Hello
I'm James Holden, an entrepreneur and growth marketing specialist with 13+ years experience creating and managing demand generation campaigns for my own brands, my clients, and my employers.I specialise in customer acquisition for financial services, but have significant marketing experience across health, fashion and non-profits too.
What I Do
I'm a Growth Marketer which means my core function is to identify new marketing opportunities, run iterative tests throughout the funnel, and come up with strategies that will efficiently drive new customers to the brand and increase revenue.Growth marketing is the end-to-end job of acquiring customers from the top of the funnel all the way to retaining those customers. With experience of the whole marketing stack, I'm able to ideate and execute on the strategies which consistently move the needle.I'm fiercely focused on the data and understanding customer psychology, initiating constant small changes across all customer touchpoints which ultimately leads to a big impact on the bottom line.As an entrepreneur I'm obsessed with building better businesses. I've worked across multiple senior management teams and product management teams to drive innovation. Whether it's as founder, project manager, or marketing line manager, I enjoy making things happen and taking businesses to the next level.
I have significant experience across multiple industries, from start-ups to large businesses, but I have specialised most in financial services marketing.Working in both e-commerce and B2C lead generation in financial services, I've directly managed and overseen £millions in spend across multiple insurance and lending verticals. Alongside paid advertising I've won incredible PR, achieved enviable SEO rankings, and generated numerous paid-on-results affiliate partnerships.In arguably the toughest industry, I know how to build trust with unknown brands, get clicks for products people don't yet understand, drive down performance marketing costs, create award-winning customer experiences and keep within Financial Conduct Authority rules.
My Story
While studying Business at University of Plymouth I became President of the Entrepreneur's Society. Leading a voluntary committee, we grew this club to over 400 members, brought in sponsorship revenue of £40,000 and went on to win 'Enterprise Society of the Year' out of 110 active clubs. Using the knowledge, experience and contacts I had obtained during this position I embedded myself in national politics and became an advocate for youth enterprise education. I sat on the advisory board of a government quango and several pressure groups, interned at an entrepreneurship research centre, met with Royalty to discuss our work, spoke in the House of Lords on several occasions and advised ministers in 10 Downing Street.
Alongside the work I was doing in student enterprise education I worked as one of the first employees for hungryhouse.co.uk, the online takeaway ordering start-up which would go onto be acquired by JustEat for £200m. As part of this role I was responsible for introducing the brand to Plymouth and increasing online sales by an average of 143% each month.I also started several businesses while at university. The first was a children's footwear brand with patented width-adjustment technology, which I got stocked in shops internationally and wide publicity including a feature in British Vogue. The brand was acquired 2 years later by a large fashion group founded in 1965. The second business I started was an e-commerce store, utilising a factory in China to create unique jewellery pieces and sell six figures worth of product to 4,000+ customers in 36 countries. The marketing was predominantly influencers and affiliates, alongside advertising on the blog I built with one million organic visits a year.Internationally I lived in Kenya for 6 weeks, teaching business skills to entrepreneurs and providing micro-loans for growth, attended a government funded trip to India to learn digital techniques from experts at Infosys, Twitter and Flipkart, went to China to meet my suppliers at their factory to discuss new products and quality control methods, travelled to Armenia to liaise with international partners and speak to press regarding a major project, and attended the Slush conference in Helsinki to learn from world experts about digital marketing and tech.
After creating the marketing strategy for a digital start-up which used it to raise £200,000 in venture capital I moved from self-employment to the workplace. I joined an animal welfare charity where I managed the digital marketing of an international lion rescue and doubled their annual fundraising in just 3 months. I then moved into the finance sector as the Marketing Manager of an insurance group where I worked on a new website, a product category launch, used SEO methods to take their terms 'Mobile Phone Insurance' from page 4 to page 1 and 'Appliance Insurance' from position 13 to position 1, and had my innovative marketing campaigns featured in 8 of the top 20 news websites including the Wall Street Journal.In early 2018 I decided to live in a Buddhist Temple for 8 months while co-founding a health education business. After publishing a 296 page book, producing a popular biohacking podcast, hosting a conference, and creating the number 1 rated Amazon Alexa Skill in the mental health niche, I sold my shares and moved to Florida. Here I worked in the heart of one of America's most competitive political campaigns, undertaking a wide range of voter engagement work to try and flip the battleground of Miami from Republican control and ensure the Democratic Party would take back the House in the 2018 midterm elections. We won.
In 2019 I relocated to Bournemouth to work as the Digital Marketing Manager of a fintech mortgage aggregator & consumer loan broker. Here I specialised in performance marketing, including launching their affiliate scheme which was responsible for over £1.6m of funded loans in the first year.In 2020 I joined one of the UK's leading life insurance brokerages to manage their lead generation, introduce marketing automation, drive down customer acquisition cost, find opportunities for growth, and optimise their customer journey.During the 2020/21 lockdown I utilised my spare time to create a plant subscription business. The concept took off almost instantly and using my growth marketing techniques I grew the brand to great monthly recurring revenues with high margins and strong LTV. I sold this business at a significant profit multiple to a group of subscription box brands just 6 months after launching.
Outside of the marketing world I am an investor with multiple properties across the South West of England, a vehicle rental business, and a stock portfolio with an emphasis on renewable energy, electric vehicles, esports and space. I am also a keen poker player, enjoy eating out at restaurants with friends, and regularly take short-breaks to cities across Europe.
work with me
Do you want to grow your business but currently feel stuck? Require an understanding of what needs to be done to actually move the needle? Want someone with experience to provide strong marketing ideas and support your team?I offer fractional CMO services and growth consultancy for ambitious businesses. Where appropriate, I can involve my trusted and experienced team of incredible designers, writers and web developers to also support your project.Customer Journeys / Brand Development & Design / Marketing Strategy / Growth Hacking / SEO / Performance Marketing / CRO / Specialist Recruitment / Copywriting & More!Please use my contact form for more information.
THE
DOER
You need action.
For when you need high quality work undertaken fast.
Day Rate Minimum:
£350
THE CONSULTANT
You need ideas.
For when your marketing strategy needs revitalising.
Project Fee Minimum:
£1,750
THE
COACH
You need support.
For when your team needs direction and oversight.
Monthly Retainer Minimum:
£3,000
THE RECRUITER
You need people.
For when you need marketing A-players on your side.
Recruitment Minimum:
£7,000
Contact
Got a project I can help with? Say hi!