Well, we have a lot of thoughts on this. In short, yes, marketing funnels should be a factor because they can be incredibly beneficial to grow your business and expand your audience.

With that said, funnel building can easily get overcomplicated and unsustainable. There are platforms out there that promise a simple solution for funnel building, but those likely aren’t the best option if you’re looking to operate your business holistically.

What is a Marketing Funnel?

A funnel is a marketing term for a lead generation or sales campaign. It gets the name because the goal of a funnel is to cast a wide net with your campaign, and move users through several marketing touchpoints to build a connection and ideally convert them into a loyal, long-term customer.

A funnel typically consists of one or more social media campaigns – either paid ads or organic marketing, a landing page, and a set of automated email marketing campaigns. This can certainly get more sophisticated, but that’s the basic structure.

Benefits of Funnels for Lead Generation

Marketing funnels are typically used as a way to quickly grow your audience or increase sales. Depending on what you’re offering, and if you’ve properly planned your launch, they can be incredibly effective.

Because of their effectiveness, there is a whole industry built around “helping” business owners simplify or consolidate their funnel operations.

3rd Party Funnel Building Software

These 3rd party funnel builder platforms offer all-in-one solutions for simple roll out. These programs can be great for business owners who don’t have a website yet, or aren’t able to easily edit their website. If you fall into one of those categories, then a funnel building platform could work well for you.

There are many cons to these platforms though that should be considered.

• Using a standalone funnel builder means you’ll likely be duplicating messaging from your website. If something needed to be updated, now you have two places to make those changes, this is not efficient and could be an issue.
• You’ll likely need to upload all your brand logos and image files to this new program as well, increasing the amount of digital storage space used for your business unnecessarily.
• You don’t own the content that’s stored on a 3rd party website. If they were to close down, would you lose everything? That’s a scary thought but it is a possibility!

If you’d like to operate more holistically and build a sales and lead generation process that’s repeatable and operational long term, then we definitely recommend a different solution – holistic marketing funnels.

Holistic Marketing Funnels

Dandelion’s concept of Holistic Marketing started because we were focusing on lead generation and retention with our client work. We started seeing how well it worked on an individual campaign level, and then we started asking, “what if we applied these ideas to everything in a business?”

Operating your marketing holistically means you already have a website that you’re regularly updating, you have engaging marketing emails and you’re actively working to new and improved offers for your audience. Holistic Marketing treats every piece of marketing almost like a mini funnel because you’re always ensuring you’re giving clear CTA’s to send traffic to your site, and you’re focused on giving them a thoughtful and personal experience no matter how they interact with your brand.

Viewing funnels as just larger versions of your normal holistic marketing efforts helps to cut out the overwhelm!

Let’s get planning! Schedule a call with us here!

The post Marketing Funnels: Are They Necessary? A Holistic Perspective appeared first on Dandelion Branding.

In this article, I’ll talk a bit about how we strategically build target audiences and why we put so much emphasis on this part of our Holistic Marketing Strategy.

One Target Audience? Try Three. Our Audience Philosophy.

A target audience is a clear definition of the people you’re trying to reach with your brand. A lot of marketers say that businesses need to define one audience and stick to it. We don’t agree.

We think it’s a bit lazy to lump everyone into a single target group. People are multifaceted and their reasons for loving a brand are distinct. Those distinctions should be explored with care. So when we’re thinking about who a business is targeting, we typically build three target audiences. We have found that creating three allows for those important distinctions but doesn’t over-segment the brand when it comes to communications.

Additionally, because we’re a holistic agency, our target audiences are always based on the long and short term goals of the business – not just the people the business happens to be calling in at the moment.

Our philosophy is that whomever you build for is who you will call in.

How fruitful is calling in a massive audience that is lovely but doesn’t serve the goals of the business? Not very.

Time to Call: Building a Voice Around Your Target Audiences

One thing that sets us apart is how incorporated our audiences are into the voice, content, and strategy of a brand.

How many articles have you read that says “you need to define your audience” but then doesn’t tell you how to use those audiences in your business.

For us, the target audience is everything. I’m not just talking like, “speak their language.” Although that’s sound advice, it isn’t quite spot on.

For example, the voice of the brand needs to hold the level of authority that the audience expects to hear from you. Authority is definitely brand-specific, but sometimes it changes per target audience. This is especially true for our clients who have multiple stakeholders, multi-faceted goals, and holistic business plans.

Using our newly defined target audiences coupled with brand values and goals, we create a single unified brand voice that appeals to each distinct group while unlocking the personality of the brand.

I know – it seems like a small thing when it comes to branding. But a voice can be just as show stopping as a logo, font, or color scheme. It isn’t your visual identity that keeps people coming back, it’s the story you tell and the way you tell it.

What Story Does Your Target Audience Want to Hear?

This is when most marketers start talking about painpoints and positioning. We came up in this school of thought, and while we agree that painpoints are important to understand, we value transformation more than pushing on bruises.

Our goal is to help an audience member see themselves standing next to you. If you give them a traumatic shock every time they get close, they’ll eventually stop getting close.  But, if an audience member self-identifies as part of your target audience, they are much more likely to continue showing up.

So we work their story into your story. We look for spaces to give them agency to make the choice to join your story and transform their [insert their problem] with [insert your solution]. It’s a subtle difference, but by asking, “what story do they want to hear” we design true brand loyalty through holistic content and communications.

The Dandelion Holistic Marketing Strategy & Target Audiences

I’m going to be a bit forward here. Truly understanding target audiences and building brands around them is the essence of our Holistic Marketing Strategy. It’s the essence of what we do at Dandelion. It’s what makes us great marketers.

I say this because I am the person behind audience and strategy creation. For me, detailing each audience for a brand isn’t just creating a list of demographics and activities. It’s a deep channeling of creative empathy that defines a person with likes, fears, and a history. They have unique relationships with authority and family, and there is something specific about their expectations of the brand. (I could go on – it’s one of my favorite parts of what I do).

You can imagine how building a whole brand strategy around those bespoke audiences is special! The Dandelion Holistic Marketing Strategy is not just a means to the end of your content calendar, it’s a design of the whole experience an audience member will have with your brand.

I’m gushing- I know. I love what I do.

If you want to talk to me a bit about what that looks like for your brand, schedule a call with me.

The post How Dandelion Creates A Target Audience appeared first on Dandelion Branding.

At Dandelion, we’ve created a structure for creating detailed timelines to ensure we’re never in scramble mode!

Creating an Effective Marketing Plan Sets You Up for Success

Timelines help us to pace ourselves and keep our business and our clients on track. They are truly the foundation of everything we do, and are a key part of our success. The secret for an effective marketing plan is the high level of detail, clearly defined goals, and knowing exactly what you need to get you there.

If you’re planning for the launch of something physical, this method is particularly helpful because that process can take significant time and delays can often happen somewhere throughout the plan.

Our timelines are Realistic & Sustainable

The trick for a truly effective roll out is that you’ve got to be realistic with your timelines and plan for everything, every step of the way.

We always start by identifying the key players. Who is working on which portions of the project and what do their timelines look like?

You may be able to create all the marketing materials for your new idea in a day, but will your audience be ready to receive that information with enough time to digest it, get excited, and get prepared to participate?

Holistic Marketing Helps You Know What You Need

When we create the plan, we’re thinking through the entire process holistically, and this means looking at the company as a whole. What are their goals for this campaign and overall?

Holistic marketing means we look at the big picture. What else is happening with your business during this time? What about your audience and the relationship you have with that? Lastly, do you have data that can help us know more about past campaigns?

Developing this holistic perspective ensures you’re operating with all the information you need to create the most effective plan of action.

Working Backwards From a Launch Date

Creating these plans and timelines backwards will help ensure you’re not putting the cart before the horse, and you’re more easily able to identify tasks that are dependent on other parts of the process.

Here are a few of the questions we ask ourselves to better understand the full scope of the project:

What are the pieces that need to be completed for a successful launch? Who are the key players you’ll need to engage with to complete each piece? How much lead time does each step require? Are these any approval processes necessary within this project? How much time does that take?

The Necessity of Buffer Time

Adding buffer time to your timelines would likely be the top tip we provide folks who are just starting their planning process. We don’t like scrambling, and in fact, we like to operate ahead of time with all marketing campaigns completed and scheduled about a week before they are seen by the public.

Building in buffer time helps guard you from immense amounts of stress. If anything were to go wrong, or if something takes longer than anticipated your buffer time should cover that. We wouldn’t want to have to change our entire launch just because one portion of the project had a delay, buffer time helps you solve for that!

With your launch date defined, a clear understanding of who is managing which aspects of the project, and with your added buffer time you now know how long the full project will take, so that gives you a detailed timeline for when to begin the process. Happy planning!

Let’s get planning! Schedule a call with us here!

The post How We Create Effective Marketing Plans appeared first on Dandelion Branding.

Especially in more innovative industries like climate solutions and tech, leaders are often focused intently on their specialization, and forget to take a step back and think bigger. How does our work play a role in the larger goals of the sustainable transition? How can we work together to build larger solutions?

We think the old way of staying, ‘industry specific’ and ‘staying in our lane’ is outdated. If we want to create big enough change to address the monumental challenges we face, we can’t go at it alone. To change the world, we need to break out of our silos and collaborate with one another.

The Myth of Rugged Individualism

One challenge we face when building towards a collaborative future is rugged individualism.

This myth that “you’ve gotta pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” is deeply ingrained in American culture and especially in American business culture. Belief in this myth is what has gotten us to the point we’re at now, facing climate catastrophes and corporate greed.

On a smaller scale, this myth also drives many industry leaders to feel like they have to face everything alone. We don’t exist in isolation though, and rugged individualism can hinder our ability to recognize the necessity of community, cooperation, and shared responsibility in addressing complex challenges. Building a sustainable future will take all of us, so it’s time to move further into collaboration.

Creating Connection; Cross-Sector Sustainable Business Networks

The power of collective effort can create the momentum necessary to drive positive change. Sustainable business networks can be the catalysts for impactful environmental and social change, while also benefiting participating businesses.

Most business networks are industry specific, and can easily turn into silos and echo chambers themselves. Creating cross-sector and cross-industry networks, and speaking with folks from different backgrounds, specialties and perspectives will helps to fuel innovation.

A New Way to Think about Business

The sustainable transition will require an entirely new way of thinking about business. We don’t need to view other businesses as competition. We should be fostering community and supporting one another, referring each other to clients and customers and finding ways our areas of expertise overlap and complement each other.

By joining forces, businesses have the opportunity to pool resources, share knowledge, and implement innovative solutions. This collaboration will enable us to tackle complex sustainability challenges that no single organization could face alone. From reducing supply chain-wide carbon footprints to implementing ethical business practices, sustainable networks empower businesses to make a difference on a much larger scale.

I recently came across an article about tackling climate change, and this quote perfectly sums up how dedicated businesses can truly make a difference. “Working together, we can create thoughtful and ambitious programs that are better for people, businesses, and our planet. When business is at its best, it does exactly what the climate crisis demands: it adapts, solves problems, and moves quickly. Responding to our climate challenge doesn’t need to be one more issue that divides our communities. We can make climate resilience our shared and best interest.” – Bill Frist.

How We Bring Collaboration into Dandelion

It’s super exciting to see folks really start to get behind this topic! At Dandelion, we are dedicated to elevating the impact of businesses dedicated to sustainability. Some of the ways we focus on collaboration are:

• We hold monthly free social hours focused on a variety of topics. Check those out here!
• We love supporting our clients and helping them find collaborations wherever possible!
• Our podcast, EnvironMental gives us the ability to speak to so many incredible leaders, this also allows us to introduce guests who may have complimentary businesses!
• We’re in the early stages of planning a conference to help solve this exact challenge. It’s a big goal but these types of events are just what’s needed to get folks meeting and working together across industries.

Ready to Collaborate?! Schedule a call with us here!

The post The Power of Cross-Sector Collaboration For the Sustainable Transition appeared first on Dandelion Branding.

One thing all these folks have in common? They are all trying to optimize for one audience. Investors.

We see this so frequently at this point, we basically have a new catchphrase to describe the situation they’re in…

You gotta look funded to get funded.

It really is true. Optimizing your site with clear brand messaging, an intuitive structure, and well branded design can significantly enhance your chances of attracting potential investors and getting funding. Optimizing your website with your audiences in mind is key.

How We Approach UX Web Design

If you may be new around here, it’s important to know that we always approach digital marketing holistically.

For us, that means when we approach redesigning a brand’s website we, first and foremost, think about the audience and the user’s experience.

Who will be using the site? What do they want/expect to get out of it? What are the goals of the brand for that audience?

Then we consider the product or service the brand is selling. What is the best way to position that product for the audience? How can we infuse brand’s values and their goals into how that product or offer is positioned?

Really focusing in on the journey and full experience of your ideal audience ensures your site will resonate and help them learn more about you and your business.

Accessibility

No matter your audience, when we’re working on a website, Accessibility is another area of UX Web Design that we focus on with clients.

We look at WCAG( Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) criteria like color contrast ratio, proper structural formatting, accessible text formatting, and alt text on images.

Website accessibility is important to always consider. There are definitely design features that we come across that leave vision or hearing impaired users with less information than those who are able-bodied. Things like putting necessary product information on images rather than in the description. Having details in video form rather than written out on the site will also limit who can interact with that information.

So we always want to be sure our clients are never alienating or unknowingly excluding anyone from their website.

User Friendly Web Design – But Make it Sustainable

On a similar note, we not only want to ensure our website is widely user friendly we also want to be sure it’s environmentally friendly.

Sustainability is always an added layer and a real focal point to our work. Everything online, every google search and page load comes with its own digital carbon footprint.

So the efficient use of site pages, content, and imagery are very important for us in our projects.

If you’re looking to level up your website, let’s chat!

Schedule a call here!

The post Look Funded to Get Funded: Audience Centered Approach to UX Web Design appeared first on Dandelion Branding.

Hyperlocal marketing is all about establishing a strong connection with your local audience. By implementing these strategies, you’ll be able to create meaningful relationships, increase brand loyalty, and boost your business within your community.

What is Hyper Local Marketing?

Hyperlocal marketing refers to marketing that targets a specific and localized audience within a small geographical area.

Local marketing and digital marketing are two distinct approaches to reaching and engaging with customers. While both aim to promote products or services, there are some key differences.

Local marketing is necessary for businesses that need their customers to be physically present in order to engage or make a purchase. While local businesses should certainly focus on local marketing, they should also focus on holistic digital marketing to help expand their impact even further.

How can hyper local marketing help small businesses stand out?

The key to hyperlocal marketing is to understand and connect with the unique characteristics and interests of your local audience. You’ll also want to have a clear understanding of your brand values. Your local marketing efforts should reflect and be inspired by your brand values.

Local Search Optimization

Optimize your website and online listings for local search. This means using location-specific keywords in your website content, using searchable keywords and phrases in your meta descriptions, and creating URLs with specific terms.

Ensure your business name, address, and phone number are always consistent and easy to find in search results. Be sure to claim your Google My Business listing, and fill out as many details about your business as possible to increase the likelihood of appearing in local search results.

On social media, tagging your physical location in photos and using relevant local hashtags that represent your area can also help to increase exposure.

Local Content Creation

Utilize your content to explore topics that are relevant and valuable to your local audience and that accurately reflect your brand’s values.

When creating content, you should be speaking from your brand voice. Your local audience likely would be able to identify dialect mismatches and they may know how to identify native plants, animals, and areas. That means the language and imagery you use needs to be specific to the area being marketed to. Creating blog posts, videos, or social posts that speak directly to local issues, highlight local events or news, or share local customer stories can be great for generating buzz.

Community Involvement

The more you show up for your community, the more they’ll show up for you.

Take time to participate in local events, sponsor local organizations or teams if you’re able, and engage in community initiatives. Showing up for your local community not only demonstrates your commitment to your area but also provides opportunities for networking and gain exposure.

Local Partnerships

Forming partnerships with other local businesses that complement your offerings can be incredibly beneficial! Cross-promoting each other’s products or services, collaborating on joint marketing campaigns, or offering deals to attract shared customers are a win win. Creating these connections allows you to brainstorm new ideas, get creative, and expand your reach online by sharing each other’s audience.

Think Old School

Local marketing can really call on the past for some inspiration. Consider sending direct mailers to promote events or new offers, use regional media publications like magazines, newspapers, or radio stations to speak directly to your community members. Putting up flyers in local coffee shops, libraries, colleges or other places where folks congregate can also be a great way to get in front of folks locally who may not be on social media.

If you’re looking to grow your local business, let’s chat!

Schedule a call here!

The post What is hyper local marketing? Hyper local strategies to help small businesses stand out appeared first on Dandelion Branding.