It’s no secret that we are proponents of developing a marketing strategy to help you advance your business goals. Today we share a marketing case study to show you why.

Whether your goal is to better target prospects, improve the way you communicate with your team and your customers, or to develop and articulate your brand voice, a strong marketing strategy is key.

A strategic marketing plan not only helps you better understand how to present your brand to the world, but also offers a tangible framework for getting there.

What does this look like in action? We’d like to offer you a sneak peek at how we help set our clients up for success.

Marketing case study: Dan Cox & Associates

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by the countless decisions you have to make in regards to your company?

Running a business means constantly sifting through information to decide what to address and when. You must have a firm grasp on what really matters.

This is where a strategic marketing plan comes in, allowing you to craft a roadmap that aligns with your goals. In the case of our client, coffee expert Dan Cox, creating an SMP helped him do three concrete things.

#1 Improve decision making

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by the countless decisions you have to make in regards to your company?

Running a business means constantly sifting through information to decide what to address and when. You must have a firm grasp on what really matters.

This is where a strategic marketing plan comes in, allowing you to craft a roadmap that aligns with your goals.

Our client had a few goals in mind when he approached our team, including

• Increasing demand for his services as a consultant and expert witness for hot beverage spill lawsuits
• Speaking at more industry conferences
• Selling more hot beverage safety training posters
• Licensing a unique caution label for to-go coffee cups

Our team identified that in order to achieve these outcomes, Dan’s firm needed to strengthen its visibility and messaging. With that in mind, we developed a marketing plan that laid out everything Dan needed clarity on if he wanted to move forward purposefully.

This included his:

• Brand/market analysis
• Overall strategy and goals for moving forward
• Messaging language and CTAs (calls to action)
• Specific marketing tactics to implement
• Brand budget and implementing timeline of execution

In fleshing out these components of the marketing plan, Dan not only had more clarity on his path forward, but also had something tangible to share with his team, allowing them to understand the brand’s direction and have specific guideposts for speaking on behalf of the company.

Creating a clear plan not only saved Dan’s firm time, energy and money, but also deepened the organizational culture as everyone could rally around central goals and messaging approaches.

#2 Rule out the wrong clients

Believe it or not, it may actually be in your best interest when so-called “prospects” walk away. There are fewer things more frustrating than investing time and money in a lead that isn’t even close to the right fit.

If this is something you experience on a regular basis, you may need to further refine what (and how) you are communicating to your prospects. By developing your strategic marketing plan, you can stop wasting time on “no-gos” and invest your energy on more specific—and promising—targets.

In the case of Dan Cox & Associates, our team first investigated how the firm shows up in search, identifying what Dan’s target audience tends to search in relation to his expertise. We helped Dan adjust his SEO strategy and website messaging to better reflect his target prospect. Dan was already attracting website visitors—but now he is attracting the right ones. 

In addition to Dan’s website, our team also developed the firm’s content strategy. This included writing monthly blog posts to increase search traffic and position him as an expert in his field, as well as crafting email campaigns to increase awareness among Dan’s target audience.

The strategic marketing plan we crafted for Dan created a marketing framework truly constructed for success, allowing him to target efforts where they matter most.

By narrowing in on true leads, this marketing case study shows how Dan saved time, money, and creative capital, while building true relationships with people who would actually sign on the dotted line.

#3 Measure momentum

Developing a strategic marketing plan helps guide clients and marketing partners alike, allowing you to map out specific, measurable brand goals. It provides a clear roadmap for how the marketing program should evolve over time, so there is no confusion, gaps or mismanagement.

Your strategic marketing plan also utilizes metrics called key performance indicators (KPIs) to tangibly track your progress. Not only does this help orient your efforts, it also holds your marketing team accountable. After all, what good is hiring a marketing team if the results of that investment are unclear?

We provided several KPIs throughout our work with Dan to demonstrate the success of our strategy, such as his firm’s organic website traffic increasing by 171%, and social traffic to his website increasing by 233%.

KPIs could also include achieving client goals, such as hitting a certain number of speaking engagements, or converting a certain number of prospects into clients.

Marketing case study shows: Strategic marketing is worth the effort

Creating a strategic marketing plan takes time. But all of that upfront effort will save time in the long run and make you even more efficient and effective in the process. In Dan’s own words: “Before using J.Scott Marketing, we had no marketing plan associated with our new company. J.Scott Marketing brought clarity of purpose and goals.” 

From your employees to your marketing team, and even your customers, brand confidence will abound once you set a great marketing strategy in motion.

When all is said and done, you may even find an unexpected benefit of establishing a strategic marketing plan: newfound peace of mind.

You could be our next case study!

Reach out to learn how we can help your brand develop a marketing plan that works.