Dawn Foster is a marketing strategist, brand guru, and owner of D. Foster Marketing, a consulting firm that also functions as a full-service agency for solopreneurs, and small business owners. Dawn has worked with budgets that range from non-existent to multi-million dollars and everywhere in between. Her experience, creativity, and analytical skills are helping business owners of all sizes create original branding and marketing strategies that are exceeding revenue goals and standing out from their competitors.
What Dawn and I talked about this week…
About Dawn: she loves therapy, church, geeking out on brand and marketing, enjoying food experiences, and travel.
She shared with us her story of how she transversed from graphic design into marketing.
The difference between marketing and branding and what exactly a marketing strategy is.
Under the marketing strategy (the how) comes the marketing tactics. Build the strategy first, then build the brand, and finally, the marketing behind it.
The strategy consists of the target audience and the product, which helps shape the brand and what it looks and feels like.
Small businesses and solopreneurs should consider the following when branding…
Whether they are branding themselves or their business. It’s about who you’re trying to reach and how you’re showing up for them.
Make sure we are not rushing the process.
How to put together a brand on a budget…
Remember there is no “magic bullet”. A brand always evolves.
D. Foster Marketing has created toolkits, assessments, and videos to walk small businesses through from start to finish with branding, which they call the Foundation Series.
For the marketing tactics, start small, figure it out, then grow. You will typically want to start with 3 tactics:
Social– know where your audience and show up where your audience hangs out and stay consistent with it
Email– make sure your socials feed your email and vice versa. Also, be sure to set up automations.
Events- ask your guests to sign up for your emails and socials.
Remember, if a marketing activity is not moving dollars in your business, reconsider how you spend your time, and the resources that you pour into aspects of your social media efforts.
Last word of encouragement for solopreneurs: “Stay consistent and give it some time.” Consistency helps with brand recognition and awareness, so stick with it.
