Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is the foundation of every winning marketing campaign. It includes:
- Collecting and analyzing competitive research
- Building customer value journey maps
- Establishing brand voice guides
- Auditing existing marketing assets
- Developing marketing calendars
- Identifying ideal customer avatars
- …And so much more!
You can learn more about our strategic planning services here.
Strategic planning helps you establish a direction. A marketing plan is a document that identifies how you’ll execute the direction of a strategic plan.
A great strategic plan looks a little different for every company; however, the essentials include:
- Customer Avatar Development
- Competitive Research
- Keyword Research
- Customer Value Journeys
- Marketing Calendars
- Key Metrics Identification
- Brand Voice Development
- Niche Identification
The strategic planning process begins with research. Once the research is complete, a step-by-step execution plan, including KPIs, is created. We recommend performing quarterly performance audits and modifying the strategic plan as needed to optimize results.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is the educational, informational, and entertaining material produced by brands that you watch, read, and listen to every day. Our content marketing services include:
- Websites
- Email Campaigns
- Social Media Posts & Profiles
- Blogs
- Online Courses
- Ebooks/Whitepapers
- Podcast Scripts
- Webinar Scripts
- Video Scripts
- Mission & Vision Statements
- Speeches
- Pitches
- Product Descriptions
- Case Studies
- Infographics
- Lead Magnets
- Crowdfunding Campaigns
- Radio/TV/print
Content marketing is important because of the critical role it plays in the process of enhancing the visibility of your brand, educating the marketplace about your products/services, building trust with your audience, and generating leads.
We like to think about it this way – if your audience only hears from you when you’re trying to sell something, you’re going to leave a lot of money on the table.
Absolutely! SEO and content marketing go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you want results (or a really tasty sandwich), you can’t have one without the other.
Every content marketing project begins with SEO research. This research allows you to learn what questions your ideal clients have about your products/services. Content marketing allows you to answer those questions and engage with your ideal clients throughout the sales funnel.
Considering Demand Metric’s research says content marketing is a money-saving powerhouse because it costs 62% less and drums up a whopping 3 times as many leads as traditional marketing, the answer is a resounding YES! Content marketing actually works! (But ya gotta do it the right way to get the results you want.)
Direct Response Copywriting
Direct response copywriting is a type of copywriting that centers around conversions such as making sales, securing appointments, growing your email list, generating enrollments, and more. You can measure the efficacy of direct response copywriting by comparing performance before a direct response copywriting campaign begins to the performance at the conclusion of a direct response copywriting campaign.
You might! But here are a few freebies you can steal right now:
- Download your guide to ____
- Save your seat before we sell out
- Your _____ isn’t working. Let’s fix it.
- Let’s socialize & talk about all the good things.
- Yes, I want it! Gimme, gimme!
- I’m so in!
- Hook me up!
Need more? Maybe you do need a copywriter. Check out how we can help.
We could easily write an entire blog post (or ten) on this topic, and we will at some point. For right now, we can share that as direct response copywriters, we influence people to buy through:
- Creating a sense of urgency that’s compelling enough to kick people off the fence
- Answering every question readers have before they even ask them
- Talking boldly about the elephant in the room and the reality of what might happen if it doesn’t get out of the way
- Expressing empathy so readers don’t feel alone in their struggle(s)
- Selling the sizzle, not the steak (in other words sharing benefits, benefits, and more benefits.)
Yes. We are 150% certain that direct response copywriting can increase your conversion rate on your website.
However, it’s important to remember that direct response copywriting is only one slice of the marketing pie to get conversions. You also need demand for your product/service, a compelling offer, and traffic (otherwise known as eyeballs on your copy). Even if you have the world’s greatest copy, no eyeballs = no sales.
Social Media Marketing
Heck ya! Social media marketing can transform your business! But, (and this is a big but…), you must do it RIGHT. Here are a few do’s and don’ts to get you started:
- DO be consistent. Only showing up once in a while in the social sphere is the equivalent of a brick and mortar store only being open one hour a week.
- DO build relationships. Look at what your ideal clients are sharing and get involved in their conversations by commenting, sharing, and liking their posts.
- DO build out your social profiles entirely. If you don’t, you’re likely leaving money on the table and telling the world you’re simply not interested in connecting in the social sphere.
- DON’T flood your follower’s feeds with sales pitches. No one joins any social media platform because they want to be sold to!
- DON’T post highly personal stuff on public profiles. If you want to share personal things with friends and family on personal pages, so be it. But don’t cross that line on business pages. It’s not appropriate.
As the name implies, social media marketing is inherently social. It’s about connecting with leads and clients in a way that grows awareness of your brand, builds trust between your company and the marketplace, strengthens the customer experience, and lots of other cool stuff.
You write a post, share it, and continue to reiterate and optimize this process to drive engagement. Once it does, keep the conversation going just as you would if you went to a party and met someone you like. You start chatting for a bit, and then ask for their number, take them on a date, and eventually end up in a relationship together.
That depends. Are you reposting your best stuff? If so, there’s no reason it should stop getting traffic.
Keep in mind, unlike paid advertising, your social media content is permanent unless you take it down or break a platform rule so the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world take it down for you.
Have more questions about your social media marketing strategy? Schedule a complimentary consultation with a Social Media Marketing Expert now.
Ah! Glad you asked! This is a multifaceted question, but we’ll give you the short answer:
If you’re selling to Gen Z and younger, you should consider YouTube, TikTok, SnapChat, and Instagram. If you’re targeting millennials and/or Gen X, consider Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn & Twitter. If you’re targeting Boomers, Facebook is probably your best bet, but you’ll find some of the young boomers hangin’ on LinkedIn for business and Twitter for news.
There are lots of services out there that make managing multiple social media accounts easier. Some of our favorites are Meet Edgar and Tailwind. And don’t forget the power of Zapier!