Building a Strategic Communication Foundation. Positioning You for Growth and Success.
Building for growth starts with a solid foundation. After spending the past 20+ years helping entrepreneurs with their communication, public relations and marketing needs, I know a thing or two about the importance of building a strategic communication foundation and what it takes to achieve that. So many entrepreneurs/founders try to forge ahead with in-house marketing hires and/or large agency retainers without investing in the foundation those resources (and the company) need to succeed.
What good is a great lead generation campaign if you don't understand your target audience, haven't honed your messaging to connect with them or don't have key pieces of content that speak to them and your value proposition?
Why invest in hiring a full-time VP of marketing or CMO, when you really can't afford it or don't have the infrastructure in place to support them? Why hire a more junior in-house marketing resource without having the time and experience to manage them, support them and help them contribute to your success? Or, why invest in a large monthly retainer with large agency, when you really can't afford it, don't have the internal resources to support or manage them, or can't yet deliver what they need to be successful?
That is where I come in. I pull from my years of experience working with hundreds of entrepreneurs, to help you build a strategic communication foundation that positions you for the next phase of growth and the best use of your marketing investment.
What do I offer?
One size does not fit all. Each client engagement is unique, but there are some key services that most entrepreneurs and their companies benefit from when start building a strategic communication foundation. I start by taking the time to understand what you and your company are trying to achieve. What is your growth plan? Your funding strategy? Your exit strategy? Your revenue model?Your product road map? Who do you think your target audience is? Who do you think your competition is? How do you think you stack up against the competition?
Once I better understand your overall business goals and objectives, I can help you develop a communication foundation to support those. Here are a few key services I may offer to help build your that strategy.
Communication audit/discovery. Gain the research, analysis and insights necessary to help you better understand your unique value proposition, opportunities and challenges.
Competitive research. Gain valuable insights and ideas thanks to your competition. Who are they targeting? What is their messaging? What kind of content are they publishing? What kind of campaigns are they doing? What events are they attending? What other marketing programs are they employing?
Customer insights. Customer interviews are one of the most valuable ways to gain powerful insights about your customers and your company. Who are they? What challenges are they trying to solve, or what opportunities are they trying to create? What drives their decision process? Who influences that process? What is their perception of you, your products and your competition? Understanding your target audience (and refining as appropriate), developing products that serve that market and content that speak to that audience are key to your success.
Executive insights. Interviewing you and your executive team is a great way to ensure that everyone is on the same page, to gain unique perspectives about your company, and to understand what areas of expertise we can tap into for message development, content creation and thought leadership.
Strategic messaging/positioning. Now its time to leverage all of that great research (see above) to develop your key messages and your unique value proposition. These key message will serve as the foundation your marketing strategy, sales strategy, content development and more. It is necessary to ensure consistent and effective communication throughout all content and all communication channels.
Communication strategy/planning. Determine which programs you should leverage to meet your specific needs, agree on goals/metrics, develop content themes, identify expert resources and more.
Ongoing strategic communications counsel. We will continue to work together to ensure that all of your foundation communication strategy content continues to align with your business strategy and goals.
Partner communication. Increase partner engagement, establish third-party credibility and more successfully create/leverage partner marketing and sales opportunities.
Customer communication. Generate customer advocacy programs, customer success stories, customer content contributions and more to build customer engagement, improve customer satisfaction, and increase customer retention/sales.
Investor/funding communication. Develop content, including "pitch decks" and supporting materials that resonate with investors and increase your fundraising success.
M&A Communication. Start creating content and programs that support M&A goals and/or improve communications throughout the M&A process.
Media/analyst relations. Start laying the groundwork to connect with these key industry influencers, position yourself and other Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) as resources, and build third-party awareness and credibility.
Thought leadership program. Start positioning yourself for success with speaking engagements, byline articles and other opportunities to share your story (and expertise) with the world.
Sales support content. Create content and tell a story that speaks directly and effectively to your customers and prospects.
General content creation. Develop a wide range of other strategic foundation content, visual or written, to support your immediate communication needs, create new opportunities and position you for future growth. Examples include infographics, ebooks, articles, blog posts, website copy and much more.
A typical client engagement lasts at least six months, but can continue long beyond that, depending on your needs. My primary goal is to help you build that foundation, and I understand that I may eventually work myself out of a job. Once you reach certain growth milestones, I can help you hire the right in-house marketing candidate or retain an outside agency to support your future growth. I can also continue to serve as a strategic advisor and/or liaison between you those resources as appropriate.
Who I work with
I excel at working with entrepreneurial companies, and/or entrepreneurial minded companies/organizations.
I have years of experience and a proven track record with B2B Technology companies.
I am especially passionate about working with women-owned/led companies.
WHAT CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY:
Here are just some of what my previous clients have to say about the quality of my services.
Communication Services are available on a retainer or project basis as appropriate, and are customized to help each client achieve their unique and specific goals