Paid media
Marketing notes for owners
No thought leadership and no predictions. Just how the channels actually behave, what the numbers mean once the invoices land, and where we have been wrong often enough to have an opinion.
6 desks · 18 pieces planned
One piece is live. The rest of the calendar is set and publishes over the coming weeks — a card without a link is written but not yet posted.
Notes on
Paid media
Where the budget goes first, and where it quietly leaks. Mostly written for owners who are already spending and cannot tell whether it is working.
Paid media
Streaming TV for Local Businesses: A Plain Guide
Paid media
Your Cost Per Lead Fell and Revenue Did Not Move. Here Is Why
Notes on
Search and local
How buyers find you when nobody is paying for the click — and why the map pack decides more of your month than your website does.
Search
The Map Pack Is the Whole Game in Local Search
Search
Your Google Business Profile Is a Storefront. Most Are Boarded Up
Search
Service-Area Pages: What Works and What Gets You Penalised
Notes on
Direct mail
The channel almost everyone abandoned, which is precisely why the mailbox is now less crowded than the inbox. Written for people who last tried it in 2015.
Direct mail
Direct Mail Works Again — When It Runs Beside Your Ads
Direct mail
How to Track a Postcard Well Enough to Judge It
Direct mail
EDDM or Targeted Lists: Choose by Route Density, Not by Price
Notes on
Websites and conversion
The cheapest way to halve what a job costs you is to stop losing the traffic you have already paid for. Almost none of this requires a redesign.
Conversion
Your Form Is the Most Expensive Thing on Your Website
Conversion
Landing Page or Homepage? The Answer Costs You Money
Conversion
Speed, Trust, Proof: The Three Jobs of a Quote Page
Notes on
Creative and brand
What people actually look at, and why a phone video of your own crew keeps beating the stock library your competitor licensed.
Creative
The Ad Creative That Works for the Trades
Creative
One Shoot Day, a Quarter of Ads: Planning for Cutdowns
Creative
Your Van Is the Cheapest Media You Already Own
Notes on
Measurement and retention
The two things that decide whether year two costs less than year one: knowing which dollar came back, and keeping the customer it came from.
Measurement
Why Your Ad Platform and Your CRM Never Agree
Measurement
The First Five Minutes Decide the Sale
Measurement
The Maintenance Plan Is the Business. Market It Like One
Would rather just ask us?
Most of what ends up here started as a question from an owner looking at a report that did not add up. Send us yours — the audit is free and you keep the findings either way.
Get a free audit