top of page

Strategy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

My Strategic Planning Experience:

I offer 10+ years of experience crafting Marketing, Branding and Communications strategic plans, roadmaps, and detailed project schedules for massive initiatives in a variety of industries with very different consumers, buying cycles, products, brand strength and budgets. As head of marketing in my last several roles, my portfolio is filled with examples of annual, quarterly, and initiative-specific plans I developed. I was the creator and fulfiller of these strategies; my involvement was end-to-end, from the very first step of developing the vision, to creating project plans and goals, and up through asset creation, rallying cross-functional teams, execution, measurement, optimization and reporting.

​

My Work:

I have deep experience creating a wide variety of strategies, such as: Go-to-Market strategies for brands and products, customer acquisition strategies, trade show event strategies, strategic messaging maps, communication plans, multi-platform digital campaigns, annual event strategy, etc.

​


My Methodology:

Since my best thinking occurs when I'm holding a writing utensil in my hand, I begin all my strategic planning on paper (or a whiteboard). When I need to develop a strategy, forumate a project plan or craft a communication plan, you'll find me locked away alone in a conference room with a whiteboard, post-it notes, sharpies, and plenty of paper. My process for developing a strategy integrates target audience research, recent marketing trends, and ideas discussed in team meetings, round-robin discussions, brainstorms and more.

​

  • Tools -- Over my career I have used a broad suite of project management tools, including: Basecamp, SmartSheet, Monday.com, Trello, and JIRA.

  • Exercises -- Customer segmentation, customer journey mapping, competitive matrix, competitive analysis, SWOT analysis, business cases, digital footprint, creative brief, etc.

  • Primary research -- A mix of qualitative and quantitative that has included: surveys; focus groups; interviews; experiments (A/B testing); observation (mystery shopper, usability tests); client/customer insights through client advisory boards; internal insights through employee surveys and cross-functional team projects

  • Secondary research -- Seeking existing data and research from a variety of sources: Industry-specific blogs and trade publications; census data; social media trends and posts.

  • Continuous Improvement -- The feedback loop is very important for optimizing marketing strategies and tactics. I rely on surveys to find areas of opportunity. For example, at Arizona State University I initiated email surveys of attendees of our public lectures right from the first lecture, so that every speaker knew how to improve for next time; I also conducted surveys after our 2018 Customer Insights Summit.

  • Individual Strategic Objectives -- As part of our annual planning process at Florida Coastal School of Law and Web.com, each member of the management team creates his/her own set of Individual Strategic Objectives (ISOs). These are measurable strategic, tactical and operational objectives that contribute to the accomplishment of the organization's mission, and they usually have this structure: Action (Initiative) + Detail + Metric (Goal) + Deadline

  • Measurement -- At Florida Coastal School of Law I learned the fine art of goal setting and at Web.com I refined this skill, becoming highly attuned to the value of measurements and metrics. It is those key marketing metrics that are used as the foundation for all decision making, as they drive performance, strategy and organization direction. Reporting, tracking, and analyzing campaigns quickly became an integral part of my role as a way of proving success in strategies and return on investment. The metrics I track depend on the goal, but here are some of the most common:

    • Consumption Metrics (page views, time on page, click-through-rate, etc.)

    • Social Metrics (shares, retweets, etc.)

    • Lead Generation Metrics (inquiry forms, conversion rate, new leads, etc.)

    • Pipeline Metrics (conversion rate at each stage, overall CVR, pipeline velocity)

    • Other + ROI (LTV to CAC, ROAS, cost per lead, ARPU, LTV)
       

 

​​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​​​

 

 

​Highlights from Arizona State University:

Situation: Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration was founded in 2006. The school-wide five-year plan included a goal of increasing the number of undergraduate students to 400. I created a strategic marketing and communications plan to help meet this objective.

 

The strategy involved diverse MarCom components, including social media, traditional and digital ads, print collateral, media relations, events, email marketing, and the creation of pipeline connecting the school to local high schools. Specifics included the execution of an aggressive Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blog and LinkedIn social media campaign. I wrote and distributed press releases underscoring the school's value proposition and featured students and faculty success stories. Through careful copy execution and dynamic videography, we captured the excitement and expertise of the faculty and researchers. A new website and updated collateral materials further spelled out how the school is "training the next generation of explorers."

 

Results: The school achieved this goal, and is now stretching to even higher numbers. Between 2008-2015, the numbers increased 245.7%. Students accepted to Ivy League schools were deciding to come study with us. Additional noteworthy results included many donors stepping forward to give.

bottom of page