Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview
Working with small to medium enterprises (SME’s) across the globe, AJ Marketing is a full service marketing agency that brings high-level corporate marketing to small and medium-sized businesses. Led by Founder and Director, Susan Christie, with 25+ years of marketing experience, AJ Marketing works with Business Owners, Boards, Senior Managers and in-house marketing teams to drive growth. From building strategies to tactical execution, AJ Marketing provides services for companies that are looking to build or evolve their brand and increase their market presence.
With a Business Degree in Management, Marketing and Business Computing, a Mini MBA in Branding, a Mini MBA in Marketing and a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM) qualification, all alongside a career spanning 25+ years, there’s not much Susan Christie hasn’t done in the Marketing world. Working in large corporate organisations early in her career, she eventually found her niche and passion with SME’s when she realised the direct impact marketing could have on the businesses, and the lives of their owners, suppliers, customers and employees.
Driving small business growth through creative marketing while bringing owners, managers and teams along on the journey has provided Entrepreneurs with improved profit and brand equity that they have previously been unable to achieve. And they have a lot of fun along the way.
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
AJ Marketing works with small-to-medium businesses. Our clients are looking to begin their marketing journey, have previously been unhappy with their marketing results, or are looking for marketing activities or consulting for a particular campaign or business goal. We work with our clients as their extended marketing department, which often involves working with Executive Management and the wider team within the business (Sales, Logistics, Customer Service, etc). We bring a marketing strategy, and the ability to execute it.
Can you tell us more about your work and how you ended up where you are today?
As a full-service marketing agency, we tailor our solutions to each client and their individual business needs and goals. This can range from one-on-one business consulting to going in as the entire marketing department, to working with a Marketing Manager who may need more experience or resources to manage the marketing function within their business. The AJ Marketing team provides services from research and development, marketing plans, social media management, digital and traditional marketing execution, through to branding, design, campaign and creative management and execution. We work with both traditional through to modern marketing, using both above-the-line channels such as radio, magazine, and billboards to below-the-line options such as CRM integration and digital management.
With a unique proposition in marketing solutions, through eliminating exorbitant mid-tier agency costs and becoming an extension of our client's business while providing experienced know-how, AJ Marketing has solidified our position in the market. Now into our fifth year of business, we are continuing to build more ways to fulfill our obligation of helping business owners.
Initially, our client base came through referrals and outreach from business owners who had bad experiences with other agencies. We learned very early through these clients to deliver a better experience, set expectations and communicate in a way that brings the client on the journey so they can learn to love their brand, their marketing and prepare for growth. We understand that business owners and operators are busy, so it is key for us to make sure their marketing is delivered in a way that respects their time, while still making sure it is running at the right level for their requirements and budgets.
What kind of audience do you target your business to?
Always small to medium businesses. We predominately report to business owners and CEOs, with a smaller number of clients whose marketing teams we amalgamate with and support to extend their capabilities. Initially, we found a niche in the trades/construction/engineering / HVAC industries. These industries are still a large portion of our customer base, however, my background in FMCG, beauty & wellness, sports & leisure and agriculture, we have such expansive industry experience. As well as trades, construction, engineering and HVAC, our client base also consists of fashion, education, business coaching, information technology, physiotherapy & osteopathy, and sports & leisure. The variety of industries make sure that every day is interesting, and the marketing required for each of our clients varies based on the brand and business goals.
What are your current goals for your business?
AJ Marketing is currently in a growth phase. We are taking on more clients, and have now extended into the Consulting space which keeps us at the more strategic level. As a business owner, the focus is on that delicate balance of resourcing, making sure new clients and employees are onboarded correctly and that the growth is sustainable. In a service-based business this can be tricky, but so far so good, and the team is flexible and embraces the vision.
How do you make a brand stand out in a crowded market?
Time and consistency. Having a decent budget will get you there faster too! We often see business owners put out a minimal amount of digital marketing, thinking that everyone will see everything and we know that it’s just not the case. Many may have heard of the Google 7-11-4 research that is heavily circulated, suggesting a buyer needs 7 hours of interaction, across 11 touch points, in 4 separate locations before they make a purchase. This often surprises clients, and hopefully helps inspire them to build their marketing to become more consistent.
Consistency also extends to brand – businesses need to keep visual cues on brand, always. We see a lot of branding faux pas when small businesses try to stretch employees such as administration, salespeople, and even in one case – an architect – into marketing. We liken this to us as marketers trying to do our own accounts (we hire qualified accountants for this), or IT (we hire qualified IT technicians for that), or legal considerations (we hire qualified lawyers for this). It’s often perplexing why people do not hire qualified marketers, as it is often the first experience with a possible future customer and is an investment in growth.
Is there something special that keeps you motivated?
Day-to-day conversations with business owners and clients are usually all I need. The conversations focus on their goals, the results they are seeing with their marketing, what’s coming up for their future marketing and the creative aspects of what we are doing for them. The variety of sectors we work with always gets me to think of different ways to do things, how to improve on what’s been done, and I have always naturally enjoyed that swing between analytical and creative that comes with marketing. It gives the best of both worlds and everything in between. I also make sure that I’m feeding my creativity with things outside of the business and day-to-day. Once a month I will take a day out to see an art exhibition, theatre – anything that might have something different that inspires me. It keeps my mind clear, as creativity can be stifled if I get caught up too much in the daily grind.
What makes you feel ‘out of your comfort zone?’ How do you handle these types of situations?
After being in the industry for so long, there isn’t much that I haven’t seen, done, or heard about – and I have been lucky enough to create a circle of professionals I can always reach out to if there is anything that might push me out of that zone. The main thing that currently comes to mind is the universal interest in AI and virtual reality (VR). We are regularly asked about these up-and-coming technologies, and I absolutely believe it is the way of the future, however, most SMEs that we come across are not ready for them. ChatGPT is by far the most utilised currently, but it’s not something we do as we have in-house copywriters, which I genuinely still believe is a more personalised approach that gets a better result at the moment.
For now, our client base doesn’t have budgets that would extend to relevance and impact with this type of technology, and I’m not prepared to trial anything major with our client's marketing yet. We will test and refine it with our own marketing before we make recommendations to clients. It’s coming at a rapid rate, and I’m not yet comfortable with the advances – but will be one day in the near future, as we have a close eye on it, and are already looking at opportunities to integrate it with the agency.
Have you encountered any major challenges during your journey and how have these affected you?
I think like all business owners, the journey definitely has daunting patches. The decision to scale and grow can keep me awake at night, with budgets and resourcing factors constantly needing review and changes with the rapid business movement. I think everyone who has been in a similar situation will have that confidence challenge, questioning if you are doing it the right way, and if there are things you could be doing better. It’s all a learning process and drove me to bring in a business coach who has been amazing at guiding me through.
Having a coach who is business-minded minded that can look at the business with an independent view has been a game changer. They make sure that I am not in my own way and stop the achievement of goals and targets through my own (sometimes unconscious) actions. It can be easy to not do the things I don’t enjoy and do more of the things I do enjoy – but that can impede the agency's growth and results. I’d recommend a business coach to any business owner, because when those doubts and confidence hits do creep in – they have helped me keep things in perspective, remind me of how far I’ve come, and stay focused on the future.
It’s exciting and challenging all at the same time – but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
Is it too cliché to say that I think it’s happening right now?! The agency is in the best shape it has ever been in, we’re in a better position to support more clients and there is a clear plan ahead for the future. It feels like all of my years of studying, learning, working and effort have kept compounding to a point where it has all come together in the last couple of years and I’m so proud of what we have achieved to date, and the position we have the agency in for the future. I know that by having a strong and healthy agency, we can affect the strength and health of our client's businesses – and that combined is the greatest achievement of all.
What would you like to achieve for yourself and your business in the future?
AJ Marketing is still taking strides for more growth and scaling, so we have some way to go before I start to pull back and take my foot off the pedal. This means we are still working on getting the best processes and procedures in place, so that employees are happy, and we are all producing the best marketing for our clients. Often our own marketing gets left behind (like the plumber's house, that always has a leaky tap) as clients take priority. Doing more marketing for AJ Marketing is something very much on my radar for the future.
I’m also now in the consulting space, working with business owners to set strategies for their teams to execute. Leaning more into this aspect of marketing is something I would like to be doing more of in the future, and I’m very excited to see where that can go. Acquiring and growing more businesses of my own has also become a focus for me personally over the last couple of years. Building an empire of more businesses is the ultimate driver for the future, and I know that AJ Marketing will only benefit from this direction as well. Exciting times ahead!
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