Adam & Danielle: What is the Backbone of a Great Marketing Strategy?

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What is the backbone of a great marketing strategy? Adam and Danielle discuss what every business MUST have to position their business right, create smart content, build relationships and ultimately win the hearts and wallets of the people they serve!

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Transcription of Interview

(Transcribed by Otter.ai, there may be errors)

Adam G. Force 00:03

Welcome to the Change Creator podcast where entrepreneurs come to learn how to live their truth, get rich and make a massive difference in the world. I’m your host Adam forest co founder, Change Creator and co creator of the captivate method. Each week we talk to experts about leadership, digital marketing and sales strategies that you can implement in your business and life to go big visit us at Change Creator comm forward slash go big to grab awesome resources that will help drive your business forward. What’s up everybody? Welcome to the show. This is your host Adam Perforce excited to have you here today we have another great conversation with my good friend Danielle Sutton, who is also co creator of the captivate method. We’re going to be talking about, you know, what really is the backbone of a great marketing strategy. We see so many big companies, small companies, they miss the mark when it comes to this. You know why? Because it’s not easy, right? It’s not easy, but it’s So important, like I said, it’s the backbone. So hang in there. We’re going to have that conversation today. Now, if you missed the last episode, it was with Greg shepherd. The last episode was all about, should you be thinking about your exit from the start? And of course, so much more, right? Greg is a super smart guy, he sold over 14 businesses. Really cool, dude. So you’re gonna love that conversation. Don’t miss out on it. He shares a lot of gold nuggets about his processes and ideas and how he takes companies from idea to getting through the process growing them and exiting, okay. He runs like boss capital, Boss Academy. He has multiple brands under his belt still to this day. So take a few minutes. Check that out. And guys, don’t forget to stop by Facebook. We hang out there a lot. Get some inspiration. also join the Facebook group, the profitable digital impact entrepreneur. We’re always talking about good stuff in there and you want to be part of a good community of people out there making a difference with their businesses. Right, that’s what this is all about. So let’s talk marketing with Danielle and get into it today. Okay, show me the heat. No, you go. What’s up everybody, Adam and Danielle here. Change Creator Danielle.

Danielle Sutton 02:16

I’m co creator of the captivate method and hang out with Adam and Amy and do all kinds of fun things together.

Adam G. Force 02:23

Yeah, we are here to talk a little bit about, you know, what the backbone of a great marketing strategy actually is. And you know what it isn’t. It’s really important. I mean, it’s funny how many companies big and small, really miss this. So if you don’t have a really great marketing strategy, which is the backbone of your business, what happens? There’s a couple of pitfalls. Well, people get confused. And a confused person never really buys. So you’re probably seeing that with your business. And you become your content becomes kind of all over the place and inconsistent. Right, because you don’t, you don’t have something that is kind of clearing the path of where you should take that content. Any other thoughts there? Danielle?

Danielle Sutton 03:09

Yeah, I mean, I think the, if you don’t have this backbone for your marketing, two things happen, right? You, you say too many things all over the place. And you’re just rambling. You’re kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall, especially on for media, right? Because it’s easy to just throw a post up here. And you, you know, you have all these internet marketing folks saying you have to post every day four times. It’s like, you have the tactics in the back of your mind and you’re just kind of throwing things out there without the strategy, or the opposite thing can happen is you just go quiet. And you just don’t say anything because you’re not necessarily sure what to say. Right? So those are two of the issues or you waffle back and forth. And then people are just really confused about what what are you doing?

Adam G. Force 03:55

You know why this happens too? It happens to all of us, right? In business….because we get to a point where when we ask tactical questions, we get tactical answers. And those answers lead us on a path that really isn’t serving the business that in the way that it should. And it all starts with asking the wrong question and say, No, and you have to think about I mean, should a business really be just a product or a service provider? Or should it be a vision that an audience can actually subscribe to and believe in and get excited about being part of Now think about that, think about the companies you love. There’s so many big ones out there that we get excited about. If you look at Tesla and Apple as the big ones, everybody knows, they created a vision that people want to be part of. And I think a key takeaway is really something you said earlier, Danielle, right, is that you can’t really separate your story from your business, right?

Danielle Sutton 04:56

Yeah, and that’s why that’s really the backbone of it. That. One thing about marketing is, like you said, the tactics. You I think, if you’re asking those tactical questions, you’re asking yourself, What? How often should I post on Facebook? Okay? So that’s technically a marketing strategy if you sit down and figure that out, but and you could do that on Facebook, and you could do that for your email. And you could even do that for your website. So you’ve maybe thought through your strategies for each of these different places or even you know if your brick and mortar, okay, but what is the backbone? What are they all connected to? And really, marketing is not separate from the ethos and the vision of your business. So, like what you said Adam, about the businesses that we get really excited to be part of and to purchase from and be fans of and advocates for, whether they’re apple or you know, the corner coffee shop, it’s because they have a vision that you subscribe to, and that vision doesn’t come from an isolated Facebook page. It comes From that marketing brand story, being baked into everything you do in your business, everything you share across all the channels, and how do you know how to keep that consistent? It’s your brand story is the narrative that you share. And it’s something that’s always consistent.

Adam G. Force 06:19

It becomes the North Star, right? I mean, so. So the answer of what the backbone of a great marketing strategy is a clearly communicated story that is the backbone of a strong marketing strategy. And I think people misunderstand what story is in business because it’s not just the stories we put on social media and that we say on stage and things like that. There is something outside of that that’s much bigger. And that is that brand story. It’s the ethos it is what you are all about in a very punchy statement, right? Like you should be very clear because this becomes the theme. Everything you do the content and all the stuff that we said, you know, that becomes like a pitfall for people. tactically, it now has a North Star, right? So a lot of a lot of big brands have like AI big ideas and visions and dreams and all these things that they want to share. And they know what they stand for in their minds. But when it comes down to actually communicating the story, throughout the online ecosystem, like Daniel said, their content gets very confusing and ambiguous. And like we said, it becomes inconsistent, because they’re not clear. Now everyone might say, Well, I have a story and I’m gonna put together but the clarity on really what that brand story is so important, in order to have very good marketing that follows, right?

Danielle Sutton 07:42

Yeah, absolutely. And this actually came up in a coaching call a few weeks ago. One of our captivators has this great product, and there’s actually so many big vision benefits to it like she’s been able to combine the environmental sustainability and sustainable employment and like a really kick ass actual product to solve the need itself. And so we were talking about well, each of these could be a story. But actually what’s like that bigger story? What’s the five word statement that brings it all together? And then those individual stories can reinforce that bigger message. Right? So I think that’s kind of the trap that you were mentioning, that people fall into is, yeah, I tell stories here, there and everywhere, like my newsletters, really fun to read. Okay, great. But is it serving that bigger vision? And is it communicating something that your audience can remember and share?

Adam G. Force 08:41

And actually, I love that you just said that what your audience remembers and shares them that is more important than ever today? Because with the rise of social media and digital, there is more emphasis today on the fact that it’s not just the brand who’s curating the story. The story which becomes the marketing right? is also now being facilitated by the customers more than ever. So you can have them telling a bad story about you. Or a very good story, which is what you really represent and what you’re about. So you have to be clear, like some of this is out of your hands, but what you’re putting out there is what they’re gonna feed off of, and it’s the story they tell about you as well. So that’s, that’s a big part of this. I mean, you look at like, you know, I’ve seen interesting debates around guys like Russell Brunson, who we’ve interviewed a couple times and you know, he’s always been a super cool guy and we put them in the magazine and stuff like that. But this is a guy who got out there. You know, he started this he we all know he loves junk mail as a kid, if you read his books, and he’s had a potato gun business. He’s gone ahead and created this hundred million dollar business. And it was something that is not just because he has software Click Funnels. It was because he got out there and he created a culture, whether you like the culture or not, that’s that that’s, you know, aside the story here, but he created a culture that people are excited to be part of. If you look at his funnel, hacking live conferences and stuff, it is just like an insane club, you know, and people go nuts for this. He has certain values and ideas and the way he does things which are part of his brand story that people now really thrive off of and they understand clearly what he’s about and they want to be part of that vision that he’s building It’s really impressive on what he’s done and I think there’s a million stories we can tell about it you know, change craters vision to is we want you to be a change crater. We want to use business to change the world. We want you to live your truth and make a difference that way because only when we live our truth, do we make the biggest contribution back to the world, right? So realigning ourselves and, and taking those steps that’s what Change Creator is all about. Collaboration is a major value for us. I’m sure you have stories too, Danielle, anything come to mind of entrepreneurs that stand out to you?

Danielle Sutton 11:09

Well, yeah, I mean…

Adam G. Force 11:12

I’ll put you on the spot.

Danielle Sutton 11:14

Yeah, well, I think I mean, it’s easy to go to the examples that get shared often like Steve Jobs, and they are so memorable, right. And so there’s so much passion there that’s shared from not just the product, but what that person has been through and what they stand for, like, you know, if you think of Steve Jobs in his famous speeches about introducing his new products, did any of us ever need any of those products when they were launched? Absolutely not. It’s not about problem solving at this point in the world. I mean, of course, the products and services that we consume, do solve kind of surface level problems, but it’s more than that. It’s about You know, tapping into the aspirational vision of ourselves. Yeah. And as a consumer, no matter whether it’s you know, hiring a coach or buying a pair of shoes, or buying a house, you know, or whatever it is going to a certain hairdresser, all of these things, give ourselves our identity as as a as a person. And so we’re kind of connecting to the identity of the people we consume from.

Adam G. Force 12:27

Well hey… Let’s talk about socap. As an identity story, we met with Jake ORAC, right? So Jake Orac, we were hanging out with him. He was somebody that was on the first cover of change care magazine. And he built this incredible business right where he’s keeping culture alive. That’s a tagline for Jake that’s part of his brand story, keeping culture alive. And he sells bags that use these artists and designs from around the world to support their cultures that were being overtaken by industry. And so when we were there, what happened Danielle, we Go someone comes up and they know oh my god. So ethno tech bags. So cool what he has his story out there, how he built this company why he’s doing it? In a glance, people know what he’s about. And when they buy a bag, what is Jake say? He says, Welcome to the tribe and people are excited. Oh, man, I’m so excited to be part of this. And guess what else happens when he’s positioned this way with a powerful story is he has a bag that cost twice as much as a regular bag, but are excited to buy it.

Danielle Sutton 13:30

And yeah, it makes you feel good, right? Like Amy and I both bought bags from him and we’ve carried them around for the rest of the conference. And we were happy as clams you know? It doesn’t matter that it was twice as much. We wanted to be part of that story. And that I mean, meeting the founder is actually a really interesting example. Right? Because we buy from people and not from companies and so that’s why you actually have a much higher affinity for any products or services where you know, the Founder you know, that they This is their business, their passion, right? Like if you think of a corner coffee shop, would you rather go support someone who you’ve met the owner and they know your name and they give you your favorite coffee every time when you walk in versus, you know, a Starbucks modle. It makes a big difference.

Adam G. Force 14:18

We invest in humans more than anything. And the more we get that story out there, the better and, you know, I look at Crystal Earle, like we were at a conference with her. And Amy and I were talking and a girl comes up to her and she’s like, she was…People would go up to Crystal, I can’t talk right now. And they’d be like, telling her story back to her. Right? And Chris was like, Man, this happens all the time. People come up to me, and they tell my story back to me. And because her story is just so riveting and powerful, it’s incredible. And so when you hear that, it’s like man, this really works and people are because here’s the thing, you can have all the products, all the features. All the stuff in the world It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the right brand story and you don’t know how to create an emotional connection. If you can create the emotional connection, none of the other stuff matters, the traffic the visitors, all the followers, it doesn’t matter when you have someone coming up to you saying your story back to you and they emotionally are tied to what you stand for. And not just the item. The items cool, but they’re actually buying into the vision. This is game changer.

Danielle Sutton 15:29

And we have a really funny example of when this just falls flat and doesn’t work, don’t we, Adam?

Adam G. Force 15:36

Yeah, we were talking before this or like, what’s a great story of a company that really didn’t um, you know, have their their brand story on lockdown and not a position themselves. Is that more like, I don’t know, because we don’t know their story. Yeah,

Danielle Sutton 15:50

They’re not on our radar. They’ve fallen off…

Adam G. Force 15:54

I would have to work too hard to dig that up.

Danielle Sutton 16:01

An example is like you’d be memorable and shareable. And the way you do that with marketing is to weave it into the full vision of your business and have a cohesive brand story that is authentically everywhere in your business.

Adam G. Force 16:18

Let’s reiterate that. Alearly communicated story is the backbone of a strong marketing strategy. All right. That is key. Ladies and gentlemen. Um, I think we’re gonna wrap up I think that’s it right? Otherwise, I’ll just start babbling and repeating myself.

Danielle Sutton 16:34

Yeah, no, you ended that’s what we want to remember…

Adam G. Force 16:37

I mean, this is so important. And I know a lot of people misunderstand storytelling, but there’s this these different layers that I hope we create clarity for you about. Alright, that wraps it up. We’ll catch you on the next episode. Thanks for tuning into the Change Creator podcast, visit us at Change creator.com forward slash go big to get access to free downloads and other great resources that will drive you Your business forward

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