Brand Strategy & Marketing Strategy

Powerful social media marketing strategy tailored for small NZ businesses

What’s the Big Deal About Marketing Strategy?

Here’s the thing about marketing strategy: without it, you’re basically throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. A marketing strategy is your blueprint, your road map, your game plan (whatever metaphor works for you) for how to attract and retain customers. It’s the single most important component of your business’ growth plan.

Better still, an effective marketing strategy builds your brand’s identity, gives you direction, and ensures the time, effort, and money you put into marketing actually works. Sounds good, right? But how do you nail it?

“How do I create a winning marketing strategy?” Glad you asked. We’re here to answer exactly that.

Strategy isn’t a PDF you look at once and forget.

Most people think of brand or marketing strategy as something you get made, once. A polished document. Maybe some slides. But real strategy? It lives inside your decisions, your messaging, your channels, your offer.

At Project Seven, we help you build strategy that shows up in the actual work, not just the workshop.

Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been running things by instinct for years, we help you get clear on what’s working, what isn’t, and what your marketing should actually be doing.

We don’t believe in forcing brands into frameworks that don’t fit. Your strategy should reflect:

The way you naturally connect with people
What your team can actually action
How your customers already experience your business

That’s why we start with conversations, not templates.

Consistent branding efforts are essential as part of an ongoing strategy to develop a strong brand identity.

Strategy that starts with how you work.

Introduction to Brand Strategy

A successful brand strategy is the special sauce behind every business that stands out in a crowded, competitive market. It’s more than just a logo or a catchy tagline, it’s a comprehensive brand strategy that shapes how your products or services are perceived, remembered, and recommended. By crafting a strong brand identity and a clear brand positioning statement, you give your business a unique edge that resonates with your target audience and sets you apart from the competition.

A well-crafted marketing strategy doesn’t just help you get noticed; it builds brand recognition and fosters long-term customer loyalty. When your brand consistently delivers on its promises and values, customers are more likely to stick around, advocate for you, and become part of your story. A comprehensive brand strategy is your roadmap for staying relevant, memorable, and trusted. No matter how crowded the marketplace gets.

What is a Marketing Strategy?

Boiling it down, a marketing strategy is your north star.

It outlines what you want to achieve, how you’ll get there, and why customers should pay attention. It’s broader than a day-to-day marketing plan because it defines the why behind all your marketing activities.

Think of it as the brains behind the operation, while a tactical 12-month plan is the legs doing the running.

Defining specific, measurable marketing objectives that align with your overall business aims is essential. Clear marketing objectives help guide your efforts, ensuring your strategy is focused on increasing traffic, improving conversion rates, and achieving your broader goals.

Here are the key elements we build your marketing strategy around:

Your
Audience

Identifying your target market is crucial for understanding who your brand should reach and how to position your messaging effectively.

Who are they, what do they value, and where do they hang out? They are key in understanding your customer journey and where it’s helping or hurting conversion.

Researching and understanding your target customers’ needs, desires, and demographics allows you to tailor your approach and build stronger relationships. Analysing your target audiences helps inform strategic decision-making and identify market gaps.

Creating detailed personas will help you define your ideal customer, including their preferences, pain points, and motivations.

Value Proposition

Why should people choose your business over competitors? Is your messaging landing? Does it reflect who you actually are?

Identifying your unique selling point is essential to differentiate your business from competitors and establish a strong market position.

Ensure your brand message is consistent and resonates with your audience to build trust and enhance brand recognition.

Highlight how your product or service offers specific benefits that solve customer problems and should be clearly communicated in your value proposition.

Brand
Positioning

The unique way your brand sits in the market. This includes knowing competitor blind spots such as where you could stand out more or stop playing it so safe.

Effective market positioning is crucial for establishing your brand’s long-term identity and value proposition, helping you differentiate from competitors and achieve sustainable growth.

A distinct brand stand makes your brand memorable and recognizable, ensuring it stands out in the marketplace.

Clarifying why your brand exists and how it aligns with customer needs creates a clear and motivating brand narrative that resonates with your audience.

Channels and Tactics

How will you reach and communicate with your audience? Are you showing up in the right places for your stage of business?

Integrated marketing campaigns are essential for reaching your audience effectively, ensuring your message is consistent across all channels.

Traditional marketing methods, such as print ads and radio spots, remain relevant for certain audiences and industries, especially for local businesses and older demographics.

When designing your tactics, focus on strategies that engage customers and foster long-term loyalty.

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Brand Foundation

Every strong brand is built on a rock-solid foundation. This means getting crystal clear on your brand’s values, mission statement, and brand personality. These aren’t just buzzwords, they’re the guiding principles that shape every interaction you have with your target audience. When your brand foundation is authentic and well-defined, it helps you build trust, credibility, and a loyal customer base that believes in what you stand for.

Understanding your target audience’s needs and preferences is key to developing a successful brand strategy. That’s where market research comes in. By digging into what your audience cares about, you can tailor your messaging and marketing materials to truly resonate. And it’s not just about what you say. It’s about where you say it. Consistency across all marketing channels, from your social media accounts to your printed materials, ensures your mission statement and brand personality shine through at every touchpoint. This is how you turn casual buyers into lifelong fans.

Brand Development

Brand development is where your brand’s personality and values come to life. It’s about creating a unique and consistent brand identity that your audience can instantly recognise and connect with. This includes everything from your visual identity, like your logo, colour palette, and typography, to your brand voice and tone. A strong brand identity helps you stand out in a competitive market and builds lasting brand recognition.

But it doesn’t stop at looks and language. Smart brand development means using analytics tools to track your marketing efforts and identify trends in how your target audience interacts with your brand. This data-driven approach helps you refine your marketing mix, set a realistic marketing budget, and develop a pricing strategy that aligns with your business objectives. When your comprehensive brand strategy is backed by solid insights and a clear plan, you’re set up for growth and long-term success.

Brand Expression

Brand expression is how your brand shows up in the world and connects with your target audience. It’s the sum of all your marketing efforts. Every ad, social media post, and piece of content that carries your brand’s message. A well-crafted marketing strategy ensures your brand positioning statement, unique value proposition, and brand messaging are clear, consistent, and compelling across all marketing channels.

Digital marketing is a powerful way to reach both new and existing customers, build brand loyalty, and boost brand recognition. Leveraging search engine optimisation and social media channels helps you engage your audience where they already spend their time. To keep your brand expression on point, a strong brand strategy should include a brand style guide that outlines your visual elements and brand’s voice. This ensures every touchpoint, from your website to your social media, feels cohesive and true to your brand’s identity, making it easier for customers to remember you, trust you, and choose you again and again.

What We Do

We do marketing strategy differently. Say goodbye to carbon-copy solutions and garbage-filled reports. We create tailored plans that fit products, services, and industries like a bespoke suit.

A cohesive branding strategy is essential to guide your brand identity, messaging, and market positioning in a competitive environment.

Wanna nail your brand messaging? Or optimise your digital presence so customers actually find you? That’s our jam.

Defining and communicating your brand’s values helps shape decision-making and sets you apart in the marketplace. We also ensure your brand’s voice remains consistent across all marketing channels, building trust and a strong connection with your audience.

From understanding your brand’s deep-seated purpose to ensuring all tactics align with measurable business goals, we help you turn ideas into outcomes.

And if you’ve had a strategy done before?

We’ll review it. Pressure test it. And help you adapt it into something you can actually use.

What to Expect in a Strategic Marketing Plan

Marketing strategies build the foundation for success. Here’s what one should include:

Clear objectives.

No vague goals, please.

Are you setting key performance indicators (KPIs)? Key performance indicators are essential for tracking progress toward your marketing objectives and evaluating the effectiveness of your strategies. Know your numbers.

Audience segmentation.

Your audience isn’t a single, uniform group, it’s a dynamic mix of different needs, interests, and behaviours.

Your audience isn’t a single, uniform group. It’s a dynamic mix of different needs, interests, and behaviours. Identifying and segmenting prospective customers is crucial to tailor your marketing approach and ensure your messaging resonates with those most likely to engage with your brand.

Agile strategies.

Marketing evolves, and so should your plan.

Measurement metrics.

Are you setting KPIs? Know your numbers.

Track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as brand awareness, brand equity, and customer loyalty to measure the effectiveness of your keyword strategy.

Include tracking brand sentiment to understand customer perceptions and emotional connections with your brand, which can guide your branding efforts and improve overall brand strategy.

Whats the difference between a Strategic Marketing Plan and a Twelve Month Marketing Plan?

Think of a strategic plan as the high-level “why” behind your efforts. On the other hand, a 12-month marketing plan is much more detailed and focused on tactical execution. A strong marketing strategy informs those day-to-day plans. Without it, you’re just aimlessly busy.

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Not Sure if Your Current Strategy is Actually Working?

Spoiler alert: you don’t need a full rebrand to get clarity.

save me from figuring this out alone

Download our Quick-Start Marketing Strategy Pressure Test, a simple checklist to help you:

Sense-check your current goals and whether they’re still relevant
Spot the gaps in your messaging or offer flow
Figure out if you’re showing up in the right channels
Decide whether you need a tweak or a full strategy reset

It’s designed for service-based businesses in growth mode and only takes 10 minutes to complete.

So… what makes a strategy actually work?

Once we’ve worked through your plan, what makes sure it actually sticks?
These are the things we bake into every strategy we build.

It’s not just about choosing the right channels or setting quarterly goals, it’s how all the moving parts connect. We use plenty of behind-the-scenes tools and frameworks, sure but when it comes to execution, here’s what really matters:

First up, befriend your data. Your analytics are more than just numbers, they’re breadcrumbs. Website traffic, social media engagement, conversion drop-offs… they all tell a story about what’s resonating and what’s not.

Next, consistency is king (or queen). Your brand story needs to show up the same way, everywhere. It’s not just about tone or colours. It’s about trust. If your message shifts too often, people stop paying attention. A strong visual identity and consistent use of brand assets, like your logo and design templates, reinforce brand recognition and help differentiate you in the market.

Building brand equity is also crucial. Positive customer perceptions and experiences strengthen emotional connections and make your brand more valuable over time.

An effective brand is built on a well-crafted brand strategy that defines your identity, positioning, and messaging for long-term success.

And don’t forget who you’re here for: your customers. Lead with value: Every post, email, or campaign should deliver something useful, not just push a sale. The brands that win are the ones that listen well, deliver value, and solve real problems.

Finally, stay curious. A strategy isn’t static. We keep an eye on your competitors, shifts in your industry, and evolving customer behaviour so your strategy doesn’t fall behind.

It’s this blend of insight, adaptability, and relevance that turns a plan into progress.

Why Small Businesses Need a Marketing Strategy

Competition is fierce, budgets are tight, and the last thing you need is wasted effort. A well-thought-out marketing strategy ensures every piece of your marketing puzzle connects. It stretches your spend further and amplifies your voice in the marketplace.

Monitoring emerging trends is crucial for adapting your strategy and staying competitive in a rapidly changing market.

Stop Throwing Spaghetti at the Wall

Want to transform your brand with a killer marketing strategy? We’re here to make those goals happen. Get in touch with us today to turn your marketing efforts into measurable, meaningful results.

“I’m just a small business. Do I really need a strategy?”

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Ready to Elevate Your Brand?

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Success Stories That Spark Growth

Smart marketing is measurable. These wins highlight how we helped businesses grow through bold ideas, solid strategy, and content that actually connects.

Take a look at the traction we’ve helped build

Testimonials

Elina and her team are amazing! They took the load off and enabled us to focus on what we are good at; running the business. They are doing everything from book keeping, answering the phone when we can’t, invoicing to social media posting for us. It makes our “to do list” way more manageable. Thank you of everything you are doing for us!!

Ida Larsson, White Lynx Photography
Elina and her team have been wonderful over the past few years assisting my company with various administrative services. I could not have done it without them. I highly recommend Project Seven as an exceptionally professional company with the ability to adapt to your individual company’s needs.

Mark Hurdley
The team at Project Seven recently provided their support and expertise on the production of a corporate publication. The attention to detail, creativity and professionalism are just some of the components that really made me go “WOW!” What I enjoyed the most was how they were able to take this work off my plate, and just get it done and get it done well.

Pamela Slater
I have been working with Project Seven for a few months now, and I am so happy with the work they are doing. They have taken over my sales calls, VIP group and social media, which has given back so much more of my time. I can’t recommend Project Seven enough! If you have been thinking about outsourcing some work, you won’t be disappointed!

Jade Crowe