Strategy & Coaching
In front of every campaign – no matter the goal or the target – are the questions “Why you?” and “Why now?”. This positioning is essential to winning. Thus, at Mainland, we begin with this discovery.
The Why You/Why Now
Defining the answers to these two questions is essential to not only winning, but to delivering the best possible campaign results. Whether big picture – as in your complete brand positioning or micro – as in opening a new location – having these answers at the start of every campaign helps Mainland and your team establish a better strategy. Our belief is that most agencies miss either the strategic part, or spend too much time on it and not enough on the execution. We solve this through both our assessments (B-to-B Sales Strategy and Brand Assessment) and through the normal, monthly management of the account.
The Big Idea
What if there were a way to reach more people in more markets on a faster timeline at a lower cost? How would you adjust your strategy? And more importantly, how would you even know you were leaving an opportunity on the table?
We’ve got the tools and expertise to build and execute your strategy, but we won’t stop there. At Mainland, we’re thinkers, and we just can’t help but poke and prod at every so-called best practice, every rule of thumb and every standard operating procedure to see if there’s a better, more productive, more impactful way of doing things. Our team of industry experts will never stop thinking about what more we — your team and ours — could be doing to meet your goals and to meet goals you may not have even identified yet.
Some of the support models we offer for Big Ideas are:
Brand Creation
Logo creation
Majors/Minis (what’s the quarterly large event we point to)
Idea Brainstorms
B2B Sales Strategy
There’s a common misconception regarding the difference between business-to-consumer sales and business-to-business sales. Some people will tell you that B-to-C is selling to people while B-to-B is selling to companies. Those people are wrong, and they should feel terrible about it. In reality, both models sell to people. It’s just that B-to-B buyers are making decisions on behalf of a larger group of people. The sales strategy is the same — at least, it should be: you need to engage the buyer and appeal to their goals, needs and priorities.
Too many B2B sales strategies take the person out of the equation. They treat the business world as maximally rational and purely bottom-line driven. The product, then, should speak for itself — either it will increase profits for the company or it won’t. Of course, products don’t actually sell themselves. That’s why you’ve invested in a sales team. And if your sales strategy is relying on the product to do the talking, that investment is going to waste.
We’ll show you a better way.
We’ll show you how to get in the ear of the decisionmakers at your target companies, how to keep them engaged, how to build and nurture that relationship and how to position your product or service so that it appeals to their needs and goals.
Brand Assessment
This is going to be tough to hear, but your brand isn’t perfect. We know — you built this thing out of nothing, and look how far you’ve come. It’s impressive. Really! But we promise there’s room for improvement. Even if you’ve been doing everything right, there’s always more right things you could be doing — avenues left unexplored and opportunities left on the table.The problem is, it’s tough to get a full view of the meadow when you’re stuck in the weeds. You need outside perspective, but not just any outside perspective. Even the perspective of an expert in your field, though valuable, is not enough. You need the perspective of a partner who knows your brand inside and out, who knows your goals, your history, your values, your voice and everything down to the finer points of your operational model.
Our brand assessments go far beyond an operational audit and report. We’ll analyze every aspect of your operations, from your social media to your budgeting to your PR, and we’ll build a robust, detailed and actionable playbook for growth. Moreover, we won’t just tell you what to do, we’ll help you do it.
Brand assessment playbooks may include:
- Executive Summary
- Ideal Lead Demographics & Criteria
- Current Consumer / Brand Development Positioning
- Current Development Metrics
- Financing Options
- Target Markets
- Lead Generation Marketing Initiatives
- Development Marketing Budget
- Website Strategy
- Ad Words PPC Campaign Strategy
- CRM Tools
- Detailed Awarding Process
- Brand Validation
- Competitive Landscape Analysis
- Team Performance Assessment
- Positioning
- Action Plan for Next Steps
Brand Assessment
This is going to be tough to hear, but your brand isn’t perfect. We know — you built this thing out of nothing, and look how far you’ve come. It’s impressive. Really! But we promise there’s room for improvement. Even if you’ve been doing everything right, there’s always more right things you could be doing — avenues left unexplored and opportunities left on the table.The problem is, it’s tough to get a full view of the meadow when you’re stuck in the weeds. You need outside perspective, but not just any outside perspective. Even the perspective of an expert in your field, though valuable, is not enough. You need the perspective of a partner who knows your brand inside and out, who knows your goals, your history, your values, your voice and everything down to the finer points of your operational model.
Our brand assessments go far beyond an operational audit and report. We’ll analyze every aspect of your operations, from your social media to your budgeting to your PR, and we’ll build a robust, detailed and actionable playbook for growth. Moreover, we won’t just tell you what to do, we’ll help you do it.
Sales Strategy & Coaching
Look, we’ve got to come clean about something. You’re not our first. We’ve done this before. A lot. With hundreds of other brands of all sizes and segments. But it’s that wealth of experience with a range of brands, strategies, budgets and goals that allows us to give you deeper insight into your own company and a thoughtful, data-driven approach for your path forwardMainland is not just a vendor or a gun for hire. We are a partner. We take your business personally, and we’ll use all of our considerable expertise and resources to guide the growth of your business. That includes sitting down with your executive team to hash out everything from brand differentiators to consumer marketing strategies to lead generation efforts to company culture. We’ll learn your brand inside and out, and we’ll combine that knowledge with hundreds of case studies from our portfolio to coach your team through any goal or roadblock. Every month, we’ll sit down with your team to dissect your challenges, answer questions, provide guidance and lend an objective perspective to anything your company is working through.
We’ve seen what works. We’ve seen what doesn’t. We’ve seen brands thrive in recessions and other brands go belly up in the most favorable economic conditions. We know the risks of tunnel vision, and we know how to broaden your scope so that you can see your brand from a whole new perspective.
Monthly coaching session topics may include:
- Executive Summary
- Ideal Lead Demographics & Criteria
- Current Consumer / Brand Development Positioning
- Current Development Metrics
- Financing Options
- Target Markets
- Lead Generation Marketing Initiatives
- Development Marketing Budget
- Ad Words PPC Campaign Strategy
- CRM Tools
- Detailed Awarding Process
FranX & Franchise Growth Mastermind
In order to better support our franchise brands, we have launched educational videos, conversations, events and a private Facebook group (if you are in franchising, we are happy to have you join) to give our clients additional resources to compete in a crowded marketplace.