Mac&Ernie Marketing Strategy & Training

Mac&Ernie Marketing Strategy & Training I am practical, kind and passionate about sharing knowledge that is relevant and more 'you'. Please reach out to connect.
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I help Australian regional, suburban and small-town businesses build trust, loyalty and referrals through clearer communication, more sustainable marketing and better customer experience. I’m a marketing and customer experience strategist, focused helping you to build strategies that take into account the people in your world and the place you are. With 30 years’ experience across marketing, advertising, employer branding and customer experience strategy, I help organisations close the gap between how they want to show up and how they’re actually experienced - by customers, communities and the public. I believe clear thinking creates better experiences, and better experiences create trust and we know the impact trust has on the success of any business. I support:

👉 Small businesses and community organisations to simplify their marketing, strengthen customer experience, and build brands people return to.

👉 Leaders, boards, academics and public figures to communicate with clarity, build influence responsibly, and show up publicly without compromising integrity.

👉 Councils, chambers of commerce and member organisations with training, strategy and practical frameworks that improve visibility, trust and engagement at scale. Ways to work with me include strategy sessions, custom workshops & masterclasses, coaching, advisory projects, training, and the development of practical social media policies and playbooks for organisations and councils. If you value marketing that is structured, realistic and grounded in community - you’ll feel at home here. I work locally throughout Gippsland and across Australia.

Anyone with me? 🙋‍♀️ It’s so hard to find the right person to trust with your brand and your whole identity. That consta...
18/09/2026

Anyone with me? 🙋‍♀️ It’s so hard to find the right person to trust with your brand and your whole identity. That constant push and pull between handing over tasks and not fully trusting the process is very “messy middle” I feel your pain 💛 Erika

12/09/2026

The handmade Reel.
The slightly wonky sign.
The flyer made in Canva.
The post that made a good point with a few typos.
The person who clearly had a go.

Because if the only things we reward are polished, clever, beautiful or extraordinary, we shouldn’t be surprised when people stop making things themselves.

Or when they hand everything to AI and ask it to make it “better”.

And then we end up scrolling through a lot of technically correct, perfectly structured stuff that nobody particularly wants to read.

I don’t think we’re craving more perfection right?!

I think we’re craving evidence that a person was there - I know I am.

So maybe when you see something that’s useful, thoughtful, funny, interesting or just clearly made with a bit of effort - tell them.

Leave the comment. Like the wonky Reel. Encourage the person who’s still finding their voice.

Because “good enough” needs a bit more encouragement. That’s how people keep making things and don’t turn to robots to do it for them.

💛 Erika

11/09/2026

Could not agree more Jamie.

Sometimes perfect IS the opposite of good - especially in here.

Perfect takes up valuable time.
Perfect triggers comparisonitis.
Perfect is impossible.

Having standards is important. Following a strategy is important but perfection? No thanks.

If you’re a small business struggling to reach perfection with your marketing, we need to talk 💛

_

We all want to be the one they choose 🥹But if customers aren’t choosing you, don’t immediately decide you need to post m...
10/09/2026

We all want to be the one they choose 🥹

But if customers aren’t choosing you, don’t immediately decide you need to post more, run ads or hand your social media and marketing off to someone else.

Look wider.

Know what they’re choosing instead. It might be a competitor, but it might also be DIY, a cheaper option, another priority, or simply ‘not yet’.

Know the moment they’re in. What has happened that makes them start looking for someone like you? What do they need to see, know or understand before they feel ready?

Make your value easy to understand. Why you? Why this? Why now? Not a list of features - the actual difference you make for the customer or client.

Keep looking at your experience. Can they find you, understand you, enquire easily and know what happens next? Small bits of friction can quietly undo even the best marketing.

And keep showing up. Not constantly. Just usefully and often enough that when “maybe later” becomes “I need this now”, they remember you.

Marketing helps you get known, understood and remembered.

But being chosen?

That’s your marketing, your offer, your reputation, your timing and your customer experience working together.

No begging required 😉

Need help - reach out 💛 Erika

The internet is getting very good at making everywhere look like nowhere.I think AI offers some incredibly useful tools ...
07/09/2026

The internet is getting very good at making everywhere look like nowhere.

I think AI offers some incredibly useful tools for small business. But the more AI-generated words, images and ideas I see online, the more convinced I am that one of the best marketing advantages regional and small town businesses have is something technology can’t replicate.

We are all actually somewhere.

This is a little corner of Gippsland I know well. I drive these roads. I know which towns are 20 minutes apart on Google Maps but more like 45 behind a milk tanker 🫣

I know that in regional areas people will happily drive half an hour for something they really want, but will also put off going somewhere because it takes a few extra minutes to cross town in school traffic.

I know local reputations travel ridiculously fast. I know visitors see things we barely notice anymore. And I know that sometimes the most useful thing I can do for my business is put the phone down, look out the window and remember who and what is actually around me.

That’s a marketing lesson too.

As it gets easier to create more content, I think “more” becomes less interesting. Specific becomes more valuable.

The view from your front door.

The weird local reference only your customers understand.

The town you deliver to every Thursday.

The muddy boots by the front door.

The reason everyone is late because there are cows on the road.

You don’t need to pretend your business could be anywhere.

Quite the opposite.

Before you create your next post, ask yourself:

Could a business 1,000km away post exactly the same thing?

If the answer is yes, see if you can make it more ‘here’ - wherever here is for you.

Anyway. Enough marketing.

Here’s your bit of Gippsland for the day. 💛

I am very pro outsourcing your social media.If you’ve been doing your own marketing for years and you’re thoroughly sick...
04/09/2026

I am very pro outsourcing your social media.

If you’ve been doing your own marketing for years and you’re thoroughly sick of Canva, captions and wondering what on earth you’re supposed to post this week, paying someone else to do it can be money very well spent.

But if you’re spending $500, $1,500, $2,000+ every month, I want you to know what you’re buying.

Taking a job off your plate is valuable. So is having a professional create better content than you have the time or inclination to make yourself.

But if you’re also expecting that investment to generate enquiries, bookings or sales, you need to be able to measure whether that’s happening.

And that starts before you hire someone.

What is social media’s job in your marketing? Who are you trying to reach? What do you want them to do? And how will you know whether it worked?

Your social media manager shouldn’t have to invent those answers for you.

Give them a proper strategy and a clear role within it, and you’re giving them a much better chance of doing excellent work.

And you’re giving yourself a way to know whether the money you’re spending is actually helping your business.

A monthly rate adds up over time, especially if there’s no measurable return. Make sure you know the return you want and be prepared to move on quickly if it’s not working.

Reach out if you are done doing it yourself and we can work out how to outsource effectively 💛

31/08/2026

The last one is the best one. If you’ve ever jumped to “there’s something wrong with my marketing” or “my social media isn’t working” 🤷‍♀️ I might not agree. Would love to diagnose what is going wrong though 💛

She had a way of saying things so simply that everyone could understand and a way of writing songs that everyone felt we...
25/08/2026

She had a way of saying things so simply that everyone could understand and a way of writing songs that everyone felt were written for them.

I’ve shared a few of my favourite Dolly-isms 👉

I also shared a podcast recommendation in my stories if you don’t know much about her and are curious. It’s called “Dolly Parton’s America”. I binged it a few years ago as it’s just fascinating. Might listen again this weekend.

💛

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Warragul, VIC
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