Our Approach
The LEAN transformation of marketing
We believe that sales and marketing can be more efficient. So we apply LEAN principles to create systems, order, and accountability that generate demand, increase sales, and prove return on marketing investment.
- ALIGN – Marketing goals should directly support your company goals. They should be clear, and be measurable.
- ENABLE – Put the right people in the right roles doing the right things with the right systems to enable sales and generate revenue.
- IMPROVE – Measure to manage. Test, tweak, and test again.
Our 6 Lean Marketing Principles
How We Get It All Done
We’ve found this to be the best project management methodology to get work done efficiently across different teams.
Up Next
1. Load all waiting work into a backlog for the team to pull from when we are ready.
In Progress
2. Pull what we are working on into the in progress column so everyone can see exactly what is in motion at all times.
Blocked/ Review
3. If there are tasks that need to be reviewed or that have hit a bottle neck? We put them in the blocked column and solve for them asap.
Done!
4. The bucket that shows all of the work we have accomplished since day 1.
How We Are Different
30-Day no cause, out clause
We offer a 30-day no-cause, out-clause on all of our retained and long-term work. If it’s not working for you, then it’s not working for us.
Marketing Is Fractional
- CMO-15% 15%
- Marketing Director-45% 45%
- Digital Marketing Specialist-85% 85%
Marketing Is Fractional
Flexible skillsets for changing needs
A fully staffed marketing team needs a lot of different kinds of people. The CMO provides strategy, the Marketing Director provides management, and the Digital Specialists do the tactical work. But most companies don’t need all these roles filled all of the time. Why hire a full-time CMO, when you only need one 15% of the time? When working with us, you’ll get access to the skills you need, when they are needed, without having to hire them.
Work first, invoice second
Have you ever hired a consultant that gets paid before they do the work? We’ve been there and we didn’t like it. That’s why our retained teams get paid at the end of the month, so you see the value we add first.
Taking Marketing from
“Overhead” to “Value Add”
Strategic Marketing Plan
Our strategic marketing plan gives you 12 months of marketing tactics and clear KPI’s that are directly related to growing your business. You can either take it and run with it, or work with us to complete it!
Fractional Marketing Team
We become your marketing team at a fraction of the cost. Fully integrated into your company, we provide you with specialists to handle marketing where you have gaps, and help you execute on your 12 month strategic plan.
Content Plan
To support your strategic marketing plan we build you a 12-month editorial content and SEO plan with clear KPI’s for the coming year. This includes keyword research and content topics that again… you can either run with, or we can execute them for you.
HubSpot Management
Maximize your investment in HubSpot by having one of our experts ensure that your system is fully optimized to your business processes. We make sure HubSpot will help you manage, and nurture leads, then convert those leads into Customers.
Other consultants make recommendations and leave the rest up to you. 1 Bold Step recommends, helps your team execute the plan, and fills the gaps to get the work done.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we hire you just to create content?
You sure can! We develop and execute on editorial calendars and content for clients across a range of industries and markets.
However, we believe everything we do has to be aligned with your organization’s strategic goals. We can create content, but we’ll recommend time up front to make sure that you’ve optimized your SEO so that the content hits the mark
What do the first 30 days of work look like?
In the first 30 days, we will spend a significant amount of time implementing and aligning marketing processes and systems. Making sure that we don’t run into system errors throughout the year. We will also set up reporting dashboards, and get started on your highest-priority items. You should meet with us 2-4 times the first month and biweekly following.
How involved do I get to be in the creation of the marketing plan?
We work as an extension of our client’s teams. So as much as we lead the charge, we look very much into the input of our teams and expect full collaboration. While you will be hands-off in execution you get to be all hands on deck for the development of the strategy.
How many hours a month will I need you?
Hour time with your organization will be based on your organizational goals, the marketing plan, and the time needed to accomplish it. The bigger the goal, the more time you will need us. But we can dial the marketing up and down to fit your needs.
Do you do design work?
We don’t do pretty… but we can fix something that is broken. If you need design work done during the duration of our relationship we have plenty of recommendations and trusted vendors to help us along the way. We just won’t do that work in-house.
What positions can you fractionally fill for our team?
We can fill a wide range of positions like: CMO, Director of Marketing, Digital Marketing Manager, Content Creator, SEO Specialist, Sales Consultant, Sales Manager, Systems Admin, and HubSpot Admin.
What is your average ROI for your clients?
For first-year clients, we expect to see a 2.5x return on marketing investment. For second and third-year clients that average should grow between 4-6x your marketing spend.
What if we already have a strategic marketing plan?
Although we urge all of our clients to build a strategic plan with us, we are happy to get involved with what you already have and help you execute. We are an extension of your organization. Not a replacement.
But we strongly recommend it! A team that gets to weigh in will also buy in to the plan. And our plans are aligned with the overall business strategy, making marketing efforts more strategic too.