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This week's issue is proudly sponsored by 2POINT, more on them at the end.

A Fluff-less Marketing Strategy

When it comes to creating a "Marketing Strategy", there's a lot of mixed advice out there.

Most of it, is really really complicated.

I hate complicated.

The idea of having to create a 50+ page document detailing my "Marketing Strategy" actually stopped me from pursuing marketing for a long time.

So, here's what changed.

I had to stop caring about strategy all together.

(guess what, also not the right move)

But, at least it got me started.

Since then, I've developed my own process for creating a Marketing Strategy that isn't filled with pages of fluff.

It also won't make you want to explode just thinking about it.

Note:
​I'm sure this won't work for everyone, I'm just sharing what has been successful for me.
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I've used this process for B2B & B2C effectively.
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If you make it to the end you'll get a full real-world example.
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Hopefully you find it valuable.

High-Level Outline:

1. Offer Knowledge
2. Category Knowledge
3. Sub-Topic Knowledge
4. Demographics
5. Platforms & Mediums
6. Content & Ads
7. Distribution
8. Retrospection

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1. Offer Knowledge

Before you even begin to consider marketing, you have to understand your product/service.

For the simplicity of this guide I'll be referring to "product/service" as Offer.

Some marketers are closer to the Offer than others.

If you're lucky, you may even be in many ways responsible for the Offer creation.

But assuming you're not, be sure to get very close to the people who are responsible.

Your knowledge around your offer is fundamental to marketing successfully.

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2. Category Knowledge

Identify what Category your offer falls into.

Your Category could also be your Industry.

Simply identify what the broad category of knowledge & conversation happening around your Offer is.

This is where most of your future strategy development will stem from.

Without a clearly defined Category, you won't know who you're competing against or how big the market is.

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3. Sub-Topic Knowledge

Now that you've got a clearly defined Offer & Category...

It's time to establish Sub-Topic Knowledge.

Sub-Topics are the talking points around your offer.

I typically choose 3-5 initially.

This is what enables your content strategy, copywriting, web design, ads, email campaigns & more.

The easiest way to identify Sub-Topics is to break your Category into smaller parts & select the parts that have the most connection to your Offer.

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4. Demographics

Demographics is arguably one of the most important parts of the process.

Eventually this foundation will evolve into Persona's but for now we'll keep it simple.

Identify your ideal customer based on:

• Age
• Gender
• Mindset
• Interests
• Profession
• Financial Status

Everything you do after this, should have these answers in mind.

Your marketing strategy is not...

"Get people to buy my Offer"

It's...

"Educate this person about my Offer"

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5. Platforms & Mediums

With your new ideal customer identified, lets consider a few questions:

• Where do they consume content organically?
• What type of content do they consume?
• What type of content do they value?

The answers to these questions aren't always easy to find.

Start with existing customers (if you have them).

Pay attention to what platforms they are on & what content they engage with.

Most social platforms allow you to view other accounts activity.

Take advantage of these features to understand your customer better.

If you don't have existing customers:

Look at competitors - examine what is working really well for them.

Look at ideal customers - what are they engaging with & where?

If you explore this exercise for just a few hours you should come out of it with a clear understanding of where your demographics attention is going.

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6. Content & Ads

This is where all of your previous steps will become immensely valuable.

Use your now existing knowledge to communicate your Offer through content & ads.

Create content in your ideal Medium on your target Platforms that focuses on your Category & Sub-Topics, while appealing to your Demographic.

See how it all plugs back in?

In addition to creating organic content, you should use paid ads on your target Platforms to capture demand from your Demographic.

Most platforms allow you to be very targeted according to your Demographic data.

Use it wisely!

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7. Distribution

Now that you've created Content and identified Platforms.

It's time to crank up the distribution engine.

What I mean by this is that you should be attempting to release content on your ideal platforms as frequently as possible.

Ideally at least 5x per week.

This can seem really daunting at first, especially for a small team or single marketer.

Start with one platform.

The biggest opportunity.

Do whatever you have to, to get content out at scale.

I have a whole guide on this called The Content Repurposing Playbook.

You should have it (it's the sign-up bonus for this newsletter).

Search your inbox for The Content Repurposing Playbook to take this section to the next level.

(If you can't seem to find it reply to this email & I'll shoot it your way)

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8. Retrospection

Be humble.

Nothing you do with this strategy will be set in stone.

You're bound to get a few things wrong or slightly off.

The best marketers are constantly questioning themselves & revisiting their ideas.

This is a great place to start, but it's not the end of the road.

If you go through each step of this guide effectively you should be able to land your first few customers from this strategy.

My suggestion: Don't change the strategy until you do.

Be willing to work at it for 6 months with no customers closed.

New marketing strategies are a ton of work & are more execution than anything.

If you give up and make a new strategy on month 3, you'll be doing it again at month 6.

Stick to this strategy, create some new revenue, then make changes to optimize along the way.

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Real-World Example

This is the exact strategy behind my personal brand!

1. Offer Knowledge

I create free resources for marketers. My ultimate goal is to help people become the best marketer they can be.

I monetize by offering sponsor slots & 1-1 coaching for those that want it.

2. Category Knowledge

My category is Marketing. It's a huge category, yet I've worked in the space for years. I'm obsessed with marketing which has helped me pick up a lot of knowledge over the years.

This knowledge helps me distill information into digestible chunks for my audience.

3. Sub-Topic Knowledge

My sub-topics are content marketing, copywriting, newsletter growth, marketing systems, and marketing strategy.

This helps me narrow my focus & niche to help a very specific group of marketers.

4. Demographics

As far as I can tell, this is the majority of my audience:

• Age = 18-50
• Gender = 70% Male
• Mindset = Growth Mode
• Interests = Content Marketing, Learning, Career Advancement
• Profession = Freelancer/Marketing Specialist/Marketing Leader
• Financial Status = Earning 4k-10k per month

I optimize my content to speak to this person ^

It's helped me grow rapidly.

5. Platforms & Mediums

- LinkedIn - Professional audience. Written & visual content.

- Twitter - Marketing niche. Content Creators. Written content.

- Newsletter - Core audience. Written content.

- Podcast - Business & Marketing audience. Audio & video content.

6. Content & Ads

I create content to educate my audience.

Sometimes I'll throw in something personal or a joke.

But that's just me being me.

The strategy is and always will be to provide so much value in my content that people feel stupid ignoring me.

7. Distribution

I create my core content on my Podcast Marketing Minds & here in my newsletter Marketing 123's.

These two platforms support all of my other content on LinkedIn & Twitter.

The newsletter is weekly, podcast is biweekly, and social is daily.

This allows me to create an abundancy of content comfortably.

8. Retrospection

I'm constantly reviewing my performance metrics.

What is generating newsletter subscribers?

What's helping me grow my LinkedIn following?

What's getting my podcast more listens?

It's an ever evolving game.

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Get paid up to 20% commissions for referring new marketing or website clients to the agency or simply handle existing leads and clients in your territory.

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