Rob Stella had a content problem: Way too much content.
He was stuck in execution mode — launching press releases, live-streaming events, managing product launches. Never mind the 100+ blog pages he’d inherited. As then-Head of Marketing at financial planning firm Compound, it was Rob’s job to bring order to a sprawling marketing function.
By seriously narrowing content focus, Compound was able to build a marketing motion with a repeatable structure, unique human voice, and some damn good insights for their audience of financially complex clients.
Within months of pivoting their content approach, Compound:
- generated multiple referrals worth $5M+ in net worth (from a single newsletter send),
- increased website conversion actions by 150%,
- and built a content system so influential that executives, advisors, and internal teams started quoting it in meetings.
Here’s how they went big, by going small. Or rather, by going specific.
Key takeaways:
- Extend your reach by writing to one audience (or better, one person)
- Frame content in the language your ICP uses to ask questions
- Build trust through regular owned touchpoints and empathetic, educational content (e.g., editorial newsletters)
To go far, go narrow
Rob’s content challenge was twofold.
Part of the problem was “too much blog.” In 2023, by way of an M&A deal, he’d just inherited The Manual, a catalog of ~100 in-depth personal finance articles. It was great content, but lacked a distribution system that actually got it in front of readers.
The bigger issue was “too much audience.” Like many financial firms, Compound served a wide range of clients: founders, tech employees, business owners, law partners, and more. Their content reflected that. A broad audience led to broad topics led to broad messaging.
(And especially in B2B, “broad messaging” can quickly become “this brand bores me.”)
Here’s how he wrangled his content motion.
For a unique brand voice, write to one person
Even though Compound was capable of serving a wide variety of clients, Rob decided to stop trying to create content that spoke to everyone at once.
Instead, his team centered its editorial strategy on a specific audience of tech employees and founders navigating a few key financial themes:
- equity compensation
- career transitions
- liquidity events
To further sharpen that audience, Compound built a shortlist of real LinkedIn profiles representing ideal clients, which they shared with internal teams and agency partners.
“Once everyone understood exactly who the company was literally speaking to, the content became dramatically more useful,” Rob says.
Instead of generic financial advice, Compound could now answer the questions their audience was actually asking:
- Can I afford to take a sabbatical?
- What happens if I leave my company before my equity vests?
- Should I sell shares during a tender offer?
- What would it look like to step away from a high-burnout role without sacrificing long-term wealth?
Specificity went further than breadth ever could.
Answer real questions to build trust
The Manual was already comprehensive, consisting of the foundational need-to-knows for Compound’s audience. Working with storyarb, Rob identified opportunities to take this resource a step further, such as:
- what Manual articles to expand into comprehensive guides
- how to reframe articles around real client questions
- opportunities to connect articles to timely events, like the Figma IPO or Plaid tender offer
These approaches made the content thoughtful and even more genuinely useful to readers.
For example, Compound’s “Two-Way Door Framework” helps tech employees think through major life and career decisions without feeling trapped by them. The piece addressed the emotional side of financial planning, including anxiety around taking a sabbatical, changing careers, or stepping away from high-pressure work. That emotional connection mattered.
The best-performing content made readers feel understood, not just educated,
Over time, Compound built a (still-growing) library of highly specific editorial content while simultaneously creating a steady stream of executive and advisor thought leadership on LinkedIn — reinforcing the same expert, empathetic voice everywhere their audience saw them.
Consistent, owned touchpoints breed referrals
In 2025, Compound launched its editorial newsletter, Compound Interests, which became the connective tissue for the company’s entire content engine.
Each edition featured original perspectives from advisors, content from The Manual, and timely market commentary.
More importantly, it gave Compound a direct biweekly touchpoint with its audience.
Instead of relying entirely on algorithms or search traffic for discoverability, Compound could consistently show up in inboxes with ideas tailored specifically to the people they wanted to reach. And broadcast that relevant message even further through their multiple executives activated on LinkedIn.
Over time, that builds the kind of trust that turns into referrals. After sending that “Two-Way Door Framework” edition, Compound received three separate referrals, each worth $5M+ in net worth, within 24 hours. One referral exceeded $12M.
By consistently reinforcing Compound’s expertise, the newsletter turned content into a reliable source of referrals from readers recommending the firm to their networks.
(Owned audiences rule. This is why we love newsletters.)
When content starts shaping the business
Over time, Compound’s new content motion saw:
- +150% increase in website conversion actions
- +295% increase in traffic to The Manual from LinkedIn
- increased visibility in AI search and LLM-generated answers
- a steady rise in high-quality inbound leads
It also saw a rise in readers from under Compound’s own roof. Advisors began volunteering for content interviews. Executives started repeating language from Manual articles in meetings. Sales and marketing became more aligned around the same audience narrative.
It’s funny seeing content infiltrate what we say within the company internally,
Good B2B content is shaped by the business — its people, its expertise, its mission.
Great B2B content shapes the business right back.
FAQ
How do you develop a unique B2B brand voice?
Narrow your intended audience until your team can picture actual people, not demographics. That specificity is what makes content feel like it was written for someone instead of everyone.
How can I drive newsletter referrals?
Make the content feel personally relevant enough to share.
Anchor stories like Compound’s “The Two-Way Door Framework” addressed the emotional side of major financial decisions, not just the mechanics. Readers saw themselves in the content and forwarded it to others who would too.
How do you turn internal experts into consistent content without creating more work for them?
Most companies already have the expertise. The challenge is extracting and distributing it consistently. One structured conversation can become a long-form article, newsletter feature, executive social posts, and sales talking points — without requiring executives to create content from scratch.
What makes executive social actually work in B2B?
The best executive social programs aren’t separate from the rest of the content strategy. They’re built from the same editorial system. When newsletters, LinkedIn posts, sales language, and company content all reinforce the same ideas, audiences start to recognize and trust the company’s point of view.
