Daniel Lattanzio: Marketing is what connects a business to its customers, and a strong brand is what makes that connection last. At WSI, we understand that stepping into the digital marketing space means establishing yourself as an expert. That's why we don't just give you a brand to represent — we equip you with the tools, resources, and strategies to confidently market yourself, tell your story, and attract the right clients.

But beyond that, you're also tapping into three decades of experience. Since 1995, we've built a globally recognised brand, developed strong industry partnerships, and refined our strategies. Instead of starting from scratch, you'll have access to our proven playbooks, marketing assets, and a collaborative network that shares knowledge and best practices — so you can focus on building relationships and growing your business.

Handing over to Cheryl Baldwin, our Director of Marketing and Communications. In this segment from our Virtual Discovery Day, Cheryl will walk you through how WSI's marketing strategies, brand positioning, and resources help franchisees establish credibility and build strong client relationships.

Let’s jump right in.

Cheryl Baldwin: Hi everyone. I'm Cheryl Baldwin, Director of Marketing Communications at WSI Corporate Head Office. Today, I want to talk to you about the power of the brand, our marketing tools and resources you can tap into, and how we help you generate leads and drive success for your business.

One of the main reasons you're exploring the WSI franchise opportunity is because of the strength of the WSI brand. Over time, the momentum we've built and the power behind our brand is something that can't be replicated on your own. We've spent years building our global footprint, developing partnerships, and cultivating relationships with clients around the world — all things that are difficult to achieve starting from scratch.

When you join WSI, you instantly gain nearly 30 years of credibility, partnerships with industry leaders, and access to global knowledge and expertise. If I had to sum up our competitive advantage, it’s really a combination of three things:

First, our consultant-led approach. We work closely with clients to provide personalised strategies rather than just offering tools. Second, our unique collaborative network — which you'll hear a lot about today — something we consider part of our “secret sauce.” And third, our global experience, longevity, and stability in a very dynamic industry.

We’ve worked with over 150,000 clients globally — a number that reflects real, impactful relationships developed over more than 30 years. This gives you instant credibility when walking into a meeting. Even if you're new, you can confidently say, “We've done this before.” That builds trust and helps you not just open doors — but close deals.

Being part of a trusted brand helps you generate leads, but what keeps those leads moving is how you turn interest into long-lasting relationships. That’s where our lead generation strategies and marketing campaigns come in.

As a WSI Consultant, you’ll have access to proven lead generation strategies, tools, and resources — including our Lead Generation Playbooks. These playbooks guide you step by step, offering a turnkey approach to starting your lead generation efforts. They encourage multi-pronged strategies, from LinkedIn connection-building to local networking, to help build your contact database.

Alongside the playbooks, we offer a range of lead magnets — valuable resources that help you start meaningful conversations and position yourself as a trusted expert in digital marketing and AI. Some examples include a 100-page ChatGPT eBook, our AI Business Insights Report (built from first-party data), and our Local Search Assessment Tool. These lead magnets are designed to deliver value, so prospects are motivated to share their contact information in return.

In addition to lead magnets, WSI provides email marketing campaigns to help you nurture your database. These include monthly newsletters and multi-email drip campaigns. Some campaigns are automated and run in the background, while others can be manually triggered based on where a lead is in your sales process or what topics they’re interested in.

The Inside Edge newsletter is a great example — it keeps your prospects engaged and keeps you top of mind. Drip campaigns allow you to follow up with leads over time, sharing specific resources that keep the conversation going.

Beyond nurturing campaigns, we also provide full marketing kits you can use for specific campaigns or events — for example, promoting our AI Workshop or celebrating our WMA Web Awards. These kits include everything you need: promotional emails, social posts, workshop materials, follow-up emails, even a certificate of completion. They give you a full start-to-finish campaign in a box — designed to make execution easier and more professional.

All these lead generation activities ultimately need to drive traffic somewhere. That’s why we start you off with a WSI Consultant Listing — a single-page profile that introduces who you are and that you’re part of the trusted WSI network. It gives you a professional online presence from day one.

As you progress, you’ll work with the WSI Hub Team to build a full agency site. This site combines content from the main WSIworld.com site with your own customisations — including services you want to focus on, special offers, and content tailored to your local market. This approach gives you immediate credibility and a digital presence that can grow as your business grows.

But marketing efforts only go so far without a strong system to track and measure performance — and that’s where HubSpot comes in. HubSpot is one of the leading CRM platforms in the world, and we’ve built a custom setup for our WSI Consultants. It provides a single source of truth for managing leads, contacts, deals, and marketing efforts.

With our customised WSI sales pipeline in HubSpot, you can track where each deal is in your sales process, monitor performance in real time, and prioritise your activities. The system also includes built-in NPS (Net Promoter Score) surveys to help you measure customer satisfaction, gather testimonials, and generate referrals.

So whether we’re talking about our lead generation playbooks, lead magnets, marketing kits, your website, or the CRM — everything we provide is designed to help you guide your prospects through the entire customer journey. From the moment they first learn about your services to the point where they become loyal, long-term clients.

To wrap up, all the brand and marketing resources I’ve mentioned are available through our Virtual Office and are also accessible via our AI Assistant tool. Staying plugged into these resources is key to staying informed, identifying new opportunities, and putting best practices to work.

I’m excited that you’re evaluating your options — and I look forward to welcoming you to WSI.