Marketing Pyramid
We work with local small businesses. Doing so has given us insight into where businesses are skipping important steps. We often hear from business owners that they want more "leads." The problem is that without the basics, paying for ads can lead to wasted money. This can make you feel like the marketing "didn't work." Make sure you follow this marketing hierarchy. This will help you do the basics and avoid losing money. Marketing works, so long as you have everything in place in the Marketing Pyramid. The cool thing is, your phone will also ring more.
Brand Essence - Define your WHO and WHY they would choose you!
Before any marketing can succeed, you must get crystal clear on who your audience is and why they should choose you. This foundational step is often overlooked, but it’s the difference between a business that blends in and one that stands out and grows fast.
Start by identifying your ideal customer—not just general demographics, but real people with specific needs, wants, fears, and goals. Who are they? What do they care about? What problem are they trying to solve?
Next, craft your WHY story—why does your business exist, and what makes you different? This isn’t just a mission statement. It’s your origin story, your values, your vision, and the emotion behind your brand. It is the reason a person will pick you over your competitors.
Then comes your visual and emotional brand: your logo, color palette, typography, tone of voice, and brand personality. Are you bold and edgy? Soft and reassuring? Sophisticated and elite? All of these elements should align with how you want people to feel when they interact with you.
Your brand is not just a logo. It’s the total experience someone has with your company—from first impression to long-term relationship.
Don’t skip this. The clearer your identity and target audience, the easier it is to attract the right people and grow.
Business Profiles - Google Business, Bing Places, Apple Business, Yelp)
Once your brand and audience are clearly defined, it’s time to plant your digital flag. That starts with setting up and fully optimizing your Google Business Profile, Bing Places for Business, Apple Business Connect, and Yelp. In fact, any free listing you can make, make it. These are your most important local search listings—and they’re often the first place potential customers will interact with your business.
Make sure your business name, address, and phone number are consistent across all listings. Then, don’t stop at the basics—go deep. If you don't have time for all of them, start with Google. These platforms reward businesses that provide more detail and play the game they have set out for us to play. Get reviews, make posts, stack your profiles.
Add accurate business categories, your hours of operation, photos, services, products, service areas, and more. Write a strong business description that includes relevant keywords your ideal customers might search for. Think of this like SEO for your local presence—the more complete and specific, the better your chances of showing up in search results.
Also, enable messaging and add booking links or calls to action wherever available. Upload high-quality images that match your brand and show off your work, team, or space. Keep these listings active and updated—add posts, respond to reviews, and treat these profiles like a living marketing channel.
These platforms are powerful—and free. They give you visibility right when people are searching for what you offer. Don’t leave them half-done. A fully built-out profile builds trust, improves rankings, and drives real leads.
Need help? [Click here] to get professional support setting it all up.
Website and SEO ( Maybe SEM, Google Ads)
Your website is next. 81% of shoppers research a brands website before buying. 31% of people will not do business with a company that lacks a website. Additionally, 42% will leave if the website is poorly designed and choose a competitor instead. 9 in 10 of those who leave will never come back!
We created the LaunchScape™ format for websites to boost sales and lead generation. However, you should also ensure your site is easy to read and understand. Also make sure you follow the technical setup requirements Search Engines like Google and Bing require for websites. If you do this, you will more likely be indexed by the search engines and your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) efforts will be more effective.
Even though search patterns are changing, many people now use voice search and A.I. to find information. So you should start spending money on SEO first. Get your website ranking higher across search engines. These technologies still rely on company websites to gather data. This is such a crucial piece of your marketing approach, we recommend getting it done by a professional even though you can do it yourself these days it often gets overlooked and put on the back burner. Learn more about Ryan Spelts Marketing SEO Offerings here.
Some popular platforms to make websites are Wix, Wordpress, Squarespace, and Godaddy. It is fine to do it yourself when you are new. However, we suggest hiring a professional as soon as you can to improve your site, homepage, as well as work on ongoing SEO, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (All Engine Optimization).
Remember no matter who you hire, make sure you own your assets. You should own your URL (web address), own your website data, and any creative they help you with. Do not do business with a company that charges you monthly for your site and if you stop paying you lose your site. You will have to pay for your URL annually and your Hosting monthly or annually, but that is inexpensive. We charge $35/mo to host websites for reference. If it is in the $100s of dollars per month, they may be renting your site to you. Don't do it. It is fine if your company offers a payment plan for your site. This plan will last for a set time. After that, you will only pay for hosting and URL renewal. That is how we do it here.
Want help with a custom LaunchScape™ Website? [Click Here]
Social Media Channels
Look, I get it. You don't want to be an influencer. That is totally ok. However, we want you to realize that there is a unique opportunity that you should be taking advantage of. That is that the largest media companies in the world will allow you to post marketing to their plaftorms for free. 100% free! Use platforms like Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Whatsapp), Google Business Profile, YouTube, TikTok, Nextdoor, Yelp, and Pinterest to promote what you do.
They don't charge you, so try it. It doesn't have to be perfect, just put something out there. Before and After photos, timelapses, educate on what you do. For the past two years, I have taught marketing techniques. He has shared our best tools and methods. He has taught as much as possible and published everything on these free platforms. He may not be an influencer, but he likes to joke when one of his videos gets a few thousand views. He jokingly says he has gone "viral," but that isn't really the point. Ryan's goal has been to promote Ryan Spelts Marketing as the best website development, SEO, Lead Generation, and Creative Services company in Utah.
This approach has resulted in nearly 150,000 views of our content over the past year. There was no cost other than the time it took to record the videos and make images. To show you how valuable this is, consider this: If you wanted to buy 150,000 views on media or social media, it would cost you around $5,000 in ads.
We got it for free.
You can too. This is a simple decision you can make to put yourself and your work out on social media. Ryan is not viral or an influencer. However, he has received a good amount of free media by posting on social media. Follow his lead.
Search Engines also rank social media in their search results. This means someone might see a post you made when they search for something you do. If you optimize the title and answer common questions, that post could lead them to your business. Just make the decision and start posting. You never know, it might lead to tremendous growth. We think it is worth the roll of the dice!
Need help planning your posting schedule? Here is our Social Media Planning Calendar.
CRM Build Your List and Lead System
We love free social media channels and encourage you to build a following. However, we also know there are risks in using these platforms. If you do something against their rules, they could shut you down cutting off your access to Your Audience.
This is why we encourage you to create and nurture your own list. A list you can communicate with via email and text. Your client list is so important and you should have a way to interact with them consistently. In a way that you control.
The best way to do this is through a CRM. CRM is software you can use to keep track of leads and customers. We often recommend GoHighLevel or GHL which can be fully customizable for your business.
You can use this list to stay connected. It helps remind people you are there. You can ask for referrals or share new products. It also helps you build your authority and keep customer loyalty.
Keep track of every customer you do business with, then make a plan to keep in touch with them. It might not be everyone on your list that wants to hear from you. That is ok, let them opt out. You are using this list to communicate with the people who care and want to hear from you.
This is advanced marketing techniques but you will find the top performing teams use this and make huge sales from it. One client, Roof Maxx, recently shared that if they resold to just 30% of their past clients, they would make $300,000. What could you make from your past customers?
If you like marketing and want to learn, join our email list to receive the Ryan Spelts Marketing email newsletter.
Paid Ads
Do This Last!
Paid ads are powerful—but only when your foundation is solid. Once your brand is defined, your website is built to convert, and your organic presence is growing, it’s time to pour fuel on the fire. We help local businesses scale with targeted advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram, Yelp, YouTube, and programmatic display networks. This is where strategy meets momentum.
Paid advertising management isn’t about throwing money at a problem—it’s about amplifying what’s already working. When you have the right messaging, creative assets, sales process and landing pages in place, paid ads can become one of the most effective tools for lead generation and customer acquisition. We focus on conversion-first campaigns, using data to constantly refine targeting, keywords, and ad creative for maximum ROI.
Whether you need Google PPC for local services, Meta ads to increase awareness, or YouTube ads to dominate your niche, we’ve got you covered. Our team manages the entire process—from ad creation and A/B testing to audience optimization and reporting—so you can focus on running your business. We make sure your ad spend turns into results, not wasted impressions.
The final level of the Marketing Pyramid isn’t just about visibility—it’s about strategic growth. Let us help you turn clicks into customers with paid ads that work.
Here it is one more time. If you click on the pyramid, it will open a PDF that you can save or print out.