THINK|STACK

Think|Stack and Ainsley go way back, having first worked together when they were known as HorseTail Technologies over a decade ago. In early 2022, Think|Stack CEO Chris Sachse reached out to our team for help establishing marketing direction and campaigns intended to generate new leads.They had recently reorganized as a CUSO (Credit Union Service Organization), and were in the process of acquiring a company with similar service offerings. With all of these changes taking place, and the acquisition bringing both new services and a new sales team to Think|Stack, the timing was perfect for making a shift in the way they addressed their marketing needs.

The energy we bring to the first 30 days – and sustain throughout the partnership – are essential to our success. With every Outsourced Marketing engagement, the first 30 days typically consist of:

• Goal Setting and Discovery
• Internal Listening Tours and Team Building
• Brand Strategy and Campaign Planning

We know the importance of first impressions. It’s our job to prove not only our competence but our commitment to the team and their goals; validating this model of tackling marketing; and showing initial results that outpace what they may have experienced in the past with other marketing partners or team members.

We listen, think, plan, validate, execute, and improve. That’s how we get better every day, and deliver results for our clients.

Paid Digital Ads

We created digital lead generation campaigns on LinkedIn to reach decision makers at Credit Unions and Nonprofits across the United States, specifically CEO’s, CFO’s, CTO’s and Directors of IT. We wrote and designed a piece of premium content, a booklet named “A Credit Union’s Field Guide: How to Future-Proof Your IT” that we also repurposed for Nonprofits. Our campaigns prompt our targeted individuals to download this content for free, which in turn triggers additional digital marketing campaigns and creating workflows for our sales team to follow up.

Trade Shows

Think|Stack loves offering up their talented team for speaking engagements around the country, primarily at credit union association annual meetings and conferences. We help them with the design of marketing collateral for the event; designing, purchasing and shipping booth materials for the show; printing t-shirts for giveaways; designing games for engagement at the booth; and executing email and social media communication throughout the event to maximize engagement for those in attendance, while sharing the trade show experience for those back at home.

Copywriting/Content Creation

We write regular articles for credit union association newsletters; create and execute webinars for lead generation; manage all social media channels and website content; and work with the sales team to create 1-pagers for sales promotions.

Graphic Design for Client Reporting

Not all of our work is lead generation. Sometimes we are asked to add design and copywriting support for existing client projects, such as the final work product when assessments are complete, and we’re making recommendations.

AWS Partner Communication

Think|Stack has the advantage of having been named AWS Nonprofit Partner of the Year, 2 years running. We work directly with the marketing team at AWS in support of our joint marketing efforts, and manage the tracking and submission of any Marketing Development Funds that AWS makes available to Think|Stack to promote their cloud services.

Tom and his team continue to exceed expectations.and consistently go above-and-beyond to support our goals. They are valued members of our organization, and I look forward to working together with the Ainsley & Co. team for many years to come.

 

Shawn Flaherty, Director of Business Development

Direct Mail – Tip of the Spear

History tells us that many of Think|Stack’s best client partnerships start when a new CEO takes the helm at a credit union. We help Think|Stack monitor trade publications to note when these changes are happening, and have a sequenced marketing campaign to get their sales team in front of these new leaders to offer our assistance. As a first step of our outreach, we designed custom Think|Stack welcome boxes for new CEOs that contain a copy of our Field Guide: How to Future-Proof Your Credit Union’s IT as well as a Think|Stack-branded survival kit containing a mini Maglite and Leatherman. By sending these custom packages to select CEOs we want to work with, we’re providing tools they can use regardless of weather they work with Think|Stack, as well as a strategic IT Roadmap for prioritizing a number of impactful IT projects as they begin their tenure as CEO.

Think|Stack is a model for how our Outsourced/Fractional CMO engagements work. We are a part of their team, ultimately responsible for all things marketing, and work side-by-side with all of their sales, leadership, and technical teams to move their organization forward. There are no silos, no walls between the team at Ainsley and Think|Stack – we just get things done.