Merriman - Marketing Strategy — The Alkimie Collective

ONGOING MARKETING STRATEGY +

CONTENT STRATEGY + SOCIAL MEDIA

+ WORKSHOPS

Merriman Wealth Management

Merriman Wealth Management wanted a new look and an updated brand story. The company was about to have its 40th anniversary and wanted to update its positioning in the market. Merriman had a powerful origin story but over the decades the company had evolved and Merriman wanted to look to the future with a new story, a new look and a new way of talking to its target audience.

They knew that they had a compelling proposition and were different to their competitors, so they wanted to tell their story in a way that stood out.

CLIENT SUCCESS:
Helping Merriman Wealth Management Take Its Marketing to the Next Level

Merriman at a glance

Company size: 54 employees
Business type: Financial Services
Headquarters: Seattle, WA
Key initiatives: Marketing strategy, Content marketing planning; social media management for Instagram and Facebook, internal education

THE CHALLENGE

Following Merriman’s investment in its branding, messaging, and website, it wanted to evolve its marketing to reach the new audience that the website’s messaging targets. We created a team consisting of The Alkimie Collective for strategy and content, Clapping Dog for SEO, and Tall Poppies Design for digital marketing expertise. Working together, we have been able to elevate Merriman’s overall marketing activity and online presence.

THE APPROACH

In the first year Alkimie worked to increase marketing activity at Merriman and grow its impact:

We developed a marketing strategy across all of Merriman's marketing channels to give the company an overall direction and understanding of its customers’ journeys from the moment they encounter Merriman to becoming a loyal client
We supported the company’s 40th-anniversary celebration by developing a communications campaign and special branding to mark the occasion.
We created quarterly content strategies outlining content across Merriman’s marketing channels and created a content calendar to streamline content creation and approvals. These marketing channels included blogs, email marketing, social media, and additional marketing resources.
We took over the creation and management of Merriman’s organic social media presence across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Within Merriman, the blogs are written by the subject matter experts – the financial advisors. However, it was felt that they could frame their blogs in a way that worked better for SEO and more closely aligned with the overall content strategy. The Alkimie Collective held a remote blog workshop for advisors to educate them on the function of blogs.

"Working with Alkimie and the wider team has been game-changing for us. Internally, my colleagues can’t believe what marketing has been able to do. Now, our brand is something that makes us stand out in the industry. We’ve received such positive feedback from clients about the website. It doesn’t give off snuffy or pretentiousness but confident expertise with a desire to help. This is exactly the tone we want to strike across all our marketing and Alkimie helps us do that."

— LAINE DISCEPOLI
Director of Marketing, Merriman Wealth Management

THE RESULTS

The overall business results of the shift in focus have been compelling, with the net assets under management growing faster than the number of new clients, reflecting the shift in the audience to a higher asset audience, as desired by the client.

The quarterly content planning has ensured consistent themes and a strategic direction to content across Merriman’s marketing.
Merriman’s organic social media presence more closely reflects the new look and feel of the website and works in tandem with the content in the other marketing channels.
The blogging workshop was described by the clients as “terrific”, and the financial advisors found it compelling and worthwhile. It also represented an important step forward in aligning internal non-marketing stakeholders with the marketing strategy.