  Ken  helped  his  client  confront  long-­‐held  views  of  investment  clients,  their  needs  and  how  they  should  be  marketed  to.  As  a  result,  Ken  convinced  the  client  to  adopt  a  name-­‐change  in  order  to  improve  the  Company’s  strategic  positioning.    With  a  strategy  and  plan  in  place,  Ken  lead  the  development  of  the  group’s  new  website,  working  in  conjunction  with  Boardroom  Metric’s  own  website  technical  development  expert.    This  new  website  attracted  and  funneled  investors  based  on  their  personas  and  phase  in  the  purchase  process  to  different  information  and  hands-­‐on  assistance  to  help  them  make  their  purchase  decision.        With  the  website  nearing  completion,  Ken  then  turned  to  another  of  Boardroom  Metrics’  experts  –  this  time  for  development  and  implementation  of  a  social  media  awareness  strategy  using  Twitter  and  LinkedIn.  Key  goals  of  this  phase  included  rapidly  building  on-­‐line  presence,  driving  traffic  to  the  website  –  and  teaching  key  

 

 

members  of  the  investment  advisory  management  group  how  to  use  Twitter  and  LinkedIn  to  get  their  message  out.  Today,  the  group  has  over  5,000  followers  on  Twitter  and  is  a  highly  visible  influencer  on  LinkedIn.    Ken’s  next  project  followed  directly  from  the  first  with  a  referral  from  the  investment  client  to  another  Bay  Street  advisory  firm.  Following  almost  the  exact  same  approach,  Ken  helped  the  Company  rebuild  their  website  based  on  personas  and  search  engine  optimization  best-­‐practices  to  attract  new  clientele.  Working  with  the  same  internal  Boardroom  Metrics  experts,  Ken  and  others  at  Boardroom  Metrics  taught  the  client  how  to  use  social  media  to  support  traffic  to  the  website.  In  total,  the  project  took  over  a  year  to  complete.    Since  then  Ken  has  been  engaged  on  several  Boardroom  Metrics  client  projects,  providing  expertise  on  marketing  strategy  and  the  use  of  inbound  and  outbound  marketing  techniques  to  build  awareness  and  sales.    Ken’s  most  recent  project  is  with  a  long-­‐standing  private  software  company.    The  client  came  to  Boardroom  Metrics  as  a  referral  from  one  of  the  Big  4  accounting  firms.    Ken  and  Boardroom  Metrics  management  are  working  with  the  client’s  owners  on  strategic  positioning  of  the  Company.  Based  on  market  research  including  customer  and  target  customer  interviews  Ken  is  leading  the  development  and  execution  of  the  Company’s  marketing  messaging  that  will  take  place  on  the  website,  through  the  sales  and  other  customer-­‐facing  channels.    Ken  will  again  work  with  other  experts  on  the  Boardroom  Metrics  team  in  executing  this  project.    There  are  several  keys  behind  Ken’s  success  with  Boardroom  Metrics:    

1. Ken’s  expertise  is  clearly  defined  and  he  is  good  at  what  he  does.  That  ensures  customer  satisfaction  and  leads  to  client  referrals.    

2. Ken  collaborates  well  with  the  other  experts  on  the  Boardroom  Metrics  team.  This  enables  him  to  take  on  and  lead  projects  that  range  outside  of  his  specific  expertise  by  leveraging  the  expertise  of  others.  

3. Leads  from  Boardroom  Metrics’  deep  network  –  both  on  the  client  side  and  from  other  professional  services  firms  helped  kick-­‐start  Ken’s  success  and  ensure  on-­‐going  engagement.  

 About  Boardroom  Metrics  The  workforce  is  rapidly  evolving.      A  growing  wave  of  work  is  now  being  handed  to  independent  experts  including  consultants,  contractors,  freelancers,  and  others.    In  the  future,  almost  everyone  will  work  for  themselves  at  some,  likely  substantial  point  in  their  careers.    Boardroom  Metrics  provides  programs  and  services  to  support  the  success  of  independent  experts.  Our  goal  is  to  reduce  the  stress  and  hassle  of  independent  

 

 

contracting,  enabling  our  members  to  focus  on  what  they  do  best.  Our  core  services  include:    

• Marketing  • Social  Media  Awareness  and  Visibility  • Client  Leads  • Client  projects  • Training  • Team  members  with  additional  skills  • Networking  • Administrative  support  including  invoicing  and  collection  

 Contact  and  More  Information  If  you  are  an  independent  expert,  contractor  or  freelancer  and  would  like  to  better  understand  how  Boardroom  Metrics  might  enable  you  to  more  successful  give  us  a  call  at  416-­‐573-­‐9396  or  write  Karen  McElroy  at  kmcelroy@boardroommetrics.com