We recently connected with Laurie Ehrlich and have shared our conversation below.

Laurie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I chose to primarily focus my work on nonprofits, schools, and camps because they are spaces that I have lived and breathed, both personally and professionally. I don’t have packages, I don’t box clients into engagements that they may not need and/or can’t implement on their own. Nonprofit marketing is not for the faint of heart. It is hard, there are demands coming from every which way, and not enough hands to organize and sustain. I believe in being real with my clients. There have been less than ideal dynamics. There have been campaigns that have not performed. On the flipside, almost half of my clients have come back for second and third projects, and many campaigns have yielded wildly successful results. In marketing, you have to be “nimble with boundaries.”

Laurie, 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?

Before I started Elevate, I was a nonprofit marketer for almost 15 years, with 5 additional years of commercial marketing sprinkled in. I soaked up the entry and mid-level experiences and fought my way to a director level at the age of 32. Being a female AND a working mother without full-time help over a decade ago was warrior status. My initial aspirations as a journalist were dashed when in college when I learned that location was not guaranteed and the outlook for print at that time was not great.

I solve problems for my clients. I left the in-house side of the nonprofit world because I was permanently entrenched in the day-to-day with zero time to reflect, evaluate, and strategize. In my most recent role, I was in a churn-and-burn situation, and could not emulate the true role of a director. I want to support my clients through these challenging situations by learning everything I can about their company and developing a strategy that they can implement and/or I can coach them through it. I don’t believe in snowplowing my clients (just like I don’t believe in snowplowing my children), I believe in equipping and empowering.

My job is to help you prioritize, make data-driven decisions, and be a star.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Quality over quantity. I chose Instagram as my primary channel (@elevatemarketingstrategy) and post 2-3 days a week and to Stories most weekdays. I picked a cadence that was sustainable for me, two themes to help guide 2 of the posts, and I stick to it. I engage authentically, build community, and I refuse to buy followers. You shouldn’t do that either. Be real, follow accounts that are adjacent or relevant, and determine if social media is a selling tool or an engagement tool. I use it for the latter.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Referrals and word-of-mouth. You need the digital presence (website, email, social) to give prospective clients a window of who you and your business are, but it’s the relationships you build and the impact you have that wins the business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elevatemarketingstrategy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevatemarketingstrategy/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriebehrlich/

Image Credits
Marissa Tisch, Jim Healey