El Paso branding strategy and marketing planning

Follow a four-step hiring process

1. Write the brief. Describe your offer, intended customer, service area and business goal. Name the decision you want the strategist to help you make. Gather your current materials, customer questions and performance records, then state how much you can spend on implementing the recommendations.

2. Consider local advising. EPCC SBDC accepts advising requests by phone or through its form. Its process asks you to download the intake and pre-client question forms, fill out as much as you can before the meeting, and submit both. Use its marketing, market research or strategic planning advising to sharpen the question in your brief. [1]

3. Request comparable proposals. Send the same brief to your shortlisted providers. Ask each to identify research methods, final deliverables, review meetings, revisions, implementation expenses and the total payable. Discuss a sample project and request a reference you can contact.

4. Agree on approval and handoff. Name your business’s decision-maker, set approval milestones and specify final files, usage rights and account access. Request a handoff session in which the provider demonstrates how your team should use the work. If you plan a public-space launch event, assign responsibility for confirming its permit category before fixing the campaign date.

Choose deliverables around the business decision

For positioning work, request customer research, a comparison of competing offers, a positioning statement and messaging examples. Ask the provider to explain how they will choose research participants and turn what they learn into recommendations. Give them a real sales conversation or booking inquiry to work through.

For a marketing plan, request channel recommendations, spending priorities, assigned responsibilities and a measurement plan. Have the provider identify what your team will do and what requires outside help. For visual identity work, specify logo files, typography, color guidance and examples for the materials you intend to produce.

Decide whether you need English, Spanish or both from your customer conversations and records. Include writing and review for each language in the proposal. Ask to review complete examples, such as an inquiry response or promotional offer, before approving the message.

Compare fees and clarify tax treatment

Obtain written proposals for the same scope before setting your project budget. Ask providers to separate strategy from design, website work, advertising spend, printing, translation and event coordination. Confirm payment milestones, revision limits and charges for additional work. Choose a scope you can afford to implement after paying for the plan.

The Texas Comptroller’s April 2024 newsletter discusses a private letter ruling about website and marketing services. In that case, the Comptroller treated stand-alone website blueprinting as nontaxable and website development as taxable data processing. It also described advertising services as generally nontaxable while identifying finished artwork as taxable. [3]

Use that dated, case-specific discussion to frame questions about your proposal. Ask the provider to describe the deliverables, explain any tax charged or included and confirm the total payable. For a mixed retainer, request a description of the strategy and production work even if the provider quotes one fee. Confirm the applicable treatment rather than assuming the whole package is tax-free. [3]

Plan public-space launch events before announcing them

If your campaign includes an event on a city street, alley or sidewalk, ask El Paso Planning & Inspections to confirm its classification. The city lists complete-application submission windows of one year to 30 days before temporary and special events. Check the requirements before reserving vendors or announcing a launch date. [2]

The city’s ordinary temporary-event criteria require all five conditions: duration of 24 hours or less, use of city right-of-way, a footprint no larger than one city block or intersection, a proposed closure that is two-thirds residentially zoned, and a request from area owners, residents, tenants or their organization. The city also states an exception: it classifies an event lasting twenty hours or less on all or part of a scenic drive as temporary. [2]

For events on city streets, alleys or sidewalks, the city’s special-event guidance uses any of three criteria: duration over 24 hours, a footprint exceeding one block or intersection, or a proposed closure in residential or commercial/manufacturing zoning. These published criteria overlap with the temporary-event guidance. Have the city resolve the category for your exact location and activity, including any scenic-drive proposal. [2]

For special-event applications, the city requires insurance naming it as additional insured and certificate holder. It also requires traffic-control and site plans and may require additional permits and charges. Assign responsibility for applications, insurance, vendor coordination and city communication in the marketing contract. Keep a fallback date available while you confirm requirements. [2]

Make the handoff usable for your team

Before signing, agree on ownership and usage rights for final work, editable files and licensed fonts or images. Keep your business as the owner of accounts created for the project where possible. Specify who will receive access and how the provider will transfer files at completion.

Ask the provider to demonstrate the strategy using your own materials. Have your team practice applying the message and reviewing the proposed campaign measures. Choose measures connected to your goal, such as qualified inquiries or completed bookings, and record a starting point before implementation. Agree on who will review results and decide what to change.

El Paso launch-event application fees

Match the scope to your next decision

Your hiring checklist

1. Name the customer, business goal and decision you need help making.
2. Gather current materials, customer questions and performance records.
3. If you seek SBDC advising, fill out as much as you can on its intake and pre-client question forms before the meeting and submit both.
4. Send each provider the same brief and implementation budget.
5. Confirm language versions, deliverables, revisions and approval milestones.
6. Request the total payable, including production expenses and an explanation of taxes.
7. For a public-space event, confirm classification with the city and assign application responsibility.
8. Agree on final files, usage rights, account access and a handoff session.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I hire a strategist or a designer first?

Start with the decision you need to make. For audience, offer or messaging decisions, request strategy work. If you have approved positioning and need visual materials, include those decisions in a design brief. Ask providers to price the work you need.

Can I get local help before paying for a project?

EPCC’s Small Business Development Center offers no-cost, confidential, one-on-one advising in topics including marketing, market research and strategic planning. Request advising by phone or through its form. Download the intake and pre-client question forms, fill out as much as you can before the meeting, and submit both. [1]

Does a short sidewalk launch qualify as a temporary event?

Ask El Paso Planning & Inspections to confirm. The ordinary temporary-event criteria include duration, footprint, residential-zoning and organizer conditions. The city also classifies events lasting twenty hours or less on all or part of a scenic drive as temporary. Its special-event criteria overlap with the temporary guidance and include commercial/manufacturing zoning, so confirm the category for your location. [2]

Are branding and marketing packages tax-free in Texas?

Ask about your actual deliverables. The Comptroller’s April 2024 discussion distinguishes certain planning and advertising services from website development and finished artwork. Request an explanation of the applicable tax treatment and any tax included in your total. [3]