Three Ways to Get Strategic in Your Business

Ever notice how everyone talks about needing a strategy, but nobody explains how to actually get one? Time to change that. In this episode, I'm breaking down three different approaches to building your strategic foundation—because different businesses need different solutions. Find out which approach makes the most sense for where you are right now.

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EPISODE 152.
Read the show notes and view the full transcript here: https://erinollila.com/strategic-marketing-strategy-for-your-business/

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Join the waitlist for Spring Clean Your Site 2025: https://erinollila.com/opt-in-spring-clean-your-website/

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Here's info on your host, Erin Ollila
Erin Ollila believes in the power of words and how a message can inform – and even transform – its intended audience. She graduated from Fairfield University with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and went on to co-found Spry, an award-winning online literary journal.

When Erin’s not helping her clients understand their website data or improve their website copy, you can catch her hosting the Talk Copy to Me podcast and guesting on shows such as Profit is a Choice, Mindful Marketing, The Power in Purpose, and Business-First Creatives.

Stay in touch with Erin Ollila, SEO website copywriter:
• Learn more about my VIP intensive options or just book a strategy session right away
• Visit Erin's website to learn more about her business, services, and products
• Come chat with Erin on Threads, Instagram, or LinkedIn

Transcript

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I bet you've noticed now how everyone talks about needing a strategy, but not that many people actually talk about how to actually get a good marketing strategy for your business. It's kind of like there's an assumption that you'll just, um, figure it out? Maybe you'll hire someone, maybe you'll DIY, and, you know what, maybe you'll just wing it and hope for the best. Hey, friend, it's me, Erin, and last week, We talked all about why you need a strategy, but you need an audit before you strategize most of the time. Today we're getting practical because here's the truth. There is no one size fits all approach to building a strategic foundation for your business. And anyone who tells you differently is probably trying to sell you their one size fits all solution. And we all know how I feel about that. Seeing that two of my favorite words are it depends. In this episode, I'm going to walk you through three different ways you could build a strategic foundation because different businesses need different approaches for the different things they're trying to do. And more importantly, I'll help you figure out which one of these opportunities makes the most sense for you. Okay, so let's do the first one, strategy as a part of a larger project. This is what I call an integrated approach, where strategy is built into a larger project that you're doing. This opportunity is perfect if you're planning something big, for example, like a website overhaul, , a complete marketing revamp, or maybe like a content review or content creation. And here's what it looks like in practice. Let's say you're working with a copywriter on your website. If they're doing it right, they're not just writing pretty words. What they're doing is they start the project by building a strategic foundation that covers things like your messaging, your user journey, your conversion points, your SEO, and how all those things tie together. The strategy is woven through all of those steps and the strategy happens before they really should start typing any words for your new website copy. I personally love this approach because it means that everything is working together. From the start, your copy supports your SEO, which supports your conversions, which support your overall business goals. There's no disconnect here between strategy and implementation, because what they're doing is they're happening together. But, and this is important, this approach only works when you're ready to implement right away. If you just need direction now, but you plan on implementing later, I don't think that this You know, integrated strategy element is the right approach or your best bet for your business. What could be? Well, that brings me to a second option. One off strategy sessions. These are some of my favorite things I do in my business. And I know I've been saying that a lot lately. I do love website audits, and I really love strategy sessions., Why? Because they are for people who need clarity fast or for individuals who want to DIY the implementation. Think of this power hour or strategy session. It doesn't have to be an hour, that's generally what you'll see standard in the marketing world. Could be two hours. Half an hour, whatever. If we're using an hour as an example, think of it like a power hour with purpose. You come with a specific challenge or goal, and then we'll map out exactly what you need to do. Maybe you're launching a new service and you need to plan your messaging. Or maybe you're starting a podcast and you need a content strategy to ensure the episodes that you create actually align with business goals. Maybe you want to improve your SEO. And you understand the elements of SEO, but you don't really know where to start in prioritizing maybe an audit you've received. And one of the most common things I see in copy coaching sessions or power hours is people come to me when they've created copy themselves for their website and they're just not really confident with it. They would love a copywriter's eyes on it and it's already published so we can go page by page quickly and kind of review what's working, and make some adjustments as necessary during this short time together. The magic of this approach is its focus, so we're not trying to solve every problem during a one off strategy session. What we're doing is we're just drilling down into one specific area and creating a clear action plan. In the best strategy sessions, you know you're going to be able to walk away knowing exactly what to do next. What I love about strategy sessions is how flexible they are, so you can use them to plan a specific project, solve a particular problem you're having, , talk through some of the challenges that you are kind of jumbled in your brain and you want an outsider's perspective on. Get unstuck when you're feeling very overwhelmed with things. Validate your ideas before investing any more time or money or energy. Create a roadmap for the next steps that you have., align points on a content strategy that you're trying to develop. And they're really perfect if you're the kind of person who likes to implement things on your own, but you want to make sure that you're on the right track. Similarly, that same type of person does really well when they've already created something, and they want it to be reviewed. But before I move on to the Third type . I wanna talk about the idea that sometimes strategy sessions are extremely successful when someone comes to the session with a long list of priorities and really no clue what to do next. You can bring a bigger Very jumbled brain to a strategy session, and we can prioritize your marketing efforts or whatever it is you need to implement or, you know, whatever comes from the session. Sometimes you just need a consultant to step in and say, All right, you know, this is what I'm hearing. This is what I'm seeing based on your goals, based on, you know, what you'd like to happen right now with your marketing, the time you have, the energy or finances you have. Let's reorganize this list and create a pathway so you can start ticking off those one specific items in later time. Right. Enough of that. Let's move on to talk about what you do if you don't have something that can be solved very quickly. I have two options for you, and we're going to start with probably what would be the most popular, especially if you didn't work with me, because I see other marketers offering that. And, and this would be VIP Strategy Intensives. Other option, I have something where I work with people on a monthly basis. I'll get to that at the end though, but we're going to settle with VIP Strategy Intensives first. This is for when you need more than a quick session, but you aren't necessarily ready for a full implementation project. So, for example, intensives are perfect for complex projects that need some serious planning., business pivots or expansions. Maybe a new product launch that you want to make sure joins your current product suite in a way that makes sense. Creating systems and processes for your marketing. Building more comprehensive marketing plans. Or when you have that audit plus strategy element. So let's say you have a lot of content on your blog and it's not performing, all of it's not performing as well as you'd like. Some of it maybe, and what you want is someone to step in to audit what you have currently and then create that strategy for you on, you know, what gets repurposed, what gets deleted, what gets rewritten, what, , Are your content gaps that can, you can fill with new content. And then what does that like upcoming publishing, , cadence look like for you? Will you be adding something new every week? Will you be writing a blog post monthly? That gets developed between an audit and a strategy. And that's where a VIP intensive is so nice because there's a certain block of time to make this all happen. You know, a lot of the times with strategy, what I see frequently is if people, again, I mentioned this in the beginning, don't run with the strategy that they have, it's this pretty little trinket that they've created that kind of just sits on their desk waiting to be implemented. But within this package of a VIP intensive, what we're doing is we're reviewing and we're creating and it gives you that momentum to then take it and run and implement everything.. So here's an example for you. I had a client who knew that she needed to completely revamp her service offerings. But this wasn't just about updating her website copy. Because in doing this update of her services, it affected her messaging, her content strategy, her email marketing, and even her client processes. You know, a one hour session wouldn't have been enough to get her on the page that she needed to be on. To have that consistency throughout all of those marketing channels. But she wasn't necessarily ready for that full done for you, you know, website rebrand project either. There was a lot of thinking that was going on on the back end about how to present these new services or updates to the services. So an intensive gave us time to really think through every aspect and create a complete plan that she could implement on her own with confidence because she had now really determined how she would present these services. to her audience. So those, those were the main three. The 3. 5 here is that I also offer under copy coaching on my website,, marketing month, I call it. And that's where I meet with someone weekly during the course of a month to have longer strategy sessions. Where we can do the strategic work, review what's been done, you know, in between our time together and continuing to make plans for the next week. And I'm I think they're really for the people who are looking for what's in between a DIY and a done with you approach because I tend to get in the weeds a little bit more with my clients during this. But the onus is on my clients who do the marketing month to do the work in between our sessions. So it's really the same thing, kind of like an intensive, you know, the amount of time that we're spending together and that the, that we're, we're planning. It's very similar. The difference really is that with the VIP intensive, it's, you know, one week of high intense communication, , review, strategy and planning, and the marketing month gives people the opportunity, like,, gives them a little bit more time , I have a lot of copywriters in all honesty that will hire me for a marketing month because they've neglected their own marketing for so long and, you know, it's for them, they feel a lot of, like, I hear this all the time, like, shame that they just can't get it together and they just can't,, you know, create their own content and it's kind of like cobbler kid syndrome. I've been in business for nine years. I totally understand that. But the beauty of working with a strategist, especially for copywriters who don't have a strategy background, is that they have the copy skills. So really what they're doing is using me as that strategy guide and then taking what they learn and getting it done. So I don't even remember why I'm saying this right now. Just I guess to show you the difference between VIP intensives and marketing months. Same type of project, you know, it's longer than a strategy session, but less intensive than that integrative, integrated strategy approach I told you in the beginning., and I think that those are really, really clear ways for small businesses or medium sized businesses to, you know, jump in and embrace strategy more for their marketing. But you might be thinking, how do you know which of these approaches is right for you? Okay, look, I have some questions that you can ask yourself. First, I want you to think about your timeline. Do you need to implement right away, or are you in planning mode? If you're ready to take action now, and you have the budget for it, an integrated approach might be perfect because you'll get strategy and complete done for you implementation all in one package. Next, consider your own capacity. Are you someone who likes to DIY once you have a clear plan? Or do you have a team member who can implement a strategy for you? If so, then I think a strategy session might be all that you need. You'll get the roadmap and then you can run with it. But there's also complexity. If you're dealing with multiple moving parts or, you know, maybe a major shift in your business or your marketing, let's say, you probably need more than an hour to figure it all out. And that's where an intensive makes sense. You get the depth that you need without committing to that full done for you project. But overall, What really matters is your own comfort level with the approach, because the best strategy in the world is not gonna help you if you're not confident in how to use it. So let's talk about how to make this all work. If you're going with the integrated route, come prepared with your goals and your vision. The most important part is being prepared to make decisions. I'll get back to that in a second. Trust the process because strategy does take time and stay involved in strategic discussions. But here's why being ready to make decisions is so important. As a copywriter, I can, and someone who has an MFA in creative writing, I have the skills that I need to mimic your voice based on what I've learned about you and what you've told me. But I can't make your business decisions for you. So, you know, when we're doing an audit in strategy, let's say, if I'm reviewing SEO, You're going to have to help me make decisions. Similarly, when it comes to doing things like mission, vision, and values, I can't make your mission up for you or your values. That's something you're going to have to be able to express to me during this integrated process. Now, more practical tips about strategy sessions. Come prepared. And focus on one main goal or problem. Or alternatively, come with that long list of thoughts written out and we'll kind of prioritize together. Gather relevant data before you come. You know, for example, especially if this is like an SEO thing, you have the analytics. So take your analytics and make sure you bring them to the call. Better yet, send them to your copywriter. Send them to me, , before we meet so I can review them. If you're going to meet with someone else for a strategy session, be a good note taker. Come prepared to pay attention and take notes. Now, if you come to my call, my sessions, I am so ADD that I'm going to take notes for you because that's just how I process. And after the call, you'll get the transcript. And notes from our conversation, so you don't even have to take any notes if you don't like to., and then make sure you plot some time in to implement as soon as the call is over. And then finally, for the intensives, block out proper thinking time. This is kind of like making decisions in the beginning. Make sure you bring all of your questions and ideas because the intensive is happening in one container, right? You want to make sure everything gets done and reviewed and analyzed during that timeline. Be ready to look at the overall big picture of things and how marketing choices relate to your business. And then again, plan for implementation support if you need to. It doesn't matter which of these three, like, paths you choose, but just remember that strategy is not a one and done thing. It is absolutely something that you'll revisit and refine as your business grows. Overall, what I want you to take away from today's episode is that there's no wrong way to build a strategic foundation. It's just really the way that works best for you right now. Maybe you start with a strategy session and later move into a bigger project. Maybe you do an intensive and then follow up with a few short focused strategy sessions after that. It's all about finding the right fit where you are and where you want to go. Next week, we're going to talk more about what actually happens during strategy sessions, but for now, I would love to know if any of these approaches resonate with you. Come find me over on threads, send me an email, and let me know. See you next week, where we'll keep talking copy.