Cardinal Financial
Homebuying Guide
A guide for first-time homebuyers
Entering 2021, a predicted trend in the housing industry was marketing to first-time homebuyers. I was immediately excited when I was assigned to this project; it sounded like a chance to prove myself and show my team what I was capable of and how fast I could do it. At first my task was to do all of the design for the project, as at the time, I specialized in graphic design. However, as the project went on, I knew I could handle much more in order to expedite the project's completion. I offered to do a majority of the content writing and editing, along with tasks I had already been assigned.
This project ended up being completed months before its initial deadline, and we were able to launch this to the division to kick-off the New Year. Following the initial design, I created a version for every individual on our sales team, along with custom guides to co-brand with their partners. This is my most prized piece of work for Cardinal Financial because not only was it my first huge design project, but almost the entire guide was created by me. Please take a look and I hope you enjoy!
The Cady Group Division Website Template
This template was created and designed by me in a website builder. All websites are customized to the branch's local area.
When I first onboarded onto my small team, they knew they wanted me to refresh their current website template. Having experience in website builders, especially Wix where this site was created, I knew I could make the websites better. Over the past year, I have added multiple pages with my original graphics. We now use this as a template for all of the new branches we onboard, switching out the photos for pictures of the local area and switching up the content where needed. Since I've started, I've created and managed every website we have, totaling in at 20+ now.
Email Templates and Graphics
From graphics and layout to backup Email Specialist
As the Marketing Team's lead in graphic design, I quickly took over creating the graphics for our email campaigns. With 2021 being a tough year with a lot of turnover, I took on many other roles on the team when I was needed, one of them being our email specialist when we did not have one at the time. I took on learning email campaigns for months and created, wrote, and scheduled many email campaigns with our software ActiveCampaign. I now have experience in ActiveCampaign and am very familiar with its email builder and scheduler. Below are some email templates I created. In the buttons below are the monthly campaigns we send out to our clients from our loan originators.
Division Wide Flyers
Flyers created for the use of our loan originators and recruiters
Flyers are by far our number one requested collateral pieces. I spend a good amount of time creating custom and division wide flyers for our loan originators. I was fortunate to be trusted with a lot of responsibility soon after joining the team. The Division was fairly new when I started, and there was some collateral created to get some ideas on the direction we wanted for the look, but the opportunity was mine to really find the style and look of our division. Our goal for the The Cady Group division was to stay within brand guidelines, while also differentiating ourselves from the Cardinal brand. It was great to be a part of the process and give the division a nice refresh from its previous look.
Monthly Postcard Campaign
A postcard for every month in 2021
In 2021, I was asked to create a monthly postcard campaign for our division. Our goal was every 3 months I would have another 3 sets of postcards prepared for those who wanted them. They would then coordinate with a local printer and have them sent to their target audience each month. At first, I did all of the design and layout for the postcards, but as time went on and more and more team members came and left, I also took on the responsibility of writing the postcards.
Social Media Management
I manage many accounts, but I personally design, write captions, and create posts for 3 accounts
My team and I were fortunate enough to add Denim Social, a social media management platform, to our arsenal in May of 2021. Since then, I have been managing 9 social media accounts, 3 of which I create original content and graphics for. For Jonathan Hallstead's account, our division VP, I have crafted a sophisticated look with a lifestyle blog feel to entice his audience to read what he has to say. For John Cady's account, our division SVP, I have developed a feed more so based on the content than the actual graphics themselves. In this feed there is still a cohesive look, with impactful bolded phrases to catch the reader's attention. Finally, for the Hallstead Malmberg Group account I use a variety of Cardinal branded posts and keep it fresh, light, and the content fairly short.
JONATHAN HALLSTEAD INSTAGRAM
JOHN CADY INSTAGRAM
HALLSTEAD MALMBERG GROUP
Division Wide Social Media Posts
Social media posts created for the use of our loan originators and recruiters
In addition to running multiple social media accounts, I also create social media graphics for the entire division to use, along with some fully crafted posts (graphics and captions). I frequently add graphics to Denim Social, our social media management software that our division has access to and we are admins of. Here our loan officers can use any graphic I add for their own social media accounts and use any full posts I create as their own as well. I also create custom social media posts for loan originator's who request them. Below are some examples of both!
The Homebuying Process PowerPoint
Created an enticing presentation using a new style
Early last year, one of the Branch Managers in our division came to us with some content and told us to create a graphically pleasing PowerPoint. I naturally took this project head on and crafted this with the new style guide Cardinal had put out earlier that week. Although we have our division style, it's nice to have the ability to mix it up and create something with a more youthful and fun look, especially when it's in a presentation. Gone are the days of boring powerpoints, I wanted to create something fun and exciting. The Branch Manager was thrilled and he was nice enough to say these kind words, "Wow this looks amazing!!! ... I absolutely love this! Thank you Taryn, amazing work!!!!"
