Freeway PHX
Cameron Weber
Published
I partnered with Freeway PHX to help scale their visibility, improve engagement, and build a repeatable marketing system for long-term growth within the Phoenix startup ecosystem.
Freeway PHX is a public private initiative backed by the City of Phoenix focused on connecting startups, engineers, job seekers, and local tech talent through events, community building, and startup ecosystem development.
The primary challenge was creating a scalable marketing strategy that could consistently increase engagement, improve event visibility, and drive measurable business results.
Before working together, the organization faced:
- Inconsistent social media strategy
- Limited content systems
- Difficulty maintaining traction week over week
- Inefficient workflows for repurposing event content
- Limited founder-led storytelling and authentic brand messaging
To solve this, I developed and executed a multi-channel growth strategy focused on:
- Short-form social content
- Paid Meta advertising
- Funnel development
- Founder-led storytelling
- Community-driven content systems
- Sponsor podcast production
- Event recap videos
- Social-first editing workflows
One of the strongest results came from paid advertising campaigns.
Using only a $250 ad budget, we generated:
- 235 qualified leads
- 20,000+ impressions
- Nearly 5,000 engagements
- ~25% engagement rate
- $1.07 cost per lead
- $0.05 cost per engagement
The broader campaign also outperformed industry benchmarks across major KPIs:
- 3.5x ROAS
- $3.71 CPM vs $6.05 industry average
- $2.20 CAC vs $3 industry average
- 180% increase in engagement
- 35% increase in operational efficiency
- 456% increase in saved production time
- 23.5% increase in followers
- 185.2% increase in comments
A major insight from the campaign was that authentic messaging consistently outperformed overly polished creative. Founder led storytelling and human-centered content generated the strongest engagement and community response.
Short form video became the highest performing content format across all channels. By implementing repeatable editing templates and streamlined production systems, we significantly reduced turnaround time while improving content consistency and scalability.
Beyond advertising and social strategy, I also supported Freeway PHX with:
- Sponsor podcast filming
- Executive interviews
- Event videography
- Community storytelling
- Funnel optimization
- Content repurposing systems
- Brand positioning support
Daniela Santangelo, CEO of Freeway PHX, shared that the partnership helped elevate the organization’s public image, improve ticket sales, strengthen community traction, and increase visibility throughout the Phoenix startup ecosystem.
Campaign Video: