Digital marketers keep an assortment of internal marketing tools in their belts. Google Analytics, Yoast, Grammarly, and more help improve and measure a marketing plan’s performance. At Seventh Scout, our team uses an additional tool designed to help establish the purpose behind a marketing plan called TRAIL MARKERS.
Rather than developing a template and changing our clients to fit the mold, our team constructs individual marketing strategies based on Who our clients are. We do this through method acting of sorts. It all starts with getting to know our clients through our “Discover and Plan” process.
In addition, our team uses TRAIL MARKERS to understand better the organizations we work with by establishing the vital elements of the client’s purpose, audience, brand, and goals.
What are TRAIL MARKERS?
The Seventh Scout TRAIL MARKERS document establishes our client’s Who, What, How, and Why. The Path of the Seventh Scout is one in which anything can get you to your goals. Our marketing process relies on the information in TRAIL MARKERS to form this path to achieving goals for each client.
Included in the TRAIL MARKERS document is information such as:
- Basic Company Metrics (size, industry, location)
- Company Core Values
- Mission Statements
- Branding Elements
- List of Services
- Competitor Information
- Industry Inspirations
- Audience & Personas
- Internal & External Perceptions
- The Why Behind Company Motivations
Think of the TRAIL MARKERS as both guideposts and guardrails that help shape and narrow the focus of our clients’ work. Documenting both tangible and intangible elements of the client, along with aspirational goal-orientated details, establishes how Seventh Scout can create the path to achieving a client’s marketing goals.
TRAIL MARKERS is ultimately the Destination for a client.
How do TRAIL MARKERS serve as internal marketing tools?
While the primary purpose of TRAIL MARKERS is for the team to gain a better understanding of a client, we hope that clients also participate in drafting their TRAIL MARKERS. Seventh Scout’s goal is to better speak and advocate for our clients in all ways.
TRAIL MARKERS establishes how we use other internal marketing tools, like Google Analytics and Yoast to create better marketing materials for clients.
Focusing on Why our client provides its services allows us to honestly act on their behalf when creating content and engaging online. Defining purpose is essential to Seventh Scout. Our purpose as an agency is to help others fulfill their ambitions. TRAIL MARKERS defines that purpose in the present and the future as the client works toward its ambitions.
Our team uses the information in the TRAIL MARKERS to ensure the content we create and the actions we take on behalf of our clients continually move us along the path to their goals. As both guardrails and guideposts, TRAIL MARKERS become a resource to ensure we accurately embody our client.
Creating our TRAIL MARKERS
TRAIL MARKERS is heavily influenced by two books: “Find Your Why” written by Simon Sinek and “United We Brand” by Mike Moser. Both of these books emphasize the importance of core values.
Core values are super influential in a company’s actions and their customer base. Additionally, core values impact creative briefs and the tone set by an organization’s goods and services. Seventh Scout believes that all the information surrounding a company’s purpose is essential for producing high-quality results.
Creatively speaking, the TRAIL MARKERS design includes several hand-drawn elements that embody the Seventh Scout branding. These elements represent our team and the hands-on approach we use with our clients.
The idea of incorporating hand-drawn elements felt right in reflecting the symbolism in moving along the winding and the sometimes hard-to-see path we take while crafting relationships and executing our clients’ goals.
The information provided by using multiple internal marketing tools improves our team’s ability to reach our clients’ aspirations. We are able to walk in our clients’ shoes thanks to the information provided in TRAIL MARKERS.
Reflecting on Seventh Scout’s TRAIL MARKERS allows our team to represent our clients better. Our purpose as an agency is to help our clients fulfill their purposes. We invite you to learn more about the Seventh Scout Why and the purpose each of our team members serves.
