willful

End-of-life planning is something we often put off. After all, nobody actually enjoys thinking about what happens after they die or where their personal belongings will end up. But the truth is, you have to consider your options at some point. That’s one of the things that makes things tricky for Luke Sheehan, the CMO at Willful.co, a Canadian company that guides users through making their legal will online.

“What we really try to do [at Willful] is understand the life stages behind when people are most likely to need something like a will in their life. What we then do is try and understand what the consumers are going through in their mind as they make their decisions.”

On this episode of Marketing Trends, Luke explains why that process is challenging, and he talks about some of the ways he uses marketing tools to help ease the minds of consumers and gain their trust along the way. Luke also explains how a good public relations strategy can feed into effective marketing, and why it’s important to understand who your key stakeholders are in order to leverage their influence.

Main Takeaways

• Tapping into the Right Audience: Online services are consistently fighting for legitimacy, which makes it increasingly important for marketers to be able to leverage power users of the product who can help raise brand awareness.
• You’re in Good Hands with All-State: Partnerships can not only be a driver for brand awareness but they can also be used as an effective avenue to build customer trust. When consumers see online services associated with brands, it removes some of the ambiguity and fears they might have of dealing with a service they can not physically interact with.
• Doubling Down on What Matters: It may sound simple, but your campaigns need to pack a powerful punch and resonate with your audience. If your marketing message is down the middle, your message is not going to stick. Know your companies strengths and weaknesses, and double double down on the strengths that matter to your consumers.

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Growing up in the Quinte Region of southern Ontario, Erin Bury didn’t really even know what it meant to be an entrepreneur. Erin is now the CEO of Wilful, an online estate planning start-up, based out of Toronto. She was previously Managing Director at a communication firm serving tech. companies and start-ups, and she was a founding editor at a startup publication.

Erin says being willing to take risks is a must in order to be a successful entrepreneur, still, she remembers calling her mom for some advice when she made her first jump to a start-up, expecting her mom to advise caution.

On this episode of Run It Like a Girl, Erin, who was named one of Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30, talks about the importance of taking calculated risks when you're young.

And she talks about her side business, a bike wine tour company in Southern Ontario’s Prince Edward County.

Creating a will doesn't need to be difficult, and it's one of the most important things you can do. For more information check out Erin's company Willful