We recently connected with Kim Beechner and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kim, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Embark Marketing was born out of a passion for the food & beverage industry, but also a necessity for survival.
At age 17, my mother passed away unexpectedly and I was on my own. I was still in high school but needed to figure out a way to survive, pay a mortgage & bills, and support myself. So during this time, I transitioned to night school so that I could work multiple jobs during the day, many of which were in the restaurant industry. It was here I began to fall in love with food, cocktails & culture.
Upon completing night school and earning my high school diploma, I applied to local universities to try to achieve my dream of being the first in my family to graduate from college. Fortunately, I was accepted into the University of Incarnate Word on an academic scholarship.
While going to school full-time at UIW, I continued to work three jobs, mostly serving and bartending in high-end restaurants. When I wasn’t studying or working, I was traveling the world experiencing different cultures and cuisines.
In my senior year of Undergraduate, I took on a marketing internship with a law firm. During this time my supervisor was so impressed by my social media and marketing skills, that he encouraged me to start my own marketing firm, offering to help me incorporate my business. In the Spring of Undergrauate, I incorporated Embark Marketing and began to develop a marketing agency prior to graduation. In May 2010, I graduated with a Bachelors in Business Administration with a minor in Marketing.
Embark Marketing began working with a variety of industries offering primarily social media and digital marketing services. However, two years into operation, I began to feel stuck. Marketing so many industries proved difficult and I wasn’t scaling the company the way I wanted, so I sought advice from one of my previous professors at UIW. He allowed me to work with one of his Capstone classes. Together, a group of students & my professor helped me to evaluate my business and how I could grow. Ultimately we determined it was best to narrow the niche of the company to focus on what I knew best and was most passionate about – the restaurant & bar industry.
This combination of narrowing my agency niche to something I was passionate about, and my educational background, have helped me to grow Embark Marketing and make it the successfull agency it is today.
We have now been in business a little over 12 years, providing digital marketing services for clients across Texas and the United States. We position ourselves as a one-stop-shop for the food & beverage industry, providing services such as strategy consulting, social media management, content creation, public relations & more.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I have found that the biggest benefit in building both my personal and professional reputation is my integrity and open communication with our clients.
Whenever we are approached by a new potential client, I do my best to listen to all aspects of concern for the business including growth opportunities and pain points. This is followed by thorough research to ensure I can provide the best recommendation for their particular brand.
Once I can provide a recommendation and strategy, our team at Embark Marketing works hard to develop an implementation process that provides result-driven campaigns. During this time, we maintain an open line of communication with our clients, ensuring they are a part of the process every step of the way. At the conclusion of work, we always follow up with an analysis to help our clients understand the journey and results.
This open communication and transparency have fostered beautiful client relations, and helped to build Embark Marketing’s reputation as a premier marketing agency for the food & beverage industry.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
At Embark Marketing we have a very personal relationship with each & every one of our clients. We pride ourselves on being a resource for our clients that they can count on & trust for the best marketing advice for their business.
Additionally, the restaurant industry is very fluid & many times, campaigns and promotions shift. Therefore, we like to foster open communication with our clients. Our team is available during operating hours via email, phone call, or text to help support any client initiatives.
Besides being available on the fly – we schedule a time to connect with each client on a monthly basis to review strategy, campaign implementation & results. And for longer-term contracts, we provide a quarterly review & annual marketing strategy planning to help our clients stay on track with their goals. I work with my team to ensure each client’s strategy matches their brand and goals and assess what worked for them in the past and the best way to tackle the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.embark-marketing.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embarkmarketing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmbarkMarketing
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-beechner-93736022/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmbarkMarketing
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc7Z13ZX6CZCqE9iIw0rTgg
Image Credits
Kody Melton