In an Unsteady World, I See Through the Chaos to Make a Clear Path for the Future

Doing business in today’s world presents a unique set of challenges that most have never seen before. Companies are faced with so many changes, on so many levels, it’s difficult to determine where to start or even which direction to go in. If you’re not fighting a specific challenge, you may be focused on trying to turn around stagnant sales. If sales are soaring, then scaling brings a whole new set of obstacles to overcome.

This is the reason I exist. To help clients break free from the cycle of reacting to crises so they can proactively address growth hurdles. I don’t have a ‘proven model’. I won’t sell you a pre-written ‘plan’. Every company is different, which means I can’t tackle every situation in the same way. I work closely with my clients to develop customized, company-specific strategies that will create a clear path to sustainable results.

Strategy Excerpts

Strategic Planning is More Important Than Ever Before

Strategic planning helps a business set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations and ensures that everyone is working towards common goals. It helps to identify problems, address unresolved key issues and to determine the steps needed to achieve long-term objectives. It’s one of the most important activities your company can do to help secure its future. However, sometimes it’s difficult to view a particular situation with an open mind when you are so close to the process. Having an unbiased view from the outside can bring new perspectives that deliver the best results.

I use an integrated, holistic process to grasp the parameters of each specific challenge. I pore over analytics, make sure I consider every angle and cover all the bases before I develop a plan. Then, with a plan in hand, I develop the creative solutions to support the business goals.

Creating change, in any aspect, requires consistency, accountability and sheer drive. I test our solutions, review the metrics and if needed we head back to the drawing board. When I see a win, we build off it to create progress. It’s an ongoing process. The world doesn’t stand still. I don’t believe your strategic plan should stand still either.

Strategy & Consulting Expertise

OPERATIONAL

I am a marketing company at its core. Yet marketing is not the first thing I focus on when meeting a new client. Marketing is only one cog in a wheel of activities that must work together to make a true impact on a company’s revenue.

Everything from how a company organizes and manages its resources, focuses on cost control, handles customer services inquiries and manages inventory health determines its ability to achieve its strategic ambitions. Because of that, I build bridges between strategy and marketing execution with the right technology, workflow and by defining which metrics matter most. I’ll map out long-range plans, help with resource allocation and define budgets.

I know how a company operates effects the overall customer experience. And these days, the customer experience has one of the biggest effects on overall sales and growth. I start here because the operations are what brings your company’s strategy to life.

SYSTEMS

If you are like most business owners, you suffer from a common problem. Too much to do; too little time to do it in. Having systems in place can streamline certain tasks, thereby creating more time and mental freedom to tackle bigger objectives. I help upgrade current or build new processes utilizing both people and technology that will streamline efforts, save time and turn the operation into a well-oiled machine.

WORKFLOWS

Almost every part of a successful business relays on the information being available to the right people at the right time. Balancing different departments and/or outside consultants and vendors can be overwhelming. I’ll help determine the most efficient way to get the work done, who’s responsible for what, the time each task takes and when singular tasks need to be delivered to keep the project moving along.

COST CONTROL

Marketing is typically the first place a company goes to when trying to control costs, however it may not always be the best choice. Cutting marketing budgets also cuts the company’s ability to reach new customers. When it’s time to cut costs, I look at reducing the overall costs of producing goods and services rather than chipping away at the budget needed to sell those goods and services.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

I believe a happy customer makes for a profitable company. If they are not happy, then I need to know why. Your customers are the best people to tell you about which parts of your service are important to them and which parts need to be improved. I take the time to talk to your customers and ask them if they think you are providing them with everything they need. I listen to their answers and when appropriate make changes.

MARKETING

It’s estimated that customers are exposed to approximately 10,000 marketing messages, per day. One study suggests that customers will switch between screens up to 21 times per hour! That’s an unprecedented amount of clutter to cut through and a mammoth of a challenge for even the best marketers out there.

We marketers have to fight harder than ever before to grasp for customers’ attention. Then we have to fight even harder to keep it. Our strategies must be robust and well thought out, yet lean and applied quickly. We have to think strategically, yet be agile enough to be able to turn on a dime if something changes. And something always changes.

Today, marketing only works with a continuous cycle of planning, launching, assessing and refining. Having this mindset is critical to managing objectives and driving revenue growth. Every strategy we create is built around this premise.

MESSAGING

Efforts to influence consumer perspective of a brand is a continuous and agile process. One must complete a market analysis, competitive analysis, customer analysis and company analysis before a marketing message can be created. Once the insights are analyzed, and the messaging is created; I test, review and adjust the message based on key, pre-established metrics. Only then is the marketing messages ready to be communicated to the masses.

SEGMENTATION

People have different needs and wants and will respond to messages based on their personal desires. By understanding exactly who your customers are and what they desire, I can create small segments of like-minded individuals. Breaking up your customers by demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral segments will enable us to create customized campaigns focusing on a specific niche audience.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE (CX)

I recognize the importance of customer experience at each stage of the customer journey. This includes everything from discovery, research, purchasing all the way through customer support. I developed customer personas and construct ideal buying journeys as well as analyze the current customer path. Both sets of insights are combined and new processes and materials are created to improve it.

ENGAGEMENT

Customer engagement is about encouraging your customers to interact and share in the experiences you create for them as a business and a brand. When executed well, it fosters brand growth and loyalty. I help businesses that are interested in focusing on customer engagement by creating value based campaigns, not solely revenue focused ones.

PRODUCT

When your organization has multiple products and services, each one will have its own path. Each individual products will have its own set of benefits, features and purpose which may lend to a segmented customer base. Each product will also face its own direct competitors and have its own marketing challenges. Because of that, each product will need its own plan. Some products may even warrant its own brand.

Having a product-specific strategy will help clarify what the goals are for that individual product or service and determine the target market. By looking at each product as a unique piece, we can determine the vision, set the strategy and develop the roadmap that will lead to the best results. It allows us to select the right key performance indicators (KPIs) needed to measure a particular product’s performance and adjust accordingly.

MARKET NEEDS

The foundation of a successful business is a product that customers want. Therefore, the product strategy should first define who your customers are. Having a strong understanding of your customers’ needs before setting a long-term product strategy or roadmap is a key factor to success. Being willing to adjust as you get feedback from your customers puts your product on the path to profitability.

KEY DIFFERENTIATORS

Most companies have direct competitors in their market, or, at least, companies that provide a similar unique selling proposition (USP). I dive deep into your competitors’ key features to uncover the product or service differentiators that will be crucial to setting your product apart from the pack. I can create a communication strategy so people will choose your product over your competitors.

GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY

A go-to-market (GTM) strategy is the action plan that specifies how you will reach the product’s specific target audience and achieve a competitive advantage. The purpose of a GTM strategy is to provide the blueprint for delivering the product or service to the end customer. I take into account everything from pricing, distribution through determining the correct channel for promotions when developing your GTM.

LAUNCH CAMPAIGNS

Considering how much time and money it takes to bring a product to market, the last thing you want to fall short on is the launch. Planning your launch will help you explore potential opportunities, define aims and prepare timelines. Creating a campaign plan empowers you to prioritize resources in a logical and effective order. I help review risks, rewards and create a plan ready for each stage of your launch.

DIGITAL

Having an integrated digital marketing plan is essential for acquiring and retaining customers. Built off of your overall business objectives such as increase brand awareness, increase sales, increase customer retention, reduce cost per lead, reduce cost per acquisition of customers; a digital plan is the roadmap to achieving those goals.

Your digital strategy will help determine what channel, be that SEO, PPC, email, social, affiliate, etc. will work best to meet your goals. And a tactical plan will map out each action on every channel along the customer’s buyers journey.

Every channel will have pre-determined key performance indicator (KPIs) in place so I can measure the effectiveness of each of campaign and determine whether you are on track to meet targets. If one set of actions isn’t performing well, then it will be time to regroup and try a different approach.

DATA
ANALYSIS

Collecting, analyzing and acting on customer data is critical when making any marketing decision. Especially in today’s world where chances are your competitors are using marketing automation to deliver relevant and personalized experiences to their customers. I use your website, social media, sales and customer data to drive marketing decisions and to create individualized experiences for your customers.

SEARCH ENGINE
OPTIMIZATION (SEO)

While Google makes hundreds of adjustments to its algorithm a year, the overall basis to a solid SEO strategy is to focus 100% on the user. Today’s Google’s ranking algorithm focuses on two things, the E-A-T of a website (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) and if your company is based on Y-M-Y-L (Your Money or Your Life). I have decades of experience working in and with YMYL companies and can easily help you communicate your EAT in this new world of search.

CONTENT
MARKETING

Quality content based around your customer journey is a key for any company looking to create an effective marketing and sales system. In order for content to work, it must be meaningful, educational, cohesive and engaging. It should be SEO friendly, yet be geared to what the reader wants to read. I’ll help map out a communication strategy which will offer key pieces of information during each phase of the buying cycle.

SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING (SMM)

Our social media services are focused on lead generation and sales. Yet, I’ll be the first ones to tell you social media marketing can’t just be about selling. It has to provide real value to build trust with your audience. I don’t just push out posts, I help build active communities. I listen to your customers and incorporate their ideas and suggestions into our initiatives. I initiate change on the operational and product level through the relationships I create with your customers and the insights I learn from them. I dare you to find another marketer that can say that.

GROWTH

Turning a small business into a big one is no easy feat. Most companies have plans to increase sales and profits, however taking a small business to a big one requires a whole different set of tactics, timing, funding and planning.

Putting together a growth strategy will help you figure out what will bring the best results with the least amount of risk. Common growth strategies include market penetration, market expansion, product expansion and acquisition. Some are riskier than others. Some are more expensive. I’ve worked for and with businesses that have gone through them all. If you are looking for a realistic growth plan, I’ll help you look at each option, the numbers and talk about risk vs. reward. If the numbers look good, I’ll bring in our partner vendors, suppliers and professionals to help make the magic happen.

MARKET
PENETRATION

The least risky way to increase market share is through market penetration, or sales. One way to increase sales is by lowering prices while still keeping margins healthy. Especially in natural products where the cost to produce is higher due to sourcing sustainable ingredients and components. I help lower the cost during production which allows the ability to increase margins.

MARKET
EXPANSION

Whether your growth peaks in an existing market, or your current market disappears, you may be considering entering another one. This can include bringing existing products to an untapped market, or selling new ones. Each requires a different approach. I’ll help guide you through the process of making sure there is a market fit, assessing costs and planning.

PRODUCT LINE
EXPANSION

The most popular way to increase sales and profits is to expand a product line. When employing a product expansion strategy, a company must keep up with current selling activities while being able to part with enough resources to start the product development process all over again. I become part of your product development team and focus on the future product line expansion expansion.

ACQUISITION
STRATEGIES

Rather than starting a new product line from scratch, some companies prefer to purchase one from an existing, smaller company. I’ve helped companies who acquired smaller companies develop the necessary manufacturing processes to produce the new product line, as well as create the branding elements and strategies to introduce the new line to the existing customers.