Storytelling & Content Marketing

&Marketing’s Approach

Context

Many companies need an analytically grounded and thoughtfully executed content marketing program to drive growth. &Marketing’s outsourced marketing approach achieves this by integrating three core areas to strategize and execute a cohesive plan:

  • Clear marketing strategy, messaging, and value proposition – Good messaging in a vacuum is only somewhat effective. Research and analytics provide a window into which words to use to competitively differentiate and draw attention to your company’s unique value proposition.
  • Rigorous research, analytics & reporting – Good messaging in a vacuum is only somewhat effective. Research and analytics provide a window into which words to use to competitively differentiate and draw attention to your company’s unique value proposition.
  • Powerful Storytelling – The emotional power of compelling storytelling brings your brand to life, compels the key decision-maker to engage, and helps drive company growth.

&Marketing’s Storytelling Approach

Phase 1: – We complete the fundamentals (for almost all clients, unless they already have elements completed themselves):

  • Internal discovery & alignment – Conduct internal interviews & document review (existing segmentation, value prop/messaging, customer research, sales presentations, etc) to understand the business, align on success goal/vision, KPIs (metrics).
  • Keyword Analysis using Business Intelligence & Analytics – Good messaging in a vacuum is only somewhat effective. Research and analytics provide a window into which words to use to competitively differentiate and draw attention to your company’s unique value proposition.

    • Keyword Striking Distance Analysis
    • Traditional Competitive Analysis
    • Nontraditional Competitor Analysis (sites that are competing for keywords but not direct competitors)
    • People Also Ask” Research – related searches that may provide less expensive opportunities to rank
  • Messaging, positioning, and value prop alignment – Refine and align on company/brand messaging, positioning, and tonality/personality for each relevant segment/audience. We utilize the StoryBrand framework to clarify messaging and position your prospect as the hero.
  • Paid Digital Advertising – Research & Pilots (optional) – Paid advertising (if desired) requires research on key decision-maker’s online behavior (usually Google Ads, social media, Industry/Trade platforms, etc) and the creation and launch of pilot programs at low spend levels (including landing pages to increase conversions) to gather data.

  • Marketing Content Calendar Creation – Creation of a single 3-6 month rolling calendar as a point of coordination of all marketing activity – content, social, emails, events, PR, etc, that revolves around SEO optimized content (thought leadership articles, case studies & testimonials, industry points of view, listicles, employee profiles, etc).
  • Reporting & Analytics – Set up reporting, including BI dashboards and Google Data Studio for monthly analysis and tracking; create sample report vs KPIs and provide insights/recommendations on how to improve on an ongoing basis.

Phase 2: – We execute (in line with the outputs of Phase 1) the following on a monthly basis:

  • Design and creation of content (blogs, videos, infographics, ebooks, etc)
  • Content distribution (email, social media, etc)
  • Ads creation, execution, and measurement (optional)
  • Monthly Reporting & Analytics

Additionally, &Marketing provides access to additional services on an as-needed basis, such as:

  • Senior-level strategy
  • Branding & creative
  • Web development
  • PR/Influencer marketing & events support
  • Marketing automation & CRM management

&Marketing’s Examples & Bios

Click here for cross-industry examples of our content work and content team bios:

See Appendix for “How we work” & more examples, or contact us for more information.

Appendix: Doing Business with &Marketing (How we work)

 
  • Our client support system is led by a marketing manager who acts as the “single point of contact” (SPOC) for a team of specialists whose expertise can be accessed on an ‘as needed’ basis.
  • Most engagements (but not all) begin with some sort of “up front” work to complete strategy work (research, segmentation, value proposition development), set up measurement systems, upgrade branding or web assets, establish marketing calendars, begin ad tests, etc; this is usually on a ‘project’ basis.
  • For monthly engagements, we agree upon a monthly budget range up front and a set of deliverables. This allows client work to be done consistently while allowing our team predictable work. If things need to be added, removed, or changed, we communicate openly during our periodic (biweekly or monthly) working sessions. Additional work can be added on an hourly or project basis, and we transparently provide all backup information.
  • During these working sessions we catch up on all workstreams (current and anticipated), receive approval, make changes as needed, and align on next steps. We also proactively advise if we are on or off track (budget or deliverables). If we anticipate that we will exceed the monthly budget, we’ll decide together whether to pause the work, exceed the budget, or have our clients take the work ‘in-house’. We do this for a few reasons:

1: We believe in full transparency – you should know what your marketing budget is being spent on – no hidden stuff or surprises.

2: We know you need flexibility – we know things change in a small business, because we are one too.

3: We want to grow with you so when we’re all successful and you need more help, you’ll stay with us.

4: We want you to be fans of ours and tell others – pretty much 100% of our business comes through referrals.

Examples of this approach in action:

    • B2B/B2C Healthcare company – Our lead generation program drove a 10x increase in leads quarter over quarter by deploying a mix of tactics driven by an analytical approach
    • B2C & B2B Services company – we focused on content, inbound lead generation, and reporting & metrics to drive a 30% revenue increase in the first year.
    • B2C snacking company – we drove monthly ecommerce sales to 3x previous levels with a mix of Google Ads, email marketing, and social media
    • B2B Engineering Consultancy – we acted as their outsourced marketing department for an Engineering company and provided a full suite of services, and integrated their existing marketing resource into the team

Contact &Marketing for a Free Consultation: