Building Stronger Marketing Through Discovery and Strategic Planning
By Bold Story Founder + Principal Carrie Horn
At Bold Story, every client partnership begins with one essential phase: Discovery and Strategic Planning. Before campaigns launch or creative begins, we take the time to deeply understand the heart of your business: your goals, values, voice, challenges, and opportunities. This foundation is what allows us to step into your world, think like an internal marketing team, and support your brand with clarity and intention.
Rather than starting with tactics, we start with alignment. This ensures everything we create together is not only beautiful and effective, but also purposeful and tied to measurable outcomes.
Discovery: Immersing Ourselves in Your Brand
Our process begins with an immersive discovery phase designed to help us become intimately familiar with your business. Whether your strategic foundation is well defined, evolving, or still taking shape, this is the stage where we uncover:
Your high-level brand positioning and market identity (what makes your brand stand out)
Vision, mission, and values that guide your long-term direction
Business goals and audience insights that shape your growth strategy
Competitive and industry context for more meaningful differentiation
By learning your brand at this depth, we can show up not as an outside agency, but as an integrated partner who understands how your business operates and what your audience expects.
Translating Insight Into Action: Your Comprehensive Strategic Plan
After discovery, we build a customized Strategic Plan that becomes the blueprint for our work together. This plan includes:
An Overview of Our Work Together
A clear outline of project phases, marketing priorities, and how we’ll collaborate as an extension of your internal team.
A SWOT Analysis
A detailed evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to inform smart decision-making.
SMART Objectives
Specific, measurable goals that keep our efforts focused and aligned with your bigger vision.
Tactical and Execution Roadmap
A breakdown of recommended initiatives from content strategy to PR to digital marketing, and how each supports your objectives.
Content Calendar Framework
A structured timeline for storytelling, campaigns, and consistent brand presence.
Budget and KPIs
Guidance on where to invest, how to measure progress, and what success looks like over time.
This plan becomes our shared foundation, ensuring every action has purpose and every outcome is measurable.
A Living Strategy That Grows With You
Your Strategic Plan isn’t static, it evolves as your business, audience, and goals evolve. While our tactics may shift, the objectives we set together remain the north star of our partnership. This flexible framework allows us to adapt quickly while keeping your long-term direction clear and consistent.
Because we understand your brand at such a deep level, we can anticipate needs, bring proactive ideas, and support you with the same care and insight as an in-house marketing team.
A Foundation for Meaningful, Measurable Marketing
Starting every engagement with discovery and strategy ensures that:
We’re aligned on goals, direction, and brand identity
Execution is thoughtful, not reactive
Creative output is grounded in strategy
Your budget is invested where it matters
Success is clear and trackable
Your story is told consistently across every channel
Most importantly, it allows us to build a relationship rooted in trust, collaboration, and shared purpose so we can support your business with the depth and insight of a true internal partner.
Choosing a boutique agency like Bold Story means choosing a partner who invests deeply in understanding your business. We take the time to learn your brand from the inside out including your goals, your values, your challenges, and the nuances that make your story unique. This level of intimacy allows us to operate not as an external vendor, but as an extension of your internal team, offering proactive ideas, aligned decision-making, and marketing that feels authentically you. And while we are small by design, our team brings a wide range of specialized expertise from SEO and design to messaging, social media, PR, and strategic planning, giving you access to a full spectrum of marketing capabilities backed by exceptional, focused talent. With Bold Story, you get the best of both worlds: the personalized attention of a boutique firm and the robust skill set of a high-performing, multidisciplinary team dedicated to elevating your brand with intention and excellence.
