Our Process
Strategy Before Implementation
We diagnose before we prescribe.
Marketing can too easily feel like a black hole that you throw money into hoping that good results will get spit back out. That's because most marketing agencies have some sort of hammer (tactics, technology, process) and every problem looks like a nail to them.
Anytime we (or any other agency) give you a quote without taking the time to learn about your company and understand exactly what you need, we are guessing.
The flip side is, that when we take time to understand and strategize before implementation, we are able to make your dollars work much more efficiently to achieve positive business outcomes.
Phase 1
B2B Marketing Blueprint
We start by creating a marketing blueprint through a process that includes discovery, research, and building the foundational messaging assets to inform all future marketing efforts.
With this blueprint in hand, you may move forward by hiring Banker Creative to do the implementation, implementing it on your own with us guiding you, or even hiring a different agency to do the work.
Investment: $8,500
Timeline: 60 days
Deliverables:
- Brand Narrative and Messaging Guide
- Customer personas
- Brand Archetype
- Website Map & Architecture Plan
- SEO Audit & Keyword Analysis
- Competitor (4) Analysis
- 18-month Marketing Roadmap & Budget
- First 50 Articles Content Map
- First 15 Videos Content Map
1. Discovery Survey & Kick-off Call
Your leadership team will spend around 2 hours completing a questionnaire to answer basic questions about your products or services, your current, and past clients, your past sales and marketing efforts, and your business goals.
After completing your Discovery Questionnaire we will schedule a call with your leadership and the Banker Creative team that will be working with you (including a Strategist, your Account Manager, a Project Manager, a Designer, and a Copywriter) to answer any clarifying questions about your brand.
2. Brand Identity & Messaging
Four 1-hr calls
2-3 Customer Personas
Brand archetype and voice
Brandscript, Elevator Pitch, Headlines, Hero Section
3. Research & Audit
SEO audit & keyword analysis
Analytics review and benchmarking
Competitor analysis
Visual identity audit
4. Website Plan
Sitemap and website architecture recommendations
First 50 articles
First 15 videos
5. Blueprint Creation & Presentation
We will create a Marketing Blueprint that will serve as a roadmap and foundation for future marketing efforts, we will also create a Benchmark Report to document where your current sales and marketing efforts are. eliminates guesswork and avoids wasted time and money.
When crafting your plan, we’ll take into consideration both your internal resources (staff available to play a role in implementation) and your marketing budget to be sure your B2B Marketing Blueprint is executable.
We will schedule a 90-minute review session to walk you through and answer questions.
Blueprint Guarantee: We fully guarantee this $7500 strategy project. If you’re not happy with your Blueprint, pay us what you thought it was worth (we will refund the balance), or pay us nothing at all.
Phase 2
Marketing Foundation
Phase 2 is all about setting up a solid marketing foundation to build on. Primary goals are usually getting a website that will turn visitors into sales, and the people and processes in place to get your marketing machine running.
Investment:
- Benchmark Growth Fees: $15k-$45k
- Media Fees (ad spend): $5k-$15k
- Software licenses: $2k-$5k
- 3rd party contractors: $2k-$15k
- Timeline: 5 to 8 months
Deliverables: Phase 2 deliverables vary according to each company's needs and Blueprint recommendations, but usually include:
- Website Design & Development
- Email automation, CRM, and content publishing software setup
- Core Content Creation
- Content Distribution
- Lead Nurturing and Sales Enablement
Most of our clients choose to have Banker Creative execute most of the Phase 2 work, but in some cases we advise and coach in-house teams to self implement. Either way, all marketing costs either time or money. You can pay us (or someone else) to do it for you, pay for your team's time to get the work done or use a combination of the two.
Phase 3
Marketing Execution
Capture Demand | Generate Demand | Nurture Demand
Phase 3 is where your marketing program really kicks into gear. We typically start by setting up Google search campaigns and implementing local SEO to capture existing demand.
For firms that are ready to scale, we begin content creation, virtual events, and a combination of organic and paid distribution on LinkedIn and other channels, we put in what your ideal customers need to hear, right in their feeds, which drives them to your website to book calls with your sales team.
Investment:
- Banker Creative Fees: $3k-$10k/month
- Media Fees (ad spend): $2k+/month
These fees are assuming Benchmark Growth is doing the vast majority of the implementation. The more your team does the lower our fees will be.
Timeline: Contract is quarter-by-quarter
Deliverables/Tactics: Some aspects of the deliverables may change slightly, and the distribution channels may vary, but the core of our recommended B2B ongoing marketing strategy is a LinkedIn content marketing and demand generation program:
- Weekly video recording(s)
- Clipped and edited for LinkedIn and YouTube
- Audio published as a podcast
- Transcripted edited for blog and email
- LinkedIn ads used to guarantee delivery to your target audience
- Email marketing/automation for lead nurturing and sales enablement
- Google ads for demand capture
We gather customer insights month after month and evaluate what is and isn't working so we can adjust accordingly and continue to improve.
It is important to note that building a truly effective marketing engine doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to do the work of establishing your foundation, and then there is a lag between when you start doing serious content marketing and when your leads start flowing in. This lag usually correlates with the length of your sales cycle (often 4-6 months).