When a new client comes to me and says "our marketing isn't working," my first move is never a new campaign. It's an audit. Because in almost every case, the problem isn't that nothing is working — it's that something is leaking, and nobody's traced exactly where.

Here's the audit framework I run with every new engagement, and how you can apply a lighter version of it yourself.

Every downturn produces the same instinct: cut marketing first. It's usually the wrong move — but that doesn't mean spending should stay flat either. The brands that come out of tight economic periods stronger aren't the ones that spent the most. They're the ones that spent the most deliberately.

Here's how I'd think about building brand resilience when budgets are under pressure.

Most lean marketing teams are doing real work, but it's happening out of order: paid ads before positioning is clear, content before the ICP is nailed down, a rebrand before anyone's validated the message actually converts.

I use a 5-Layer Growth Stack to fix that. It's the framework I use with clients to make sure every layer of marketing is actually built on the one below it.

Here's how it works.

If you're a founder running a $1M–$20M business, you've probably had this thought at some point: "We need real marketing leadership, but we're not ready for a full-time VP of Marketing."

That gap used to be a dead end. Now it's an entire category — and it's growing fast. Here's why.

A few months ago, I stood in the barrel room at Sleeman & Sons, surrounded by decades of craft and tradition — oak, history, patience. It's the kind of scene that makes you feel like some things never change.

But the beverage industry itself? It's changing fast. Faster than most brands' marketing playbooks are keeping up with.

I get asked some version of this question regularly: "The marketing playbooks I'm reading are all American. How much of this actually applies to my Canadian business?"

More than you'd think — and less than you'd hope.

There are real structural differences in the Canadian market that affect how you allocate your budget, which channels you prioritize and what strategies are actually worth your investment.

Here's my honest take.

Meta's ad ecosystem evolves constantly — the algorithm changes, the creative formats shift, privacy regulations reshape what data you can actually use, and your competitors are running more ads than ever. Keeping up isn't optional anymore. It's table stakes.

I work with ecommerce brands and growth-stage companies on their paid media strategy, and Meta ads are almost always part of the conversation. Here's my honest read on what's working right now, what I've stopped recommending, and what I think the next 12 months look like.

After integrating AI tools into my own work and helping my clients do the same, I've learned that prompting is a skill. One you can actually get good at. And for marketers specifically, getting good at it is becoming a genuine competitive advantage.

This is my practical guide to writing better prompts — with real examples you can steal.

Let me tell you about a meeting I sat in early in my career where a marketing leader proudly showed a slide of follower growth, impressions, and email open rates — and then looked genuinely confused when the CEO asked, "But what did it do for the business?"

That moment stuck with me. Because the answer, if we were being honest, was: we had no idea.

After 15 years in marketing and many years now working as a Fractional CMO, I've developed very strong opinions about which numbers actually matter. I'm going to share them here — including the ones I've stopped paying attention to, and why.

You've decided to bring in a Fractional CMO. Maybe you've been running marketing on gut instinct and it's starting to show. Maybe your team is doing a lot but you're not sure it's adding up to anything. Maybe you're scaling fast and the wheels are starting to wobble.

Whatever the reason, you've made the call — and now you're wondering: what actually happens next?

I get this question a lot. So I want to pull back the curtain and walk you through exactly what I do in the first 90 days with a new client — not the polished version, but the real one.

If you've ever wondered why your ecommerce store gets decent traffic but lackluster conversions — or why customers add to cart and then disappear into thin air — the answer is almost always the same: somewhere along the path from "I've never heard of you" to "I just bought something and I'm telling my friends," there's a gap. A missed message, a confusing experience, an unanswered question. And the reason that gap exists is usually because no one sat down and mapped the journey.

The customer journey isn't a buzzword. It's the actual sequence of experiences, emotions, and decisions a real person goes through before, during, and after buying from you. And for ecommerce brands, defining that journey — and intentionally managing every touchpoint within it — is one of the highest-leverage things you can do for your marketing.

There's no shortage of marketers online. Everyone has a course, a framework, a five-step system that promises to transform your business. So if you've landed here trying to figure out whether hiring a marketing consultant is worth it — and whether I'm the right one — I want to skip the fluff and just tell you what I actually do, who I work best with and what you can expect if we work together.

Let's be real: you're spending real money on Meta ads and Google campaigns, and at some point, someone (maybe you, maybe a board member, maybe just your own anxious brain at 11pm) is going to ask, "Is any of this actually working?"

The good news? You can answer that question confidently. The not-so-great news? Most founders are measuring the wrong things — or measuring the right things the wrong way. Let's fix that.

One conversation I have been having a lot this month is around a common problem many brands seem to be having: should they focus on the long-term plan for building their brand or leveraging paid campaigns across various platforms to drive more immediate results? Let’s dive in.

Ah yes, that time of year again.

When we open our brand new notebooks - I can hear the spine on that notebook cracking already - and begin to write down all of the things we are going to do that year. I’m not here to give you shit about it, because yes, I am that person too. So here it is, my 2026 Word of the Year.

Marketing is full of “truths” everyone repeats like gospel. But sometimes, the unpopular opinions - the ones that make your peers tilt their heads are the ones worth exploring. After 15 years of working in the field and now focusing my energy on growth and performance marketing, I’ve learned that challenging assumptions isn’t just fun - it’s profitable. Here’s a list of some of my favourite unpopular opinions, with my real-world examples to prove the point.

Creating a 2026 marketing plan takes more than repeating last year’s strategy or guessing what might work. I know that a winning marketing plan for 2026 needs to set clear goals, use real data, connect with the right audience, and adapt to new trends and technology - just like we did in 2025. It’s important to think about what has changed - because the marketing landscape in 2026 is shifting fast, from AI tools to new social media platforms.

I get this question every November: how can I build a plan for next year that will deliver real results and help my brand stand out in a crowded market? In this article, I’ll walk you through key steps and simple strategies to help make your 2026 marketing plan practical, flexible and set up for growth.

I’ve seen strategies that were once reliable become far less effective as feeds get more crowded and the algorithms become stricter about what content they show. Whether you manage a brand page or a personal account, you’re not alone if you’ve noticed less engagement and slower growth.

If you want to understand why organic social isn’t performing like it used to and what you can do about it, it’s important to look at how the platforms have changed and what new tactics work best today.

I get this question all the time: what is Growth Marketing, and how can it help my startup? Leaning heavily on data and constant testing is key when you are scaling your business.

For startups, growth marketing matters because it uses creative tactics and ongoing experiments to reach new customers, keep existing ones, and maximize ROI. Unlike traditional marketing, this method cares about the entire customer journey—not just getting people in the door.

After tackling this concept in a recent lecture with my students, I thought it was worth writing about The Gartner Hype Cycle - and how it can cut through the noise by showing where a technology stands in its journey from launch to mainstream use.

With this tool, we can see which digital marketing innovations are worth exploring and which might be overhyped or not yet proven. By understanding the Hype Cycle, we can make smarter decisions about where to invest my time and resources, so I don’t fall for every shiny new thing or miss out on real opportunities.