How do you stand out when larger competitors seem to own the conversation? And how do you move beyond being a brand people have never heard of without simply pouring more money into marketing?
That is the subject of Ed Parcaut’s conversation with Colt Briner on the Inner Edison Podcast. Ed, an author, mortgage broker, talk radio host, and podcaster, sits down with Colt to discuss how smaller companies can challenge established brands.
Colt is a marketing and branding specialist with more than twenty years of experience helping small brands become market leaders. Through his business, Scrappy AF, he uses unconventional marketing thinking to help mid-stage startups grow and capture market share from industry incumbents.
His approach centers on building a roadmap that develops a company’s brand while helping define its purpose. The conversation covers three connected priorities: using marketing dollars wisely, bringing marketing and sales together, and making room for creativity.
Recognize When Your Marketing Needs a Better Plan
In Colt’s experience, business leaders often sense when it is time to branch out and step up their efforts. The problem is not always a lack of spending. Sometimes, they are missing the strategies and tactics to get more from the money already available.
He points to several signs that a company may need help:
- Marketing efforts are producing moderate results.
- Established competitors and other startups are pulling ahead.
- The immediate impulse is to spend more money to catch up.
- The business lacks strong strategies or tactics for doing more with the same budget.
If those signs sound familiar, Colt’s approach is to build a roadmap rather than jump straight to a larger budget. He specializes in helping companies plan how to use their marketing dollars wisely and get more from their efforts.
Look at the Strategy Before Increasing the Spend
The distinction matters in this conversation: wanting better results is not the same as knowing what needs to change.
Before deciding to spend more, ask which of Colt’s warning signs apply to your business. Are the results merely moderate? Are competitors moving ahead? Can you name the strategies or tactics you believe are missing?
Use those questions to frame a discussion about your plan. The goal is not simply to do more marketing. In Colt’s work, it is to create a clearer direction for the brand and the budget supporting it.
Build a Bridge Between Marketing and Sales
Colt believes a strong marketing plan alone is not enough. To get the most from marketing dollars, the marketing and sales teams need cohesion.
His process starts with a conversation about how those teams work together. Rather than treating marketing strategy and sales execution as separate topics, he asks what each team needs to do its job.
The questions include:
- What is working, and what is not?
- What tools do you need to execute efficiently?
- Where do conversations with customers fall short?
- How can you be supported?
- Where do you need more sales materials or useful video content for customers?
These are practical questions, not a request for a bigger campaign. They put the discussion on the work itself: the conversations, the tools, and the materials the teams need.
Get Both Teams Speaking the Same Language
Colt credits part of Scrappy AF’s success to building a marketing and sales pipeline in which both teams speak the same language. He connects that alignment with increased conversion rates and sales.
He also acknowledges that rivalries between marketing and sales are common, even in healthy companies. His point is not that every disagreement must disappear. It is that getting both teams on the same page makes working together easier.
For your own review, start with the questions above. Ask both teams to answer them, then discuss where they agree and where they see the work differently. Keep the focus on what is working, what falls short, and what support is needed.
Make Room for Creativity
Another obstacle Colt identifies is timidity toward creativity. He believes that hesitation can hold capable companies back from reaching their potential.
In his view, great companies share an important advantage: they were willing to be bold and creative. He also believes everyone can be creative, even though many companies assume they cannot.
That is an invitation to reconsider how your business approaches ideas. Instead of deciding in advance that creativity belongs to someone else, make it part of the conversation about your brand.
You Do Not Have to Start From Nothing
Colt’s view is that new ideas do not emerge from nothing. They draw on existing ideas, brought together or reworked in a different way.
He encourages people to look at how others create. What appears entirely new may be a combination of ideas developed into a different strategy, product, or approach.
As an exercise, look at work you find creative and ask what ideas have been combined or reconsidered. Then return to your own marketing discussion: where have you been reluctant to explore a different approach?
For companies that want help with that work, Scrappy AF has a team of creative people available to lend a hand.
Turn the Conversation Into a Roadmap
For more than two decades, Colt has helped startups gain competitive leverage through distinctive marketing strategies. His experience includes using those strategies to help propel mid-stage startups to unicorn status.
The focus of this episode, though, is the work behind those results: a roadmap for marketing spending, a closer connection between marketing and sales, and a willingness to think creatively. Those are the areas Colt brings together when helping companies strengthen their brands.
If you are considering a brand upgrade, contact Scrappy AF to discuss Colt’s approach. For more conversations about business and entrepreneurship, listen to and follow the Inner Edison Podcast with Ed Parcaut.
Your next step: Write down which marketing warning signs apply to your business, then bring Colt’s questions to your next marketing and sales conversation. Reach out to Ed to share what resonated with you from the episode and connect about building your business authority.
