Client: SST
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IN THE UNCERTAINTY OF COVID-19
COVID-19 turned the world upside down. In March 2020, organizations large and small scrambled to adjust to a confusing new reality – from shifting to a fully remote workforce to navigating loan applications and legislative updates, it seemed that the majority of the time, there were more questions than answers.
Dallas-based accounting and consulting firm SST is committed to serving the North Texas community and saw this as a unique opportunity to shepherd a broader audience through this time of financial uncertainty. Together, Three Box and SST developed a dedicated COVID-19 communications strategy to thoughtfully and proactively address industry questions and concerns.
LISTEN
SST’s client roster is diverse, made up of businesses, nonprofits, churches, schools, associations and more. While all these organizations were experiencing the same global pandemic, each industry was impacted by different aspects of legislation and needed tailored counsel.
Federal and state updates were released daily – sometimes even by the hour. SST was at the forefront of communicating these changes, providing expert analysis to clients, industry partners and potential prospects.
BUILD
In early March, Three Box quickly shifted SST’s marketing strategy to focus solely on COVID-19 communications. Together, we implemented a dedicated response page on SST’s website to provide thought leadership, breaking legislative updates, trusted external resources, webinars and more. We shared the page through social posts on LinkedIn and Twitter, as well as targeted email campaigns, and worked with the firm’s leadership team to amplify SST’s content across their individual networks.
For the months that followed, SST continued to leverage the COVID-19 response page, posting relevant financial updates and processes while highlighting the firm’s industry expertise and capabilities.
To further demonstrate their thought leadership, Three Box worked with SST to organize a webinar on “Maximizing PPP Loan Forgiveness,” hosted by SST CEO Bill Sims and Partner Emily Cook. Along with actionable next steps, webinar attendees received a full session recording and a branded PPP checklist. Three Box and SST harnessed targeted email outreach, social content and custom graphics to build traction and registrants for the online event.
IMPACT
SST received an immediate and positive response from clients and industry partners. In the first few weeks, SST’s average web traffic significantly increased, pageviews more than doubled and visitors spent more time on each page compared to previous periods. The firm also saw an uptick in social engagement, citing a 175% increase in LinkedIn clicks and a 31% increase in unique visitors.
SST’s webinar on Maximizing PPP Loan Forgiveness was also a success, receiving 176 registrations and 130 attendees, far surpassing the original goal of 50 registrations. In addition, SST’s post-event follow up emails with links to downloadable assets received an average open rate of 57%.
Finally, SST account managers received inquiries from prospects and personal notes of gratitude from clients, reiterating the information was helpful and timely.