The Problem

After more than two decades in business, Altus Partners was successful … but nowhere near as much as they wanted to be. Their pipeline did not match their ambition.

Altus had been through a number of marketing partners over the years, but nothing seemed to work. They tried being bombastic. They tried being quietly elegant. They tried splitting the company into two market-facing segments, with two websites, one for personal risk and one for corporate risk.

As we started working together, we quickly learned that 

80 percent of their revenue came from the corporate risk side of the business Better yet, they had a true differentiator for corporate risk—unlike every other commercial broker in the United States, they do not work on commission; they work on a flat fee. This truly unique approach positions them as objective advisors who are not incentivized to sell their clients more insurance. 

This is where we’d lean in.

The Solution

We were convinced that the personal risk side of the biz could ride corporate risk’s coattails—and corporate risk a) had a better story to tell and b) drove the firm’s revenue.

With this value proposition clearly articulated, we created Altus’ essential content—a new website and suite of marketing collateral carrying the now-unmuddied message. 

Once the foundation was set, we embarked on a wide variety of activities to raise their profile and generate demand. It revolved around a thought leadership and content marketing effort, positioning the CEO and managing directors as experts in their field and fueling demand generation. We distributed content through a layered approach that included regular email blasts, LinkedIn posts, media relations and paid promotion. 

We also pitched in and helped them build sales decks and respond to RFPs, leaning heavily on the credibility-building thought leadership.

The Result

With a new website that finally matched the firm’s sophisticated approach and personality, Altus had true brand alignment for the first time in a decade.

The new approach greatly improved top-line brand awareness, including increased engagement and followership on LinkedIn and a significant uptick in website traffic. 

Media relations led to multiple article placements, fueling an industry-wide conversation about Altus’ unique commission-free approach and what is best for clients, helping to make sales conversations more productive and improve talent recruitment. 

The new alignment on the firm’s value prop helped across the organization—even recruiting got easier—this new unified message helped to attract a new member of the executive team who was drawn to the “Altus way.”

After years of slow-but-steady growth, the business surged ahead into a new era of double digit growth, finally setting the firm on a path to win its fair share of business.