Ruby Rimmer Ruby Rimmer

Is Your Marketing Working? How to Measure What Really Matters

Marketing can sometimes feel like shouting into the void—and then obsessing over how many people heard you. Likes, followers, impressions… they’re easy to see, easy to count, and tempting to fixate on. But here’s the hard truth: just because a post garnered 500 likes doesn’t mean it moved the needle for your business.

Small business owners can easily fall into this trap, mistaking vanity metrics for real results. It’s not that engagement isn’t useful—it’s that engagement alone doesn’t pay the bills. To understand if your marketing is working, it’s important to focus on metrics that connect to your business goals.

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Ruby Rimmer Ruby Rimmer

The Secret Sauce: Balancing Marketing Consistency with Creativity

In marketing, consistency and creativity often are at odds with one another. Consistency says, ‘stick with the plan,’ while creativity shouts, ‘let’s shake things up.’ While many people lean one way or the other, it’s important to find balance. 

Think of it like cooking: consistency is the reliable recipe that produces the same delicious meal each time, while creativity is the unexpected ingredient that keeps things exciting. Too much of one without the other and you end up with either bland repetition or a confusing jumble.

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Jane Macdonald Jane Macdonald

Three Marketing Lessons Every Small Business Can Borrow from Big Brands

Big brands succeed not just because they have deep pockets, but because they’ve mastered some timeless marketing principles. And the good news? These lessons can be translated into simple, actionable moves for small businesses—no Super Bowl-level ad spend required. 

Let’s look at three big-brand strategies you can borrow and scale down to fit your business right now.

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Jane Macdonald Jane Macdonald

Why Exposure Alone Won’t Build Long-term Success

Think about running shoes. If I asked you to name a brand, chances are Nike or adidas sprinted to the front of your mind. Maybe New Balance or Asics followed close behind. That quick recall is brand salience—the mental shortcut that puts certain names at the front of the line.

Exposure plays a big role in building that recall. The more often you see a brand, the more likely it is to pop into your head when you’re ready to buy. But exposure by itself isn’t enough. Long-term success comes from being remembered and chosen—which requires trust, relevance, and distinctiveness, not just visibility.

In this blog, we’ll explore why exposure matters, where it falls short, and what else you need to build a brand that lasts.

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Jane Macdonald Jane Macdonald

Where to Start with Marketing: Understanding Your Audience First

Our product is amazing—we just need more people to see it. Sound familiar? It’s one of the biggest issues for businesses, and is rooted in a poor marketing foundation. The truth is, even the best products fall flat if you don’t understand who you’re building for and what problem you’re solving. Otherwise, you’re just yelling into the void—and the void is noisy.

That’s why knowing your audience isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the foundation of every strong marketing strategy. Without it, everything else—your brand story, campaigns, content, even ad spend—rests on shaky ground. Let’s dig into why it matters so much, where businesses often stumble, and how you can set yourself up for success.

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Jane Macdonald Jane Macdonald

Brands Are Built Over Years, So Why Do We Manage Them Over Quarters?

Brands Are Built Over Years, So Why Do We Manage Them Over Quarters?

We can’t take credit for this very poignant question. That one goes to the big brains Leonard Lodish and Carl Mela over at Harvard Business Review, but I can repeat it - because it’s a question worth asking and one that comes up time and time again (most recently in the AMI article below - definitely worth a read).

We marketers love a refresh. A rebrand. A bold new campaign. But here’s the reality:

Consistent brands are stronger brands.

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Jane Macdonald Jane Macdonald

Why Social Media Alone Won’t Grow Your Business: A Full-Funnel Approach Matters

If you're a small business owner in Christchurch or anywhere across New Zealand, you’ve probably felt the pressure to focus your marketing efforts on social media. It makes sense—social media is everywhere. It’s engaging, immediate, and seems to be where the action is. In fact, I’ve often found that the first question clients ask me is, “Can you help us with our Instagram strategy?”

But here’s the thing: social media is just one piece of the puzzle. While it’s an important tool in any marketing strategy, relying solely on social media won’t bring the sustainable growth your business needs to thrive.

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