The Marketer's Compass
Your Marketing Feels Scattered. It Doesn't Have to Be.
Five areas. Sixteen focus points. One clear system.
The Marketer’s Compass shows you exactly where your marketing is strong, where it’s broken, and what to fix first. No more guessing which problem matters most or where to spend your limited time. Find the specific issue holding you back—and the Wayfinder that solves it.
Core: The Wheel That Steers Your Strategy
Core is the substance of your brand—your mission, values, key messages, signature stories, and reusable content assets. When Core is clear, your team knows what to say and how to prove it.
Purpose
Your true north: the beliefs that guide every decision
Sound Familiar?
- “We keep talking about our ‘why,’ but I still can’t explain it to someone at a networking event.”
- “Our values are on the wall, but nobody actually uses them to make decisions.”
- “Every new hire asks what we stand for, and everyone gives a different answer.”
Messages
Your narrative: the stories and truths you stand for
Sound Familiar?
- “I just heard three different people pitch our work three completely different ways.”
- “We don’t have anything to back up what we’re claiming—just trust us, I guess?”
- “Every time someone asks what we do, I find myself making it up on the spot.”
Assets
Your archive: the visuals and content uniquely yours
Common Pains/Issues:
- “I know we made that graphic last year, but good luck finding it now.”
- “Why are we recreating this presentation? Didn’t someone already build this?”
- “Our brand files are… somewhere. Probably in someone’s personal Google Drive.”
Character: The identity Your Brand assumes
Character is how your Core gets expressed—your voice, visual identity, and market positioning. It’s the constructed identity that makes your brand recognizable and distinct, separate from any individual.
Visual
How you look: the identity people recognize instantly
Common Pains/Issues:
- “Is this the right logo? I found three versions and I’m not sure which one to use.”
- “Nothing we create looks like it came from the same organization.”
- “We’re starting every design from scratch because we don’t have templates.”
Voice
How you sound: the personality in every word
Common Pains/Issues:
- “Our emails sound like a law firm, but our social media sounds like a college intern.”
- “How should I write this? I have no idea what our brand actually sounds like.”
- “We sound like everyone else in our space—nothing feels distinctive.”
Positioning
Where you Fit: the space you own in the market
Common Pains/Issues:
- “What makes us different from our competitors? Uh… we care more?”
- “We’re trying to serve everyone, but I don’t think we’re resonating with anyone.”
- “Our pricing doesn’t match how we want to be seen in the market.”
Community: The people who matter most
Community includes everyone your organization touches: customers, partners, and team members. Strong relationships here create loyalty, advocacy, and the network that amplifies your mission.
Customers
Who you serve: the people who choose you
Common Pains/Issues:
- “People just… stop engaging with us, and we have no idea why.”
- “We send the same email to everyone—donors, members, casual supporters—because we don’t know how else to do it.”
- “We only notice someone’s gone when they’ve already been gone for months.”
Team
Who represents you: the voices that carry your brand
Common Pains/Issues:
- “I don’t think our staff feel confident talking about our brand in public.”
- “Can I share this on LinkedIn? I honestly don’t know what I’m allowed to say.”
- “We never ask our team for stories, so we miss out on great examples of our impact.”
Partners
Who amplifies you: the allies who extend your reach
Common Pains/Issues:
- “This collaboration sounded great at first, but now I’m not sure what we’re getting out of it.”
- “Should we partner with them? I don’t know—what’s our criteria again?”
- “We said we’d stay in touch, and then… we didn’t.”
Channels: Your pathways to visibility
Channels are the platforms and pathways you use to reach your community. Whether paid, earned, owned, or social, effective channel strategy ensures you show up where it matters most.
owned
What you control: platforms that build equity
Common Pains/Issues:
- “I’m embarrassed sending people to our site. You can’t find anything!”
- “Our email list just… sits there. We’re not really doing anything with it.”
- “We’re getting traffic, but we’re not capturing any contact info from it.”
Paid
What you invest in: ads that buy attention
Common Pains/Issues:
- “We’re spending money on ads, but I have no idea if they’re actually working.”
- “Let’s just boost this post and see what happens.”
- “Which platform should we use? No clue—let’s try everything and hope something sticks.”
earned
What others say: credibility you can't buy
Common Pains/Issues:
- “We got mentioned in an article! …and then nothing happened.”
- “I wouldn’t know where to start pitching a journalist.”
- “Media coverage happens randomly, and we have no way to make it happen on purpose.”
Social
Where you engage: conversations that build community
Common Pains/Issues:
- “It’s Thursday and we haven’t posted all week. Again.”
- “We post things, but nobody engages. Are we just shouting into the void?”
- “Who’s in charge of social media? …That’s what I thought.”
Conversion: The path from interest to action
Conversion is what happens when interest turns into action – and action becomes lasting relationships. Clear, easy-to-use systems turn attention into measurable results and repeat business.
Awareness-to-interest
The first step: catching attention worth keeping
Common Pains/Issues:
- “People visit our homepage and leave within seconds. What are we doing wrong?”
- “We have a lead magnet, but literally no one downloads it.”
- “I can’t tell if our website actually explains what we do.”
interest-to-action
The commitment: turning curiosity into decision making
Common Pains/Issues:
- “Our donation form asks for way too much information—I wouldn’t fill it out either.”
- “Where’s the call-to-action on this page? Oh, it’s buried at the bottom.”
- “Half our traffic is mobile, and our forms don’t work well on phones.”
action-to-retention
The relationship: one transaction becomes many
Common Pains/Issues:
- “Someone donates, and then we just… never follow up with them?”
- “We have no plan for people who used to support us but stopped.”
- “After someone’s first interaction with us, what’s next?”
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