5 Examples of Brand Storytelling to Incorporate into Your Marketing Strategy

Before we dive in, I’m about to blast you with stats on storytelling.

Why?

Because I need you, as a female business owner and brand, to understand that storytelling should play a role in your marketing efforts.

If you want to make money that is.

Strong statement? Well, let’s dive into it.

Storytelling makes your content 22x more memorable, which means that by incorporating a single sentence of story into your Instagram or Facebook post your audience might actually remember it in the morning.

Storytelling helps your audience make a purchase decision. We decide to buy not because of facts or logistics, but because of an emotional connection. Nothing builds a connection with your audience faster than the art of storytelling.

Storytelling leads to brand affinity, which when a consumer believes a particular brand shares common values with them. You want this! This is what leads to customer loyalty.

Storytelling helps you stand out online! I know you want this, every brand owner does. The truth is it might feel crowded in your industry so why not utilize as many tools as possible to reach your target audience. Storytelling allows you to differentiate yourself in an authentic way.

Ok, you ready now?! Before I dive into micro stories, where to share your stories and specifically four stories you can share as part of your business I have a special invitation.

If you’re already sold and want to learn how to incorporate this into your brand strategy, sign up to watch my free masterclass at brandmerry.com/brandmasterclass.

Now, onto the teaching!

TYPES OF STORYTELLING: MICRO-STORIES IN BRANDING

Last week on the blog we talked about repetition in marketing. Basically, I shared that repetition is a must and something you don’t want to shy away from.

Repetition allows your audience to not only see your content but also resonate with it because we all know sometimes we need to hear something more than once! 

The trick with repeating stories online is that you want to modify, change the emphasis and retell the stories as needed based on your launches, timely events and updates. You can read last week’s post here.

Micro Stories are everyday stories you can share that engage your audience and relate to your audience, specifically where they are in their journey. 

Micro Stories are there to expand and complement your Brand/ Founder’s Story. We often see these stories on social media, in email marketing, on video and more.

The truth is you can incorporate storytelling into EVERYTHING you do as a business owner.

5 EXAMPLES OF BRAND STORYTELLING

So many entrepreneurs never think of sharing their story outside of their Brand/ Founder Story, but that’s only a small piece of the puzzle. 

You can’t share your brand story every single day on social media and every offer you create needs a little more attention than just how your business was started.

This is where different types of stories come into play.

The five stories to tell as part of your business are:

1. The Testimonial

2. The Transformation

3. The Behind-The-Scenes

4. The Value

5. The Disrupt

Let’s break each of these down.

1. THE TESTIMONIAL STORY

The stories you share in business don’t have to be your own, they can be stories from your client and community members. This is a great way to share social proof and do more than just post a 2-3 sentence testimonial on your website.

When asking for feedback or testimonials be sure to ask multiple questions about where your audience was, where they are now and what changed for them. Along with your testimonial statement, you’ll be able to use this information to tell stories on social media and in your email marketing that helps your audience make a purchase decision.

Bonus Tip: Videos are a great way to share stories. Have your client create a short video sharing their story and share it during your next launch or promotion.

2. THE TRANSFORMATION STORY

The transformation story can fall into The Testimonial story above, because who doesn’t love a great before and after. If you’re in fitness, health, wellness, products or even service-based you can use the transformation story constantly.

Here are some examples:
Fitness - Share a before and after photo of a client or yourself
Product (Skincare) - Share a before and after photo of someone using your product
Graphic Designer - Share the before and after of your client’s graphics

The possibilities are endless.

But, I’m going to encourage you to think a level deeper and share your own micro transformations. Think of the things happening daily that your audience can relate too.

Some places to start are moments of “failure,” mindset shifts, overcoming obstacle and stories of success. Seriously, I bet if you sat down with pen and paper right now you could come up with at least 20 posts.

3. THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES STORY

These are great stories to show what you do and your process in business, as well as build trust with your audience.

Human to Human or Relationship-Building Marketing is on the rise. People want to know the brand they are investing in. One of the ways to build this trust and go beyond just a product or service you sell is to invite your audience behind the curtain.

Yes, think Wizard of Oz here!

This is one of the reasons I love showing up on Instagram Stories. It’s a simple way to share my day to day, my role as a mother, my love of gardening, our travels and my business. 

My audience gets to see multiple sides of my personality, which also builds Brand Affinity, and as a result, the trust is accelerated.

If you sell a product consider sharing the behind the scenes of how you make the product.

If you’re a coach, show your client calls and trainings.

Show how you manage your day-to-day, the things you love and how you take on the other roles in your life.

These stories are powerful and some of the easiest to start with.

4. THE VALUE STORY

Last week on the blog we talked about identifying your core stories early on. These core stories include:

+ Your Founder/ Brand Story
+ Your Mission and how it came to be
+ Your Why or Purpose Story
+ Your Value Story

It is important that as a brand and business owner that you create these micro-stories that show your values in action, affirm your values and share why you have these values.

For example, one of my values is authenticity. That's just not a word that I like to use for marketing, I truly believe it to my core. I share that value in my stories because I want to attract people who share the same value.

This is where Brand Affinity becomes so powerful because brand affinity is that shared mission, those shared values. It goes much deeper than someone saying, “Oh, you're cool. Oh, I like your product or your service. Let me check it out.” 

It's much deeper than even trust, it’s a shared value.

Share these values to bring in the people that align with your values, the things that are important to you, and let the others drift away.

5. THE DISRUPT STORY

When it comes to the Disrupt Story, I’m slightly obsessed. I believe this story is an excellent way to share your values and your beliefs and separate you from others in your industry.

You know you have an industry standard or common thread of beliefs in your industry. You see them in every Facebook group and on websites that all start to look the same.

Think about your own business, your superpower, your teachings and pull out the pieces that go against the grain.

For instance, last year I did an entire email series called Behind The Brand. I called out beliefs inside the industry around branding. Some examples were:

+ How the industry defines success
+ The truth about templates and how they create inauthenticity and a copy and paste culture
+ Transparency and vulnerability as a business owner

I also talk about the power of a brand and why I believe that without a brand you don’t have a business, something that goes against other mentors and coaches who “skip” branding.

These types of stories have allowed me to talk about my business, but also call my audience to speak up. When I share the disrupt stories I always attract new community members, increase my engagement and sign clients.

People want transparency, authenticity and something different. This story does that!

Here’s an example of The Disrupt in action.

CONCLUSION

Storytelling is one of the coolest practices to not only enhance your brand but also get it started on the right foot.

It’s really about being grounded in your authenticity, understanding your voice, understanding your values, and sharing that to again, attract the right people and repel the wrong ones.

This is where all great marketing and messaging comes from.

You now have five examples of brand storytelling outside of your Core Founder Stories to get started with; count those and you have nine.

There is no reason you can’t get started sharing stories through your marketing right now!

If you’re ready to learn how to better incorporate storytelling into your brand as a whole, including your ideal customer, then you want to sign up for my free class where I’m sharing the Build a Better Brand Method.

Details can be found at brandmerry.com/brandmasterclass

Watch the full training video on Examples of Brand Storytelling below.

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website

3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

So you have a website, but little to no traffic. The struggle is real, and something so many entrepreneurs, including myself have experienced.

It took me monthly to build my website and an additional year before I realized that my website meant nothing if I wasn’t getting people to actually view it. Now, just a few years later, I’m getting thousands of organic website visitors every month using the strategies I’m sharing today.

So if you have a website, one you probably spent a lot of time and maybe even money on, and no one seems to see it, today’s blog on 3 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website is for you.

WHY YOU NEED A WEBSITE

There are a lot of online educators and course creators saying that you don’t need a website and I disagree. If you’re running an online business you NEED a website, for one main reason...people are searching for your services online and if you don’t have a website, well they won’t find you.

In addition to showing up in search results, websites serve as a valuable resource for your business.

CENTRAL LOCATION: People want to find what they need and having a central location with the information for your business and services is a great way to do that. Someone doesn’t want to search through your Instagram profile or your Facebook page to learn more about you, they want a one-stop-shop, this is where your website comes into play.

FIND WHAT THEY WANT RIGHT NOW: In addition to having your information in one central location, people also want what they want right away. So if someone is looking for a particular service or resource you want to give it to them, that’s where your website and a collection of resources come in.

A PLACE TO REFER PEOPLE: I don’t know about you, but I love having a place to send people that I know is going to support them at the highest level. This is my website. My website is a resource for anyone interested in learning more about my brand, business and services. Having the information available and in one space makes it easier for me in growing my business.

METHOD #1

HOW TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE FOR FREE

One of the most effective and simple ways to drive traffic to your website for free is by using our friend Google.

Think about it, when you have a question or a problem you turn to Google. So every single day your ideal customer is doing the same, looking for your product or service and a solution to their problem that you solve.

If you’re not taking the time to set up Site-Wide SEO (not specifically talking about blogs here) you’re missing out on free traffic.

Today, we’re getting hundreds of organic traffic from Google thanks to landing on page one for multiple keywords.

The best part about Site-Wide SEO is it’s something you can set up for your business on the backend, or hire someone to do it for you, and you don’t need to touch it every single week like you do content.

Today, I blog every week which helps rank for multiple keywords, but in the beginning, I only had optimized my main page SEO and still landed on page one.

If you want to learn more about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) check out this blog.

METHOD #2

MY FAVORITE WAY TO DRIVE CONSISTENT TRAFFIC TO MY WEBSITE

I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it. If you’re not already aware of how Pinterest can improve your online marketing, you’re in for a treat!

Pinterest is how I’m consistently driving traffic to the content on my website. 

While the main purpose of my Site-Wide SEO was to rank my home page for specific keywords my audience is searching for, think Personal Branding Consultant, Branding Coach, etc...I’m using Pinterest to drive traffic to my blog.

Pinterest, like Google, is a search engine, so while many people think Pinterest is a social media platform like Facebook and Instagram they are wrong. Pinterest was designed to get people off the platform, not to stick around and socialize.

Because of this, it’s great for every online business, as it’s experienced experimental growth over the past few years.

The key to Pinterest is content, which I create in the form of my blog posts. Every blog post gets pushed out to Pinterest and using our Pinterest Strategy from inside Brandmerry Academy (http://brandmerryacademy.com) we’re consistently driving traffic to my website (even blogs from 2017 still get consistent traffic today).

So you can see why Pinterest is such a valuable tool in driving traffic to your website and the best part, it’s free (although there is an option to promote pins on Pinterest as well).

**Did I mention Pinterest also helps you rank on Google? Well, it does! When Google sees that you’re getting traffic to your content they love it and it tells them it’s valuable so they’re more likely to move it up.

METHOD #3

HOW TO DRIVE TARGETED TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE

You’ve probably already guessed I’m going to talk about blogging, but we’re going to get a little bit more specific here. It’s not enough to just blog random topics and to just post content without doing a little research.

In fact, taking just a few minutes to map out your blog content ahead of time and think strategically about what content you want your ideal customer to have their hands on will help with website traffic drastically.

So Method #3 is Do The Research. One of the best ways to improve traffic to your website is to create quality content your audience is searching for. This is why I love Ubersuggest and use it in my own business.

Ubersuggest allows you to do thorough keyword research, as well as see what people in your industry are creating content around.

Taking this time before you start writing your content will help. I suggest mapping out 90-days worth of blog topics with keyword research and repeat every 90 days.

SEO, Pinterest and blogging doesn’t have to be overwhelming, we show you how to do it step-by-step inside Brandmerry Academy.

CONCLUSION

Driving traffic to your website should be a top priority. Let’s face it relying on social media to build your business is inconsistent and unreliable, but optimizing your website and using tools like Pinterest can not only bring in the consistent traffic, but also save you time as well.

Inside Brandmerry Academy, we teach marketing strategies that don’t rely on social media. It gives you VIP access to monthly marketing courses on Email Marketing, SEO, Pinterest, Blogging, Video, Podcasting and more.

Learn more about Brandmerry Academy at brandmerryacademy.com.

P.S. I’ve got some other cool blogs and videos for you, that I’m linking below. I mean you’re already here you might as well keep reading.

HOW TO BUILD AN EMAIL LIST

3 MARKETING MISTAKES TO AVOID AS AN ONLINE ENTREPRENEUR

WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Social Media to Build Your Email List

Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Social Media to Build Your Email List

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

The goal of marketing your business should be to build your email list/ inner circle.

There I said it. Why is this your main goal? Because when you have a community you have people to sell too - Community = Profits.

Yet, so many entrepreneurs don’t put enough attention to doing this daily. The reason for this is because of social media. Social media is an amazing business strategy, but in terms of marketing your business, it’s not the best strategy.

If you’re relying on social media to build your email list and make sales for your business and are feeling overwhelmed and inconsistent you’re not alone, but there is another way.

Here are three reasons we shouldn’t rely on social media to build our business and what to do instead.

#1 SOCIAL MEDIA IS MEANT TO BE SOCIAL

The reason the purpose of social media is important is that it was designed to be social. The purpose of these platforms is to keep people on them and engaged for long periods of time, so they’re not ideal for sending people to your website or landing page for your free gift.

While platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn make it easier than Instagram to post external links, the platforms have released statements saying that they favor content that keeps users on the platform.

So while social media might be a great way to engage with your audience on social, it won’t give you the same conversions as other strategies when it comes to building your email list.

#2 YOU DON’T OWN SOCIAL MEDIA

You know this right? Well, if you don’t realize that building your following and community on social media is risky let’s remember the times when Instagram and Facebook went down.

There have been many times in my business when I wanted to go live on Facebook and I couldn’t. Or Instagram was down for everyone making it impossible to post.

Now, while this might be an inconvenience for me it doesn’t really matter because I lead my social media followers to my email list.

Imagine if the only place you can contact your community is social media and this happens during a launch or promotion? Not good! 

And, while you don’t own your email platform either, you can download the name and email address for subscribers making it easy to move somewhere else.

#3 SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT A SEARCH ENGINE

There’s a reason platforms like Google, Pinterest and Youtube work so well at attracting new subscribers and eyes on your brand; they are searchable.

What do I mean? We’ll if you type something into these platforms, often a question, you’ll get resources and solutions to your problem; social media was not designed in the same way.

Sure, you have hashtags and a search feature, but they aren’t optimized for search results and you’re not always getting the most accurate or prominent at the top.

If you’re running a business one of your daily goals should be to attract new people to your brand and business and that isn’t efficiently done if you’re relying on social media.

SO, WHERE DOES SOCIAL MEDIA FIT IN

Let’s talk about the 3 Tiers of Marketing - Know, Like and Trust.

Tier 1: Is the Brand Awareness stage, this is where people get to know you.

Often, this is done by creating content that you put out into the world and using tools like Pinterest, Google or Youtube so people can actually discover your content.

Tier 2: This is the Attraction stage and where you lead your new fans to your email list. You’re attracting them with a lead magnet or free gift in exchange for their email results.

Tier 3: This is where you focus on building trust with your new community members. This is where social media plays a vital role. You want to use social media to nurture your audience, educate them and share more behind the brand and your story. This is when social media makes the most sense.

However, as we’ve mentioned so many people are relying on social media at Tier 1 and are missing out on consistent leads and sales.

CONCLUSION

Social media is great, it’s one of my favorite ways to show up for my audience, but if you’re relying on social media to attract new subscribers and grow your list of potential leads it’s going to be a slow climb.

Using resources like Google, Pinterest, Youtube and more can not only speed up the process but optimize your time and energy in a much better way.

Check out this recent post I did on driving traffic to your website for some additional ideas.

P.S. The foundation of a great marketing strategy is your brand. I made you a free Brand Roadmap that you can download here. The Roadmap will give you the 5-Step Roadmap to build a better brand + 3 mistakes you might be making now!

WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

3 Ways to Improve Your Email Funnel (when growing your email list)

3 Ways to Improve Your Email Funnel (when growing your email list)

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

You know you need an email list when running an online business, but what about the funnel? An email funnel gives you a chance to onboard each new subscriber the same. 

Today, I’m sharing 3 ways to improve your email funnel. 

Your email funnel is important and although we typically think of the funnel as a way to sell a course or small-priced offer, it can also be used to get your ideal customer on the phone with you or signed up for your high-level offer.

There are a lot of possibilities with your email funnel, but a few things to keep in mind.
Your funnel should introduce you, the brand, your mission and position you as the expert that can solve their problem.

You can do this in a variety of ways by sharing stories, referencing past blogs or videos, offering inspiration or tips inside the emails and of course making an offer (aka a solution to their problem).

Let’s start at the beginning before we dive into the tips.

WHAT ARE EMAIL FUNNELS?

An email funnel is a staple in marketing your business. When you offer a lead magnet/freebie/free offer, the email funnel is what happens after their email is added to your system (automatically with Convertkit and other platforms).

The email funnel is a predesigned series of emails that takes your new subscriber from not knowing anything about you to ready to invest.

If we think of social media as the handshake, then the email funnel is the happy hour!

It’s where you, the marketer, introduce yourself, tell stories, build trust, position yourself as the expert and offer your product as a solution to your ideal customer’s problem. 

After the funnel ends (typically over the course of a week or two, although 6-month funnels are NOT unheard of) your subscriber goes into your newsletter list and receives real-time emails from you weekly.

HOW TO CREATE AN EMAIL FUNNEL

Before we can dive into the email funnel, we have to talk about what happens BEFORE someone even gets into the funnel.

In order to grow your email list, you want to have:

1. Free gift or Lead Magnet: an incentive for them to give you their email

2. Email Provider + Landing Page: we use *Convertkit in my business, but *Flodesk is another great option

3. Landing Page or Opt-In Page: where they learn more about the free gift and provide their email and name

4. Thank You Page: where they will land after adding their information to your opt-in

5. Welcome Email: this is where you’ll send the free gift or lead magnet

Email Funnel Starts!

This photo gives you a visual of the email automation process.

Ok, on to the tips!

IMPROVE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING FUNNEL

TIP 1: LOOK AT YOUR NUMBERS
So many entrepreneurs begin by focusing on their subscriber count. While that's a great marker for your growth it’s not the only one and sometimes it can give you a false view as to how your lead magnet is funnel working.

Entrepreneurs, myself included, have a tendency to see a low subscriber number from a lead magnet and think, “Well I guess it’s not working!”

Then we scrap it and create something new and 9 times out of 10 it’s not the lead magnet it’s the marketing.

So how do we determine where the holes are and what we need to fix? So glad you asked!

Additional analytics to look at:

• Landing page views

• Landing page conversion (number of views/ divided by opt-ins)

• Open rates of emails in the funnel

• Click-through rates in emails with a CTA (call to action)

Once you have these numbers you can make decisions for improving your funnel.

For instance, this is a screenshot of my lead magnet that is to a cold audience.

This is pretty dang good for a cold audience, considering the industry average is 30%, but let’s say that I had a large number of people visiting the landing page (7,620) and my opt-in number was much lower (currently 4,918) that would make my conversion % lower and tell me that people are interested, but my page is losing them.

I could improve the landing page.

Let’s flip it. Say the page isn’t getting much traffic at all, that would tell me I need to improve my marketing because it’s not getting people interested enough to visit the landing page.

Once they’re in the funnel, looking at the open rate can tell us how our “Subject Line” is performing.

See how having this information can help you optimize your lead magnet and funnel without throwing it all out the window. 

Only paying attention to the number of subscribers is a small game and with marketing, we have to play bigger.

TIP 2: ADD STORY TO YOUR EMAILS
I’m the brand story queen in case you’re new here, in which case WELCOME!

I’ve built my entire business on the power of story and incorporating it into everything I do. The reason for this is that your content is 22x more likely to be remembered if you use story.

Storytelling is also how we build trust with our audience. Because storytelling is vulnerable and often brings up an emotional connection, it allows us to pull our audience in and relate to them and their journey.

Adding storytelling to your email funnel is the step so many entrepreneurs miss...don’t do it!

If you remember from the beginning, your funnel should introduce you, your brand and mission. This is a great time to share stories and paint a picture for your audience.

If your funnel sounds like everyone else and doesn’t focus on the connection people aren’t going to want to buy from you. Remember, they don’t know you! Your lead magnet is meant to attract new people to your brand so you’ve got to take some time to connect.

People buy based on trust and GREAT marketing is always built on storytelling and human connection.

Use your funnel to build trust. 

TIP #3: STOP ATTRACTING THE WRONG PEOPLE TO YOUR EMAIL LIST
So many entrepreneurs are feeling stuck in their funnels which are falling flat because the people in the funnel aren’t right for the message.

I want you to remember that great marketing should attract and repel, that’s why your lead magnet needs to be super-specific for your business and your ideal customer.

Your lead magnet is not for everyone.
Your funnel and messaging and stories aren’t for everyone.
And your offer isn’t for everyone.

If it is you’re going to run into problems if you haven’t already, the key to successful marketing is being specific.

I’ll use my free guide as an example. I created a free Brand Roadmap, which you can snag right here. 

For this guide, I wanted a very specific person to opt-in. I didn’t just want someone who was looking for a quick logo or their colors or a company brand guide. I wanted someone interested in building a personal brand.

So I created a Personal Brand Roadmap and inside the funnel, I’m sharing my top tips for building a personal brand online in order to create a revenue-generating business.

If I made a general brand guide or just shared logo tips, I might attract corporations or people looking for just design.

You have to be specific and you have to create for your ideal customer.

So get specific with who you want to attract to your brand and business, it’s step 2 in my Personal Brand Roadmap and essential in building a profitable business.

CONCLUSION

Building an email automation funnel can be so much fun when you look at it as a way to introduce yourself to each and every new member to your community.

And with these three steps, you’re going to get started with the very best foundation.

Again, you want to start with a solid brand and choose an email provider. You can download my FREE Personal Brand Guide here and look into *Convertkit (the platform we use) here. Note: I’m an affiliate because I love it!

P.S. I’ve got some other cool blogs and videos for you, that I’m linking below. I mean you’re already here you might as well keep reading.

THE THREE KEY PIECES FOR A HIGH-CONVERTING SALES FUNNEL

HOW TO BUILD AN EMAIL LIST

THE TRUTH ABOUT GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST (GETTING SUBSCRIBERS THROUGH YOUR FREEBIE)

WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE HERE.

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

How to Write a Marketing Plan in 7 Steps (For solopreneurs and entrepreneurs with small teams)

When I started my business four years ago I went in search of a marketing plan. Everything I found online said I needed a Marketing Plan, and I totally agreed.

I have a background in Communications and Public Relations so I understood marketing, but marketing for online businesses was not something we covered in great depth.

The internet was a big disappointment. Everything I found was so complex and targeted more towards big corporate businesses, rather than my one-woman show.

Of course, there were elements that were valid, but so much was unnecessary. I wasn’t about to create a million-page report, I didn’t have a marketing team and I didn’t have a large marketing budget to start with.

Instead, I crafted a report that worked for me. Now four years into running my online business and teaching female entrepreneurs how to brand and market themselves online, I’m excited to share the exact 7-Part Marketing Plan Template with you today.

The Marketing Plan Process

The purpose of this plan is to give you the outline to plan out your own marketing objectives, as well as the steps (aka missing pieces) so many entrepreneurs don’t spend enough time on.

This entire process can be done for your brand, which is where I recommend starting and can then be repeated for smaller launches. Think book, program and course launches.

Let’s start with looking at the big picture and how the marketing plan fits in.

WHERE YOUR MARKETING PLAN FITS IN YOUR BUSINESS

It’s important to understand where your marketing plan fits inside your business. Many people get the different levels confused. For instance, so many people think their content strategy and content creation is what their marketing plan is about, when in fact content is a result of a marketing plan.

Let’s take a closer look.

Level 1: Business Goals
At this level, you’re mapping out your financial goals and big vision dreams for your business. This is where getting clear on your revenue-goal is so important.

Level 2: Brand Foundations
This is the foundation of your brand and what I teach inside of You! Branded. Your brand foundations include understanding your niche, unique selling proposition, ideal customer, brand messaging and your offer. 

Everything you create in your business will come from this, including your marketing strategy. You can learn more about branding in my free masterclass, The Build a Better Brand Method. Sign up here to watch.

Level 3: Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan comes next, ONLY when you have a clear understanding of your brand can you effectively create a marketing plan, you’ll see why in a minute.

The purpose of the marketing plan is to attract your ideal customer and keep them engaged. You’re leading them from cold prospect to hot prospect, from knowing nothing of your brand to becoming a client.

Level 4: Content Strategy
Once you have your marketing plan mapped out, you can begin to create your content strategy and content calendar. So many entrepreneurs skip the marketing plan part and jump straight here - this is a mistake.

Now, that we’re clear on where the marketing plan fits in, let’s dive into the 7 steps of a marketing plan template and how to write your marketing plan for your online business.

7-Step Marketing Plan Template

STEP 1: BUSINESS GOAL
You’re going to pull your revenue goal from your Business Goals. It’s important that we remember what we’re working towards with our marketing and with this number front and center it will help you map out how you’ll get there.

Another area to identify is your marketing budget for the year. I recommend a minimum of 5% as a marketing budget based on your cash coming in. For instance, if you make $1,000 one week in your business you want to set aside $50 into your marketing budget.

REVENUE GOAL x .05 = MARKETING BUDGET

Understanding this, in the beginning, will also give you a general idea of what you’ll be able to invest throughout the year.

ACTION STEP: Write down your revenue goal for the year and figure out your potential marketing budget.


STEP 2: YOUR TARGET BUYER (IDEAL CUSTOMER)
This section comes from your Brand Foundations, something I teach in-depth inside of You! Branded.

However, it’s important to condense your information from your branding work into your marketing plan. Everything you create will stem from the information you’ve collected about your Target Buyer.

Some questions to identify within your marketing plan are:

• Who do you want to attract to your brand? What are their defining characteristics?

• What do they struggle with at this time (pain)?

• What do they desire (pleasure)?

• How do you support them in getting from pain to pleasure?

ACTION STEP: Answer those questions above.


STEP 3: LEAD GENERATION
The goal with lead generation is to collect your potential buyer’s attention and add them to your inner circle or community. This is where you’re taking a prospect from cold to warm and going a step further than just a simple follow on social media.

You want to create something that you give as a gift to your target buyer that solves a problem for them. The trick is it is FREE. The goal here is to give them an incentive to provide their email address.

They receive a free gift and you get another touchpoint with your target buyer. It’s important to note that email marketing is essential for online businesses. It’s not enough, or even a good strategy to rely on social media.

The goal is to create a lead magnet/freebie that is irresistible to your ideal customer. Pull from the information you organized in Step Two. So many people think marketing is just social media, but the goal with marketing is sales. Sales come from community, which comes from your marketing efforts.

ACTION STEP: Decide on the lead magnet you’ll offer your target buyer. This is also a good time to decide on your email platform if you haven’t created one already. I suggest Convertkit, it’s what I use in my business, you can try it for *free here.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one platform, Kajabi is a great option for online entrepreneurs who want their website, lead pages, email marketing, courses and more in one spot. You can try a free 14-day *Kajabi trial here.


STEP 4: MARKETING OBJECTIVES + KPI’S (Key Performance Indicator)
It’s important to note that Step 4 and Step 5 can be interchanged based on your preference. I prefer to have my objectives and KPI’s clear BEFORE I jump into my strategy. For instance, if I decide I’m going to focus mostly on website traffic and have clear objectives in place, then that will affect my strategy moving forward.

Some areas to consider setting clear goals and KPI’s are:

• Social Media Engagement

• List Size

• Website Metrics

• Conversion Rates

• SEO Performance

• Social Media Followers

• Video Views

These are just a couple of ideas to get you started, but you want to think of the different ways in which you can attract your ideal customer and set goals for yourself moving forward.

A Note on Brand Awareness: Many old-school marketers will teach you to run ads or plan your marketing with the main objective to increase brand awareness. This is one of the ways so many entrepreneurs waste money. When you’re focused on marketing and growing your online community, your brand awareness will grow as a result of this.

When determining your objectives make sure they are specific and measurable, otherwise, you’ll have a hard time determining if your efforts are working.

Example: Let’s say your Q3 goal is to build your email list to 1,000 subscribers.
You have 500, so that means you need to add an additional 500 subscribers over the next 3 months. So you can set a specific goal of 166 people a month or even 42 new subscribers a week. 

If you’re just starting out, I like to start with 100. Doesn’t that feel good? And if you have a bit of a following, you can start with an increase of 25% and adjust as you gain more data.

ACTION STEP: Create a spreadsheet or document that outlines your goals for the next year, and break down into quarterly segments.


STEP 5: HOW TO ATTRACT YOUR TARGET BUYER
This is the meat, what so many entrepreneurs jump too and you’re finally there...congratulations. At this stage, we want to determine where, when and how you’ll show up.

At this stage you want to identify the following:

• Platforms: What platforms will you be showing up on?

• Delivery: How will you deliver the content? Think video, written, audio, imagery…

• Volume: When and how often will you create content?

• Paid: Will you invest in paid advertising?

From this information, you can map out your daily, weekly and monthly activities (this is where your content strategy will start to take shape).

ACTION STEP: Answer the questions above.

**This is where everyone stops with their marketing if they’ve even made it this far. Don’t make that mistake. Keep going!


STEP 6: NURTURING
This step is so important. You’ve got a growing list and a community, how will you show up and serve them. 

Remember so much of what you’ve done has taken your targeted buyer from cold (not knowing your brand) to warm (super interested and on your email list). During this process you will have made sales, it’s only natural, but you have a large part of your audience who needs more value and trust before making a decision.

This is where nurturing comes in.

How will you continue to show up for your audience - this is where I believe social media comes into play. What I create on social media is not for cold prospects it’s for my warm audience. It’s where I share more stories and behind the scenes of my life.

So my strategy looks something like this...
Cold Audience: Blogging, SEO (Google), Pinterest, Advertisement 
Warm Audience: Instagram and Facebook, Weekly Lives and Email Newsletters

Many of your activities will cross over, for instance, I will attract new people through social media and I can email my blog to my warm audience to build trust.

ACTION STEP: Identify how you will show up for your existing community.


STEP 7: CLIENT RETENTION AND CUSTOMER LIFE VALUE
Part of your marketing strategy should be your existing clients. So many entrepreneurs are focused on making the quick sale and are missing out on true fans of their brand who are willing to invest in more services.

If you don’t take time to care for your customers they won’t want to stick around.

And, if you don’t have a next step for them THEN they will be your biggest referees! 

ACTION STEP: Think of how you will serve your customers at the highest level. What will your outreach look like? How will you continue the relationship and conversation? What can you create to support them at the next level?

CONCLUSION
It’s important to remember that your strategy consists of 3 phases: Brand Awareness, Marketing and Clients.

When you have a clear marketing strategy in place it’s easier to attract the right people! Keep in mind client acquisition shouldn’t rely on one single marketing strategy. Once you’ve started to map out your plan, it’s important to understand how your strategy and tactics fit in the mix.

Marketing strategy is my bread and butter and what we cover in-depth inside my membership Brandmerry Academy. Learn more and sign up for the waitlist at brandmerry.com/academy.

P.S. Don’t forget that the first stage is your brand! I’ve got a free brand guide available at brandmerry.com/roadmap.

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.