“All brands irrespective of size need to establish a go-to-market strategy today, that includes owned, earned, shared, and paid marketing. Whether the purpose is to attract a consumer, client, investor, or build advocacy (or all of the above), weaving this tapestry the right way is the only way to ensure that the right people engage with your brand for the right reasons.”  ~ Raj Girn, Founder, The Open Chest^® Confidence Academy 

Hi Friend,

Are you the type of business owner, executive, or creator who believes that they can grow an engaged community without incorporating marketing strategy? Then this missive is for you! 

If you’re not into weaving tapestries and you’re looking to build or grow your brand, then you’re in for a lot of disappointment. No matter what size your business is, stitching a marketing blanket is the only way to increase the temperature in your business, by creating relationships with people who don’t know who you are, what you offer, and why (cold audience). It is also the most effective way to turn consumers (warm audience) into clients (hot audience). Oh and I should say, it is the only way to optimize revenue diversification and scaling growth!

So, how do you do it right?

As stated in the subject line, there are 4 main tranches to marketing that need to be understood and utilized in order to really succeed at the marketing game. Before I high-level what these are, I want to add context to them, so that you understand the whole picture. Here are the 4 steps to doing this right, where the very last step includes the 4 tranches . . .

First: You need an understanding of what marketing is at the core of its objective. My go-to definition is the one by the American Marketing Association (AMA), where it states:

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

So essentially, the overarching purpose is the product/service creation, journey and destination. All of the markers that make up this movement are what is deemed as a marketing strategy. Many people mistake marketing to only being the communications part, so their campaigns don’t perform optimally, because they are serving up a piece of the overall pie, when they should be considering all of the pie. Understanding this viscerally is the key to the next 3 steps. Until you get this right, you shouldn’t move on.

Second: You need to be clear on what it is that you’re taking to market: product(s) and or service(s) AND who wants it.

This is where market research is crucial. This should be a 3-pronged approach:

• Benchmark research by Forrester and the like. 

• Focus groups you do yourself with people you believe are your ideal client (don’t poll your friends and family, this is too bias and will skew your results in the wrong direction, even if they are your perceived ideal client). 

• Poll your network base on social, emails, and 3rd party connections, and go deep rather than wide (too large an ideal client pool). 

Third: You need to humanize your offering. This is where branding plays its pivotal role, because it helps police you to market around intentional perimeters created to keep you focused and to make it easy for your ideal client to find, connect, and buy from you. I coach my clients on a 6 steps branding process: vision, mission, values, style guide, equity, and legacy, so if this is something that you want to learn – book a call with me to find out more.

Fourth: Develop your marketing strategy using the 4 tranches:

1. Owned: These are assets that you have created, like your website, videos, flyers, podcasts etc.
2. Earned: This is when 3rd-party media companies, organizations, and associations write about you, endorse you, or award you.
3. Shared: This is when you distribute your owned or earned media on 3rd party platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and TikTok, etc. 
4. Paid: This is when you have a monetary exchange for visibility, like ads, sponsored posts, etc.  

If you would like more information on how each of these work and how to customize and optimize them, here are 2 resources for you to tap into if you’re serious about dialling in and up on your marketing authority to grow your business . . .

• You can head over to the academy’s YouTube channel @TheOpenChestConfidenceAcademy, where I released my latest two video trainings called: “How Do You Market Your Brand In Today’s Information Overload Culture?” on ‘The Transform Your Confidence Show,’ which you can also access on podcast platforms and on my blog. Here I deep dive methodology with the founder of Zen Media, Shama Hyder, on what the must-dos are to succeed with a marketing strategy in today’s attention-seeking marketplace. For those of you new to the show, I cover the core areas that I am a subject matter expert in, namely: mindset & clarity, media & communications, branding & marketing, leadership & advocacy. Each week, I have meaningful conversations with fellow industry experts to deep dive into these core areas, because I’ve found that a conversation is more impactful to learn from than being instructed to. We share and dissect the latest industrywide developments that I believe you should implement into your business strategy, no matter what stage of the process you may be in.

• You can book a free discovery call with me HERE, where I can diagnose your current situation and future prospects, and recommend your next move.

For those of you new to my world, here’s a bit about me: I have garnered my stripes through a combination of lived, learned, and earned experience, where I have created and cultivated 3 brands to respectable authority – professional development brand: The Open Chest Confidence Academy (est. 2020); personal brand: Raj Girn (est. 2011); cultural brand: Anokhi Life (est. 2002). My tenure-ship includes working with Fortune 500 companies, media houses, global thought leaders, celebrities, and influencers/creators on their branding, communications, media, and marketing campaigns.

>>> I have worked with over 5,000 brands over 20 years in the marketing arena, so you are in good hands <<<

And I hope to work with you when you’re ready!

“7% of your prospects will buy in 90 days . . . over 40% will close in 2 years if you nurture them.” 
~ Shama Hyder, Founder, Zen Media

Until next week, take care of yourself and your loved ones!