BUSINESS SUPERFANS® ADVANTAGE • EPISODE 12
Marketing
Revenue Reactor Discipline
Marketing
Blocked Growth Addressed
The primary growth blocker is inconsistent, company-centric marketing: messages about the business instead of the customer, a different look and message on every channel, and campaigns abandoned after a few touch points without being measured.
Primary Stakeholder
Customers
Additional Stakeholders
Employees, Referral Partners, Strategic Partners, Investors, Influencers
Primary Topic
Building Brand Awareness With Consistent, Customer-Centric Marketing
DIRECT ANSWER
Brand awareness grows when a business talks about the customer's problem instead of itself, repeats one consistent message across every channel, and keeps going long enough to be remembered. Catherine Oaks says it takes about nine touch points before people remember a business, so the companies that win show up daily and track what works.
Why This Guest’s Perspective Matters
Catherine Oaks has more than 30 years of marketing and branding experience across Europe, Asia Pacific, the United Arab Emirates, North Africa, and the USA, and is known for thought leadership campaigns that raise brand recognition for B2B and B2C companies. She speaks English, French, German, and Spanish. She built her first agency in 2006, lost it in the 2008 crash, and founded SliiceXR in 2017 with no seed capital, doing the work herself.
Key Discoveries From This Conversation
- Root cause: marketing that talks about the company, not the customer. Catherine says many websites simply display products and services, which “does not attract a lot of people because you are not putting customers first.” People come to you, she says, because they believe you will solve their problem.
- Misconception: marketing isn't working after a few tries. Catherine says it takes an average of nine touch points before someone starts to remember a business, yet “a lot of people give up after touch point number three and they say marketing is not working.”
- Strategic shift: one core message on every channel, every day. She recommends a brand book before any campaign so social posts, videos, presentations, and emails share the same message, style, and colors, then posting daily, and two or three times a day at launch.
- Practical method: do what competitors won't. Catherine points to video, audio, organic social engagement, and oversized direct mail pieces attractive enough that people keep them on their desks, because most businesses skip them.
- Business consequence: the team can undo the marketing. Frederick and Catherine agree that an unappreciated employee answering an inquiry can waste the whole marketing spend. When management lets people be creative and feel secure, Catherine says, “it's a game changer.”
- Measurable outcome: Superfans multiply reach, and data proves it. Frederick's illustration: five Superfans who repost to 1,000 followers each turn an audience of 1,000 into 6,000. Catherine adds that partners, investors, and influencers will ask for traffic and audience data before they work with you.
- Lead with the customer's problem. Put your core offer and what makes it different at the top of your website, because Catherine says visitors decide in about three seconds.
- Write a brand book first. Decide what to say, when to say it, and which style and colors to use before you launch anything.
- Show up daily on social media. Organic posts, comments on your audience's feeds, and entertaining content cost little and build familiarity.
- Let your personality show. Approachable, slightly unconventional brands are easier to follow than ones that blend in.
- Make rewards easy to earn. A loyalty or referral reward people can actually reach brings them back; a gimmick doesn't.
- Add email and mail to the mix. Each is another touch point, and a large, well-designed mail piece often stays on a desk.
- Track, then adjust. Measure what each channel brings in, and change course when the numbers say a campaign isn't working.
3:19 — Stop talking about yourself — Lead with benefits and your unique selling proposition in the first few seconds.7:51 — One clear message, every day — How consistent organic social posting builds Superfans.10:20 — Have a personality — Why approachable, slightly eccentric brands grow faster.11:29 — Rewards people can actually earn — Simple, achievable loyalty and referral programs.13:04 — Email and the brand book — Why every touch point needs the same core message.14:47 — Direct mail still gets opened — Oversized mail pieces that stay on the desk.16:38 — The nine-touch-point rule — Why giving up after three touches is too soon.18:17 — Do-it-yourself marketing tools — AI, Canva, and YouTube for small teams.20:56 — Know when to scrap a campaign — Track results and change course instead of sinking money.22:11 — Your team carries the message — Why management and recognition protect your marketing spend.
PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE
Count your touch points this week. Pick one recent prospect who didn't buy and list every time they heard from you: website, social post, email, call, or mail. If it's fewer than nine, plan the next five touches across at least two channels, all carrying the same core message, and put them on your calendar.
What I appreciated about Catherine is that she doesn't treat marketing as a bag of tricks. She treats it as a discipline: say something your customer cares about, say it the same way everywhere, and keep saying it.
Her nine-touch-point rule is the one I'd tape to the wall. Most owners quit at three and decide marketing doesn't work. It didn't fail. They stopped before anyone had a chance to remember them.
I'd add one thing we talked about. Your marketing can only promise what your team delivers. If the person who answers the phone feels unappreciated, every dollar you spent to make that phone ring goes out the window. You can see it at the gas station: the one where the attendant looks up and says hello is the one that's always packed.
And Catherine's right about personality. On this show I'm Freddy D, not the guy in the tie. People follow people they enjoy. Be consistent, be human, and track the results so you know what to keep.
What does Catherine Oaks say most business websites get wrong?
Catherine Oaks says most business websites talk about the company, listing products and services instead of addressing the customer's problem. She advises putting your core product and what makes it different at the top of the site and speaking in benefits, because she says visitors form an opinion in about three seconds and leave if nothing grabs them.
How many touch points does Catherine Oaks say it takes to be remembered?
Catherine Oaks says the average person needs about nine touch points before they start remembering a business. Many owners, she says, give up after the third and conclude that marketing doesn't work. Her advice is to plan for repeated contact across social media, email, mail, and other channels, all carrying the same core message.
What tools does Catherine Oaks suggest for small businesses doing their own marketing?
Catherine Oaks points small teams to AI tools such as ChatGPT for content, Canva for graphics, video, and audio, and YouTube for teaching yourself almost any skill. She launched her agency on her own with no seed capital, learning Photoshop and Illustrator herself, and says today's AI tools are like having 25 assistants.
Why does Catherine Oaks recommend a brand book before a campaign?
Catherine Oaks says every message, whether a social post, a YouTube video, a presentation, or an email, needs the same core message and branding so people recognize you. A brand book settles what to say, when to say it, your style, and your colors before you start, which she says is how a business builds credibility.
- SliiceXR — Catherine Oaks's branding agency, which now offers fractional CMO, brand strategy, and growth advisory work.
- Metaverse presence deck — Catherine's guidelines for establishing a presence in the metaverse, available by emailing info@sliicexr.com.
- ChatGPT — One of the AI tools Catherine recommends for saving time on content.
- Canva — The design tool Catherine recommends for creating graphics, video, and audio without much training.
- YouTube — Where Catherine says owners can teach themselves almost any marketing skill.
- Photoshop and Illustrator — The design programs Catherine taught herself when she launched her agency.
No sponsor or approved-partner tools were discussed. Catherine mentioned ChatGPT, Canva, YouTube, Photoshop, and Illustrator as tools she has used or recommends, along with her own agency, SliiceXR.
EPISODE 225
Ely Delaney
Communication
Most service business owners have a list that has gone quiet. Ely Delaney, founder of Purple Knight Marketing and author of The Follow-Up Code, explains how relationship-first, value-first follow-up wakes it up, including the client who went from about $35,000 to about $110,000 a month by changing nothing but his words.
Explore Episode 225 →
EPISODE 215
Anders Boulanger
Sales
Anders Boulanger, founder of Engagify and author of Engage First, shows how magician-turned-trade-show-strategist techniques capture attention, build authority, and convert crowds into customers — and how virtual sellers can use the same psychology to close more deals.
Explore Episode 215 →
EPISODE 216
Andy Audate
Systems
Andy Audate built two marketing-technology companies by fixing his own biggest leak: landing great clients, then losing them the moment the project ended. He breaks down the automated systems that turn one-time work into recurring revenue and referral-generating advocates.
Explore Episode 216 →
SliiceXR (Founder and CEO)
Guest Offer
Catherine Oaks offers a deck with guidelines for establishing your business's presence in the metaverse. Email info@sliicexr.com to request it. You can also connect with her and see her current work at SliiceXR.com.
Topic Tags
Brand Awareness, Customer-Centric Messaging, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, Direct Mail, Customer Retention, Audience Engagement, Marketing Measurement
Frederick Dudek
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Business Prosperity Advisor · Creator of Business Superfans® · Creator of Revenue Reactor™
PEOPLE + STRATEGY + SYSTEMS = PREDICTABLE GROWTH