Understanding Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

March 16, 2025 - 2:52am - by

Google Ads is one of those things that seems simple—until you try to do it yourself. Which is why we offer free initiation consultations! 

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a game-changer for businesses, but only when done right. David, our Google Ads expert at Starling, has been working in PPC for 21 years, bringing decades of digital marketing experience to the table. His approach focuses on strategy, measurement, and ensuring businesses get real value from their ad spend.

David doesn't just focus on who sees an ad—he focuses on who doesn't see it. Because the best campaigns aren't just about visibility; they're about reaching the right audience at the right time.

What Are PPC Ads?

PPC is an online advertising model where businesses only pay when someone clicks on their ad. Google Ads is the most popular PPC platform, but these kinds of ads can also run on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others. The key difference with Google Ads is that it targets people actively searching for solutions, making them high-intent customers.

Google Ads shows ads at the top of search results based on relevant keywords, with businesses bidding on those keywords. Ads can also appear across the Google Display Network, which includes websites, YouTube, and Gmail. With advanced targeting options, businesses can reach the right audience at the right time, maximizing their return on investment.

Google Ads: The Basics

One of the biggest misconceptions about PPC is that it's about getting as many clicks as possible. 

David believes that in search campaigns, it's not just about who sees your ads but who doesn't. The goal goes beyond visibility and focuses on precision. The best PPC campaigns target the right audience, increasing the chances of converting those viewers into customers.

He often hears people say, "I never click those ads." To that, he says, "Perfect. We only want you to click those ads when it's exactly what you're looking for." Google Ads remains one of the most effective ways to reach potential customers because it places businesses in front of people actively searching for their products or services.

The Benefits of PPC Ads 

• Control over where and how your ads appear across platforms.
• Lower your cost per click by improving your ad quality and performance.
• Narrow your audience targeting to make sure your ads reach the right people.
• Set and manage your budget, both daily and by campaign, to suit your needs.
• Bid on relevant keywords and phrases to target users interested in your products or services.
• Track your ad performance, allowing you to make data-driven adjustments for better results.

PPC Ad Examples

The most common example of PPC is on search engines like Google. On these platforms, you can buy different kinds of ads, like text ads or Shopping ads, to appear in different sections of the search results.

The sponsored ads are what Google Search results bring up.

Google Shopping looks like this.

While search ads appear on search engines, Display ads can show up on websites and apps within the ad network. For example, the Google Display Network spans over 2 million sites and apps, including Google properties like YouTube and Gmail.

Key Terms in PPC

When looking at reports from our team, it's important to know these key terms to understand what you are looking at: 

Impressions refer to how many times your ad is shown to users, regardless of whether or not they click on it. A high impression count with few clicks could mean that your ad isn't as effective as it could be, and you may need to rethink aspects like the headline or the copy.

CPC (Cost Per Click) is the amount you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. This cost can either be fixed or fluctuate based on an auction system. In this auction, you set the highest price you're willing to pay for your ad placement (called your bid), and Google or other platforms compare your bid to others along with additional factors to decide which ad appears first.

CTR (Click-Through Rate) is the percentage of users who click on your ad out of the total number who saw it. A higher CTR indicates that your ad is resonating with viewers, and platforms like Google tend to favour ads with a higher CTR, as it's a sign that they are engaging and relevant.

Conversion is the action you want your audience to take after interacting with your ad. This goes beyond just a click—conversions might include purchasing, signing up for a newsletter, or completing a contact form. The goal is to drive valuable actions that help meet your business objectives. 

How To Determine Your PPC Budget

You are going to hate this answer, but it depends. Businesses need to consider their price point, profit margins, and customer demand before deciding on an appropriate budget.

"If you've got a $5 product and you're spending $4 on clicks, Google Ads MAY not really make sense," David explains. However, PPC can be a worthwhile investment for businesses with higher-value services or products. Always consider the lifetime value of a customer or other intangibles rather than only the initial transaction. 

David also highlights that PPC isn't just about direct sales—it's about reach. "Google Ads can get to places that your salespeople will never pick up the phone and call. When was the last time you bought something meaningful that you didn't research online? Never."

Google Ads For Non-Profits 

David finds working with non-profits one of the most rewarding parts of his job. Many charities qualify for Google Ad Grants, which offer up to $10,000 in monthly advertising credits. But he points out that not all non-profits can use the full amount. 

"Very few can spend the $10,000 because of scale, but spending $500, $1,000, or $2,000 can make a real difference." David helps non-profits secure their Google non-profit status, get approved for the grants, and develop a strategy that maximizes their budget. For him, it's about creating a real impact and helping non-profits achieve their marketing goals.

PPC Mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make with PPC is failing to track results. David emphasizes that "If you can't measure it, you can't make good decisions." Successful campaigns need to track key actions, like conversions, phone calls, and purchases. He also notes that Google Ads has evolved. It's no longer just about keywords — it's about intent. Five people might type in the same search, but based on past data, Google now prioritizes the one most likely to convert.

David uses advanced audience targeting, keyword selection, and budget control to fine-tune campaigns. He's constantly testing, tweaking, and optimizing to make sure clients see the best return on investment.

PPC is about more than just running ads. We focus on understanding a business and its goals and defining what success looks like. Like everything our team puts out at Starling, a common sense, strategic, data-driven approach makes sure every ad dollar goes as far as it can.

If you're interested in learning more about what Google Ads may be able to do for your business or want us to review your current campaigns, you can contact us here. We are happy to have a free no obligation conversation to explore the possibilities.

---

Is Bluesky Worth It For Small Businesses?

March 2, 2025 - 8:56pm - by

The social media platform Bluesky just passed its one-year anniversary of being open to the public last month, and while its chart-topping run of a million new users a day has subsided, the platform is continuing to grow. 

As marketers, we are always watching new platforms to see which ones might survive their startup phase and become part of the mainstream – and, more importantly, which ones are worth joining and investing time in.

Is Bluesky worth it for small businesses? The short answer, as with many things, is probably “it depends.” But by learning about how Bluesky works, how it’s different from other platforms, and who its users are, we will try to make some use cases for it and determine if it’s right for your business specifically.

And if you don’t know the first thing about Bluesky, that’s OK, because we’ll start with the basics.

What is Bluesky?

In a nutshell, Bluesky is a “microblogging” platform similar to X (formerly Twitter). It started in 2019 as a project within Twitter, when founder Jack Dorsey announced Bluesky as a possible way to decentralize the platform and give users more control over their privacy, algorithms, and overall experience. 

Eventually, Bluesky was incorporated as a separate company, Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk (who changed the name to X), and the two became fully separate. Bluesky launched its own app, which went from invite-only to fully open in February of 2024. And by November, user growth reached a peak of more than a million per day.

Technically, what makes Bluesky most unique is how it was built to be decentralized, which we won’t get into here. But Bluesky is unique in a few other key ways too:

• No advertising or paid features
• No base algorithm (feed is chronological)
• No live video, just text (300 characters), and uploaded photos/videos
• Open-source

Being open-source, the platform also allows users to create (or take/share/use) custom algorithms and other tools to manage their own feeds and experience on the platform.

Ultimately, Bluesky remains less than one-tenth the size of X (formerly Twitter), but where X has been losing monthly active users steadily for several years, Bluesky continues to grow, and has been developing its own niches, communities and culture.

The argument AGAINST Bluesky for your business

If you have been on Bluesky yourself (which I do encourage – it’s easy to try out), you’ll notice a distinct lack of anything corporate or marketing-related. Not many businesses have jumped to Bluesky, and those that have largely seem to be parking usernames without committing to posting or engaging. The lack of ads contributes to this feeling as well.

While we don’t have good data yet, the attitude toward businesses on Bluesky so far seems to be developing similarly to Threads (and, if your memory goes back this far, Twitter in the early years). That is, if you are willing to use the app like the locals, post content that fits the community you’re in and engage with it, you’ll do just fine. But simply re-posting your Instagram and Facebook content here will not get you very far.

This may mean more effort than you’re willing to put in, and that’s OK. The userbase is still small (about 30 million worldwide), and most users on Bluesky are not expecting to be keeping up with their favourite brands and businesses on the platform anyway.

There’s also the matter of demographics. Your target audience may just not be on Bluesky in any real numbers. The company has not published its own statistics, but third-party data suggests that the user base skews fairly young (42% are aged 18-24), heavily male (64%), politically left-leaning, and geographically concentrated in a few specific areas (mostly the United States and Brazil).

However, there are some specific use cases for Bluesky, and if you’re willing to put in the time, you just might be rewarded.

The argument FOR Bluesky for your business

Firstly, and perhaps obviously, if your target audience is progressive young men in the United States and/or Brazil, you might want to consider Bluesky. But beyond that, there are some more broadly useful ways in which the platform might make sense for you and your business.

1. Thought leadership and networking

While it may not benefit your business to be on Bluesky as a brand, having an account for yourself (or whoever else) as the public face of the company could be a good fit. Bluesky is filled with young, educated professionals who may be good connections as future B2B customers, employees, business partners or investors. If you are already active on LinkedIn or creating any kind of thought leadership content, this might make sense to repurpose for Bluesky (although remember the character limit and format differences!).

2. Media connections and outreach

One group that is very well represented on Bluesky, even in Canada, is journalists. Many have fled X and have redirected their followers to their Bluesky accounts. This may be another use case for joining the platform, not as brand social media, but for you to find and connect with journalists for potential media outreach.

3. Niche communities

Like every other social media platform, Bluesky is quickly developing its own niche communities, and you may find that your business has a natural match in one of these. Unlike Reddit communities, there is no formal structure for this on Bluesky – but with a little digging, you might find a thriving niche to join. And if it doesn’t exist yet, the platform is still growing – it might exist soon.

Any further questions?

If you are curious about leveraging Bluesky for your business, need help managing your social media and digital marketing, or just need some good advice on how to get the most out of your online presence, we’re here to help. Whether it’s a brand audit, social media management services, or training for your existing team, we love working with businesses and nonprofits of all sizes to achieve your digital marketing goals. Get in touch - let’s chat!

---

Five impactful ways to recognize International Women's Day

February 18, 2025 - 11:48am - by

International Women’s Day is approaching quickly. The annual global call to action sparks important conversations about women’s equality and safety and reflects on the work still needed. On March 8, we will also celebrate women's achievements in our businesses and communities.

We don’t need to wait for IWD to #AccelerateAction! Every day is a great day to support and celebrate women, non-binary, trans, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. The blog highlights the need for IWD and ways your organization can showcase its support on March 8 and throughout the year.

Why do we need International Women’s Day?

The fight for equality

The first IWD took place in 1911, and over a century later, we’re still fighting for equality. According to data from the World Economic Forum, at the current rate of progress, it will take until 2158, roughly five generations, to reach full gender parity.

A changing political landscape

Legal protections, funding and support for women and non-binary people have been challenged and dismantled. The rights of women, trans, non-binary and 2SLGBTQIA+ people, reproductive freedom, and more became key issues in the 2024 United States election, with a resounding impact on countries worldwide.

As the newly elected US President Trump takes his first weeks and months in office, the swift action he and his cabinet have taken to limit resources, training, protection and rights of people is alarming.

Outdated rhetoric

In addition to Vice President JD Vance calling prominent Democrats “childless cat ladies” as a criticism and insult, Vance and President Trump have advocated for the “traditional family structure” and suggested that adults without children should pay higher taxes and have fewer voting rights. 

In an October 2024 CNN article, they noted that “In a national AEI survey, 60% of Republican men and about 40% of Republican women said women asking for equal treatment are really seeking ‘special favours.’ Most Republican men and women also agreed that society no longer needs to do more to ensure equal rights for women.”

World Crises

UN Women, the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, has called the conflict in Gaza a “war on women.” In a January 23, 2025 article, Amnesty International shared that an average of 63 women are killed each day, and those who survive have a dramatically increased risk of infection due to a devastated health care system, lack of sanitation and clean water and verging on famine. 

Gaza isn’t the only country involved in conflict right now, and women throughout the world are impacted and threatened by war, famine, inadequate safety, poor living conditions and more.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Here in Canada, the National Inquiry into MMIWG wrapped up over four years ago, but only 2 of the 231 Calls for Justice have been implemented by the Government of Canada. 

According to the Assembly of First Nations, Indigenous women are four times more likely than non-Indigenous women to be victims of violence. While Indigenous people make up only 4.3% of the Canadian population, Indigenous women make up 16% of the female homicide victims. They’re also more likely to experience physical and sexual assault than non-Indigenous women.

How you can support IWD 2025

This year’s theme is Accelerate Action, emphasizing the importance of taking swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality. As the Starling Social Founder (and woman business owner) Alyson stated in 2023, “All efforts advancing women’s equality are welcome and should be respected. There is no one right way to celebrate.”

Here are five ways you can support IWD this year (and always):

1. Support women-owned businesses

There are amazing women-owned businesses in every industry. From retail to restaurants, artistic to corporate needs, a women-owned business would appreciate your support!

In Manitoba, you can access a Women’s Business Directory from WeMB. Look for something similar in your city!

2. Celebrate women

You send an uplifting message to a woman in your life, shout out to your favourite women entrepreneurs on social media, honour the women in your organization and more. Additionally, you could:

• Read and share books, podcasts and products by women
• Hire women speakers and attend events with women panelists and keynotes
• Share and celebrate women’s achievements: look for top lists, women-based award programs and more to honour these amazing people!
• Join women-based organizations. Locally in Winnipeg, we have the Winnipeg Women’s Community, Hustle & Charm and Council of Women Winnipeg, just to name a few.

3. Be an educated ally

• Engage in Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) learning and practices
• Educate yourself on the issues
• Take action like speaking out against discrimination, advocating for policy change, organizing a fundraiser and more 
• Support legislation that protects women, non-binary, trans and 2SLGBTQIA+ people

4. Support causes that support women and girls

You can donate your time, resources or money to support an organization that promotes women’s rights, raises awareness for an issue affecting women or directly supports the needs of women in the community.

5. Use your sphere of influence for good

Share, share, share! You have a platform where you can start conversations, and share about your support for women-owned businesses and organizations helping women and more! Whether you’re starting conversations in person or sharing online, giving space and an outlet to raise the conversation is important and valuable!

You can learn more and get guidance and resources on the International Women’s Day website. We can’t wait to see how your #AccelerateAction this year!

---

The Power of Publicity & Media Relations

February 2, 2025 - 11:41pm - by

Traditional media coverage used to be a sort of “holy grail” in the world of marketing.

It’s easy to see why: normally, you pay for advertising, which is tucked around the edges of the main media product, whether that’s the news or some form of entertainment on the radio, television or in print. But when you get on the news, you become part of the main event – plus, it’s free!

This makes traditional media coverage very valuable, but it can also be frustratingly difficult to get, as there are never any guarantees. You couldn’t pay for it even if you wanted to, and you are always at the mercy of the journalists, producers or hosts who decide what to cover and publish.

The changing role of traditional media

It’s no great secret that traditional media like newspapers, radio and television have lost some of their power and influence. The vast majority of these outlets have been losing readers, listeners and viewers to new platforms made possible by the internet, like social media and podcasts. In many ways, the new “holy grail” of marketing is having something go viral online.

In Canada, we have the added disadvantage of being unable to post links to news stories on Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Threads), which even further limits the reach and potential benefit of any news story about your business or organization.

However, there is still value and benefit in getting earned media (another term for media coverage which you did not pay for). I spent several years in radio newsrooms followed by nearly a decade in publicity and media outreach, and as a veteran of both sides of the game, I have seen the changes firsthand. 

With the right strategy in place, integrating your marketing to properly leverage each piece, I believe media relations is still a crucial tool for any organization with the appetite to try it.

How to do media relations

At its most basic, media relations is three things:

1. Writing a news release
2. Sending it to a list of media contacts
3. Being available for (and doing) interviews

A news release (also known as a press release or media release) is basically a sample news article that includes all the important details of whatever it is you’re wanting to say. They are generally formatted like news stories (with a few specific exceptions), and are written in such a way that a journalist can quickly and easily understand the subject – while also convincing them that it’s an interesting or important story to cover.

Once you have your news release created, you’ll need to send it to a list of media contacts. This can be the biggest barrier for a lot of people, since if you don’t already have a list of contacts, you’ll need to build one. 

My suggestion on this is generally to start broad and then start zooming in on individuals. Most news outlets will have a general news or tip line listed on their website, so before going any further, copy those down. Those email addresses will generally forward to at least a few journalists, editors and/or producers at that outlet.

Next, I recommend searching for accounts on social media (especially X, formerly Twitter, and its competitors like Bluesky and Threads), using search terms like “journalist,” “reporter,” “producer,” and the name of your city or region. Many reporters will have contact information listed in their bio. Be mindful of the subjects they cover too – you want to cast a wide net, but not annoy someone who doesn’t even cover the kinds of stories you are pitching.

There are also subscription-based services that collect information about journalists and can help you find and reach people who might be interested in your story. I don’t often recommend these as they tend to be out of date and don’t provide great value, although if your organization is national or international in scope and you have the budget, there can be good use cases.

Finally, once you have your news release and contact list ready, you will need to decide on a spokesperson who will take interviews, and ensure they are available on short notice. This person will need to be able to speak comfortably and knowledgeably about the topic. And, since the turnaround on most news stories is less than a day, they’ll need to have an open schedule.

You may also want a second person available for interview, depending on the nature of the story. This can be a volunteer with your nonprofit organization, a customer of your business, or an employee whose work has some connection to the story – many news outlets require two separate “voices” or interviews on any given news story, and having one to offer is always helpful.

Integrating with other marketing

Given the reality of traditional media losing some power and influence, getting news coverage no longer acts as a huge cherry on top of whatever else you’re doing – you need to be more strategic with it, and ready to capitalize on it if and when it comes.

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that any media attention you get can help strengthen the impact of any other current or recent advertising and communication. Having these things planned together, unified and complimentary to each other can really help your advertising dollars go further and your earned media mean more to its audience.

You also need to consider how you are going to leverage the coverage you get, especially when you can’t post links to most news on social media (at least in Canada). A good workaround for this is having a good website with a blog or news section; you can paste links, excerpts or a summary there, and then share that specific post/page to social media. (It helps too if your website is built so that these posts are easily shareable!)

Ultimately, fewer people may be seeing these news stories on the platforms where they originally air or publish, but it’s still valuable free space if you can get it, and lends some credibility that is hard to achieve any other way.

Telling the story

Now, all of the above is only helpful if you have a good story to tell, and the ability to get the media’s attention. If you need help telling your story or getting news outlets to notice, Starling Social can help.

One of the new things I’m bringing to our clients here at Starling is a great depth of experience in media relations and integrated marketing. This allows us to start offering clients our help building media campaigns and marketing major announcements, as well as training for teams who have the capacity but could use some expertise on how to maximize their impact and results.

If you are interested in getting help with an upcoming project, or would like to learn more about training opportunities, get in touch – we would love to work together!

---

Our Content Marketing Checklist for 2025

January 13, 2025 - 2:05pm - by

It’s the start of another new year, and for us marketing professionals, that means planning season.

Now that you’ve slept off the holiday hangover (literally or figuratively, I won’t judge), it’s time to think about the year ahead, and what that means for your content marketing.

I’ve put together this content marketing checklist for 2025, filled with ideas and insights for how to make the most of your efforts this year. 

1. Develop content themes

Depending on your business or industry, this can be an easy and energizing place to start your planning, or the complete opposite – but either way, it is always one of the most important.

Do you have any big plans for the year? New products launching? A rebrand or major campaign? A key event or season that drives a lot of what you do? These are great top-level priorities for your content. Not only are they the things you’ll want to talk about most, but they can become inspiration for broader supporting themes to fill your year of content.

For instance, your new product launch can complement a broader theme of innovation or quality. Your end-of-season sale could be supported by a broader theme of providing value. Or you could pair the launch of a capital fundraising campaign with evergreen content themed around impact and community.

All of this is a lot more challenging, however, if your business or organization doesn’t have much new or exciting to talk about. Without big campaigns, sales or announcements, it can feel tough to keep things fresh and relevant.

But there’s good news – if you aren’t finding content inspiration by looking within your company, you can look outside. Even when we aren’t changing, the world around us certainly is. Look around your industry for changes and trends to respond to. Consider your customers and think about what is changing in their world. Get curious and try zooming in and out on different aspects of your business, industry, customer base, or even the broader economy and world.

2. Identify key topics and keywords

Once you have your themes outlined, it’s time to think about key topics and keywords to use in your content marketing.

Starting with the themes you’ve established, some of these can (and probably will) also be terms and phrases that are common and specific to your industry. Put on your SEO hat and think about how people might be searching for the kind of content you’re making, and use variations on those topics and keywords to try and capture that in a thorough way. 

To really go above and beyond with your keywords, you should also be doing some research. Get onto the various platforms where you are publishing your content, follow some accounts within your industry doing good work, and look for things like:

• What topics or keywords are getting good engagement on other accounts?
• Is there a new trend or topic in your industry that you’ve missed?
• Are there any emerging topics within your content themes that you should include? 

3. Research your audiences

A common mistake I see in marketing is people not researching their audiences often enough.

So you already defined your audience back in 2008? That don’t impress me much. (Sorry, Shania Twain…)

Like I said in our first point in this content marketing checklist – even if your organization hasn’t changed, your customers, donors or clients might have. 

This doesn’t need to be done every year, necessarily, but I do recommend keeping this on your checklist every year, and at least considering if your audience needs an update. Ask yourself (or your team, or client) the following:

• Is our audience aging?
• Do we have a new, younger cohort aging into our product/service/audience?
• If our audience has grown, who are the new people?
• If our audience has shrunk, are there people we want to win back?
• Where is our audience online, and has that changed?

That last one is probably the most important, and the one that could be changing most often. One of the best content marketing tips I can give you is to research your audience’s media diet – meaning where they are consuming content, what kind of content they’re consuming, when, and how much. 

There are many ways you can learn these things about your audience, from surveying your existing customer base, to social media analytics, to research done by other firms available online. 

Once you’ve answered these questions and done some research, you can better focus your content themes, and prioritize the channels and formats that best suit your content strategy.

Which leads us to…

4. Prioritize formats and channels

Hopefully you already have some idea of what platforms, content types and formats work well for you and connect with your audience. But once you’ve done the work in the checklist items above, you may find yourself wanting to shift some effort from one platform to another, or consider adding a new channel or type of content.

Remember, there are many types of media you can include in your content marketing. To name just a few:

• Blogs
• Video content
• Podcasts
• Webinars
• Case studies and white papers 

Something we’re thinking about this year is the value of the “Twitter alternative” platforms, Threads and Bluesky, but for you it may be something different. 

We're here to help

If you’ve read this far, you clearly see the value in being proactive and intentional about your content marketing for 2025. But maybe your team doesn’t have the time, capacity or skills to really make the most of your content marketing. 

We’re here to help. Book a discovery call today to see how our team of content marketing experts can help you make the most of your content and digital marketing this year!

---

The Future of Starling Social

December 13, 2024 - 9:48pm - by

TL;DR: Starling Social is carrying on.

From a group of people who write for a living, figuring out what to say in this blog post is hard. One thing we know for sure is that people have questions about what is happening with the company and our team. 

Alyson’s passing was not something we ever imagined we would have to consider. 

We don’t have all of the answers — we don’t know what we don’t know — but here’s what we know right now. 

How We Made This Decision

Our entire team, including Alyson’s partner, came together after her passing to figure out what the next steps looked like. We unanimously agreed that continuing Starling Social was the best way to continue Alyson’s legacy. 

Just like a murmuration of Starlings, Alyson Shane built a team that moves in sync, adjusts to each other's actions and stays aligned with the bigger picture.

Her bigger picture was to support good businesses and non-profits doing great work in their communities. Having a person with a big heart at the head of Starling is what made it so successful. Our team all genuinely loves what we do and wanted to continue to do great work for our clients. That part was an easy yes. 

What Current Clients Need To Know 

First off, we want to thank our clients for their understanding, patience, and support during this time. Our team is so grateful that our clients’ trust has remained with their account managers, and the processes and procedures that Alyson had implemented. 

Our clients can rely on the same dedicated service and exceptional quality of work they’ve come to expect from us.

We are mourning Alyson’s loss, but doing this work, having a creative outlet and supporting our clients is something we can continue to feel good about moving forward. 

Who Is Filling Alyson’s Position

Alyson’s strong need for clear, documented communication has kept everyone aligned, even after her passing. Together, we have been able to navigate, collaborate, and now move forward with an addition to the team who will fulfill Alyson’s duties and add services — and a new perspective — to benefit our clients. 

We are welcoming a new Director to the team: Luke Thiessen. Luke is a longtime friend and collaborator who has been involved with Starling since its founding. A graduate of the Creative Communications program at Red River, he has spent more than a decade creating content, directing communications strategy and leading teams across a variety of industries and sectors. He is taking over leadership of the Starling Social team and looks forward to working with our clients as we enter this next chapter for the agency.

Our team wholeheartedly agrees that Luke is the natural fit to continue growing Starling. His skillset and experience complements our team, and as Alyson’s close friend, he knows and supports the direction and goals of the company. We feel good knowing another person with a big heart, and the same values, is continuing her legacy. 

We are looking forward to adding Luke’s skillset, sense of humour, and musical acumen to our murmuration. 

Honouring Alyson

Alyson used Starling Social to support women and BIPOC companies, and the LGBTQAI2S+ community where she could. Those will be the initiatives we continue to support. 

The University of Winnipeg Foundation has set up the Alyson Shane Memorial Award in Rhetoric. They aim to raise $35,000 to support underrepresented students studying Rhetoric, Writing and Communications at The University of Winnipeg.

She was also nominated for the Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and they will be honouring her memory and contributions to the community at the event. 

We will continue to share stories about Alyson, always be inspired by the drive and creativity she shared with her community, and produce work she would have been proud to have her name attached to. 

Our Services 

Our entrepreneurial crew of self starters works together to help our clients grow their businesses. Here’s a reminder of what we will continue to offer, and what’s new.

Digital Marketing Strategy

• Onboarding: This process allows us to act as an extension of your brand online.
• Transparency: Cloud-based tools keep you updated on every campaign detail.
• Monthly Reports: Detailed updates on performance, ROI, and strategic recommendations.
• Quarterly Meetings: Regular meetins to align goals and objectives.

Social Media Marketing

• Content Strategy: Data-driven insights make sure your posts reach your target audience.
• Content Publishing: Professional scheduling and promotion of your social content.
• Audience Engagement: Strategic interactions to grow awareness and connections.
• 24/7 Account Monitoring: Always stay on top of DMs and sales opportunities.

Copywriting

• Blogging: SEO-optimized blogs to drive traffic to your website.
• Email Marketing: Campaigns, newsletters, and nurture streams tailored to your needs.
• Website Copy: Refresh or overhaul your site with impactful, polished content.
• PDFs + More: Custom promotional materials for any campaign.

Social Media Ads

• Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and Pinterest Ads: Expertly managed to amplify your digital marketing efforts.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

• Search and Display Ads on Google and Bing: Drive traffic and boost sales with precision-targeted campaigns.

Web Development

• Website Development: Create or revamp your site to showcase your brand.
• Branding and UX Design: Responsive, user-friendly websites highlighting your products and services.
• Logo Design and Brand Identity: Build a memorable visual identity that reflects your brand’s values and stands out in your industry.
• Shopify Setup and Management: Optimize your online store for sales and efficiency.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Improve your search rankings and visibility.

New Offers 

With our new addition to the team, we’re offering a small but beneficial expansion to our current offers. 

Media Outreach & Publicity

• Press Releases: Creating newsworthy stories to gain media attention.
• Media Relations: Building relationships with journalists and influencers to boost coverage.
• Event Promotion: Generating buzz for your events through strategic media campaigns.

Grieving

Grief can be overwhelming, especially over the holiday season. The Mood Disorders Association of Canada has free resources available for people who have lost a loved one and need support.  

Please take care of yourself. If you or a loved one is struggling, you can access Shared Health Manitoba’s Mental Health & Wellness Resources here. 

If you have questions about our team, the future of Starling Social, or digital marketing, you can reach us here.

---

Meet Luke Thiessen

December 13, 2024 - 5:41pm - by

Let’s just start by saying the quiet part out loud: we did not expect that a straight, cis, white, Christian male would be the perfect person to take over Alyson Shane’s duties at Starling Social. But, after getting to know him, we’re confident you’ll be as happy about it as we are. 

“Happy” is a strange word to use because we are all having a lot of feelings right now. We’re figuring out it’s okay to feel a little happy mixed in with everything else. Maybe the more correct word is “right.” Luke coming on board feels like the right decision for Starling Social. 

Who Is Luke? 

The first thing you need to know about Luke is that he is starting a Taylor Swift drag cover band with John Luxford. Okay, maybe that’s not the first thing you need to know, but it is important information, and we will be sharing show details when it becomes available. 

Luke is a long-time, trusted and close friend of Alyson’s. The two met during a work placement at Direct Focus, where Alyson was working at the time, and then reconnected on Twitter — back when it was still a good place to be. 

Wanting to get into similar work, the two became fast friends, bouncing ideas off of each other over a craft beer and cheering for the other’s successes. 

You may have seen Luke at one of Manitoba’s many music festivals or even playing in his own band! He is drawn to folk, Americana and blues music — but he also loves a good bop. Luke’s other hobby is brewing beer and he’s a proud member of the Winnipeg Brew Bombers. 

Work Life 

After graduating from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2014, Luke secured a job at his second internship, Golden West Radio —  a network of (mostly rural) radio stations with a couple of spots based in Winnipeg.

When you hear Luke’s voice, you immediately agree that it belongs on the radio, so it was no surprise that he was asked to start part-time and cover the news. That quickly turned into a full-time position on Classic 107 and across other Golden West radio stations.  

Luke says doing the news was never his dream, so he transferred to another station and secured a spot as an afternoon drive show host. In that position, he led the content creation and the on-air team. That included things like coming up with partnerships for advertisers, delivering on-air content, running a show, and coming up with timely and entertaining things to talk about. 

Interested in doing and learning more, Luke started doing freelance communications and publicity work with a local record label. 

“After about a year I took the leap, quit my day job and started doing freelance full-time.” 

Most of his clients were in the arts and music scene, but he also did communications work for non-profits and small businesses. In the initial years of Starling Social, Alyson hired Luke to manage some content marketing projects.  

Luke made a great impression in the communications field and was offered a job at Siloam Mission as the Manager of Communications, where he spent the next 6.5 years. 

At Siloam Mission, Luke helped grow the communications and marketing department from a team of one to a group of four. They handled everything from public relations to digital marketing to fundraising materials. 

“Over that time, we brought a lot of that work in-house or changed our vendors to local vendors, like Starling Social. Whatever we couldn’t do in-house, we wanted to at least have close to home, so that’s when we started working with Starling.”

If you didn’t know, Siloam Mission became one of Starling’s clients in 2022. 

In November 2023, Luke left Siloam Mission to take a break, do some work in the craft beer world, and start his own freelance practice. His business was just starting to come online when Alyson passed. 

If you’ve interacted with our team before, you’ll know we’re a bunch of self-starters with good intentions. Through our grief, we each contributed to creating spreadsheets of outstanding tasks, making tough calls, and writing whatever needed to be written. We felt it was important not to add more to John’s plate, for our clients to have no interruptions in service, and to treat this company with the same respect Alyson showed us. After a couple of weeks and some discussion, a team member phoned Luke and pitched the idea of him coming on board. 

“It never occurred to me that this was something I should think about doing. But it immediately clicked for me. We had a discussion, and I thought, as long as everyone wants this to happen and feels the same way, then this feels like such a natural fit.”

While we all mourn the circumstances that brought us here, we also feel Luke has the experience, skills, and values we want to run Starling Social — and the extroverted personality to grow it. His personal and working relationship with Alyson gave him insight into how the company is run, and we are grateful he has stepped in to fill this position so Starling Social can continue to thrive. 

Joining Starling

Luke’s goal is to add to the company, not change how it's run. He wants to see what else he can bring to the table for clients to make their experience even better. 

“I am looking forward to digging back into the work that I’m passionate about. To meet new clients and get to know their stories and their people. I’m a people person. I’m an extrovert, and that gives me energy.”

Luke loves working on big-picture ideas and creating new strategies. As an “ad guy", he’s driven to create campaigns that tell the story of a product, brand, project, or capital campaign. He loves getting into a brand or campaign with a great story to tell.

Publicity and media outreach is a large piece of Luke’s background and a new service he is proud to offer Starling clients. 

“I've always been so proud of Alyson and the work she’s done at Starling. It’s been amazing to watch the business grow and, by extension, see her clients do well. This opportunity just feels really exciting and I’m honoured to be able to continue that and do some of that same great work.” 

If you have questions for Luke, or are interested in ramping up your digital marketing game in 2025, contact us here. 

---

7 Foolproof Content Promotion Strategies That Really Work

November 12, 2024 - 12:00am - by

Spoiler alert: helping your audience find your content is harder than ever. 

Search engines like Google are increasingly using tactics to keep searchers on the results page and off your site, and social media has become so crowded that whether someone sees your post or not can often feel like a shot in the dark.

And while there are other ways to get your content in front of your target audience (of course) a lot of them tend to fall into one of two categories:

1. Somewhat effective, like posting a blog to your social media profiles and encouraging your followers to click through and read it.
2. Too complicated, like creating detailed reports or doing interviews that might net you some traffic, but are unrealistic to do every month unless you have a dedicated team to manage it for you.

I’ve been publishing content online for 23 years, so I’ve seen lots of trends come and go, but there are some tactics that get results time after time - and that’s what this post is about.

A note before we go on: these strategies only work if your content is entertaining, informational, and valuable. People only want to read, share, and backlink to content that’s genuinely worth sharing, so don’t dial it in!

Now let’s get into it:

1. Email your audience

I often say that “getting someone’s email is like getting the spare key to their house.”

Think about it: even if you’re promoting your content on Google or social media, you’re still just hoping that your content will be seen by the right people and that they won’t simply scroll on by.

But someone who subscribes to your email list has already shown that they’re interested in what you have to say, and you can send it to them in a place that only a few can access: their inbox.

For example, when we publish a new blog post I include it in Starling Social’s weekly digital marketing newsletter. Not only does our content get a traffic boost from our subscribers clicking through to read our articles, but anecdotally I’ve noticed that our blog posts often rank higher in search results because search engines recognize the boost in engagement from the traffic we’re sending, too.

The trick here is to publish regularly and cover topics that you know your audience are interested in. We send a digital marketing-focused newsletter, so it’s easy to assume that the people who sign up to read it are interested in the topics we cover here on the blog.

We also publish regularly (two times a month, on average, but sometimes more). This gives us lots of opportunities to drive traffic back to our content.

2. Repurpose your content

This is also known as a “bricks and feathers” approach to content promotion.

I’ve gone into this tactic in more detail in an earlier post on the blog, but the idea is to take a longer piece of content (like a blog post or a longer video) and break it up into smaller chunks, like social media posts.

So this blog would be a “brick” and the “feathers” are the posts and videos I’ll be creating after I’m finished writing this to promote it (and what’s inside) on our socials. Or, if I’ve been featured on a podcast (a “brick”) I’ll pull the audio and make Reels and TikToks with it (“feathers”).

An important note: one mistake I often see people making is just resharing the original piece of content on social media - but this is a mistake for a few reasons:

1. Social media algorithms “throttle” posts that have links in them because they have an incentive to keep users on the platform, not send them away.
2. People can’t interact with a link, so turning it into a video they can watch, an Instagram carousel they can swipe through, or even resharing it as a LinkedIn article they can access without leaving the site is a better way to encourage them to engage with the content you’re promoting.

3. Tap your team

92% of consumers trust word of mouth and UGC (user-generated content) more than other forms of traditional brand advertising, which makes sense: our brains are hard-wired to trust other humans (compared to a “faceless” brand).

So instead of just posting to your company page and socials, ask your team or employees to re-share your content on their own timelines, too.

An important note: just blind re-sharing won’t have the same impact as when someone takes a few minutes to write a thoughtful post about why the content has value. 

This is especially important for company leaders and executives to do this since they tend to have large audiences on platforms like LinkedIn. At Starling Social, our favourite approach to helping clients do this is by creating Mad Lib-like templates their team can use to take the guesswork out of what we’d like them to say.

Once the post has been shared, encourage others in the company (other executives or employees) to like, comment, and re-share it to their own profiles to boost its visibility even higher.

4. Guest blog (but with grace)

You may have been the recipient of one of those spammy “hey I want to guest blog for you” emails before - and this isn’t the right approach.

Most people only offer to guest blog in order to earn backlinks, which means the content tends to be poorly-written and often doesn’t have any original ideas of value. 

Instead of cold-emailing people, look for industry publications with a large audience and only submit a guest post when you have a unique or thoughtful perspective to share. Then (and only then!) should you link back to your content that’s relevant to what you’re saying.

Another approach is to publish your own post first, then reach out to other publications in your industry and explain in your pitch how you’d like to expand on that topic.

That way you’re not just repeating yourself; you can earn a reputation as an industry thought leader and earn those valuable backlinks to your content.

5. Partner with influencers or other brands

Working with influencers or other parallel brands in your industry is an easy way to help your content get discovered by more people. There are three main ways to do this:

• Hosting webinars
• Doing podcast/video interviews
• Doing blog post interviews 

You can either work with someone in your niche and invite them to be interviewed by you, or to partner with you on a project, or you can develop relationships with others who will feature you.

I can personally attest to how effective this strategy is. I’m interviewed on a podcast every 1-2 months, on average, and I deliver a workshop or webinar at least every 2 months in partnership with several nonprofits and brands in parallel niches to my own.

This not only helps me promote Starling Social’s content to a wider audience, but also positions me as a subject matter expert which reinforces the value of the content I share.

6. Cross-promote with other newsletters 

Remember how I said “getting someone’s email is like getting the spare key to their house”? Well getting featured in someone else’s newsletter is like that, but on steroids. Here’s why:

1. People love when their content is promoted
2. People tend to reciprocate when you do them a favour

If you promote someone else’s content to your audience, they’re likely to reshare yours, too.

 A few years ago I started reaching out to industry associations and nonprofits asking them if they have events or content they’d like Starling Social to feature, which has landed our blog posts in over a dozen of their monthly newsletters to their members as a result.

The trick here is to lead with offering, not asking.

6. Run paid ads

You probably knew this would be in here somewhere.

Most people don’t share sales-driven content unless it’s really valuable, so often paying to show your content to the right people is an effective way to help the right people see it - this is because ad targeting allows you to specify exactly the type of audience you think will want to see it.

An important note: knowing where to run your ads is a key part of this tactic. LinkedIn is the best place to share B2B (business-to-business) content, and Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are better for B2C (business-to-consumer content).

If you think about why people use these platforms, this makes sense: most of us don’t go on TikTok or Instagram when we’re thinking about work or business, whereas 4 out of 5 LinkedIn members drive business decisions.

So if you’re going to invest your marketing dollars in running ads to promote your content, make sure you’re promoting it to the platforms where your audience is spending time.

8. (Bonus!) Re-promote your old content

Do you have an older post that’s still relevant? This is known as “evergreen” content.

Evergreen content = content that focuses on a topic that’s already relevant, regardless of the season or news cycle. The term comes from the evergreen, a plant that stays “ever green” all year round (get it?)

If you have evergreen content lying around, link back to it in new content you publish or reshare it using the tactics outlined in the post above. Sometimes just the process of resharing it and sending more traffic to the page can improve your search engine rankings.

Start promoting your content today

Using these strategies can help you get more visibility for your content, but remember: your content needs to be engaging, entertaining, and valuable.

(Hint: don’t just churn out content using AI and hope for the best!)

If the thought of creating high-quality content sounds overwhelming, you’re in the right place because we can help! Starling Social is led by a seasoned content marketer (me) and made up of a team of creative and high-quality copywriters who have the experience to make your content shine. If we sound like your dream copywriting team, book a discovery call today!

---

Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2024: Trends, How to Prepare, and How to Sell More in 2024

October 21, 2024 - 12:00am - by

If you’re gearing up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you’re not alone. According to Retail Dive, nearly 60% of consumers are already scaling back on their regular spending habits so they can take advantage of all the sweet, sweet deals this shopping season will offer up.

In fact, 76% plan to maintain or even increase their spending this season, making Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) the perfect time to sell more of your products and services.

The BFCM weekend is the biggest shopping event of the year, but a successful sales campaign is more than just adding some discounts to your website — you need to stay ahead of the curve and include the latest trends into your marketing strategy.

Below are some of the most important tips you need to know to sell more, increase customer loyalty, and attract new buyers to your brand. Let’s explore:

Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2024: Trends and Predictions

From artificial intelligence to Buy Now, Pay Later options, here are three trends we anticipate will shape the holiday shopping experience this year.

1. Plan for early promotions and extended sales 

According to Experian, almost one-third of holiday sales took place in October 2023.

This trend probably isn’t going anywhere, especially since more brands are extending the BFCM into the following week (or even the week before). 

If you’re looking to fire up your sales early, consider doing “Pre-Black Friday” promotions and leaning into “Cyber Week” deals for items sold through your website.

2. Offer flexible payment options at checkout 

One trend we’re seeing is the rise of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options at checkout. 

If you’re been on websites like Wayfair or Shein lately you’ve probably already seen these options, which allow customers to pay in instalments or even defer the full payment amount to a later date.

This tactic is especially useful if you sell big-ticket items like furniture, clothing, expensive jewelry… you get the idea. You can offer these incentives by integrating tools like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm into your e-commerce platform, and once they’re on your website, make sure to highlight that these options are available in your marketing push, too.

3. Lean into AI-driven customer support

According to research done on BFCM spending last year, AI likely contributed $51 billion to online global sales, so we can expect to see this trend of using AI-powered tools to continue this year, too.

Some ways you can integrate AI into your BFCM marketing planning include:

• Using chatbots to address customer’s questions and issues in real-time.
• Personalizing product recommendations.
• Doing pricing research against your competitors (tools like Prisync are great for this!)
• Using tools like Klayvio to create customized, AI-driven email marketing campaigns.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2024: Tips for Success

Here are some of the hottest strategies to help you level-up your BFCM sales success this season:

Start building your marketing plan early

Like, right now! (We can help with this.)

Start promoting your BFCM offers on your social media and through your newsletter as soon as Halloween is over. Some ways you can build excitement include:

• Countdowns
• Previews and sneak peeks
• Early access deals for subscribers and returning customers
• New customer incentives and savings
• Referral codes to existing customers spread the word about your products

Lean into “Flash Sales”

Creating a sense of urgency is one of the most effective tactics to enhance conversions, both during BFCM and year-round. 

Use countdown timers on your website and in your marketing emails to remind customers how much time is left for a deal. 

Staggered promotions that evolve throughout the day can also encourage repeat visits and incentivize customers to add more to their cart, too.

Make your brick-and-mortar experience memorable

Lots of customers still love the feeling of an in-person shopping experience, especially when it comes with special incentives. 

Host exclusive in-store events with offerings like early access to discounts or special product launches (potentially with gifts). 

Even small special details, like free samples or gift-wrapping, can help get more people through your door.

Offer mobile-exclusive deals

Do you have a mobile app? Then don’t miss out on the chance to attract more downloads and purchases through it by offering app-exclusive deals.

Encouraging customers to buy through your app also allows you to establish a direct connection with them and can open up other marketing opportunities like push notifications on flash sales and limited-time offers.

Use “Retargeting” to reconnect with customers

It’s normal for customers to browse your site without buying anything, especially during BFCM when they may be comparing options across multiple websites.

“Remarketing” is the process of reconnecting with people who’ve visited your website through Google Ads and Meta Advertising, so those pants someone viewed yesterday will show up in their Instagram Stories or at the top of their Google search feed, which might bring them back to buy.

Are you ready for BFCM 2024?

BFCM 2024 is set to be another blowout shopping season, so start your planning now and use these tips to make sure this BFCM is your most successful one yet!

If you need help getting your marketing plan in order, we can help! Drop us a line and let’s build a winning BFCM strategy together.

---

Meet Alyson Shane

October 12, 2024 - 12:05am - by

If you’re here, you probably had some type of interaction with our Founder, Alyson Shane. Whether you read Starling’s newsletter, follow our social media pages, heard her on a podcast, know her personally, or had a chance to work with her — you know this woman means business. 

Not in the traditional sense, though. While she has the traits of a classic type-A person, Alyson puts her whole heart into every part of her life. When you ask her about her interests, you can expect to have at-length conversations about everything she loves, because this woman does her research and cares a lot. The belief that details matter extends through her work, hobbies, and relationships —  which leaves everyone in her wake knowing whatever it is, if it involves Alyson, it’s taken care of. 

If you’re considering working with our team or just want to read more about one of the marketing powerhouses in Winnipeg, stick around to find out what Alyson is all about, dive into Starling Social’s past, and see where we’re headed in the future. 

Personal Life 

Alyson embodies the spirit of Wolseley (Winnipeggers, iykyk). She loves to garden, read, and ride her bike around the city to visit local shops, breweries, and The Forks. 

She also makes art in her spare time. 

“I draw, paint in acrylic and gouache, and I do art journaling where I “freeflow” write out my thoughts, then explore whatever comes out by covering them with paint, collage, and other mixed-media materials. I picked this hobby up during the pandemic, and it’s done wonders for my mental health.” 

She’s also a gamer. Alyson worked at EB Games (now GameStop) in her late teens and likes to unwind by playing the latest Zelda title or weird indie games like Night In The Woods, Boyfriend Dungeon, and Untitled Goose Game.

(If you haven’t played that last one, she can’t recommend it enough!)

Work Life

Before starting Starling Social, Alyson worked in Accounts Payable, if you can believe it. That cemented in her mind that she did NOT want to work in accounting. Much to her parents’ disappointment, she quit her “safe” government job to pursue a degree in Rhetoric, Writing & Communications from the University of Winnipeg. 

After that she worked at a handful of local marketing agencies around the city (some big, some small) in various roles related to social media content creation, copywriting, and account management.

“While I’m grateful for the time I spent working those jobs, they all taught me a lot about the kind of work environment I wanted to work in (hint: it wasn’t any of those), as well as the kind of work/life balance I wanted to have.”

Starting A Business 

A writer at heart, Alyson leveraged her passion and turned it into her marketing superpower.

Starling Social grew out of a handful of copywriting and social media contracts she took on in 2014, but within a year, Alyson had taken on so much work that she realized she needed to start building a team to help her manage the workload.

Fortunately, her boyfriend, (now husband) John, already had over a decade of experience running multiple businesses, so she was able to lean on him for advice and guidance — and still does! She says she’s lucky to be able to “nerd out” about her business with him.

To help with the transition, Alyson read a lot of books and articles about leadership, management, and process. Some of her biggest influences have been “The Marketing Agency Blueprint” by Paul Roetzer (which she actually read while she was working for an agency, which might have been a sign in hindsight), “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, and “Crossing The Chasm” by Geoffrey A. Moore.

In case you haven’t picked up on it, Alyson loves working on projects that require strategy and research. Social media audits, developing campaigns, and putting together documentation to pass along to the team are her favourite things to do.

“I had a really good manager at my last job before I founded Starling who taught me the importance of having everything written down in advance — this means I’m able to clearly articulate my thoughts and break down complicated concepts quickly and easily so the team can execute them flawlessly.”

After 23 years (and counting) of publishing content online, she still loves researching and staying at the bleeding edge of the industry, so any opportunity to dig into the latest trends, changes to social platforms, and strategies feels more like fun than work.

Favourite Projects (So Far)

What Brings Us Here

We partnered with the National Film Board on a project that featured stories behind Indigenous-led community action in Winnipeg.

WBUH was a companion piece to the award-winning short documentary film this river, created by author and filmmaker Katherena Vermette and NFB producer Alicia Smith, and featured profiles of volunteers of Drag the Red and Bear Clan Patrol, both grassroots MMIWG and MMIP movements in our city.

We developed a social media strategy, consulted on content, and managed all aspects of the social media component of the project. Reading the personal stories of participants in the project was eye-opening and sometimes gut-wrenching, and she still considers it to be one of the most important and impactful projects we’ve worked on to date.

This Place: 150 Years Retold

We partnered with Portage & Main Press/HighWater Press to develop the launch strategy for “150 Years Retold” a graphic novel anthology which features Indigenous authors and illustrators and explores Canadian history through the perspectives of Indigenous peoples.

We created a really robust campaign that included developing all assets and the strategy for social media, multiple contests organized in partnership with Indigenous creators across Canada, blog posts, interviews, and cross-promotional content with the authors and artists, email marketing campaigns, and ads for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

It was a huge project and a lot of work, but not only did it lead to a multi-year partnership with the fine folks at PMP/HWP, but we also helped the book achieve #1 in Native Canadian Literature and #2 in Canadian Literature through pre-orders on Amazon.

Ad Campaigns for Siloam Mission

Alyson is a values-driven marketer and makes it a priority to work with nonprofit organizations locally and across Canada with the goal of helping our communities, so she’s really enjoyed this ongoing partnership with the folks at Siloam Mission.

She actually used to volunteer in their kitchen before Starling Social and related activities (teaching, speaking, etc.) started to take up too much of her time. Being able to give back to a nonprofit doing important work in her city by developing and managing their social media and Google Ads campaigns has a very special place in her heart.

“THE FAMILY CROW: A Murder Mystery”

This was one of the weirdest projects we’ve worked on and Alyson was over the moon to take it on!

Adam from Pucking Fuppet Co. reached out to her after she wrote a review of his one-man show for The Winnipeg Fringe. Not only did our efforts result in several sold-out shows, but the media we got to use to promote the show was super weird and quirky (aka, right up her alley).

As a former theatre kid herself, Alyson loves getting to support Canada’s arts community and was able to bring what she learned through Starling’s partnership with Adam and his team to a “Facebook Advertising for Performing Arts” course for ArtsBoost, a nonprofit who supports performers across Canada. How cool is that?!

Growing Starling Social 

Looking back over the last ten years, the thing Alyson is most impressed with is her team.

Alyson never imagined herself as a person who would thrive as a manager, but her team helped her build a company culture that she’s very proud of, where we all feel heard, supported, and can collaborate on any kind of project. She says that isn’t just because of her!  

“The hardworking people who sit down at their desks for Starling’s clients every day always bring 110% and I can sleep easy (okay, easier) at night knowing that I have a team of whip-smart humans behind me every step of the way.”

Alyson’s Four Biggest Business Changes

However, there are many things to be proud of about the company’s evolution over the last decade. Alyson shared the four biggest changes in her business since its inception: 

Being Choosy About Our Clients

When agencies are just starting out, there can be a lot of pressure to bring every client possible through the door just to generate revenue, but finding clients who are a cultural fit is so, SO important.

If a potential client starts sending up red flags in the initial discovery call, I will talk to the team about how they feel, get their read on the situation, and if necessary, we make the decision to turn down the business together.

(Aka, we do a “vibe check” together.)

Refining Our Systems and Processes

My poor team hears me say, “if it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist” so often that I’m sure I must drive them crazy, but I live and die by this mantra.

Figuring out how to communicate, operate, and collaborate as a 100% remote agency has its challenges, of course, but this approach has paid off for us in spades, especially when Starling was first starting to scale up.

Now we have a documented, repeatable, and scalable process for every type of client, project, and deliverable, which not only increases our clients’ trust in us, but helps us communicate and be more transparent with them than if we were just winging it all the time.

Honing Our Values

When someone goes into this line of work, it’s usually because they like writing, or have an interest in creating content - and that’s great!

But being a business means we also have a responsibility to give back to our community and do good, which is why we’ve started sponsoring events like the QNET Leadership Conference, tournaments for the Epilepsy and Seizure Association of Manitoba, and the Winnipeg Women’s Community, among others.

Growing my team also means I have more bandwidth to give back professionally, too. I’ve been a volunteer with SPARK!, a local nonprofit who connects small NPO’s with businesses who offer their services pro-bono* since 2018, I’ve worked with Manitoba Music as a mentor helping emerging artists, and sit on the board of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, to name a few.

My team is also dedicated to supporting our community, and makes it a priority to work with and support LGBTQ2SIA+, Métis and Indigenous-owned businesses.

* I was awarded Volunteer Manitoba’s “SPARK Pro Bono Consultant Award” in 2021 for my volunteer work, which was a real honour.

Changing With The Industry

When Starling first started out we offered a pretty narrow slate of services: copywriting, social media management, and email marketing.

We started with these because they were my biggest strengths, but as the digital marketing landscape has changed over the years we’ve expanded to include social media ads, website development, video content development, branding, and Google Ads (PPC).

Some of these new services were introduced to meet our clients’ evolving needs, but generally speaking I started looking for team members who could meet these needs because I saw that we’d be pigeonholing ourselves if we weren’t proactive about growing and adapting as the industry changed.

Now, this doesn’t mean I’m the expert in all of these fields! I can read basic HTML and CSS, and I know just enough about Photoshop, InDesign, and how to run a Google Ads campaign to be dangerous, but I prefer to work with people who are experts in their respective fields rather than under-delivering (see my point below about knowing when to scale!)

Advice for New Digital Marketers

Know When To Scale

One of the biggest mistakes that new business owners make is not recognizing when they need to scale.

“I get it! Moving from a ‘solopreneur’ to a ‘manager’ can be an intimidating transition, and I definitely didn’t go into this thinking that I was going to lead a team.”

Alyson holds her work (and that of the people who work for her) to a very, very high standard, so when she realized that she couldn’t keep executing at the level she expected of herself, she brought on others who could help her maintain it.

Learn to Write Properly

Don’t rely on AI tools like ChatGPT to do your work for you!

I mean it: there’s a lot of low-quality content being churned out right now; before that was because a lot of people entering into the industry didn’t take the time to hone their craft, and now it’s because increasing amounts of people are cutting corners by letting an AI write their content for them.

Using AI seems like a good strategy at first, but it’s not a good look when your content sounds hollow and doesn’t have the unique, creative touch that the human brain brings to the art of writing.

The Future of Starling Social 

In five years, Alyson hopes to be doing exactly what she’s doing right now: running a marketing agency that does work that she’s proud of and working with clever, passionate people.

“I love the work that I do and while there are always ups and downs, I’m legitimately excited to sit down at my desk every day.” 

As a passionate traveller, where in the world she’s sitting at that desk might change over time. It’s one of the reasons why Starling is, and will always be, 100% remote. 

“Flipping open my laptop or turning on my computer is still an exhilarating feeling — after 10 years in this business, all I can hope for is many, many more.”

If you have questions for Alyson, or want to talk about your next digital marketing project, you can contact her here.