Content Tied to a Six-Figure Partnership: Car Talk

Client: Car Talk (NPR)

Years: 2012-2020; content partnerships 2015-2019

Role: Social Media Producer and Digital Managing Editor

Scope: Directed 10 freelance contributors; audience of 500K+ Facebook followers, 45K Twitter followers, and 85K combined newsletter subscribers

Challenge
Car Talk’s online community was thriving, but needed revenue to continue investing staff time and to support its charitable arm, the Vehicle Donation Program. The answer was paid content partnerships with automotive brands that wanted to reach the Car Talk and NPR audience. From 2015 to 2019, my job was to deliver traffic to those partners without losing the voice that the audience responded to.

What I did

• Wrote social posts and edited and curated newsletters in Car Talk’s distinctive voice

• Engaged the audience in real time, in authentic brand voice, to build community. (Convinced half a million people online that I was actually a retired, wise-cracking car mechanic)

• Commissioned pieces from partner-brand writers, shaped to resonate with Car Talk’s audience

• Tracked metrics monthly and adjusted content mid-month to meet partner traffic targets

• Resurfaced proven top performers without wearing out the audience

• Directed the day-to-day work of 10 freelance contributors

Result

• Met or exceeded monthly traffic targets for a six-figure annual content partnership

• Grew Facebook audience 5x (under 100K to 500K+), then sustained it while the focus shifted to partner delivery; grew Twitter 3x (15K to 45K)

• Edited weekly and monthly newsletters reaching 85K combined subscribers, with the list growing during my tenure

Relevant skills
Content strategy tied to revenue: audience growth, community management in a distinctive brand voice, and monthly optimization against partner traffic targets.