The Digital Game Plan, Stage by Stage

A customized 10-stage strategic process that helps you step back from working in your business to work on it. Here's what happens at each stage and what you walk away with.

Get Your Free Digital Game Plan Back to the Digital Game Plan

Your Path From Best-Kept Secret to Go-To Expert

The first stages give you laser focus on your strengths and your best customers. The middle stages show you how they buy and who influences them. The last stages turn it all into a content plan your team can run.

Stage 1 · Strengths and strategic subtraction

SO vs SO WHAT

Take a deep, laser-focused look at what you, your company and your team do best, then find the time wasters, profit killers and energy drainers holding you back, and what's in the way of your goals.

You walk away with: Your core strengths, opportunities and a short list of things to stop doing.

Stage 2 · Customer segmentation

Rounding the Bases

Sort your customers into singles, doubles, triples and home runs to see where the real profit is. When you market to everyone, you market to no one.

You walk away with: A clear picture of which customers to chase and which to let go.

Stage 3 · Ideal customer profile

Your Soulmate Customer

Build a detailed profile of the one buyer you want more of: their role, their challenges, what keeps them up at night and why they would trust you.

You walk away with: A soulmate customer every piece of marketing speaks to.

Stage 4 · Buyer journey

The Success Path

Map how your buyer finds you, what steps they take, what language they use and what they need to see from you at every stage.

You walk away with: A buyer journey that shows what to say and when.

Stage 5 · Where you win

Competitive Analysis

Check out the bad guys and discover where you can beat them, starting with the questions they leave unanswered online.

You walk away with: Your openings to stand out and out-teach the competition.

Stage 6 · Referral partner network

The Soulmate 100

Name the associations, partners, media and people who already influence your buyers.

You walk away with: A robust and vibrant referral network to build relationships with.

Stage 7 · RIKs

Ridiculously Important Keywords

Pinpoint the words your buyers use in Google, social media and AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.

You walk away with: Keyword groups that get you found in search and AI answers.

Stage 8 · RIQs

Ridiculously Important Questions

Collect the real questions your soulmate customers ask before they ever call.

You walk away with: Questions you answer clearly to quickly earn trust and win new business.

Stage 9 · Content strategy

Hub and Spoke Content Plan

Organize your expertise into content pillars, with supporting topics that build on each other.

You walk away with: A content plan where every piece has a purpose.

Stage 10 · Publishing rhythm

Content Calendar

Turn the plan into a practical schedule your team can keep, 8 to 12 weeks ahead.

You walk away with: A calendar that answers "what do we post next?" before anyone asks.

Never been through a strategic planning process? This is a great way to get your feet wet.

Been a few years since your last one? It's the perfect time for a refresh.

Build the plan, put it to work, and let the results pull you forward.

What Happens After Your Plan Is Built

The Digital Game Plan becomes your marketing hub. From there, you put it to work and let the results pull you forward.

Measure What Matters

Google Analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager and Google Business Profile, tied together in a monthly performance report.

Publish With Purpose

Expert interviews become videos, blog posts and social posts that answer your buyers' real questions.

Show Up Everywhere

LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Business Profile and AI search, all working from the same plan.

Get AI Ready

Learn to put AI to work in your marketing and your business, with simple tools and workflows that save hours.

Let's Out-Teach the Competition.

You don't need to outspend them.

Engineers and buyers want to learn, and they want to be successful. The company that answers their questions first, clearly and generously, is the one they trust and call.

Your team already has the answers. The Digital Game Plan turns that know-how into a steady stream of education that makes you the go-to expert in your market.

Choose Your Path

Start on your own, work with a personal trainer, or have the heavy lifting done for you while your team learns.

Start on your own

Free Digital Game Plan

Get started today

Your strengths and where you can win
Your best customers, defined
The keywords and questions they search
A content plan built around those questions

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Your personal trainer

Digital Game Plan Coaching

$1,500 per month

Coaching while your team does the work

Your 10-stage Digital Game Plan, built with you
Weekly one-on-one sessions and office hours
Coaching on Google Analytics, Search Console and Business Profile
Monthly performance report and website review
AI readiness coaching

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The heavy lifting done for you

Digital Game Plan Accelerator

$3,000 per month

For the first 90 days

Everything in Coaching, plus:
Hosted video interviews with your experts
Videos, clips, blog and social posts produced for you
Google tools, tracking and website optimization done for you
Hands-on AI readiness setup

See the Accelerator

Hear What Manufacturers Like You Are Saying About the Digital Game Plan

Owners, marketers and sales leaders, in their own words.

One of the biggest eye-openers was realizing that a five-minute conversation could become 30 different pieces of content. More importantly, we started having people call and say, 'I found you online.'

Carl Stroud, Sales Manager, Niagara Specialty Metals · Watch the video

Definitely one of the best grant funded projects that we've done, and certainly one of the best marketing projects.

Ryan Bankel, CEO, Imago Manufacturing · Watch the video

I learned so much about LinkedIn, SEO, and how AI fits into all of it. I also learned how to interview people, turn those conversations into blogs, and build a content process that really works.

Matthew Pittelkau, Marketing Director, Se-Kure Controls · Watch the video

You checked a lot of boxes. It seems like people are finding us, and business has been solid over the past few months. We'll just keep building and keep it going.

Bob Shabala, President & CEO, Niagara Specialty Metals · Watch the video

Theresa and the team were incredibly helpful throughout the process, making what initially felt overwhelming much easier to understand. I learned so much about LinkedIn, ChatGPT, websites, and Google Business Profiles.

Becky O'Connor, Truco Machine · Watch the video

This was a great opportunity for us to have a third-person point of view on what we are dealing with as a business, and then we were able to redefine who our customer is clearly, and then learn how to approach those people.

Yukie Huebner, Co-owner, DOCKSTAR LLC · Watch the video

Their expertise allowed us to focus on what was unique about Niagara Specialty Metals and our business, while they showed us how to use the tools, create the content, and put everything into action.

Jeffrey Marshall, CFO, Niagara Specialty Metals · Watch the video

We knew we needed to get out there and market ourselves online, but we didn't know how.

Melinda Marks, Director of Sales and Solutions, Pedoc Power Solutions · Watch the video

The amount of strategy, content, and planning already in place is impressive. Our roadmap is built out months in advance, giving us confidence in where we're headed.

Dave Hanitz, Business Development Manager, Insyte Consulting · Watch the video

Trusted by Manufacturing Extension Partnerships including IMEC, Purdue MEP, Impact Washington, Montana MEP and the New York State MEP network.

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Stop Being the Best-Kept Secret

Start your free Digital Game Plan today, or join a live jam session to see how manufacturers like you are using it.

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