Marketing Mate

08/20/2026

Want to generate fresh leads this week without spending a single dime on ads? 🛑

Try the "Re-engagement Check-In."

As small business owners, we often obsess over acquiring new customers and completely forget about the absolute goldmine sitting right in our database: our past clients.

Here is a simple, 5-minute marketing task you can do TODAY that has a massive impact and costs exactly $0.00.

Send a plain-text email (no fancy HTML, no logos, no graphics) to a list of past clients you haven't heard from in a year or more.

The Template:

Subject: Checking in!

"Hi [Name],

It’s been a while since we last helped you with [Service/Product]. I’m just checking in to see how everything is going and if you need any help with [insert common pain point, upgrade, or seasonal prep] right now?

Let me know!

Best, [Your Name]"

Why this works so well:

It cuts through the noise: Because it has no graphics, it looks like a personal email from a friend, not a marketing blast.

It lowers the barrier: It’s conversational, making it incredibly easy for them to just hit "reply."

It exploits timing: It puts you top-of-mind right when they might have been passively thinking about needing your services again.

Marketing doesn't always have to be about complicated funnels and massive ad budgets. Sometimes, it’s simply about starting a conversation with people who already know and trust you. 🗣️

🔔 Follow the Marketing Mate page for more actionable, no-nonsense marketing tips to help your small business thrive!



What is one low-cost marketing strategy you've tried in the past that actually surprised you with its results?

08/19/2026

Ottawa business owners 👋

We put together a new guide specifically for small businesses here in Ottawa.

There’s so much marketing advice out there, and a lot of it makes things sound way more complicated than they need to be. This guide breaks down what actually matters when it comes to things like SEO, Google Ads, your website, local search and getting more leads.

If you run a business in Ottawa and you’re trying to figure out where to focus your marketing this year, give it a read.

Hopefully it helps point you in the right direction.

https://marketingmate.ca/digital-marketing-ottawa-small-business/

Digital marketing Ottawa guide for small businesses. Learn SEO costs, Google Ads, Google Maps, websites, social media, AI search and budgets.

08/19/2026

Is your local business ready for AI search? (Hint: It’s not just about keywords anymore). 🤖

If you want a simple, high-impact marketing task for this week, focus on one thing: Getting more Google Reviews.

With the rise of AI-driven search, AI isn't just crawling your website for keywords—it’s actively analyzing user sentiment. When someone asks an AI, "What’s the best [your industry] near me?", the AI heavily weighs who has the most consistent, high-quality, and recent customer reviews.

Here is a simple 2-step strategy you can implement today:

Make it Visual: Put a 'Review Us' QR code at your front desk, on your business cards, or on your printed receipts.

Automate the Ask: Set up an automatic email to go out 3 days after a customer makes a purchase, politely asking for feedback with a direct link to your Google page.

Stop letting happy customers walk away in silence. Your digital reputation is your best salesperson!

🔔 Follow the Marketing Mate page for more actionable, no-nonsense marketing tips to help your business grow.

08/18/2026

Not sure whether your business should be putting money into SEO or Google Ads?

You’re definitely not the only one asking.

Google Ads can get you in front of people quickly, while SEO is more about building visibility over time. Depending on your goals, budget, and how competitive your market is, one may make more sense than the other — or you may be better off using both.

We broke it down in our newest blog, with a focus on what actually makes sense for Canadian small businesses.

👉 Read it here:
https://marketingmate.ca/2026/08/18/seo-vs-google-ads-canadian-small-business/

08/18/2026

Stop hiding your best marketing asset on the least-visited page of your website.

If you have a dedicated "Testimonials" or "Reviews" page on your site, it might be time to get rid of it.

Here is why: Website visitors rarely click on a tab just to read a list of reasons why you are great. When they are deciding whether to work with you, they are looking at your services, your pricing, or your contact form.

That is exactly where your social proof needs to be.

The Fix:
Move your glowing reviews out of isolation and place them at the "Points of Friction."

Put a customer quote right next to your pricing table.

Add a quick success metric right below your "Contact Us" button.

Feature a client video directly on your main service page.

You want to reassure your prospect at the exact moment they are feeling hesitant or making a buying decision—not hoping they stumble across a hidden page.

Your quick marketing task for today:
Take your absolute best customer review and paste it directly next to the primary "Buy" or "Contact" button on your homepage.

08/15/2026

📩 Sending marketing emails… but they keep landing in spam?

It might not be your subject line

Our newest blog breaks down why marketing emails go to spam, what to check first, and how to improve your email deliverability.

👉 Read it here:
https://marketingmate.ca/2026/08/14/why-are-my-marketing-emails-going-to-spam/

Need help figuring out what’s hurting your email campaigns? Marketing Mate can take a look.

08/14/2026

🚨 The #1 marketing mistake I see startups make (and how to fix it in 5 minutes).

When you launch a business, it is incredibly tempting to tell the world about EVERY single feature of your service. You are proud of it, and you should be!

But here is the reality check: Your customers don’t buy features. They buy solutions to their problems.

The easiest marketing shift you can make today is swapping your "Features" for "Benefits."

Here is what that looks like in practice:

❌ Feature: "Our accounting software has an automated receipt scanner."
✅ Benefit: "Never waste another Sunday night manually typing in business expenses."

❌ Feature: "We build custom websites." (Looking at my own world here at Marketing Mate! 😉)
✅ Benefit: "We build 24/7 digital salespeople that turn your website traffic into paying clients."

Your Doable Marketing Task for Today:
Open your website's homepage right now. Look at the very first headline. Are you talking about what you do, or are you talking about how you make your customer's life better?

If you are only listing features, it is time for a quick rewrite!

Let me know in the comments: Are you going to check your website's messaging today? Drop a 🚀 if you are!

08/12/2026

Getting website traffic but not getting leads? 👀

That usually means the problem isn’t getting people to your site — it’s what happens once they get there.

Weak calls-to-action, confusing layouts, slow load times, poor mobile design, the wrong traffic, or not enough trust can all turn potential customers into quick exits.

Our newest blog breaks down why your website may be getting traffic but no leads — and what you can do about it.

👉 Read it here:
https://marketingmate.ca/2026/08/05/why-is-my-website-getting-traffic-but-no-leads/

Your website shouldn’t just get visits. It should help grow your business. 💻📈

08/11/2026

What is the actual ROI of a website rebuild? Let’s do the math.

Let’s say your current website gets 1,000 visitors a month, but it’s outdated and only converts at 1%. That’s 10 leads.

Now, imagine we don't spend a single extra dollar on ads, but we restructure the site to focus purely on user experience and conversion optimization.

We bump that conversion rate to just 3%.

You are now getting 30 leads a month from the exact same traffic. That is a 200% increase in pipeline without spending a dime more on marketing.

Your website shouldn't be a line-item expense. It should be your best, 24/7 salesperson.

Is your website acting like a salesperson or a roadblock? Send me a DM with a link to your site, and I’ll give you two quick tweaks you can make today to improve your conversion rate.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother's Day🩷🌷

Tulips for sale all day at The Holland Cross Spring Festival !!

Join us for a day of family fun 🎈