A Guide to Marketing Strategy

Welcome to the fascinating world of marketing, the ever-changing world of visibility. As much as we all wish, there is no ONE strategy. Every single professional, business owner or creative has a different set of goals, strengths, time and confidence.

The Who

What is your brand persona like? You can be one person at home, one person at book club and a whole other person in your brand. All of these people are still YOU but they all put different attributes forward. Our focus is your branding persona. Are you an educator, a leader, a source of inspiration, a platform for others? Once we know the Who we can start building the what.

What are you trying to say?

This is the most under-asked question in marketing. When does your brand or persona stand for? What matters to you and why? What is your brand ethos? A brand ethos is the core set of beliefs, values, and guiding principles that define a brand’s identity and influence how it communicates, operates, and connects with its audience. It shapes everything from messaging and visuals to customer experience and business decisions.

A strong brand ethos typically includes:

• Mission – What the brand aims to achieve or contribute to the world.
• Values – The principles the brand stands by, such as authenticity, sustainability, or innovation.
• Promise – The consistent experience or benefit customers can expect.

For example, Patagonia’s brand ethos revolves around environmental activism, sustainability, and high-quality gear built to last. Meanwhile, Apple’s ethos centers on innovation, simplicity, and design excellence. A creative professional could have a brand ethos rooted in authenticity, storytelling, and emotional impact. A Real estate professional could have a brand ethos focused on guiding people through one of life’s biggest decisions with confidence, care, and expertise. A freelance writer could have a brand ethos that centers brands, businesses, and individuals to help them find their voice and tell their stories in a way that captivates and engages their audience.

Where are you showing up?

Each individual brings different strengths to marketing. If you love storytelling visually, you could lean into short form video. If you are in your element when you write, you could start a newsletter or blog. If you love to talk, maybe a podcast is for you. If you can find channels to show up that align with your strengths, you’ll be far less likely to burn out. Marketing often ends up feeling like monotonous work so you might as well enjoy the vehicle.

What effort are you bringing to it?

Marketing takes effort. There are things you can streamline and we can pay for visibility or dance for it but the bottom line is that you need eyes on your work, products or offerings. As you grow, there are parts of marketing that you can outsource but if you gave a personal business, you’ll likely need a personal marketing strategy. Our goal is to build trust with YOU and YOUR brand. So more often than not, your brand will include you.

• Come Along Content: We all know brands and professionals like this. They are not afraid to let their audience in to their nitty gritty. This type of content is the fastest way to build trust with your audience but it is also the most rare.
• Let me teach you: Many professionals, creatives and entrepreneurs are natural educators. This type of marketer shows up to teach, tell and share – it is less personal and more professional.
• Pretty products: This type of business is product first. It is not about the person behind the brand, it is about the products and they are the star of the show.

Where are you posting/sharing/marketing?

1. Social: To build trust, most businesses have some sort of social presence. For some, it is the main channel of marketing.
2. Newsletter: If you are more writer than visual sharer, you may find your marketing home in a newsletter or blog.
3. Podcast: To me, podcasting is one of the most underutilized form of marketing out there. As a podcast host myself, I know it can be daunting to start and keep going but I love communicating that way.

What is your visibility strategy?

You can blog and write and post and yell to your heart’s content but if no one turn their heads to look at you, it is super hard to reach your goals. This will force you to confront your fears of judgment and being perceived but it also what is asked of all of us looking for clients or customers.

I can help with all of this!