Our Model
We focus on growing businesses and provide them with full-service marketing with a laser focus on finding their fastest path to cash™. To accomplish this, we take a holistic approach that requires a complete understanding of the business, their sales process and competitive landscape, the various buyers, influencers, and buying triggers. This methodology is usually reserved for ‘big’ companies - not anymore. We’ve got an experienced, passionate team with diverse skill sets and a determination to deliver a return on your investment. If you’re looking for a Band-Aid, we’re not your huckleberry.
Before clients start with us, they’re typically executing last minute one-off tactics that aren’t integrated; this means marketing that’s more expensive and less effective.
We believe marketing shouldn’t cost you money; it should make you
That alone doesn’t make us unique; our model does. Once we understand your business (and sales process), we focus on finding your fastest path to cash™. Our focus is a bit different, too. We create marketing solutions tailored to complement each step of your sales efforts. Most of our clients are entrepreneurial-minded companies, the CMO or V.P. Digital in larger companies, or funded start-ups.
That might sound like a wide net to cast, but our clients’ common thread is their desire for something different that goes beyond the ‘expected’ solution. They might not be able to articulate it, but what they want are fully-integrated marketing programs grounded in strategy, aligned with their sales process, delivered with strong creative, and designed for the highest possible return on investment.
Each project starts at our home office in St. Louis, or our Austin location, with a core team consisting of an Account Manager, Marketing Strategist, and two Creative Directors (one for design, and one for copy). Only when we know what the client needs can we then put together the experts for the job, and deliver strong creative (that rings the register).
Our Vision
We never intended to build an agency, certainly not a first-of-it’s-kind agency. We were all happily self-employed. independent, and had worked together on projects since 2003.
Then, in 2007 something clicked. Whenever one of us got a project, we called the other two. Whether we were wrestling with strategy and concepts, budgets and logistics, design or communication…each of us wanted the other guy in the room.
Our clients liked the work, and business grew. Suddenly, having three locations and three companies was making things tricky. We met in each other’s offices, coffee shops, libraries and bars. At least once a day, somebody said, “Life would be easier if we were one company.”
Well, maybe if you really say something often enough, it will come true.
Um. We really don’t have a long-term vision. Sorry if the headline was misleading, but we thought this was better than ‘under construction’.
Our Formula
Most clients come to us looking for help executing a specific tactic: they’d like their website updated, they want a brochure, they need materials for a trade show – you get the picture.
The problem is, most of these are symptoms of a bigger problem: we need more sales, we want more exposure, our competitor has a new product line, etc.
Our first step is to identify the problem. Then, we find the fastest path to cash™.
What’s the one thing we could create that would improve your sales or profitability right away? That’s where we’ll start.
Our marketing plan:
- Assess the current situation
- Identify the problems
- Outline the stories to tell each audience
- Find the Fastest Path to Cash™
- Rank tactics by ROI
- Provide concepts and sketch creative
- Include estimated cost and timelines
Marketing Plans
Some clients are surprised that agencies have processes. After meeting us, they’re even more surprised that we have one.
Don’t get us wrong, if there were a magic idea machine, we’d buy one; but there isn’t (we’re looking at you, Elon Musk).
Until that glorious day, our marketing plan process is the best way we know how to uncover where a client’s products or services are in their lifecycle and gain insight on their customers’ wants, needs, buying triggers and the messages that resonate with each target, stakeholder and influencer.
Loaded with this information, we create a road map that details the proposed next steps, the cost to execute each one, and the anticipated ROI.
The result? A too-big-to-put-away plan that outlines targets, triggers, messages and the marketing paths.
Of course, we start with The Fastest Path to Cash.™
Lead Generation
Qualified leads are the lifeblood of a growing business. Referrals from satisfied clients are generally the best leads, but that’s out of your control.
Hate that powerless feeling? We can help you bring leads to their knees (and your door) with highly targeted campaigns designed to deliver that sweet, sweet soulful sound of the phones (and registers) ringing.
We know that if there are 100 people in a room, only 3 are your target. We’ll market to them…but if one of those people can influence 10 others – that’s our bulls eye.
Once we determine which route is best for you, we’ll craft a campaign to meet your needs: inbound, outbound and (our favorite) high impact.
When done the right way (i.e., the way we do them), lead generation campaigns (historically) have the highest immediate return-on-investment for our clients. They build awareness and with a clear call to action, deliver the results you need.
Branding
Frankly, we cut through the typical agency BS. We don’t care what car your brand would drive or who it would invite to a dinner party. We dig in deep with clients to really understand their business, and what makes them unique.
A brand is much more than simply a logo (although that’s certainly part of it). They don’t have to be fancy (think facebook or Vogue), but they do have to be unique and true to all of the promises that your brand delivers.
Your customers and prospects have a lot on their minds. The brand serves as a ‘shortcut’ that tells them what your brand represents, and becomes more meaningful over time.
Your brand is your voice, your vision and the story that you tell at every touchpoint. It has to be credible, authentic… and a promise that you deliver on at every turn.
The brand is the jumping off point for everything that follows. It builds equity over time. It’s one asset that will never show up on your company’s P&L, but executed correctly, it can be invaluable to the future health and success of your business.
Interactive
Whatever interactive direction we take is based on ROI, and it’s integrated and automated every step of the way…growing like a snowball rolling down the Denali. We leave nothing to chance.
As for web, while this sounds really jargony (sorry), we’re platform agnostic. We build sites on whatever makes the most sense for our clients’ long-term goals. We love the hell out of custom development, but sometimes there’s no need to re-invent the wheel and we’ll create custom solutions using WordPress, Drupal, Ruby on Rails, Groovy on Grails, Squarespace, Joomla or whatever platforms make the most sense for our clients.
Similarly, we work with multiple systems for social media and email nurture campaigns (BarrelFish, HubSpot, hatchbuck, marketo, pardot, Silverpop, act-on, Infusionsoft and more).
We’re also pretty proud of the animations we create to tell an engaging story that takes something from ‘hard-to-understand’ to ‘I get it!’
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