Powder Days Marketing

09/22/2026

Something worth knowing if you run a local business.

Last year, 6% of people used AI for local recommendations. This year it's 45% — third place, behind only Google and Facebook.

But here's the biggest number: 82% of consumers read those AI-written review summaries. The ones Google now puts above your actual reviews.

You can decide ChatGPT isn't where your customers are. You can't opt out of that summary.

What shapes it is boring stuff — a fully filled-out Google Business Profile, your address and phone written the exact same way everywhere, real answers on your website about pricing and service areas, and recent reviews that mention what you actually did.

The businesses showing up aren't doing anything clever. They're just easy for a machine to understand.

Worth an hour of your time this month.

Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026

09/15/2026

Does your website speak your language or your customer's language?

09/09/2026

Good marketing doesn’t ask, “What do we want to say?”

It asks, “What does our customer need to hear right now?”

Meet your audience where they are, and you'll see them engage the way you hoped.

Stay tuned as we dive into how to do just that.

08/21/2026

Your agency only knows what you tell them. And that can have a bigger impact on your results than you think.

In my experience, the strongest agency relationships aren’t the ones with the prettiest reports. They’re the ones where the agency has enough context to make good decisions without constantly having to guess what’s happening behind the scenes.

That means sharing the information that might not feel like marketing information:

👂 What your sales team is hearing: The questions, objections, and patterns they’re seeing can reveal opportunities your marketing data hasn’t caught yet.

🔀 What’s changing internally: New priorities, shifts in revenue goals, changes to your sales process, or areas of the business you want to grow all give your agency important context.

👀 What you’re noticing: If you’re seeing something happen in the market, hearing something repeatedly from customers, or noticing a new opportunity, say something. It may change how your agency approaches the strategy.

🎯 What success actually looks like: Make sure your agency understands what matters to the business, not just what looks good on a monthly report.

The agency brings the marketing expertise. You bring the business context.

The more effectively those two things work together, the better the strategy can reflect what your business actually needs.

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That's it for this series. I hope this has helped you discover new ways to get the most out of your marketing agency!

08/20/2026

Your agency’s playbook should be a starting point—not an autopilot setting.

Standard processes help agencies work efficiently and that's great! But what worked for their last ten clients may not make sense for your business, your market, or your goals.

That’s where business owners need to get curious.

You don’t have to become a Google Ads expert. But you should understand why each part of your marketing exists and what job it’s supposed to do.

You should feel comfortable asking a lot of questions and challenging their assumptions. Don't be afraid to get into a debate. If you do, allow them to push back as well so you mutually arrive at great decisions.

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Tip 5/5 lands tomorrow

08/19/2026

Your marketing can be working—and still be the wrong place to spend your next dollar.

That’s what makes budget decisions harder than simply reviewing a dashboard.

SEO might be progressing exactly as expected.

But if the business needs qualified leads in the next 60 days, it may not be the highest priority 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

Every marketing investment competes with every other way you could use those same dollars.

So don’t just ask your agency, “Is this working?”

Ask:
What business problem is this solving?
When should we expect a meaningful return?
What would we gain or lose by moving the money elsewhere?
What would cause us to increase, reduce, or stop this investment?
If it was your money, where would you put it?

Strategy isn’t about collecting tactics.

It’s deciding which ones matter most right now.

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Tip #4 lands tomorrow

08/18/2026

If you ask five marketers to review your strategy, you’ll get at least eight opinions.

Marketing professionals are very good at picking apart other people’s work. Sometimes the criticism is insightful. Sometimes it’s just a different preference.

That’s the caveat to my advice about getting a second opinion before firing your agency:

𝘈 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘱𝘶𝘵—not a verdict.

Ask the person reviewing your marketing to explain:

👉 What principles are behind their recommendation?
👉 What evidence supports it?
👉 What would they expect to improve if you followed it?

Use their perspective to ask better questions and make a better decision.

The goal isn’t to blindly trust a different marketer.

It’s to become a better-informed business owner.

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Check back tomorrow for Tip #3.

08/17/2026

"Should I fire my marketing agency?"

I've heard this a lot over the years.

It's a fair question when you don't know if your current agency is doing a good job for you.

And sometimes, that's exactly what needs to happen. But sometimes, replacing an agency without understanding what went wrong can lead to the same problems with a different logo on the invoice.

Before making the call, ask an objective marketing professional to review the engagement—ideally a consultant, fractional CMO, or agency that isn’t trying to win the account.

A useful second opinion should lead to one of three conclusions:
1. Keep the agency. They’re doing good work, even if they haven’t communicated the results clearly.
2. Keep the agency, but change the strategy, tactics, or priorities.
3. Let the agency go—and use what you’ve learned to make a better next hire.

Any of those outcomes is more valuable than firing first and diagnosing later.

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Tip 1 of 5 for working with a marketing agency. Tip 2 drops tomorrow.

08/14/2026

Small Business Owners: Here's a lunch & learn to tackle your biggest marketing challenge.

Objective: Each business owner walks away with actionable and practical solutions to grow their company.

Join us and come with questions or, better yet, add your biggest marketing challenge or question in the comments below.

See you there!

08/01/2026