How to Create a Branded Marketing Plan with Mollie Morrocco

Are you looking to refine your marketing and ensure it truly speaks to your ideal client? Wondering how to create a branding plan that not only captures attention but also converts leads into clients? If these questions resonate with you, then you won’t want to miss this episode of the Take Your Shot Podcast!

In this interview with Mollie Morrocco, we learn about the importance of building a branded marketing plan that aligns perfectly with your business goals. Mollie Marrocco shares her expert insights on identifying the core elements that make up a compelling brand message and how to effectively communicate this to your audience.

Some key topics we talk about are:

• The Importance of a Messaging Blueprint: Discover the significance of having a clear and concise blueprint that guides all your marketing efforts and communications.
• Strategic Content Creation: Learn how to create content that not only resonates with your ideal clients but also encourages engagement and drives conversions.
• Balancing Specificity and Broad Appeal: Understand how to find the perfect balance in your messaging to appeal directly to your intended clients without alienating potential leads.
• Effective Brand Messaging: Gain insights into crafting messages that effectively communicate the value of your services and resonate deeply with your target audience.
• Client Engagement Strategies: Learn strategies for engaging potential clients through personalized and impactful content.
• Content Management Tips: Get practical advice on managing your content efficiently to maintain consistency across all marketing channels.

Tune into this episode to get equipped with the knowledge you need to craft a branded marketing plan that stands out in the crowded wedding industry market. Let’s dive into how you can enhance your branding and marketing efforts to ensure they are as effective as possible in attracting and retaining your ideal clients.

Episode Show Notes: https://takeyourshotcollective.com/how-to-create-a-branded-marketing-plan/

So, There's a lot to unpack there. Molly, welcome. Do you want to introduce yourself and tell people about who you are and what you do? Yeah. Awesome. So, , I am Molly and I am a business coach. I focus primarily on brand messaging and marketing. That's kind of like my niche in the business coaching world.

, but my background is actually as a wedding planner. So I started my career as a teacher, but I had always grown up loving weddings. I was like the girl who got Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine when she was 14. Like, I was that girl. So I was always kind of like, this is what I'm going to do. This is going to be my life.

And then did that while I was teaching and kind of just got to the point where I got burnt out with all of it, but realized I loved business and I love the creative industry. I love the wedding industry. And I really wanted to work with those people. I just didn't necessarily want to work with brides.

So I ended up. kind of combining all of the things that I had learned with teaching into now coaching and then, you know, my background in the wedding industry and, , writing. So I do copywriting for people and coaching and things like that all around. How do I talk to my ideal client and get them to listen?

It doesn't always actually resonate with the end user or the intentional person you're trying to reach. And so I think just like having an overall strategy and taking your skills and experience and doing all that, it's So good. And, , it can be really hard to figure out how to be organized and how to actually like define these things and how to know what works, what doesn't.

So I'm seriously so excited. So as you've kind of had in your experience, what would you say are the kind of like the biggest things that you see people missing when it comes to, just like figuring out how to be strategic in their messaging? Like, where do you see people falling short of that?

Yeah, so that's a good question. So like you were kind of saying, a lot of it is like throwing spaghetti against a wall and just kind of seeing what sticks in a way, like to a point, but that has to come from somewhere. So what I help my clients do is we sit down and we create a messaging blueprint. And that essentially is what it sounds like.

Just outlining all of those things so that when you go to create content, you know what you want to say. Cause I think one of the mistakes that people end up making is that they're talking about way too many things. They're talking about things in their messaging that they are not actually responsible for creating.

I know, you know, having worked with a lot of wedding planners, they'll be like, this will be the best day of your life. And it's like, well, babe, love you. But like, we shouldn't be promising that because that is not what we are delivering to a client. What we are delivering is a beautiful wedding. We are delivering is a stress free wedding planning process.

So you kind of like got to go back and forth to find that sweet spot of, I'm speaking directly to my specific client and that one thing that they really want, and I'm okay with the fact that I'm not speaking to what everyone wants. But I'm also not so niched down that people are kind of like, wait, what, like, what, what do you do again?

So it's, it's striking that fine balance and that's a lot of what I work with people to help them do. And I think finding that balance and making sure that you're actually like communicating what it is you actually do. I think you hit the nail on the head there with like, I think we are like, Oh, this is wedding related.

So I'm just going to share that. Or this is wedding related. So I'm just going to give that tip. But yeah, it has absolutely nothing to do with the problems that you're solving or how you're actually resonating with your ideal client. And so I think that's really awesome. Do you mind, let's back up a little bit.

The person that you are working with, you have to define what they want. You have to define why they can't get the thing that they want. And so you have to go through that process for what you're going to be saying, because everything else builds off of that. You can't create content. If you don't know the problem that you're solving, you can't create content if you don't know the emotions that your client is experiencing.

And I think like the emotional piece is a really huge piece. If you can get into your client's head. And sometimes this looks like saying the mean stuff that they're saying in their own heads, like, out loud. So it would be like, I know you're worried that you're not gonna love the way you look on camera.

You know, and that helps them feel more comfortable. Like, I know my photographer's gonna be like, Looking for my strategic angles, helping me find the light, and like, making sure I look beautiful in, you know, my photos or my video or whatever. And so again, that takes that fear that they have out of their head and allows you to speak to it in a way where they hear you say that and they're like, oh, you're my person, because you get it.

And so that's what we're trying to create with our messaging. And then once we have that, like I said, now what I just said could be a post for you. It could be a reel for you, you know, it can, it informs the rest of your content. So it's really about finding that baseline framework for your messaging first.

Cause I think what a lot of business owners do is they're like, what? I already just said this and it's like, well, but you didn't reach all of the people. And even if you did reach all of the people, you know, I, it's some crazy stat now that keeps increasing where it's like, they need to hear you eight times or 24 times or whatever, until they listen.

So it's like you have to kind of keep saying the same thing, maybe in a little bit of a different way, but that becomes what you are known for. And I think a lot of times people Shy away from that because they're like, but I just said it. So it's really just understanding that process, starting with the framework and then using that to inform the types of content that you're gonna create.

That's a good question. So, uh, part of any of this stuff that we're talking about here is that you get to choose. Like, you can think in your mind of different client avatars that you've worked with, some of whom may not be comfortable in front of the camera, some of whom, you know, Just really want those, like, highly emotional photos, somewhat, like, more photojournalistic approaches.

So, you've got to decide, like, okay, who am I and how, like, what kind of work am I creating in the world? And then what kind of client is going to appreciate that? And then what problem do they have that I am solving with my approach to this? So, again, if it's a client that doesn't want, like, heavily posed images, then that is what your client wants.

And then that kind of informs it. But you're also looking at past data from like, What have clients said to you? You want to look at your testimonials and say like, okay. A lot of my clients, which is super funny, I, when I first started, my tagline was I help people bring their brand to life and worth. And then I had so many clients say to me, Oh, you helped me bring my brand to life and worth.

This was after I'd kind of changed it and brought it to a new iteration. I was like, Oh, okay. So this is what I help people do. And without prompting, they're seeing that I do this. So look at what those patterns are that may come up that people are saying to you. , and you know, even when you, discovery calls are huge.

And you use those exact words in your marketing when you're talking back to them because that's when they have that moment of like, wait a second, but that's what I say. So like. You know, this person clearly gets it, and if they get it, Then they can solve the problem. They can make me feel comfortable.

And they're the person I feel like I want to work with. Amazing. Yeah. And I think, I think a lot of times we feel like we can't say things straight forward, right? Like asking for the sale, defining what the problems are because people don't want to be like, Oh no, there has to, there has to be a seeker out there.

But literally it is pretty straightforward. And I love how you just define that for everyone because you can be straightforward. Like people just want to be told, like, What's their next step? Or what should they be thinking about? Or like, what problems are you solving? Like, if you define that as clear as possible and providing a lot of clarity, like, that is key.

Um, okay. So now you want to create these reels or you want to create this content. What do you recommend for, like, staying organized and actually putting together a solid plan? Like, do you have a step by step process? Do you have any tools you use? Like, for people who feel overwhelmed and feel like they cannot be consistent for the life of them, What do you recommend?

Yeah, so consistency obviously is the name of the game. We all know that. We all struggle with that. So, I think the biggest thing is figuring out, like, how often can I consistently commit to posting? And then, let's say that it's like once a week. So, okay, that's four reels a month that I need to create. So, we've got to figure out, like, I'm going to create four reels a month.

So we've got to make sure that, you know, our, if we're doing face to camera content in some way, that that's something that we're, we're talking about, or even just the content that lives within Our social media content, because as creatives, we all want to hide behind our reels, we all want to hide behind our work, we all want to hide behind that, we do not want to show ourselves, we do not want to talk, we feel stupid, we're like, no, no, no, no, I cannot, I'm behind the camera, that's, that's where I am, you know, and I see.

So it's the wanting to blend in, and again, I really see this with creatives as a struggle for them, of like, but I want to be just like so and so, whoever that person is that they've like sat on a pedestal that's, you know, killing it and doing a great job. I want to be just like that. So they try to be just like that person and they hide all the aspects of themselves.

That they really should be showing because those are going to be the things that connect with your audience. And again, going back to kind of your buyer types, depending on the buyer type that you have, they might need to be sold to in a way where they feel really connected to you. So if you're hiding behind the camera, if you're hiding behind your content, you're not showing yourself or you're not saying the things that they need to hear.

Simple quote unquote. I start and I always script my videos. , so I'm going to sit down, I'm going to say like, what is my hook? I'm going to make sure that I'm kind of like introducing myself and explaining who I am. , that I'm going to have kind of the meat and the potatoes of whatever I'm saying. And then I'm going to have some kind of call to action for people.

Not every video is going to follow that structure. But especially if you are talking face to camera, that's a good structure to have. And even if you're not, even if you're just, like, a photo collage, text on screen, whatever, Your hook is one of the most important things that you want to have, and it can be text on screen, it can be something that you're saying, you know, whatever.

Like, what is this telling me? How can I turn this into something, like, juicy that someone wants to see? Again, even if it's a photo collage, like, maybe you just have all these photos from, like, a wedding that you did that you were like, this is beautiful, I wanna put it into a reel with some trending music on it.

It's like, what was special about this reel? Like I saw, , someone do something where it was like, you know, three to five seconds of kind of them just literally staring at the camera and not saying anything, and there was text on the screen that said, like, I wanted my wedding photos to look like a Lana Del Rey music video.

And then it was like the collage of the photos, but even something simple like that is huge because people are like, what does a Lana Del Rey music video look like in photos? Or like, I want that. That curiosity is piqued. With your hook and then people are like, oh, I want to see what it is. So there are ways to do that.

So I kind of do it in those four phases. I will never film, edit, you know, post a video all at once. Like, I rarely do that. In fact, I hired an editor because I hate it so much. , but if you're doing that, it's like film, film, film, everything, just like batch film. That's why I'm here in makeup today, because I'm going to batch film after this.

Don't be like, I'm gonna post a reel three times a week, every week, and then you do, and you create it, and then you burn out, and then you drop off for four months. We, I mean, we've all been there, but, you know, if you can just say, okay, I'm just gonna create four. Even if I'm excited, I'll, maybe I'll script out the rest, or I'll film some extra ones, but I'm only gonna focus on doing four, so that I don't burn out, because that's what I see a lot of people doing.

Totally. Man, there, there's so much to unpack in just that piece. One quick logistical question I had, because you kind of walked through the whole process and you batch it, , how do you recommend going through the batches, batching process, but also still being able to use that trending audio? Like, do you have any sort of tips for people who want to hop on the trending audio, but also, Because I feel like a lot of people who do the trending audios, you feel like you have to make it in real time.

And people don't really do, like, the pointing thing anymore, but when I say b roll, think of that. It's, like, either, like, you know, it's a camera set up, you know, watching me take pictures or looking at me editing something, and then you can just put text on the screen. But it's having that, like, footage, essentially, that you can then use and put , a hook, put words, and put a trending sound over it.

So, those two things, I'll say, don't often need to, like, match. Like, you don't need to have the footage and the sound together. You can have all the footage batched, ready to go, and you're like, I wanna use this trending sound, I know what I'm gonna do for my hook, and you put them both together. And would you say that all of your reels have trending audio, or do you have some where you create it with a different audio in mind, and then you just don't worry about the trending audio?

So. Yeah. You definitely don't need to know and you can just add your trending audio after. , so yeah, it's kind of, it gives you the freedom to do that if you just have a bunch of batch short clips that you can use a trending audio for.

Okay. Awesome. Yeah. Thank you. That's super helpful in terms of just how to create an effective video. So thanks for just giving those tips in that I would love to talk a little bit more about like how do you know, like what types of content you can create and like the purpose to each and then also how that serves the different buyer types that you were talking about.

It's not getting the response, but maybe it's getting you clients and it's really highly converting, but it's either so niched down or so specific. That it's not always going to be growing your account. So. You're focused on, you know, creating all this content because you want all the views, but then it's not doing anything to nurture those people who need to be nurtured through that.

So, you can kind of approach it from the idea of like, okay, maybe a meme, something like that is going to be like something that Could go mini viral, could go viral, could get a lot of people with eyes on your account, like watching what you do, it's going to be great, but it's not necessarily going to equate into a bunch of sales for you.

So you also need to then, once you get those eyes on your brand, you need to be taking those and creating more growth and nurturing, or excuse me, nurturing content instead of the growth content. So that nurturing content is really where you're going to be focused on, who are my buyer types and what do they need to hear?

They feel really connected to you and they need to feel that before they're going to buy from you. , you also have buyer types who need to know that working with you is going to make the world better in some way, or it's going to make someone's life better in some way. So this is someone who's kind of like an ethical buyer and they're like, You know, I want to make sure that my purchase or, you know, my investment with this person is doing something.

So that could be something as simple as like, you know, you're working with a florist and they're going to take all your flowers and donate them to, you know, a retirement home or something like that after working with you, that could be the tipping point for that type of buyer to say, I want to work with this florist versus someone else.

Whether they are looking for someone who does what you do or somebody else. And it's more important to them that you've been, you know, published in Vogue than it is that they know that your dog's name is Snoopy. Like, you know, it's those types of things. So, obviously, the content that you're creating is going to be different.

, and then you're going to have analytical buyers. And I I feel like wedding people, analytical buyers probably are not their favorite. They're like, okay, well, what am I getting? Like, how many hours am I getting? Do I get a second shooter? Like, they want to know all the little details of everything that they're getting, , before they feel comfortable making a purchase.

, so it's like, you've got to know that. And it, you know, the other kind of thing to think about when you're creating this content is that like we talked about, people are going to buy because of emotion and connection that they feel. So they see you, they want to work with you. You're like, Oh my gosh, great.

Amazing. So this could be like that, those driver results or that amiable connection that they feel. What is going to make them feel good about the purchase that they made is that it makes logical sense to them. So this is almost like where Girlmoth comes in and like, they're like, okay, but like the analytical side of me is like, well, I got this and this and this and I got an engagement shoot free.

So, you know, it's, it feels overwhelming to hear all this because you're like, Oh my God, there's all these different buyer types and so many different things to do. And how do I do it? And a lot of it can be done, like, analyzing your current content and really looking at, like, what's done well. And if you haven't taken the time to experiment with different kinds of content, like, you need to do that.

So recently I did a 90 day kind of Instagram growth thing. , and I was always just doing face to camera, education, value. And I started, like, sprinkling in more memes and things like that. And those didn't Significantly better on my account, like views and engagement wise and things like that, which was good to know, but they're not selling for me.

And we've talked through kind of like the nitty gritty of doing, you know, Short form videos and how to actually like create those in a strategic way. , to then, you know, have the call to action, make sure there's a hook and actually having like the grit of what you want to be communicating, but overall big picture,

, do you mind talking through a little bit of like the workflow in which Like, you actually schedule these out, like, the cadence and, like, kind of maybe systems and tools you might recommend using to stay organized in this process? Yeah, so, obviously, like, when it comes to, like, the pre planning side of things, you know, I'm pretty simple.

I've tried a bunch of different tools, a bunch of different things, but, like, my script is sex to me. Like, these are my scripts, literally. It's just a Word document with bullet points that I print out and I read, like, You know, as I'm going to do where I have the certain, , clips that I want to film just written out.

Most people will edit natively in whatever app they're using, so Instagram or TikTok. You can obviously also use CapCut as well to help with editing. , you know, I found my editor on Upwork. He's reasonable, you know. , so it just depends on, like, how much you really want to get into that. But I would look at two, like, In this whole process, like, where are you getting tripped up?

I'm like, I'm not doing anything else but creating freaking short form video. I can't do this. So. You know, find out where that is. , then when it comes to like posting in terms of tools that people should use metricool is really good if you want to be able to Pre plan and schedule all of your posts.

That's the tool that I recommend to do that I have used it and I think it's awesome. The struggle that I have is that Sometimes I'd rather do the work on the back end of it, meaning that, like, I'd rather just have it ready to go in my drafts, hit post, and then I use a tool called Repurpose. io. , and Repurpose is great because it will then allow you on the other side to go either automatically or manually send your content from one platform to another.

I'm kind of like, , I don't know if I want to do all that work with scheduling. I'd rather just, like, post what I want to post, , you know, on whatever day I want to post it and then, you know, make it go where I need it to go after the fact. , But it depends on, like, people's creative process as well, because a lot of my clients tend to be, like, kind of spiritual and woo woo and creative y, and they're like, I don't want to have a, like, motivation Monday and a tip Tuesday.

And some of my clients do. They're, like, organized and OCD like me, and they're like, tell me what to do. So it just depends on, like, how much structure you want around this. , and then leaving in room for those additional things that are on trend, that are happening now, that kind of need to be posted in the moment, you leave space to do that kind of thing as well.

So literally you connect it, like you create your account and you, you connect it to all of your social platforms and then within it you create what's called workflows. And so I have a workflow for my TikTok to my Instagram reels. Then for my Instagram Reels to my Facebook, I could also do TikTok to Facebook, but it depends because I don't put everything that goes on TikTok for me on to Instagram.

And again, you set it either manual so you can do it or you said it's automatic and it just does it for you. Amazing. So if you did it, if you did it manually, would it just show up as a draft in each of those? Yes. So, yeah, it just shows up as like, hey, here's your most recent content. You hit the publish button, it pops up a box with your caption, you make any edits you need to your caption, you hit schedule, and that's, you know, that's it.

It's super good.

Okay. Wow. That was so much gold right there. I feel so motivated and inspired to just go out and like batch content and actually have a strategy in place. Like you just shared so much great information. I guess for someone who is listening and they really want to figure out, okay, where should I start? I want to, I'm motivated.

She's 29 and she shops at Abercrombie. It's like more of the psychographics of really who this person is. And what they are really looking for from you, and getting very clear on that, , because I think, again, that's where everything else in your marketing that you do comes from, whether it's your website copy.

Whether it's your social media posts, like, all of those things should be pretty consistent. You want to, like, think about, your messaging might shift a little bit in terms of where in, like, your funnel that you are, aka, like, we're in the process of taking this client from someone who is not a client yet, just maybe a follower, to someone who's actually working with you.

What piece of information do they need at each one of those stages? And so, just having your message clearly defined helps make sure that that is consistent throughout.

And so, for people who are interested in potentially working with you or learning more from you, where can they find you? What kind of things do you offer? Awesome. Yeah. So you can find me on TikTok or Instagram. I am branded with a purpose and, , basically I work with clients either through coaching or copywriting and primarily through coaching and you can work with me either just doing a single session to help you really define that message and you can take that and go off and do what you need to do.

Or I work with clients to define their entire strategy for them through VIP days, which have actually been super popular. A lot of people are like, just tell me, give me the strategy. I can go implement it, but I just need some help kind of like coming up with what that is. , and so I think that's a really great option for a lot of people who don't have the budget to necessarily have the support and do it.

And so if anyone's listening and you're like, man, I loved learning from Molly today. I am just wanting to hop on a call with her or learn more about her services. Please do that. Everything's going to be linked in the show notes below. So thank you so much, Molly, for sharing all your knowledge today and helping everyone just kind of get a better understanding of how they could be a little bit more strategic in their marketing.

So thank you. And for everyone else listening, we'll see you next week. Awesome. Thank you so much.