The Journey of a Marketing Leader
As the Chief Marketing Officer at Timeline, I've been part of a remarkable growth journey in our business, growing from £1 billion to £9 billion pounds in assets under management. Our journey reflects a great product, team, transformational mission, technology in the financial advisory sector. When you add great marketing and sales into that, the size and pace of our growth is no surprise.
Understanding Our Core Business
Timeline is a business that empowers financial advisors in the UK, supporting everything from individual retirement planning to wealth management for families. We've developed financial planning software that allows advisors to:
- Model different investment scenarios
- Demonstrate potential retirement outcomes
- Provide great tools such as risk profiling and fact-finding as part of our Adviser Ecosystem
- Benefit from evidence-based MPS ie. investment strategies
The Organic Growth Challenge
When I joined Timeline, we faced a significant challenge: we were a small player in a trillion-pound industry with minimal brand recognition. The marketing infrastructure was minimal - just an external agency and one creative team member.
Key Strategic Moves
- Brand Consolidation: We combined two existing brands into a single, focused power-brand.
- Website Optimization: Developed a purpose-built website with a strategic SEO approach.
- Content Strategy: Created a multi-format content approach targeting long-tail keywords.
Navigating the SEO Landscape
Our industry doesn't have a single, high-traffic search term that dominates volume. This meant we had to be more nuanced:
- Develop high-quality, targeted content
- Create engaging webinars
- Build a distinctive brand presence
We deliberately chose a vibrant brand identity - note our bright pink color - to stand out and with imagery reflecting the human side of our business.
The Challenges of Digital Marketing
One of the most challenging aspects of digital marketing is its often invisible nature. Technical SEO work happens behind the scenes, and social media engagement can feel disheartening at face value if you base it on likes and comments etc but often has a broader value. Consider LinkedIn: the majority of posts made in totality receive zero or minimal likes.
Employee Advocacy Strategy
We developed an innovative approach to overcome this:
- Coached employees on content creation
- Encouraged team members to craft original posts
- Supported colleagues in becoming brand ambassadors
The Magic Wand Wish: Transparency in Marketing
If I could change one thing, it would be creating instant clarity about product effectiveness. In a world of marketing noise, we want customers to immediately understand our unique value proposition.
Timeline offers the lowest fees in the sector with top-performing investment portfolios. Our challenge is cutting through the digital clutter to communicate this effectively.
The Importance of Patience in Marketing
A critical insight for marketers: organic growth requires sustained investment and patience. Unlike paid advertising (like AdWords) that can generate immediate leads, brand building is a long-term strategy.
Key Considerations
- Brand investment doesn't always show immediate returns
- SEO is not an overnight solution
- Expect results over 12-24 months, not days
- Focus on comprehensive attribution and data connection
Tools and Technology
We've built a high-performance, technology-enabled marketing team. Our approach involves:
- Constantly experimenting with our tech stack, AI etc
- Using tools that help us "punch above our weight"
- Focusing on efficiency and impact
Our efforts were recognized when we were named Investment Week's Marketing Team of the Year - a significant achievement for our small team of six to eight people.
Final Reflections
Marketing success in the digital age is about more than quick wins. It's about:
- Consistent, quality content
- Strategic brand investment
- Data-driven decision making
- Long-term vision
As someone who remembers building websites with Photoshop and Notepad in 1999, I've seen marketing evolve dramatically. Yet the fundamental principles remain: understand your audience, provide genuine value, and be patient in your approach.
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