I’ve been the behind-the-scenes person managing Facebook ads for Kim Walsh Phillips for over 14 years, pretty much since the platform first rolled out its ad features. There's no one in our industry I'd rather learn from. But one of my biggest lessons came from a total mistake.
There's a common belief that to succeed in business, you need to appeal to the largest possible market. But the truth is, there are riches in niches. Consider the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, which held a convention for over 300 professional Santas—a niche within the already specific Santa niche. Every industry association, from national speaking groups to local chapters, represents a focused market ripe with opportunity for someone.
It’s staggering to see how much money is pouring into digital marketing. Companies are shifting massive chunks of their advertising budgets online, with social media ad spending growing by over 45% in a single year. By 2019, it was an $18.4 billion industry in the U.S. alone. Everyone’s in, especially on Facebook, which now commands a huge portion of all digital ad dollars.
My marketing agency was losing money, and I was losing the joy of running it. I felt like I was working incredibly hard for free, constantly competing on price in a crowded market of local agencies that promised to do everything for everyone. I was a commodity, and the cheapest commodity always wins. I knew something had to change.
Let’s be honest: trying to use social media for direct-response marketing often feels like trying to use Jell-O as cement. The two just don’t mix well. Social media has its own culture and expectations, while direct response is all about one thing—getting a specific, measurable action. It’s an arranged marriage between two strangers who don’t trust each other.
On social media, the main goal is to connect with your audience in a way that feels native to each platform. When you get it right, you’ll see engagement from customers climb, and you can leverage those relationships to expand your reach far beyond what you could achieve alone.
The philosopher Mencius once said that a mountain trail, if used, quickly becomes a path. But if you stop using it, grass blocks it just as fast. This is the perfect way to think about the email list for your . A common mistake people make when they is collecting contacts and then letting them sit. An email list is like a muscle; if you don't use it, it weakens. Your contacts forget who you are and why they signed up.
In the old days of retail, you’d set up shop on a busy street and design an eye-catching window display to draw people in. Today, your website and blog are that window display. You’ve put in the work to create a library of great content, but just like a shop owner waiting for customers, you can’t just sit back and hope people find you. The real growth begins when you start proactively engaging—not just with customers, but with the algorithms that decide who sees your work.
For nearly three decades, people have been declaring email marketing dead. Yet, here we are, and email is as vital as ever, powering everything from booking confirmations to internal office communication. As a marketing tool, its reach is undeniable. Some e-commerce brands see as much as 20 percent of their total revenue come directly from email campaigns.