We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alex O’neil a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alex, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

There are lots of misconceptions when it comes to marketing.

A few common ones I’ve seen include:

1. “All marketing is measurable”
A lot of it is, but there are also nuances when it comes to consumer behavior. Maybe a buyer saw your product on a billboard and was interested but couldn’t scan the QR code on it because they were driving. In this case, the data would attribute the lead to a web search, overlooking the billboard’s influence in initiating interest.

2. “I need to hire a social media manager to make sales”
More often than not, social media is for brand awareness. It’s a great way to show your followers your sense of humor, behind-the-scenes footage, but the more you post about how people can buy without offering value, the less likely you are to drive a sale.

3. “Yes we have a marketing strategy – my nephew runs our social media”
While younger people may have a slight leg-up when it comes to knowing how to easily navigate platforms like TikTok and Instagram (due to being raised on it), hiring someone just because they’re young usually isn’t the best move. A teenager proficient in design tools differs significantly from an experienced marketer who understands diverse strategies across various channels. From social media to print ads to influencers, your marketing strategy is more than just social media.

Alex, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Growing up, my dad and I would take his motorcycle out and ride around for hours. Doing this, we stumbled into the cutest mom and pop shops with delicious paninis, tasty pastries in small general stores, and handmade pottery at farmers’ markets.

I loved every second of it, which is why I made it my mission to give businesses like this a fighting chance. Even if your product/service is amazing and your passion is infectious, you still need people to know you exist!

From solopreneurs with side hustles to publicly traded companies with 100+ employees, we’ve helped small businesses of all sizes with their marketing efforts.

Whether it be social media marketing, print marketing, influencers, email marketing, etc, most marketing agencies have a specialty. What makes us unique is that we can help you develop a holistic marketing strategy and implement it. Since starting City on the Hill, it’s clear that many business owners are misguided when it comes to their marketing needs.

A client we work with initially wanted a social media presence, but I knew that wasn’t going to help them in the way they wanted. For their industry, email marketing and Google Ads would be a better use of their marketing dollars. If they had talked to a social media marketing agency, they probably would’ve heard “we can get started today; so many kids are on TikTok; we’ll increase your exposure by 1000%” (and so on), which is great, but this client wanted to drive sales in the most cost-effective way possible. Social media wasn’t going to help them achieve that.

You’re probably asking yourself ‘why does City on the Hill offer more than agencies who specialize in certain facets of marketing?’ Well… I love business and challenges. I’m a creative, a critical thinker, and an entrepreneur. Small business challenges energize me. On top of that, it’s what small businesses need. They can’t afford to pay 3 specialist agencies $2000/mo. They need someone who will help with it all under one roof.

It saves the client money, time, and simplifies a chain of command.

We believe in the potential of every organization to be a “city on a hill” – a beacon of excellence and positive influence in their industry and community.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Growing up, I was fiercely independent. It’s generally a trait that parents like to see in their children, but I was independent to a fault. If someone offered me help with homework, I wouldn’t take it. I did all of my college applications 100% by myself (I don’t even know if my parents knew where I applied – yikes!).

When I started my business in January 2023, I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it. I learned as much as I could about starting a business through videos and articles, but never wanted to ask my dad (who owns a successful business himself) or my mom (who was a CFO and is great with numbers). It felt weak to me.

In January 2024, one of my clients became a mentor to me and my business has grown exponentially with his help. On our earlier calls, I was a little closed off to the ideas. His background isn’t in marketing, so I thought I knew better. After a few months of talking, I was like, “wow, this guy knows what he’s talking about!”

I started to implement his suggestions and talk to people in his network, and the business grew.

After that, I started going to networking events, hopping on calls with marketing agency owners I met on Reddit, and talking to my parents, just asking them questions and asking for their thoughts.

It’s like climbing a mountain. Sure, you can probably make it to the top on your own, but you may run out of water, you may go down the wrong path and add 3 hours to your journey, and you may not have the energy to pull yourself up that last stretch.

That’s what others are for. They have done this climb before and know to bring extra water, they know to avoid that wrong path (because they learned the hard way before), and they know when you’re almost at the top and can act as a shoulder to lean on.

Being open to help is crucial.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I don’t personally have the largest audience, but a way that has worked when it comes to creating content for clients is by creating very human content.

Be vulnerable, show your face, share your setbacks that you’ve had in business, record behind-the-scenes footage.

One thing that will never change is that people want to do business with people. Don’t just post graphics, share your work, your feelings,… share your kindergarten throwback picture! Whatever helps humanize you and your brand is good for business :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cityonthehillconsultancy.com
• Instagram: @cityconsultancy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-oneil

Image Credits

Imagination’s Eye Photography