Strategy and planning are hands down the most crucial components of any marketing project. It may not sound very sexy, but trust me when I say providing clarity and direction for your brand is… 9 times out of 10 businesses are looking for quick results, but 10 out of 10 audiences respond better to a well thought out message tied in with a strategic plan. What I’m saying here is that you can’t really have any effective marketing without this solid foundation to build on. It’s your skeleton key for—
Building a Marketing Strategy
My marketing strategies are all research-based (check out my Research and Metrics page), giving your brand a clear context around your industry’s benchmarks, past performance, competitors and trends. The important stuff. But more important than that, it offers you some of the most essential information about your audience and your messaging. Here’s the equation I live by:
Saying the Right Thing + The Right People = Great Marketing
Audiences Liking It = Sales
This is my bread and butter, my eggs and bacon, my chocolate syrup and milk. When you combine the two things, it creates *chef’s kiss* magic. Your marketing strategy will solidify “why” you do what you do, the “who” you’re talking to and “what” is it that you are offering so that your brand is communicating its value clearly while still distinguishing itself from the rest of your competitors. It’s basically the bat signal for your audience, and it’s where marketing success are made.
Creating a Go-to-Market Plan
Buckle up, here’s more exciting stuff. After building a marketing strategy, we’ll delve into market planning. This answers the question of “where” you’re using your strategy and “how” you’re using it. You want sexy metrics, thrilled audiences, and news to report to the higher ups? This is it. This is market planning. This is where we turn a strategy into success—and it’s likely going to be way more than just a Facebook campaign.
Think about the big brands of the world. Nike. Apple. Bose. Starbucks. Target. Taylor Swift. The list goes on. You didn’t see that ad, hear that song, or know about the latest unicorn latte because they didn’t plan for you to know. No, they found you because they wanted you to see them. The world’s most successful brands are based in marketing strategy, planning and research, and they take that knowledge and spread it into multiple campaigns to engage customers in a variety of ways. That’s exactly what I am here to help you do. And when we’re done? Dust our shoulders off.
Collaborating On Your Market Strategy and Plan
So let’s do this. I say “let’s” because it’s not just me. In fact, collaboration is key to building out the perfect strategy and plan for your brand and your campaigns. We’ll be BFFs, working throughout the process to ensure it’s organic to your brand, has staying power, and will resonate with your audience. I work for head nods and applause, and I’m not stopping until it’s perfect. Best of all, by collaborating together, we’re building key pieces of your brand that can be shared for on boarding purposes, website collateral, and any subsequent initiatives.
Check out some of my satisfied customers:
“I found Sunny to be a very responsive, creative thinker with the ability to grasp our business very quickly. She was able to understand the challenges we face internally with our current organization and develop a strategy for improvement. As an owner of a business, I was struggling with several issues regarding attracting new talent, internal organization, and keeping company morale. Sunny was able to provide a strategy for my company to improve. She was able to present the strategy in a very clear, concise way with very achievable goals. I am excited about our future and have gained a renewed sense of motivation.”– Mike Mazelon, Royal Glass
“Sunny is extremely knowledgeable about marketing and helped us figure out how to reach our target audience and get the biggest bang for our buck. But probably the most helpful thing has been the way Sunny has immersed herself in our business and generated newsletters and social media content with very little oversight from our small team. We needed someone smart and driven and Sunny has been the perfect person to outsource this work to.”– Lindsey Bingaman, Teleos Leaders
Three Steps for Marketing Success:
Three Package Options for Marketing Strategy Services
Discovery
Goal Setting
Custom Research
Secondary Research
Brand Research
Targeting
Competitive Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Brand Purpose
Brand Personality
Brand Promise
Unique Selling Proposition
Positioning Statement
Positioning Map
Brand Essence
Brand Story
Brand Benefit Ladder
Strategy Canvas
Revenue Marketing Map
Edit Rounds
Basic
1 hour
Introductory
Basic
Basic
3 basic profiles
5 competitors analyzed in depth
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1
Advanced
2 hours
SMART Goal Setup
Up to 5 Individual Interviews (IDI’S)
Comprehensive
Comprehensive
3 detailed buyer profiles
10 competitors analyzed in depth
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
2
Platinum
3 hours
Advanced SMART Goals
Up to 10 Individual Interviews (IDI’S) + custom survey
Extensive
Extensive
5 buyer profiles
20 competitors analyzed in depth
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Up to 5
*Packages starting at $2,000.
Want a lil’ of this and a lil’ of that? I’ve got you, let’s customize a plan together.
Three Package Options for Market Planning*
Proposed tactics + initiatives
Content discovery
1 month content development
Big idea generation
Budget + Timeline
Edit Rounds
Basic
Summary
Basic
1
Advanced
Detailed
X
Detailed
2
Platinum
In Depth
X
X
X
Detailed
Up to 5
*Custom Packages Available