DOWNSTAGE MEDIA BLOG
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY, MESSAGING, AND EMAIL MARKETING TIPS
Why Your Network Matters When Budgets Are Tight
Budgets are tighter, trust is harder to earn, and content alone doesn’t carry the same weight it used to. This post explores why your network has become part of what clients are really buying, and how intentional relationship-building increases trust, retention, and long-term value.
What Does This Make Possible? The Question That Keeps Thought Leaders Profitable
Every thought-driven brand faces the same challenge: the ideas come fast, but the content process lags behind. The Content Production Team helps you choreograph the content by defining who does what so your thought leadership becomes consistent, scalable, and effective.
What Thought Leaders Can Learn from Junk Mail About Clearer Websites
If you’re a thought leader or the face of your brand, you’ve probably invested in a beautiful website that may not convert the way you want. In this post, web designer Kristin Madeja shows you how direct response marketing principles can help your site move people from “This looks nice” to “I’m ready to book.” You’ll learn about clarity, calls to action, testing, and photography, so your audience takes action.
Why Thought Leaders Should Revive Their Neglected Blogs in 2026
Many thought leaders let their company blogs go quiet, which means their best ideas disappear the moment they speak them. New research shows exactly why 2026 is the year to revive a neglected blog and how content created with strategy can strengthen authority while influencing AI search results. This post shows you what works now and simple steps to bring your blog back to life.
How to Name Your Offer So It Actually Sells
If you keep calling your work “consulting” or “just working with me,” you are shrinking the perceived value of your expertise. The right name turns a loose idea into a structured offer that clients understand, remember, and trust. This post shows you how to name your offers and processes so they feel valuable, future ready, and easier to sell. Keep reading if you want clients to say yes faster.
StoryBrand for Content Marketing: Using Frameworks to Improve Blog Posts, Social Media Posts, and Email Campaigns
Discover how the StoryBrand framework can transform your content marketing strategy from chaotic to cohesive. By applying StoryBrand across your emails, social media, and website, you’ll create messaging that resonates with your audience, increases engagement, and drives real results. Learn why this proven approach can make your marketing easier and more effective—and how Annie Figenshu can guide you every step of the way.
Improve Your Sales Game: How Storytelling Can Drive Revenue
Struggling to make your sales pitches resonate? Discover the transformative power of storytelling in sales. Learn how the StoryBrand framework can help you connect with potential customers, increase engagement, and boost your revenue. Dive into our guide and register for the Close More Sales with Storytelling webinar to refine your skills and drive your business forward. Limited spots available – don’t miss out!
Embracing Evergreen Email Automation
You want to send emails out regularly, but life gets in the way. If you don’t find a sustainable way to manage your email marketing, you risk losing potential revenue. Plus, you might find yourself stuck on the content hamster wheel, always scrambling to keep up. Evergreen content is your new best friend. Create an email automation around that content and you will be able to relax and focus on other areas of your business. Here’s how to do it.
How Can a Clear BrandScript Boost Your Mailchimp Campaigns?
Struggling with inconsistent messaging and low engagement in your email marketing? Discover how a BrandScript can transform your Mailchimp campaigns. Learn how clear, compelling messaging can boost open rates, click-through rates, and strengthen your brand identity. In this blog post, I'll share practical steps to implement a BrandScript and real-life success stories that prove its impact. Ready to elevate your email marketing strategy? Read on to find out how!
Why a Strong One-Liner is Essential for Your Business and How the Pitch Perfect Workshop Helps You Create One
Ever struggled to explain what your business does in a few seconds? You're not alone! A strong one-liner is your secret weapon for capturing attention and sparking curiosity. In this post, we explore the importance of a one-liner and how our Pitch Perfect One-Liner Workshop can help you craft a compelling message that resonates. Learn about common challenges, our proven framework, and hear success stories from those who’ve transformed their business communication. Don’t miss this opportunity to make a memorable impression and elevate your marketing game!
Maximize Your ROI: What to Know Before Signing Up for the StoryBrand Marketing Livestream
Marketing budgets are tight right now. A recent Gartner survey of 395 CMOs and marketing leaders shows the average 2024 marketing budgets have dipped to 7.7% of overall company revenue, down from last year's 9.1%. That means that you have to be absolutely clear on how to make the most of your marketing to make it count.
In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the StoryBrand Marketing Livestream as a way to get the most out of your marketing dollars for the rest of the year.
What You Missed at the Most Recent StoryBrand Marketing Livestream
If you’re marketing on a budget, then you’ve probably heard of the StoryBrand framework. It’s a methodology designed to help businesses get their messaging right using the narrative structure we all know from movies. Recently, StoryBrand hosted a livestream focused on how any business - no matter what niche or how small - could clarify their message. As a StoryBrand Guide I was able to facilitate a small group. Here's a peak into our Zoom room.
Promoting Events, Sales, and More on Social Media
So many people are torn when it comes to social media. They want it to drive their business goals, but they don't want to seem spammy. If they go too far in one direction, they're investing a lot of time without a great return. If they go too far in the other, their audience (and the algorithms) will get turned off. Here you'll learn how to promote your company on social media without turning your feed into an annoying billboard.
Using StoryBrand for Social Media
It’s not always clear how you can use StoryBrand on your social media. Much of the StoryBrand Framework is based around using marketing to increase sales - but social media is different than a website. And no one wants to turn their social media channels into a spammy billboard. Here you’ll learn a StoryBrand-inspired formula for writing copy on your social media posts, as well as different ways to use existing assets in your marketing - lead generators, BrandScripts, and more - in a way that works on social media.
It's Curtains on 2022: Here's What Downstage Media Did for Its Clients
You don't really know where a company's strengths lie until you see what they regularly get hired to do. This can help you understand if you want to work with this company to solve your marketing issues. So as the curtain draws on 2022, here's a look back on the kind of work that Annie Schiffmann did with Downstage Media, and how it helped clients get the social media marketing, email marketing, or overall branding results they were looking for.
Why Should I Take the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment?
It’s aggravating filling out long, unnecessary forms on websites. But you keep getting pointed towards the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment and its promise to show you why your marketing isn’t working. In this breakdown you’ll learn what the assessment asks, why bother to take it, what you get in the marketing report, and how it’s used in our work together. By getting comfortable with the assessment, you can know the steps to take to build your brand on solid ground.
Are You Wasting Money on Advertising? 10 Ways to Know
Most people are wasting money on advertising and don't even know it. This issue is a serious problem and needs to stop. In this article, Evan Cox from Caffeine Marketing, unpacks ten of the most common ways people waste money on advertising.
What to Prepare Before Attending the StoryBrand Marketing Livestream
The StoryBrand Marketing Livestream is a two day investment in your business. But if you don’t take time to prepare, you could get a low return on that investment. Learn success tips from facilitators who’ve ushered hundreds of attendees through the workshop.
What Costs are There with Downstage Media’s Marketing Mentorship?
The prices for online courses and coaching programs varies wildly - with some as low as $47 and others are high as $5000. So when you’re considering an online course and a coaching program, it’s important to know what’s in store, and how it compares to other comparable courses. Downstage Media has partnered with Business Made Simple to offer a suite of online courses and a marketing mentorship as well. Here’s what you can expect to pay, and what is included, and how it compares in the marketplace.
What the StoryBrand Marketing Livestream Does and Doesn’t Include
You may be surprised by what you do and don’t get from attending the StoryBrand Marketing Livestream. I’m going to lay out here exactly what you can expect so that you know what is taken care of for you and what you have to take care of on your own. This will also help you gauge how the livestream will work with your own skills, timing, and budget.