E320 - Align your marketing strategy to your business goals based on good foundations | with Brooke Chapman

The One Big Tip Podcast with Jeff Mendelson

Brooke Chapman is the Executive Director for ThreeBy3 and 9Boxes. She has a proven track record of delivering strong commercial results for large organizations in the professional services and not-for-profit sectors. She is skilled in marketing strategies and business growth, customer experience, brand development, team development, and optimization. She helps businesses directly connect their marketing strategy to their business goals by identifying the strengths and weaknesses in their marketing capability, following the 9Boxes management framework. Brooke’s expertise lies in working with boards and business owners, transforming underperforming marketing functions by transitioning organizations out of tactical lead generation.

ThreeBy3 is a global business although they are based in Australia. As a former CMO for large multinationals, Brooke is one of the three Directors and looks after marketing strategy for the business, making sure it aligns with the business goals, doing customer insights and research, tying everything together so all of your campaigns and tactical initiatives are coming out of a solid strategy that's based on good foundations. Many SMBs don't have access to good marketing strategies humming in their business. They engage with their internal team or with a range of agencies, all at a tactical level with no strategic oversight and not aligning in marketing with the broader business.

Brooke and her team have created a framework for SMBs to engage within 9Boxes. You need to be competent across all of the nine boxes to nail strategy for your business, make the most of your investment, and minimize waste. They have broken marketing down into three segments: Finding customers, converting customers, and delivering to customers. Within the finding customer boxes, the first box is the position which is the most important box of all nine. Businesses should review their position every two years at a minimum, where they can develop a market position that gives them significant differentiation and allow them to resonate with their target customer groups.

Analyzing whether strategic partnerships are going to be more effective than traditional channels or whether it's a combination of both. Developing a bespoke channel strategy and knowing all of the stages of the buyer's journey and how to engage with segments at each stage. Communication starts with conversations, how sales and marketing work together on different tasks, and how they support each other for a seamless customer journey. Then deliver the products and services you have and see whether they need to be reviewed and modified.

Focusing on client management and continuing to market to your existing customers because it's always easier to hold onto existing customers and increase investment than to attract new people. Doing a scan of your business, a 360-degree review of your sales and marketing function, and coming up with your prescription as a strategic marketing assessment takes about four weeks. Most businesses tend to be engaged for between 12 months and 2 years to see the commercial returns from their marketing. It’s about building long-term growth and not focusing on the sugar hits. Understanding your customer’s needs and what their progression is through a product or service cycle. Setting yourself up for the business you want to be in 2 years and how you will take customers on that journey.

In this episode:

[02:13] Brooke shares how many SMBs don’t have a solid marketing strategy.

• Engaging with their internal team or with a range of agencies at a tactical level.
• Creating a framework to engage within the nine boxes framework.

[05:08] Looking at all nine areas of strategy.

• You have to review your market position, and do customer insights as foundational pieces to guide your tactics and make them successful.
• Engage with the full range of strategic problem-solving and planning to be effective.

[08:22] Breaking marketing down into three segments.

• Finding customers, converting customers, and delivering to customers.
• Developing a market position that gives significant differentiation within the market.

[10:00] Know all of the stages of the buyer's journey and engage with segments at each stage.

• Communication, branding all of your touchpoints and starting conversations.
• How sales and marketing work together and support each other on different tasks for a seamless customer journey.
• If products and services need to be reviewed and modified.

[13:02] Brooke explains why they expect businesses to reevaluate themselves every two years.

• Looking at the human race and how civilization changed in the last two years with the pandemic.
• Buyer behavior has significantly changed because markets aren't ever static.

[16:37] The demographic game has changed and the method that people used to sell evolved.

• It’s crucial to know the customer segments.
• You have to understand your place in the broader market.