The Women of Strategic Marketing – Mary Murphy
To celebrate Women’s History month in 2019, we are dedicating a space in our blog to share some interesting stories from the female professionals at Strategic Marketing. Discover why we are so fortunate to have such an amazing group of women as part of our advertising agency.
Vice President and Founder Mary Murphy grew up in Texas and worked her way up in the radio business before founding Strategic Marketing in 1992 with her husband Terry Murphy.
How did you get to the position you have today? Can you share your professional story?
My first job was when I was in fifth grade. My father was an insurance agent in central Texas, and he paid me 25 cents an hour to clean out boxes and boxes of expired insurance policies in a dusty storeroom over the course of about three weeks. I worked there through high school and summers, so I learned a lot about insurance. While I was in college, my father bought several radio stations, and I dove right in after graduation. Several years later, he started a bi-weekly newspaper, and I served as assistant editor. I also worked a short time at a small ad agency and worked for one of my cousins in our family’s real estate business. When I moved to Palm Beach County, I landed a position at a radio station here and eventually moved to the corporate office. All of this experience gave me a broad base of knowledge to do what I do today.
How hard was it to get in the job market when you first started?
I was pretty lucky since my dad always had a place for me in his companies, I was able to gain a lot of skills that were in high demand.
Was working in the Advertising and Marketing industry always on your radar?
My degree is a BBA in Management, but I took the required marketing courses as well as some marketing electives, so I was already quite interested in this field before I went to work in radio.
What are some characteristics of a great leader in your perspective?
Vision, the ability to build a great team, and to deeply care about the members of the team. I don’t know who originally said this, but it’s true, “people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Any life lessons that you learned in your career that you believe helped you to make it where you are today?
My father-in-law always said, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” There were some really crazy times early on when Terry and I were working days, nights and weekends, while also raising a family. Some days, it was complete chaos. But we worked through it, and it’s paid off. When opportunity comes knocking, be ready to open the door!
Do you believe in the power of diversity?
Absolutely. One of the most interesting things about living in South Florida is that almost everyone is from somewhere else–including me–and we all bring unique perspectives, experiences and skill sets to the table. As marketing people, we have to tailor our messaging to diverse groups of people. What resonates with one segment of the population may completely miss the mark with another segment. Having a diverse team at Strategic Marketing helps us to do our best work for our clients.
Do you think that women in leadership make any difference in your organization?
Well, as the Vice President, I like to think so! I hope that our team knows that my door is always open to anyone who wants to pop in with a question or to discuss an issue or even a personal problem. The only stupid question is the one that doesn’t get asked!
In this fast-paced market, people are always trying to do things better, faster and smarter. Can you share how you made a project more efficient and less expensive?
About 10 years ago, we migrated to a new accounting program, which has not only saved us many hours of time and maybe hundreds of cartons of paper, but has allowed us to increase our volume without adding staff. Also, our payment process to vendors is much more efficient than before.
What’s your superpower?
Proofreading…. I often catch mistakes that other people miss. The superpower I would love to have would be to meet someone and instantly know their story, what their life has been like, what makes them tick, their passions and their challenges. This would be extremely helpful when interviewing candidates for positions at Strategic Marketing!
Any advice for entrepreneurs that want to partner with Strategic Marketing?
Learn from our experience. Over these 27 years we have accumulated a lot of knowledge and have a very good sense about what works and what does not.
How has your career background contributed to your good work at Strategic Marketing today?
Pretty much all of my experience prior to founding Strategic Marketing has funneled into what I do today to some extent.
How would you describe your working style?
Multi-tasking…I can jump from developing a TV script to reviewing financial reports to writing a legal contract to screening resumes and much more in any single day. I prefer to try to focus on one thing at a time, start to finish, but life doesn’t happen that way. I’m also a night owl, and do a lot of things after dinner when it’s quiet and I can concentrate better. Like right now–it’s 10:52!
Are there any companies run or founded by women that you would like to have as a client?
As a Texas girl, I am very fond of Southern cuisine, and one of my favorite local restaurants is The Regional. I think Lindsay Autry would be a fun client to have.
- Published in Marketing Strategy, Strategic Marketing, Women of Strategic Marketing
Google AdWords Is Great, but It Isn’t Enough
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a common tactic for just about every business, as it is a surefire way to reach the top of the search engine results page. This can increase website traffic, which ideally drives more sales. Oftentimes, Google AdWords, now called Google Ads, is considered the king of PPC advertising. It promotes itself as an easy-to-use, DIY way to break into search engine marketing. While this can be a powerful and effective method for your business, there are some limitations to keep in mind. If not managed properly, your AdWords campaign could turn into a money pit. However, there are other ways to run a successful PPC campaign. Here are a few reasons why AdWords might not be enough for your business.
Learning Curve
Although at first glance Google AdWords seems like an intuitive and straightforward tool, it is quite the contrary. AdWords is a game you have to master through experience, testing, and diligence. For those with limited time and small budgets, this isn’t always an option. Failing to select the right keywords and optimize your bids correctly could be a costly mistake.
Potential to Lose Money
Without the tested knowledge and familiarity of Google AdWords, your campaigns could be spending more money than they make. If your PPC ads neglect to meet Google’s evolving guidelines, your quality score will decrease. The lower your quality score, the more you have to pay for the keywords you want. Keyword selection can be a challenging task that requires the proper experience, especially when you’re competing against large companies for particular search terms.
Beware of Google’s Recommendations
It’s good to remember that Google is a business. This means that their goal is to make money off your AdWords campaign and maximize their profits. They’re likely to recommend that you pay more and opt for popular (and expensive) keywords to rank the highest on their results page. These recommendations are good, but you have to be smart about your strategies. This requires testing the results to see what price you actually end up paying per click. You can then adjust your settings based on your business needs, rather than checking the box on everything Google wants.
Requires a Lot of Manpower
While setting up a Google AdWords campaign is easy, setting up a cost-effective campaign is a bit more demanding. The details matter, so setting up everything just right will take time and effort. Not to mention maintaining your campaign is a whole other story. This can include optimizing keywords regularly, analyzing success as measured by your specific parameters and editing ad copy among other tasks. It’s an ongoing process that calls for committed manpower.
SmartClick – a Powerful PPC Solution from Strategic Marketing
Strategic Marketing offers a fully automated pay-per-click platform called SmartClick. This effective tool can manage your paid search campaigns across all major search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo. SmartClick can track your campaign’s phone calls, emails, form fills and other web events back to the keywords that generated them. Rather than setting up an AdWords campaign yourself, use SmartClick to maximize profits while saving you time. To learn more about our PPC advertising platform, contact us today by visiting our contact page or calling (561) 688-8155.
- Published in Digital Marketing, Strategic Marketing
The Benefits of Choosing a Full-Service Advertising Agency
A full-service advertising agency can provide your business with an entire range of marketing tools and resources. Rather than going it alone, many businesses partner with an agency in order to improve the planning and execution of their marketing strategy. Effective advertising requires a holistic approach, one which exploits many forms of promotional activity to maximize the connection with the target audience. Choosing a full-service agency to help facilitate this approach will make your life easier while producing measurable results. Here are several important benefits that an advertising agency has to offer your business.
In-House Expertise
A full-service advertising agency typically employs with specialists in a variety of marketing mediums and practices. The experts employed by these agencies are those whose careers are invested in the art and science advertising. This means that you’ll be working with a team that has experience tackling many different campaigns with clients across a variety of industries. Agencies with creative and media departments use their knowledge and experience to develop campaigns that produce results and increase the efficiency of your marketing.
Time Savings
If you’re running a business, then you know the importance of time management. Sometimes we wish there were more hours in the day to focus on every aspect of our company. Hiring a full-service advertising agency can ensure that your team allocates enough time toward their primary functions. Leaving the marketing and ad campaigns to a dedicated agency, frees up more time to focus on your customers and the strategy of your business.
Use Your Advertising Budget Effectively
Are you making the most of your advertising budget? Since advertising agencies typically work with all different kinds of budgets, they can offer sound advice regarding your allocations. They can help you maximize your results while delivering optimal return on investment. Marketing agencies will choose the right metrics to measure your campaign’s success and use your advertising dollars most effectively.
Long-Term Strategic Partnership
Full-service advertising agencies provide just that, a service. As opposed to being just another supplier, agencies gain a better understanding of the markets you operate in, your products and service offerings, as well as your workflow methods, strategies, and preferences. This means that you can build a long-term partnership with an agency that understands your business along with the challenges you face.
Full-Service Advertising Agency in South Florida – Strategic Marketing
Strategic Marketing is a full-service advertising agency in South Florida, offering over 25 years of experience. We’ve delivered results to clients with a variety of different advertising and marketing strategies, both digital and traditional, across a number of industries. We have solutions for any point of your brand’s life cycle that can be custom tailored to meet your business’s individual needs. To learn more about how we can help your business, contact us today by calling (561) 688-8155 or visiting our contact page.
- Published in Advertising, Strategic Marketing
