Best Case: Delivering Growth by Building Effective Marketing Systems and Leveraging Quality Expertise Through the Positioning of the Executive Team as Public Figures Who Lead an Industry and a Community
Angela Wright
President
Del Monte Group
Richard Del Monte
CEO and Co-Founder
Del Monte Group
Q2Mark implementation revitalized a stalled legacy business by leveraging Del Monte Group’s trusted expertise through monthly live podcasts and marketing campaigns to secure new clients which resulted in exceeding growth goals.
Since 1985, Del Monte Group (DMG) has been helping individuals, families, and closely-held businesses solve complex problems involving financial, tax, and estate concerns with unique integrated wealth management approaches. No, they aren’t your typical investment management firm that’s here to talk only about how you’re going to retire. At DMG, they dig in to understand what money really means to each individual for long-term success and how they can take immediate action to help a client live more of the life they want. DMG is a partner in money, life, and beyond because the client’s wants and needs always come first, even if they aren’t directly related to money or finances.
As fee-only fiduciaries, the Del Monte Group is legally obligated to act in a client’s best interest only. Every recommendation and every strategy is tailored to you for your benefit. Their only source of compensation comes from our client base, eliminating any conflict of interest. In an industry where standards are evolving and fiduciary expertise and care become better understood by investors, DMG stands to surpass what is expected with every piece of guidance offered because they abide by the highest standard possible.
If families or individuals are struggling or need help, DMG will help find the solutions needed so clients feel secure, confident, and find peace of mind—a true Place of Possibility.
By the time Del Monte Group had started working with Q2Mark, DMG Co-Founder Richard Del Monte and I had known each other for a few years. Richard had heard of the work we’ve been doing for our client Kirsten Howe and her estate planning law firm in a neighboring town. We also connected through other community leaders and, ultimately, met through a road mapping session and strategic planning recommendations/work I had done for the John Muir Health Foundation, where Richard is on the board, and saw the opportunities of working with my team and me firsthand.
Del Monte Group had been doing its own marketing, but it wasn’t up to the caliber needed to truly demonstrate the rich knowledge, expertise, and unique solutions it provides clients. The DMG identity missed personality, human connection, and the voices of Richard and Angela. And there were no effective lead generation programs that could help DMG hit its growth goals. In addition, Del Monte Group had begun building a unique business model – A Place of PossibilityÒ, that we worked to bring forward to help leads better understand the expertise and value Del Monte Group brought to the table. It was also marketed incorrectly, yielding virtually no ROI. Ultimately, DMG needed to reoptimize its marketing communication efforts to maximize results and build upon Richard and Angela’s unique partnership.
When I met with Richard and Angela, it was clear to see how smart, relatable, talented, and fun they both were. Together they had six decades of expertise under their belts, a strong reputation, and offered best-in-class services. To solve a lot of their issues and meet their objectives, we would need to bring forward their unique and authentic voice, harnessing it for greater exposure.
In mere minutes of talking with Richard and Angela, it’s easy to see what incredible human beings they are. No, really, give them a call, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Their passion and expertise immediately shine through when they speak, whether on the phone or for an event. Not only are they leaders in their community and the industry individually, but they are truly a dynamic duo and come alive when they collaborate.
I knew that together, they had to become the attractive character for Del Monte Group, to foster and build relationships in a relatable way. We needed to share more about Richard and Angela’s backstory and demonstrate the thinking and leadership of the team. My recommendations and goals were to leverage Richard and Angela for interviews, appearances, video tactics, and the development of a podcast, all with specific marketing funnels to nurture leads. Richard and Angela loved these ideas, and we were off to the races.
As we’ve talked about above, DMG had a great idea for a new business model that included A Place of PossibilityÒ, but the execution was wrong, and as a result, it became very disjointed from the brand. My idea was to reposition the A Place of Possibility® tagline as something that is not only fun and inspirational but is also used as a resource and a tool for new business development and client retention. I pitched the idea of using the tagline as the name of their new podcast show. Once Richard and Angela both agreed, we jumped right in on production.
I worked with Richard and Angela to help them purchase all the necessary equipment and helped them set up their studio, both remotely and in person. I then set up their live streaming system through StreamYard that broadcasts their show to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Twitch, and then trained them and their team on how to use it. The Q2Mark team and I also developed their show icon, description, set up podcast distribution through directories, and built out their campaign delivery system that included show notes on their website, email, social media, and a free guide as a lead magnet with each episode.
The DMG website housed a lot of valuable information but was outdated and wasn’t being used strategically to drive engagement and leads – there was no collaboration with marketing funnels. So, taking their rich content, my team and I worked to inject it with new life, fresh positioning, and actionable copy that incorporated client testimonials while ultimately highlighting Del Monte Group’s extensive knowledge base and highly sought-after wealth management solutions.
In addition, we delivered a new design that was visually appealing, user-friendly, and responsive. A large part of our website restructure focused on showcasing their resource center that houses over 100 blogs, news items, presentations, newsletters, white papers, case studies, a video library, and the new home for their A Place of Possibility® Podcast.
In 2015, Richard published a book called “Endless Inheritance: Moving from Feuding to Flourishing in Your Affluent Family,” but he wasn’t leveraging it for lead generation. My strategy for this focused on a few key efforts that started with promoting the book on the DMG website. This promo linked to an opt-in integration with their MailChimp account for an email nurturing campaign – helping turn prospects into leads and then eventually clients. We collected the name, phone number, address, and email information to ship the contact a copy of Richard’s book free of charge. They also received a confirmation email which entered them into the email funnel via MailChimp. Our email campaign offered more resources, other tools, and positioning for DMG, Richard, and Angela, capping off with an offer for a free consultation.
Once we had this funnel cooking, we were quickly able to repurpose it for a second lead magnet, “Evidence-Based Investment Insights,” an e-book co-written by Richard and Angela.
As we’ve been discussing, Richard and Angela are a powerhouse team who provide value to clients at every turn. To further capitalize on the quality of the firm and their knowledge base, my strategy was to continue to expand their visibility. We developed and designed new literature pieces for use with clients and leads, and we created new v-cards for Richard to Angela to share digitally. In addition, we honed in on messaging across all touchpoints – email marketing, social media, etc. After all, content remains one of the most important approaches you can use in educating audiences, creating brand awareness, and lead generation. Alongside that, I wanted to get Richard and Angela on camera more, so I proposed and executed video tactics for their regular market updates, appearances, business milestones, and more.
We also helped revitalize the new client welcome packet making recommendations to include premium branded swag that clients would value, use, and keep DMG top of mind. This included branded USB Drives, hats, polos, Patagonia vests, water bottles, and more. Other communications we worked to refine were the firm’s voicemail systems. We developed scripts for the team to use for the office voice recording and their cell phones – another client/lead interaction demonstrating DMG’s knowledge, expertise, and resources.
Finally, DMG had some solid headshots, imagery of the team, and their beautiful location, but it was outdated, and I proposed a new photoshoot to reflect all of the changes we were implementing. I was extremely hands-on in helping source the right photographer, given the photoshoots I had done with other clients in the area. I also provided creative direction to the photographer and DMG remotely, making recommendations on hair, make-up, wardrobe, and even how to pose.
The employees who make up your business are the culture and lifeblood of your company, and at Del Monte Group, that couldn’t be more true – they are a family unit, and as such, they need to be trained at every touch point. I completed a full assessment of all the ways that customers interacted with Richard, Angela, and their team and executed team training on everything from telephone calls to email communications, social media tactics, and more.
I also worked with the team to refine their hiring processes and procedures that included various resources, everything from candidate assessments, interview questions, new job descriptions with more positioning, and a decline letter template. At Q2Mark, we believe that every touchpoint, including hiring, can be a marketing opportunity to gain more exposure for a client.
In the financial world, there is a lot of hype and misinformation. Through their many years of practice, Richard and Angela have worked to hone their skill set and the strategies they share, making it simple, straightforward, and really, no-nonsense. They have a unique family-like approach to their services, and with Richard and Angela’s fun, warm, smart, and caring personalities, they were missing an opportunity to capitalize more through social media. Tactically, my team and I worked to get them back on track by implementing a social media strategy that packaged them as attractive characters and their valuable content in a way that was designed to engage, educate, and resonate with all target markets.
Q2Mark also worked to craft the firm’s social media policy and then implemented rebranding efforts across each platform, again developing actionable new descriptive copy, updated graphics, and imagery – including the team’s new headshots from the professional photo shoot we held – portraying a fresh, updated appearance.
In addition to our updates and campaign implementation, we developed a proven outreach and engagement process to build the firm’s social presence and Richard and Angela’s personal accounts to demonstrate individual and collective successes.
In working with Richard, Angela, and Del Monte Group, Q2Mark has brough creative marketing and consulting services that revitalized a legacy business that had stalled and repositioned Richard and Angela as the go to experts for lifelong wealth management support. With our immediate implementation, within the first year, we met and exceed their maximum growth goal an additional 12.5%.
Our proven podcast successes that we’ve developed and produced for other clients didn’t fail to deliver this time around either. Since the launch of A Place of PossibilityÒ, we have nearly 2,000 downloads in ten countries, a host of five-star reviews on iTunes, and we are successfully streaming on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, and Libsyn.
Our immediate efforts to fix DMG’s social media, drove home the importance that social media marketing tactics can have on a business. Q2Mark successfully delivered a memorable and engaging presence for Del Monte Group, while working to educate and empower all target audiences.
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