Project Overview
The Engagement
The Perfect Date Game LLC (TPDG), founded by S. Angel (Angel Hews) in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a relationship card game brand built around the Open UP Deck — a physical product designed to help couples, partners, and friends deepen connection through structured conversation.
Monica Dube-Sekhwela of The Social Connect served as the primary digital marketing partner from mid-2020 through 2022, providing end-to-end social media management, content strategy, blog writing, email marketing, and graphic design. The engagement began during the height of COVID-19 and culminated in a Walmart.com product listing — a transformational milestone for the brand.
Monica's Mission
Build a recognizable, cohesive brand identity from zero and activate a cross-platform content ecosystem that converts community engagement into product sales and retail listings.
Key Achievement
Established the #dateready content framework — a recurring series that positioned TPDG as a relationship resource, not just a product — driving the highest community engagement of the entire feed.
Business Impact
Navigated the brand through COVID-19 disruption, executed the Walmart.com launch campaign, and built a verified international customer base spanning 4+ countries.
About This Project
This case study showcases Monica's ability to serve as a trusted, full-service digital marketing partner for a solo founder — managing strategy, execution, and creative simultaneously across a 2+ year engagement.
The work demonstrates expertise in brand identity construction, social media management, long-form content strategy, and cross-platform ecosystem building, with a special emphasis on community-first marketing that drives retail conversion.
What Makes This Work Stand Out
The Challenge: Zero to Brand
❌ Zero Digital Presence or Brand Identity
TPDG launched with no established social media presence, no brand visual identity, no content strategy, and no community. Monica was tasked with building everything from scratch.
❌ Physical Product with No Visual Storytelling
A card game product needs to be seen and felt to be understood. With no video content, no lifestyle photography framework, and no demonstrated use cases, the product's emotional value proposition was invisible online.
❌ Solo Founder with Competing Demands
S. Angel was managing the business solo while holding a full-time job and later welcoming a new baby. Monica needed to function as a fully independent, trusted extension of the business with minimal oversight.
❌ COVID-19 Disruption at Launch
The brand launched in 2020 during peak pandemic lockdowns — a period when in-person dating was severely disrupted. The core product value proposition required a real-time strategic pivot to remain relevant.
❌ Highly Competitive Adjacent Market
TPDG competed in a space adjacent to established relationship games and card products. Differentiation required content that elevated the brand beyond the product category — into relationship education and community identity.
🎯 The Stakes
Success meant building a brand strong enough to earn a major retail listing and an international customer base — from an empty Instagram page, during a global pandemic, for a solo founder with limited bandwidth. Failure meant invisibility in an increasingly crowded digital marketplace.
🧠 My Strategic Approach
Brand Identity Construction (From Zero)
Built a coherent, recognizable visual and tonal brand identity that held consistently across all content for 24+ months:
Core Brand Elements Established
Multi-Pillar Content Strategy (4 Core Pillars)
Developed a multi-layered content strategy across four content pillars to serve distinct audience needs and funnel stages simultaneously:
Relationship science, dating psychology, and product education — establishing authority
#dateready quiz formats and self-reflection questions — the highest-engagement series
Testimonials from real customers with photos and location tags across USA, Canada, Botswana
Promotional campaigns, launch announcements, giveaways, and seasonal Black Friday offers
Cross-Platform Content Ecosystem
Built a complete digital funnel spanning three interconnected channels — creating a content loop that extended organic reach and maximized every piece of content:
- →Instagram: Community building, brand identity, and direct product promotion via @theperfectdategame
- →Blog: SEO-driven long-form articles authored by Monica, seeding social content and driving return traffic
- →Email Marketing: Customer retention, product announcements, and community nurturing to close the funnel loop
⚡ Execution Excellence
Key Campaigns & Milestones
📅 The Date Ready Challenge
An early campaign featuring 12 structured self-reflection questions in a grid format. Established #dateready as a community identity and positioned TPDG as a self-development tool alongside a dating product.
🛍️ Black Friday 2021
Monica produced a 20% off promotional campaign running through November 30, 2021 with strong conversion copy: "Turn down mediocre date nights and turn up game changer dating experiences with #TPDG."
🎉 Walmart.com Launch — December 2021
🎁 Giveaway Campaign — January 2022
✍️ Blog Content Strategy — 5 Published Articles
Testimonial Campaign Execution
📍 Real Customers, Real Locations
- ✓ Florida, Connecticut, Virginia, Missouri, Arizona
- ✓ Alberta, Canada
- ✓ Botswana, Africa
📸 Format & Authenticity
- ✓ Real customer photos with name attribution
- ✓ Location tags for international proof
- ✓ Sustained series throughout engagement
💡 Strategic Value
- ✓ Built social proof for Walmart listing pitch
- ✓ Demonstrated international market demand
- ✓ Most powerful conversion asset in the feed
📊 Results & Business Impact
🏆 Verified Achievements
📈 Strategic Business Outcomes
Retail Milestone — Walmart.com Listing
The brand successfully graduated from a solo founder's concept to a product listed on Walmart.com at $55.99 — a credibility signal that validates the two-year content investment.
International Customer Base Verified
Real customer testimonials with location tags from Florida, Connecticut, Alberta, Botswana, and more demonstrated authentic international demand — not just vanity metrics.
Pandemic Pivot Executed Successfully
When in-person dating was disrupted by COVID-19, Monica repositioned the product as a virtual date night tool — maintaining brand relevance throughout one of the most challenging periods for experiential products.
💬 Client Testimonial
"She's been such a great content manager and so much more for me! I'm usually very hands on but lately, with so many projects in the pipeline, a new baby, and still the full time job, Monica has been that extra pair of hands I've needed and it feels so good having someone I can trust with my business. She's helping with social media management, content creation strategy, blog strategy, email marketing, basic graphics... and she's always adding new services that can help my business processes as a whole. I don't even want to share her, but she's that good."
💡 Skills Demonstrated
📱 Social Media Management
- ✓2+ year consistent account management for @theperfectdategame
- ✓Visual brand identity establishment (pink palette, yin-yang logo, typography)
- ✓#dateready content framework development and community building
- ✓Quiz and poll format strategy (highest engagement of entire feed)
- ✓Seasonal and promotional campaign coordination
✍️ Content Creation & Copywriting
- ✓SEO-optimized long-form blog articles (5 published, named contributor)
- ✓Psychologically grounded content (attachment theory, dating anxiety, relationship science)
- ✓Conversion copywriting for product promotions and launches
- ✓Social media microcopy with distinct brand voice
- ✓Cross-platform internal linking strategy between blog and social
🎨 Graphic Design & Visual Branding
- ✓Quote card overlays and #dateready question card format templates
- ✓Promotional sale graphics (Black Friday) aligned to brand palette
- ✓Date Ready Challenge grid design
- ✓Pink/black/white color system maintained consistently across 70+ pieces
- ✓Complete brand visual identity built from zero
📧 Email Marketing & Strategy
- ✓Customer retention email strategy development
- ✓Product announcement and launch email campaigns
- ✓Community nurturing sequences supporting social strategy
- ✓Complete digital funnel integration: social → blog → email
- ✓Complementary channel strategy to maximize touchpoints
🧠 Strategic Marketing & Analysis
- ✓Content performance analysis (quiz format identified as top engagement driver)
- ✓Real-time COVID-19 strategic pivot — repositioning physical product as virtual tool
- ✓Competitive differentiation through relationship education positioning
- ✓Multi-channel funnel architecture and optimization
- ✓ROI measurement connecting content to retail milestone outcomes
🚀 Campaign Management
- ✓Giveaway campaign execution (3-step mechanic, 4 winners announced)
- ✓Walmart.com launch campaign strategy and execution
- ✓Black Friday promotional campaign with conversion copy
- ✓Date Ready Challenge — community activation and hashtag growth
- ✓Sustained testimonial series over 24+ months
🌟 Soft Skills & Differentiators
Professional Excellence
- →Trusted Autonomy: Founder felt confident delegating full creative ownership
- →Sustained Execution: 24+ months without brand drift or quality decline
- →Crisis Adaptability: Pivoted strategy in real-time during COVID-19
- →Results Orientation: Focused on retail conversion, not vanity metrics
Strategic Intelligence
- →Psychological Depth: Used attachment theory and dating science to build authority
- →Community First: Built identity around #dateready before pushing product
- →Content Recycling: Every blog seeded social posts; every social post drove blog traffic
- →International Vision: Built proof of global demand from the beginning
📸 Campaign Gallery
