In this chapter, we establish the foundation for the entire course. You'll learn why marketing isn't a collection of tactics — it's a connected system — and meet the Marketing System Wheel: the six-component framework that every lesson in this course builds from.

In this chapter, we go deep on the first three components of the Marketing System Wheel. You'll learn how to conduct market research at any budget, build a customer persona that's actually useful, and translate your insights into a positioned offer using the 4Ps — with three strategic tools included: a Customer Persona worksheet, Positioning Map, and Pricing Benchmark.

Get course guide + Customer Persona worksheet, Positioning Map & Pricing Benchmark templates

In this chapter, we move from strategy to execution. You'll learn how the 4Ps translate into live campaigns, how to map owned, paid, and earned channels, and how to build a Customer Journey Map that reveals exactly where your budget needs to go. We close on the most underinvested part of the system: post-purchase experience.

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In this chapter, you'll learn how search engines actually work — and what that means for your site. We cover the three stages of search (crawling, indexing, serving), the four ranking signals that matter most, and the technical and on-page SEO foundations every site needs to get right before anything else.

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In this chapter, you'll learn how search engines actually work — and what that means for your site. We cover the three stages of search (crawling, indexing, serving), the four ranking signals that matter most, and the technical and on-page SEO foundations every site needs to get right before anything else.

Get course guide (includes SEO audit checklist)

In this chapter, we reframe what social media actually is — and what it isn't. You'll learn why treating it as a broadcasting tool is the fastest way to make it feel like an obligation that goes nowhere, and what it means to manage it as a serious owned media channel that integrates with the rest of your marketing system.

In this chapter, we work through the first three pillars of social media marketing: Strategy (goal-setting, platform selection, and brand consistency), Planning & Publishing (content calendars, formats, cadence, and timing), and Listening & Engagement (social listening tools, why engagement is a distribution strategy, and how to build community rather than just broadcast to an audience).

Get course guide + social content calendar template

In this chapter, we work through the first three pillars of social media marketing: Strategy (goal-setting, platform selection, and brand consistency), Planning & Publishing (content calendars, formats, cadence, and timing), and Listening & Engagement (social listening tools, why engagement is a distribution strategy, and how to build community rather than just broadcast to an audience).

Get course guide (with metrics tracking template)

In this chapter, we get to the most practical tool in your content strategy: content pillars. You'll learn how to define the three to five recurring themes your brand consistently creates around, how to build a content mix ratio calibrated to your business goals and platform, and why founder-led content and UGC are two of the highest-performing levers available to an early-stage brand.

In this chapter, we close the loop between your analytics and your content strategy. You'll learn how to use three performance lenses — reach, engagement, and follower growth — to identify what your audience is actually telling you, and how to let that data evolve your content mix over time rather than posting on instinct.

In this chapter, we establish where influencer marketing sits in your marketing system and your funnel — and immediately dismantle the biggest myth in the space. You'll learn why tier and follower count are the wrong starting point, and why engagement rate, reach, and estimated conversion potential are the framework that actually predicts ROI.

In this chapter, we build your creator evaluation process from the ground up — seven steps, data-driven, no gut feel required. You'll learn what to look at before you reach out to a single creator: growth trend, audience demographics, reach versus follower count, engagement rate calculation, comment quality, content alignment, and professionalism signals.

In this chapter, we cover the collaboration model that consistently outperforms traditional influencer briefs — and the full spectrum of partnership structures available to you. You'll learn what creative partnership actually looks like in practice, why it drives stronger platform performance than brand-dictated content, and how to choose the right collaboration format for your budget, objective, and stage of relationship.

In this chapter, we shift from individual partnerships to portfolio thinking — and close with how to measure influencer performance correctly and protect your brand through proper disclosure. You'll learn how to build a creator portfolio that serves your brand at every funnel stage, which metrics actually matter (and which ones mislead you), and what due diligence looks like before any partnership goes live.

In this chapter, we make the case for events as a legitimate, high-trust marketing channel for small brands — and immediately address the biggest objection. You'll learn why a budget matters far less than your partners, and walk through a real co-host and venue partnership model that makes qualified in-person events accessible at almost any stage of business.

In this chapter, you'll learn how to design your event for the right people — not the most people — and why that distinction determines whether events become a compounding brand asset or just a pleasant afternoon. We cover how events build brand equity and brand affinity, with two real case studies that show what it looks like when an event is genuinely centered on your customer's life.

In this chapter, you'll learn how events function inside a full integrated marketing campaign — not as a standalone activation, but as the live, tangible expression of a campaign idea. We cover a real bi-coastal influencer event case study, and break down the KPIs that actually matter for events sitting at the top to middle of the funnel.

In this chapter, we cover what happens in the 48 to 72 hours after your event — the window that determines whether the experience converts into lasting business impact or just a pleasant memory. You'll learn the post-event playbook for contact capture, social close-out, audience segmentation, and how to build a recurring event format that turns attendees into anchors.

This chapter works differently — and deliberately so. Rather than a step-by-step platform walkthrough with a short shelf life, this lesson gives you the mental model that governs how every paid ad platform works. Watch once to orient your thinking, then use the written guide and reference deck as your ongoing field reference.