NextLight × Catapult Creative

H2 2026
Marketing Strategy
Evolution

Four years of partnership. A market that's shifted. A smarter system — we're calling it Constellation Marketing — for how NextLight attracts, engages, and keeps the customers who power a community-owned network.

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Why Now

What got us here won't get us there.

Four years of strong work have built NextLight's market presence. But the landscape has shifted — and our approach needs to shift with it.

Platforms have changed

Ad platforms now reward broad targeting and creative volume over manual audience segmentation. The strategies that worked in 2022 are leaving performance on the table.

Linear funnels are limiting

The traditional awareness → consideration → conversion model assumes a straight line. Real customers bounce between stages, convert unexpectedly, and refer unpredictably.

NextLight's advantage is untapped

Community ownership isn't just a talking point — it's a structural marketing advantage. Happy customers are literally owners and advocates. Our current model doesn't fully leverage this.

The Framework

Two lenses. One strategy.

Everything we do falls into one of two categories. Getting clear on this changes how we plan, create, and evaluate.

Meaningful

What we say and why it matters

  • Why someone should choose NextLight over competitors
  • How different audiences hear and respond to that story
  • The creative that earns attention and builds trust
  • A consistent voice that reflects community ownership

Mechanical

How and where we deliver it

  • Which platforms reach the right people, and how
  • How campaigns are structured, funded, and optimized
  • What we measure and how we know it's working
  • The path from ad click to connected customer
We lead with the meaningful, but mechanical considerations are woven throughout — not sequential, but intertwined.
This is the foundation of Constellation Marketing — every strategic choice carries both lenses.
The Evolution

From linear funnels
to a living flywheel.

Funnel
⟶
Where we've been Where we're going
Annual brand + quarterly acquisition campaigns → Always-on flywheel: attract, engage, delight
Linear funnel: awareness → consideration → conversion → Conversion happens at every stage
Product-driven messaging → Positioning-driven messaging
Manual audience targeting → Broad targeting, algorithm-optimized
Static-first creative → Video-first creative

In a funnel, people fall out. In a flywheel, momentum builds. Every happy customer adds energy — and conversion doesn't wait for the bottom.

The Flywheel

Three stages. Always spinning.

Click any stage to explore how it works — and how conversion happens everywhere.

Click a stage to explore how it works

Attract
Engage
Delight
Convert
at any stage
Bringing It to Life

Strategy is the map.
Now, the moves.

The Constellation system connects the flywheel, creative, channels, and measurement into one interconnected strategy. What follows is how each piece comes to life.

Creative Direction

Video-first. Volume-driven.

Creative is now our primary optimization lever. Modern ad platforms have gotten remarkably good at finding the right people — which means our energy shifts from manual targeting to giving those platforms exceptional material to work with.

Format

Professional Video

Hero content for positioning. High-production storytelling. The anchor of CTV and top-of-flywheel campaigns.

Format

UGC-Style

Authentic, relatable. Real customers, real stories. Lower production, higher trust. Powerful in the Engage stage.

Format

Motion & Animation

Animated from existing static designs. Quick-turn, high-volume. The workhorse for testing and creative rotation at scale.

Launch creative
→
Test broadly
→
Kill underperformers
→
Scale winners
→
Rotate new in
Video Production

Two tracks. Full coverage.

To sustain the volume this strategy demands, we recommend a dual-track production approach.

Track 1

Tend Studio — Hero Content

Professional video production for hero positioning ads and campaign anchors.

  • Full production: scripting, filming, editing
  • High-quality storytelling for CTV and positioning
  • Planned shoot(s) to build a library for all of H2

Separate budget required

Track 1 requires a dedicated production budget from NextLight, outside the existing retainer. We'll scope this together during the March alignment phase.

Track 2

Catapult — Animated Statics

In-house animation workflow built on our existing static ad design process.

  • Extends current Catapult design workflow
  • Quick-turn motion ads from static assets
  • High volume for testing and rotation
  • Included within existing 2026 retainer
Together, these two tracks ensure we have both the flagship content and the day-to-day creative volume this strategy requires.
Channel Strategy

Simplify. Let algorithms work.

Broad targeting, high creative volume, test and scale. We redirect our energy from manual audience management to creative quality — and let the platforms do what they're built to do.

↑ Explore all 3 channels above

Search + Display

Search: Overhauling ad copy around search intent — matching the way people actually look for internet service, not just keyword matching.

Display: Shifting to remarketing focus — primarily retargeting YouTube video viewers, which gives us a reliable and scalable audience pool since Google owns YouTube. We'll supplement with website retargeting where possible, but YouTube viewers will be the primary tactical lever. Meta handles the broad prospecting; Google Display reinforces consideration.
Intent-first copy Remarketing focus Value-based bidding

Broad Targeting & Creative Testing

We're evolving Meta's campaign architecture to align with the flywheel model — broad targeting that lets the algorithm find the right people, combined with high-volume creative testing to identify what resonates. The structure is designed for one thing: rapid creative iteration at scale. Launch, test, kill the losers, scale the winners.
Broad audiences Creative testing at scale Value-based optimization

Encore + Strategic Pilots

Encore (Strategus): Keeping this for top-of-flywheel positioning. Hero video on the TV, follow-up video and display on smaller screens. Builds household-level awareness through sequential messaging.

New Movers Pilot: Testing Strategus' New Movers data set as a conversion-oriented campaign. People moving into the service area carry real intent — this is our best signal for driving action through programmatic.
Positioning layer Intent-based pilots Sequential messaging
Lead Capture & Measurement

Smarter capture. Deeper insight.

Broad input. Smart capture.

Broad advertising and specific capture paths aren't contradictory — they're complementary. We cast a wide net and create intent-appropriate landing experiences.

Low Intent

"Check availability at my address"

→

Mid Intent

"Compare plans & pricing"

→

High Intent

"Get connected today"

The existing tracking and form infrastructure stays in place. We evolve within this system, with an eye toward the 2027 technology overhaul.

Two views. Value-based metrics.

LTV
Leading metric
CPL
By channel
ROAS
True return

Live Dashboard

Aggregate KPIs. Birds-eye view of flywheel performance. Campaign-level data flowing in real time. The "how are we doing right now" view.

Deep Analysis

Campaign-level views showing full impact. LTV correlation. Cohort analysis. The "what's actually working and why" view — our foundation for quarterly strategic reviews.

LTV as leading metric Campaign-level views Custom-built system
Roadmap

From now to Constellation launch.

March
Align
April
Foundation
May
Build
June
Assemble
July
Launch
Aug–Dec
Optimize
What's Next

The groundwork starts now.
The Constellation launches in July.

Five months of meaningful prep. Then a system that compounds — where every happy customer powers the next connection.

Let's build this together.

Catapult Creative March 2026