Copy that makes connections
Spread value. Be genuine. Connect with people.
I’ve spent a decade writing copy for all kinds of companies and campaigns, including an education startup, an online community of tech executives, nature trails for the University of Cambridge, and a community of retirees (I like variety). Oh, and I’ve been a scientist and a barista (not at the same time).
Along the way, I’ve found the right tools to make content production smooth and scalable without compromising on quality. (And yes, I’m intimately familiar with AI tools.)
I’d love to meet you, find out why you do what you do, and figure out how I can help you connect with your audience.
Portfolio
Pulse / Gartner Peer Community
LinkedIn without the BS / Know what your buyers really think
The challenge:
Decision-making in business means the difference between success and failure. But there are barriers to that knowledge. Large research and advisory companies are suspected of having vested interest (and contracts cost millions). LinkedIn is full of sales and marketing teams with agendas.
This small startup (Pulse) aimed to disrupt business decision-making through a focused peer-to-peer learning platform.
The approach:
Showcase the speed with which you could poll your peers who have been there and done it, getting hundreds of responses to a question or poll within a day.
Showcase to B2B vendors that Pulse had the real data and what B2B buyers really think
Messaging that used a “no BS” approach to show that this was a new, better way to empower business decision-makers (“Your consultant is taking too long and it’s costing you”) to drive paid ad, social, email marketing campaigns, and press releases.
The results:
The community grew from 20,000 to over 100,000 users.
Original research resulted in over 500 B2B co-brands with partners including Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and many more, and drove growth from 5 to 7-figure MRR.
Pulse was acquired by Gartner, one of the largest research and advisory companies in the world, and became the Gartner Peer Community.
RetireHub
The new way to retire
The challenge: My client, the founder and CEO, wanted to drive a wedge between RetireHub and the traditional drab retirement resources like AARP. He realized after his own mom retired that retirement resources are not only hard to find, they are not very useful if you can find them. So he built RetireHub to bring together useful retirement resources in one easy-to-use platform designed to equip seniors with the information and skills they need to thrive in retirement.
The approach:
Messaging frameworks that were direct, uplifting, and gave a sense of community.
We created ways to capture the voice of the RetireHub community through daily polls and used that data and quotes to drive campaigns around what actually mattered to retirees. This was encapsulated in the brand tagline: “The new way to retire”, proudly stating that retirement didn’t need to be something to fear—if you’re well-equipped, retirement is a time to thrive.
Weave this brand voice into an AI-powered content strategy to scale the blog and drive organic traffic.
Create a fun social media strategy to drive newsletter signups and web traffic.
The results:
An 8,000% increase in organic social traffic with a 300% increase in engagement rate to 28%.
An increase in organic social traffic by 5 - 10% week over week (30% engagement rate)
This social traffic combined with a paid ad strategy drove traffic to newsletter signups, growing subscribers from 80,000 to 300,000 subscribers, with an average open rate of 31%, a CTR of 2.8%, and a reader score of over 80%.
Work ED
Breaking Barriers. Building Futures.
The challenge:
After-school programming in the U.S. is an overcrowded but underperforming market. Work ED aimed to stand out by focusing on quality programming that students would actually want to sign up for.
The issue was that, while students loved Work ED programs, it was hard to make school districts choose a newer vendor over their old incumbent vendors, even when they knew their students weren’t enjoying programs. (View videos here.)
The Approach:
Present Work ED as not just a vendor but a problem-solver for schools. Capture how Work ED programs were built to match state mandates about student enrollment and engagement, helping school districts hit their targets with a turnkey approach.
Place Work ED staff front and center in social campaigns and video testimonials alongside student/parent/school staff having a blast and making things to create associations of action and positivity (Work ED can make things happen).
Capture voice of the customer through surveys and interviews to create more engaging case studies. Use these case studies to fuel the go-to-market campaign.
The results:
Over a 100% increase in partnerships and the #1 signed up for summer camp at Fresno Unified School District.
Awarded outstanding industry partner 2023 by Fresno Unified
Cold email campaigns that used VoC to drive a 70% success rate in creating qualified leads.
The blog overhaul led to multiple 1 - 3 organic SERP on Google and a 10X increase in organic web traffic.
Creative Machines is a semi-scripted podcast I co-founded. We interviewed guests about how they use technology creatively. I wrote and hosted each episode.
"The Weird and Wonderful World of Plants." A collaboration with illustration studio Hannah + Holly for the University of Cambridge Botanical Gardens.
Pen Cap is a monthly reading series that I founded and host alongside illustrator and comic artist Ben O-Neil. The night celebrates new local writers.
Draft was a reading series and micro-publishing house I cofounded in London, UK.
Me in the podcast studio in a moment of serious active listening.
An example video I storyboarded/scripted questions/edited in collaboration with a videographer.
Testimonials
"I couldn't recommend Aaron more. I worked with Aaron at Pulse, where Aaron spearheaded content strategy. He is a rare blend of big-picture vision and precise execution, which I’ve seen drive exceptional results across demand generation, community growth, and partnerships. His ability to think strategically while delivering impactful, engaging content helped establish Pulse as a trusted brand."
Melody Chen, Principal Product Marketing Manager, Adobe
"Aaron Towlson is a killer writer. Great guy, and selfishly, he is also very sales-friendly 😉 Very highly recommend!"
Eric Wiegand, Sales Strategy Specialist
"Aaron made an immediate impact, overhauling our content strategy and helping our community grow to over 300K subscribers."
Jay Flaherty, Founder & CEO
"Aaron's content leadership helped us tighten our messaging across the board, helped us find new partners, got our cold emails opened, and helped get our programs filled."
Olen Anderson, Founder & President, Work ED
Let’s grow your business.
We can discuss pricing based on your business needs and goals. I prefer to charge on a project basis that works for both of us.
If you have simpler copy/content needs, my price is:
Copywriting (e.g., brand copywriting/blog posts/thought leadership/newsletters): $70 CAD per hour (plus HST)
Content Advisor/Strategy (e.g., messaging frameworks/AI strategy/SEO): $100 CAD per hour (plus HST)
