How "brand" can fuel your growth flywheel

Hello, and welcome to Marketing Powerups! ??

Today's powerups include:

• The power of non-coercive marketing.
• How to write helpful emails 10x faster.
• Margaret Kelsey’s brand flywheel.

Ready? Let's go! ??

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?? Margaret’s Strategic Brand Flywheel

Brand marketing is about much more than just colors and fonts. It's a complex area that shapes the entire business, from its culture and content to its connection with the community.

It’s why Margaret Kelsey (who has worked in brand and marketing at OpenView , Appcues , and InVision ) came up with a four-part?Strategic Brand Framework: Culture, Brand, Content, and Community.

The aim is to change how we see the role of a brand within a company, making it a key part of a company’s growth strategy.

"Having a brand team that owns the flywheel makes brand an actual strategic function within your organization rather than a keeper of colors and fonts and voice. They become less of a hall monitor and more of an actual strategic function."

So, let's dive into Margaret Kelsey's Strategic Brand Framework and learn how each part helps build a powerful and meaningful brand.

1. Culture ??

For Margaret, a company's internal culture is at the heart of its brand. She believes that when a company's culture shares the same values as its brand, and these values matter to the target audience, the company is on the right track.

"If you're hiring people who believe in the same values as your target audience, then anytime your content marketer writes something, or your customer success person answers a question, they operate within that value framework. They're going to get it right, like 99% of the time."

2. Brand ??

Margaret sees a brand as more than a product; it's a statement about the person using it. It's the emotional connection between a brand and its audience.

"When you buy a brand,?it says something about your character or who you want to be. It's like little badges of honor or badges of personality that happen with consumer brands. And I think that software companies and software brands can start to do the same thing where it means something to use Asana instead of another tool."

3. Content ??

Margaret believes that a brand is part of everything an organization creates. It includes how you educate your market and guide them along the customer's journey.

"Brand is every touch point. It's every email that anyone has ever sent externally. It's every single person that has my company attached to their LinkedIn."

4. Community ??

Finally, Margaret emphasizes the important role of community in her framework. She sees community as a group of people who share a sense of belonging.

"When you invest in community, which means participating with a group of people, providing value, and sharing a sense of belonging, you gain insights that you can feed back into the organization."

Free powerups cheatsheet ??

I’ve created a?powerups cheatsheet exclusively for Marketing Powerups subscribers?to apply Margaret Kelsey's Strategic Brand Flywheel.

You can download and make a copy of it here.

In the latest?Marketing Powerups episode, Margaret further explains her Strategic Brand Flywheel.

Listen to the episode on?Apple Podcast?and?Spotify?now, or watch it on?YouTube.

? Mini powerups

Fun-sized tools, links, and blurbs to boost your marketing.

???HoppyCopy?(tool): This AI assistant produces powerful copy for dozens of email marketing campaigns, drips, newsletters, and more—in seconds! I’ve tried it out for a few onboarding emails I’m writing. It’s better than I expected it to be!

??Why you’re creating content in the wrong direction?(LinkedIn post): Great content doesn’t always hinge on what you write. Oftentimes, it’s the order in which you write. Sara Lattanzio explains on LinkedIn the right order for creating great content.

???Ahrefs Webmaster Tool?(sponsored): This is the only free SEO tool that can go through up to 5,000 web pages and find 140 common SEO issues that could cost you valuable traffic. I currently use it for Marketing Powerups, and I’ve already found some issues!

???Show don't sell: the power of non-coercive marketing?(article): When most people think about direct response marketing, they think about the pushy, hard sell. But non-coercive marketing is an effective strategy for brands wanting to stand out.

If you enjoyed this, you’d love this Marketing Powerups issue from the archives about?how one lie can burn and ruin your brand. I share a past mistake that ruined my relationship with a mentor.

That’s all for now, friends!

Have a powered-up day,

Ramli John

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