Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tamara Ashworth. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tamara, appreciate you joining us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?
Building Ashworth Strategy from the ground up was a unique journey fueled by an ambition to revolutionize the Beauty, Apparel, Pets, and Kids industries. Equipped with years of corporate experience after my MBA, where I was heading Brand Strategy and launching various businesses, I delved into the world of entrepreneurship. This choice came from a disappointment I often felt while working with different marketing agencies within my corporate setting. I noticed a lack of robust strategy, client services, and analytics, which led me to conceive a marketing agency that could fill these gaps.
For the initial years, I wore many hats, absorbing every facet of the business. The intention was to establish a strategically-focused, data-driven marketing agency that could empower business owners to reach and surpass their goals. Today, Ashworth Strategy stands as a leading expert in the Beauty, Apparel, Pets, and Kids industries. We pride ourselves on crafting transformative multichannel marketing strategies, leveraging the latest trends, precise data analysis, and in-depth market understanding. Our proprietary system and audience-centric approaches make us the go-to partner for robust, sustainable business growth, catapulting client businesses to multimillion-dollar revenues.
The hiring phase was both an exhilarating and nerve-racking journey. The initial days were all about relinquishing control and trusting myself and the hiring process. Over time, I’ve recruited exceptional talent and also learned from hires that weren’t the best fit. This ongoing experience has refined my understanding of the ideal team member – client-focused, results-driven, passionate, and proactive.
In Ashworth Strategy, we have a simple mantra: “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” We understand the need for speed in our bustling agency environment, but not at the cost of quality. Whenever we experience a surge of new clients, we don’t hesitate to pause advertisements or client onboarding to maintain the high quality of our work and ensure consistent results. We are also meticulous about documenting every aspect of our business to make onboarding new employees as seamless as possible.
Embracing technological advances is one of our core strategies. We integrate AI and other tech solutions to enhance our internal processes and efficiency. The key to our success lies in our high-caliber team members, a facet I would emphasize even more if I were to start again today. Looking back, I’ve realized that hiring is not just about “trying someone out” but about ensuring you have a 100% confidence in bringing them onboard. Even a single hire that doesn’t fit can significantly impact the team’s overall performance and negatively impact the company overall. Thus, it is crucial to feel fully confident that every new hire will perfectly complement the team and contribute to our mission. Having a high-caliber team that genuinely enjoys each other’s company is truly our secret sauce and a unique selling point in our industry.
Tamara, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Ashworth Strategy is a preeminent multichannel marketing agency, born out of a deep appreciation for the power of strategic planning and a clear understanding of its necessity in driving superior results. Just like a house’s sturdy foundation, our robust strategic approach forms the bedrock of our business and the services we provide.
Our genesis lies in identifying and resolving the inadequacies in existing marketing strategies within the Beauty, Apparel, Pets, and Kids industries. Recognizing businesses struggling with generic and poorly aligned marketing approaches, we realized the pressing need for precision, strategy, and comprehensive customer understanding. It was this revelation that marked our entry into this discipline and led to the establishment of Ashworth Strategy.
Our primary offering revolves around an in-depth strategic analysis known as the Results Action Plan, the first and most crucial step in our approach with every new client. Our analysis transcends industry standards, probing into all business aspects that directly or indirectly influence growth and performance. We firmly believe that marketing results act as a reflection of a company’s holistic operations – a lackluster customer service or inefficient process will manifest itself in the form of diminished ad results and customer interactions.
In line with this philosophy, we approach each client relationship as a partnership, looking at businesses holistically to foster sustainable growth. Our comprehensive suite of services includes (but are not limited to) Meta advertising (Facebook and Instagram), Google, YouTube and TikTok advertising, Email and SMS marketing, and website conversion rate optimization. We also offer specialized services such as high-converting landing page and funnel building.
What truly sets us apart from others is our commitment to diving deep into every facet of a business that impacts results and growth. Our focus on strategic analysis and our proprietary system of deep, data-driven study helps us deliver unique and effective solutions, specifically tailored to each client.
We take immense pride in our role as catalysts for client growth. We’ve been instrumental in transforming businesses, taking them to multimillion-dollar revenue levels, which speaks volumes about the effectiveness of our strategies. We are passionate about our work, and we believe our passion is evident in the quality of services we provide.
For potential clients, followers, and fans, it’s crucial to know that Ashworth Strategy is more than just a marketing agency. We are a team of high-caliber professionals who are not just dedicated to our craft but are deeply invested in your success. We understand the intricacies of your industry, and we’re ready to leverage our expertise to drive your business growth. With Ashworth Strategy, you’re gaining a strategic partner, a navigator to guide you through the world of multichannel marketing, and a team committed to making your success our success.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
In our role as strategic marketing partners, we’ve been privileged to be a part of many outstanding success stories. I’d love to share a couple of our most impactful partnerships, starting with a MedSpa in Southfield, MI. This MedSpa reached out to us with an ambitious goal: rapidly increasing their client base and business growth. To answer this challenge, we launched into our comprehensive Results Action Plan audit, formulating a holistic strategy for growth with Multichannel Marketing at its core. We crafted an optimized landing page that strongly resonated with their ideal audience, and from there, we developed an advanced advertising strategy encompassing Facebook/Instagram ads, Google ads, email, and SMS marketing. This multi-pronged approach allowed us to establish a commanding online presence for the MedSpa, driving demand for their services through targeted ads and generating significant growth. Within just the first month, we doubled their revenue and decreased the cost per lead by 72%, truly making them a household name in their territory in just one month.
Our next transformative journey began with an online beauty brand specializing in a unique product: the ‘Facelift in a Box’. This brand, previously relying on distributors for sales, aimed to take the reins and start selling their products directly. However, they were hindered by a lack of knowledge about Meta advertising and the strict regulations surrounding skincare ads.
Embracing the challenge, we started by building an all-encompassing advertising strategy from the ground up. This included a new website, Facebook page, email account, and ad accounts. We carefully navigated Meta’s rigid guidelines by crafting innovative advertising campaigns, particularly focusing on video ads that showcased the effects of their products. Additionally, we leveraged email and SMS marketing, a less restrictive platform, to further highlight the product’s impact through before-and-after photos and other content. The outcome was extraordinary: a staggering sales increase of 5,453% in the first 12 months, a 39% enhancement in the conversion rate, and an average CTR of 4.24%. Our email and SMS campaigns also yielded an astounding revenue increase of over 1,000% compared to the previous year.
These case studies embody the transformative impact that a strategic, client-centric approach can have. Each client’s journey is distinctive, but our core values of holistic understanding, partnership, and innovative problem-solving remain constant and truly set us apart as an agency.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for expanding our clientele has been a blend of harnessing our expertise in paid advertising, prioritizing exceptional fulfillment to spur referrals, and maintaining a dynamic and synergistic sales team.
As a marketing agency specialized in paid advertising, we believe in practicing what we preach. We utilize our industry-leading expertise in advertising to reach prospective clients. Our proficiency in this domain allows us to demonstrate our capabilities firsthand, and showcase our results to prospective clients, establishing credibility and trust.
Yet, while we excel in advertising, our growth strategy goes beyond it. An essential component of our client growth has been our focus on delivering outstanding results through our core fulfillment team. This approach has resulted in an influx of referrals, providing invaluable information for our website, bolstering our content marketing, and empowering our sales team.
Speaking of our sales team, their role in our growth strategy cannot be overstated. They work hand in hand with our fulfillment team, fostering a seamless synergy between client expectations and deliverables. By adopting a philosophy of ‘undersell, then overdeliver’, we’ve established a strong reputation for exceeding client expectations. This not only enhances client satisfaction but also encourages long-term relationships and word-of-mouth referrals.
Thus, our client growth strategy is multifaceted, combining our advertising prowess with an unwavering commitment to fulfillment, and the strength of our collaborative sales team. This integrated approach sets us apart and has been instrumental in our success in growing our clientele.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ashworthstrategy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashworthstrategy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashworthstrategy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaraashworth/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFajT9ONS75U5qdjCbRBvgg
- Other: Testimonials: https://ashworthstrategy.com/case-studies/
Image Credits
Photographers credit: Lydia Hunter Nicole Neira Branding credit: Cali Ault