Marketing Fusion

Marketing Strategies to Scale Your Business

Matt Booher, Melanie Booher, Jodi Brandstetter, Katy Crossen, Dan Hahn, Margaret Moore, Kendra Ramirez, Katie Scanlon, Peg Stookey, James Szuch, Kimberlee Vollbrecht, Janice Weiser

Influence Network Media, LLC

Copyright @ 2022 Influence

Network Media, LLC

All Rights Reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the copyright owner, or in the case of the reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licenses issued by the Copyright licensing Agency. Enquires concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publisher.

Contents

Introduction

1.Marketing Strategy Blueprint 

Kendra Ramirez

2.The Touchy-Feely Truth About Marketing

Katy Crossen

3.Build Your Brand of Brilliance

Peg Stookey

4.Treasured Products

James Szuch

5.Tell Your Story and Market Your Business 21 Ways

Margee Moore and Janice Weiser

6.The 7 Key Pieces Of The Digital Marketing Puzzle

Dan Hahn

7.Getting Started with Digital Analytics and Dashboards

Matt Booher

8.Pipeline Plumbing

Kimberlee Vollbrecht

9.Relationship Networking and Marketing

Katie Scanlon

10.One Chapter, One Bio and A Headshot

Jodi Brandstetter

Conclusion

Melanie Booher

About Influence Network Media

Influence Network Media Multi-Author Book Opportunity

Book Smarts Business Podcast

Introduction

Worst. Grades. Ever.

Yes, my worst grades in college were not so proudly achieved in Marketing.

I remember thinking that marketing would be the easiest of college courses (Really, how difficult could people, price, and promotion be?!), and I eagerly signed up for a variety of Marketing courses within my business program. For a fleeting moment, I even considered majoring in Marketing. After all, it sounded so much easier than Finance, Economics, Accounting, Organizational Development, or Management Information Systems. Boy, was I wrong!

As an entrepreneur and business owner, I started off as many do – gung-ho and ready to take on the world. I’d do it all myself. A one-woman show. I started with my own strategic, financial, operations, and marketing plans and was eager to grow my business.

Other entrepreneurs know how this story shapes up - surprise - it didn’t work. I dabbled in all the startup areas, trying to do it all myself. I was so overwhelmed that I wasn’t able to focus on the core nature of my business. Each day was stressful and left me generally unfulfilled.

My business had a marketing dilemma. The options were overwhelming and complex, with so many fields of expertise. Even if I honed my networking skills, could I also excel at blogging? Did I need a better website or SEO? How does one create a successful marketing strategy? Should I use a CRM, sales funnel, or dashboards? So many questions.

With all of this in mind, I knew what had to be done. I had to learn to share the load, delegate and streamline for efficiency by getting those involved who know their craft better than I ever would. Good news - I’ve been blessed to cross paths with exceptional Marketing leaders over the course of my career. The universe must have known that I’d need their expertise to make up for my shortcomings in the matter!

Marketing plays an integral role in business, and the need for expertise grows as your business changes. There is a multitude of disciplines within marketing and many are difficult to master. And that my friends, is the brilliance of this book.

We’ve gathered some of the brightest Marketing minds to create Marketing Fusion - writing amazing chapters and sharing expertise related to their craft. Years of learning, trying new methods, advancing new technologies, and serving clients - all collected here so that you can choose which area might make the most sense for your organization. And the best news - they’re sharing it with you!

This book is not meant to be an all-encompassing Marketing book, we don’t have enough pages for that! However, if you are seeking some fresh perspective from leaders who have seen success in their field - this book is for you. Or maybe you are looking for new ideas to freshen up your stale marketing plan and springboard your organization into the 21st-century? Marketing Fusion will spur innovation and ideas for an improved marketing strategy within your organization.

The leaders of this book possess knowledge in critical areas including digital analytics and dashboards, overall Marketing strategy, LinkedIn expertise and utilization, the importance of sales funnels, networking and referral marketing, the power of storytelling, really listening to clients’ stories by tapping into empathy in order to better serve customers and potential clients, SEO, and blogging.

Each chapter educates on a different discipline and offers ideas to raise existing marketing efforts to a new level.  We encourage you to find golden nuggets to expand where you already have the knowledge, to challenge the that’s how we’ve always done it mindset, and to strive into new realms as you try something new.

If these critical Marketing areas inspire you but also leave you thirsting for more (or in need of help to get it accomplished!), then we encourage you to reach out to our thought leaders for additional help, coaching or consulting.

We believe this book will provide innovative ideas to drive your marketing efforts forward in a positive and effective way. Don’t be afraid to think differently - that’s how progress is made. So think outside the box and try new things. Join us on a journey as we explore how a little Marketing Fusion can impact your business in new and exciting ways.

~Melanie Booher, INM President

1

Marketing Strategy Blueprint 

Kendra Ramirez, Kendra Ramirez Digital Agency

Your marketing strategy is the foundation of your marketing success. The mistake we see time and again is when we receive calls from potential clients and they are asking about a specific tool like building Facebook ads, SEO, content plan, or a LinkedIn company page. When we need to start with the actual strategy and business goals tied to that strategy before talking about tactics and tools. Let’s talk through what your marketing strategy blueprint for your business success looks like.

The framework we use is:

Understand your audience

Conduct digital assessment

Define success

Create content

Measure

Optimize and repeat

Before diving into the framework, let’s address your marketing mindset.

Mindset #1: Fear of doing it wrong. 

Your marketing strategy will always evolve. It is a living breathing thing just like your business plan. Marketing is about testing and learning. So, let go of those perfectionism traps. Done is better than perfect. We sometimes can become paralyzed with all the options in marketing. Just get started somewhere.

Mindset #2: Fear of what to say. 

How can I create content when everything I want to say has already been said? Ok, let’s use the example of Easter. What if every Pastor, Preacher, Priest or Minister said, Well, the Easter story has already been told, so I don’t need to tell it. ? The same principle applies here. People want your version of the topic. You are an influencer. People will respond and lean in to listen to what you have to say. The world has been around for thousands of years. So, in reality, there are no truly original thoughts.

Mindset #3: Fear of being seen. 

No one likes themselves on video or the sound of your voice. You sound and look amazing. Show up. We need you in this world. We need to see your face light up when you are talking about your passions. Visibility and vulnerability is what is winning in today’s world.

Mindset #4- Fear of looking silly. 

Have you seen all the Reels on Instagram or videos on Tiktok? Lots of silly things are going on there. People like real and authentic content. We want to know you are human and not overly scripted. Don’t worry about the ums and stumbling over and through your words. I am a big fan of one-take social videos. If you stumble, just keep going. Just keep swimming.

Mindset #5- Fear of doing it alone. 

Yes, someone needs to quarterback your marketing. Get your teams involved; or if you don’t have a team, get your partners and clients involved. Hire a contractor or part-time employee to assist with execution when you are just getting started with your marketing efforts. You don’t have to do it alone. The best marketing isn’t done in a silo.

Now that we got rid of the marketing scaries let’s dive into your marketing framework.

Your Target Audience

Understanding your target audience and what motivates them is another important step in the process. Most of the time, you are not your target audience. Don’t guess what your audience needs from you. Let’s start with, who do you serve? What problems do you solve? What challenges do your clients face? Diving deeper than just simply demographics of male or female or age range.

We love using the hero journey method that Don Miller provides at StoryBrand (https://storybrand.com). The StoryBrand template will help you tell the story of how you guide your clients to success. Our clients love using this template. You are not the hero. Your client is the hero. You are the guide that helps get them to where they are going. This really flips the script when reviewing your home page or the About Us section on your website. People buy from people that they know, like, and trust.

Understand where your target audience plays and how they like to consume content. Everyone’s learning style is different. You need to appeal to a variety of styles.

Do they like to read?

Do they like to watch videos?

Do they like to listen to podcasts?

Do they prefer an e-newsletter from you or do they prefer to follow you on social media?

Which channels do they play on?

Do they play on Facebook with older demographics?

Or do they play on Instagram with younger demographics?

Do they play on LinkedIn because they are more business to business oriented?

Who else also targets your audience in a noncompetitive way? Look for co-marketing opportunities with partners. Can you be a guest on each other’s blog or podcast? Can you identify micro-influencers to work with as well? Do you have an opportunity to build a community with your audience?

Some examples of building community are as follows: a financial planning organization that hosts weekly Coffee and Connect sessions online. They rotate experts on each session that are there to serve their clients. No pitches, just holding space for connection and community. Another organization hosts monthly leader meetings to build peer-to-peer relationships and problem-solve together. Notice that both groups are there to serve others and bring knowledge to the table versus selling tactics.

If you are still struggling to understand your target audience don’t be afraid to ask them directly or use HubSpot’s free buyer persona template to help build out your target audience even more. Now that we better understand our target audience, let’s create a content plan for them.

Digital Assessment

A digital assessment is a great baseline to help identify your marketing gaps. Start your digital assessment by looking at your website. Does your website speak directly to your target audience? Are they represented on your website? Are you talking to their challenges and how you can come alongside them and guide them through solving their challenges? Do you have a lead magnet on your website that someone could download or learn from where they would be willing to give you their email address to gain that knowledge from you? Do you have a sign-up for your e-newsletter? Do you have social integration? Do you have photos and videos representing your organization to tell your story? Is everything mobile-friendly? What social channels do you currently have? Is there brand consistency from the website to your proposal, to your social media channels?

Not only do you want to look at your own marketing, but you want to look at your competitors' marketing strategies as well. What services are they leading with on their website? How are they describing what they do? What social channels are they playing in? How often are they posting on those channels? What is your differentiation in the market? Why do people buy from you?

You can also look at a mentor brand. Finding a brand that you aspire to be like we find is often very helpful. Do you have a mission, vision, and values defined in your organization? How are you walking those out in your business and through your marketing today? Now that we have identified our marketing gaps, let’s define our success.

Define Success

Start with the end in mind. We need to understand your business strategy. What are your business goals? What are you hoping to achieve through marketing, is it business development, recruitment, brand awareness, or customer service? Gaining clarity about your business goals