Priority Marketing employs 65+ professionals whose areas of expertise span public relations, brand development, web services, social media, creative services, media buying, video production, digital marketing, event planning and more.
Want to learn more about these talented creatives and how they approach their craft?
Agency Access is a monthly feature that gives clients and partners a little insight into our dynamic team. This month, Megan Garner is sharing her thoughts.
Name: Megan Garner
Job Title: Director of Client Services
Previous roles at Priority Marketing: Assistant Director of Client Services, Senior Account Manager, Account Manager
Agency Access Q&A
What first drew you to Priority Marketing?
“Teri Hansen, actually! Priority Marketing was a well-established agency when I first interviewed, around 2003, as a college student. At the time, both Teri’s mom and mine worked at Edison National Bank, where Priority was the bank’s agency and still is to this day. With marketing as my major and likely a conversation between our moms, Teri graciously took an interview with me even without an open position on her team. Knowing her now, it’s clear that Teri has always prioritized opportunities to mentor young professionals, so dedicating time for an interview with me reflects the kind of generous leader she’s always been. Fast-forward to 2018 at Pace Center for Girls, Lee’s ‘Love That Dress’ event where Teri and I reconnected over a few mutual loves – shopping for great fashion deals and supporting charitable causes – and the timing was a mutual match for us. I’m so appreciative of the path I took to get here that added to my skillset, with gaining those years of corporate marketing experience before joining the fast-paced, variety-filled agency life that I find so fulfilling today.”
Why should businesses and nonprofits partner with Priority Marketing?
“There are so many reasons! One of the most obvious benefits includes the level of experience and expertise we offer that’s not only award-winning, but also represents various marketing strategies and industries with clients of all sizes and budgets. You also won’t easily find a team that has such a strong culture of genuine passion for our client’s success. With the variety of industries represented and the size of our impact in the Southwest Florida community, we joke that Priority Marketing is our own chamber. Our clients often find business development advantages just by an association with us. Between our 65+ employees and large client roster, Priority’s partners can tap a wealth of marketing knowledge all while expanding their network.”
What is the key to creating a successful marketing plan for a client?
“The marketing plan should be the foundation for all marketing activities. All that’s implemented should be evaluated against that plan. To succeed, you really need to understand the goals and the audiences you’re trying to reach so you’re implementing the right plan. Once you know the objective and your target audience, the execution details simply involve connecting the right messaging to the right channels and it must be integrated. As someone who not only manages day-to-day marketing plans for clients, but also intakes new clients, I’m involved in overseeing marketing plans at all stages. Regardless of working off a formally documented plan we developed, or if we’re taking over existing marketing efforts and optimizing a plan, Priority Marketing measures the outcomes of the marketing plan’s success on an ongoing basis. If we’re speaking with a potential client, we always begin with a conversation that entails a discovery session. There’s a bit of detective work that goes into that initial meeting. It’s not uncommon to have a client inquire about a marketing tactic that’s not a fit for their goals or budget because it’s a buzz word. It’s good to just pause and ask ‘Is your goal to activate social media accounts’ or ‘Do you really need to ‘drive more leads?’ It’s important to us to really listen to how their business works and what their real needs are. After that assessment, we’re able to determine how to make the most impact and deliver ROI so the plan can accomplish what it means for the client to succeed.”
How do you incorporate a client’s goals into the work you do?
“In short, clients’ goals are incorporated into everything we do. Going back to the previous question, we prefer to have a strategic marketing plan that outlines well-defined goals and tactics, and the rest is execution and ongoing evaluation and optimization. We’re not only handling a variety of ongoing client requests, but we’re also advising clients on new opportunities that can fulfill their goals as well. It’s essential to have regular agency and client communications on how everything is working and what’s upcoming to plan ahead, all through the lens of our clients’ goals. I find significant fulfillment in problem solving with my clients to accomplish their goals and keep it all within budget. That’s going to look different to each client. There’s a true benefit to having a full-service agency dedicated to you, as we’re not limited to only select marketing solutions. I really enjoy when we can easily shift a client who may only be tapping us for digital ads and creative services into taking advantage of an emerging public relations opportunity, because that earned marketing can amplify their message and reach their goals seamlessly. Not only do we consider the straight-forward marketing goals, but we also adhere to business goals, such as complementing our talents against the client’s in-house team and abilities, to maximize ROI. We aim to expand and elevate what’s accessible to clients with our team. That makes accomplishing clients’ goals more collaborative. We thrive off that synergistic relationship where Priority and our clients are truly working as a team to win together.”
Why is it important for established businesses and nonprofits to continue marketing their organizations, even after the community knows their brand?
“Brand awareness can be equated to buzz or fame. If you’re not out promoting your upcoming movie or book, who is going to go buy the tickets or how are you ever going to be on The New York Times Best Sellers list? It’s also like a relationship. If you’re not nurturing and growing it, the connection is likely going to get lost over time. There are so many organizations out there that recognize this basic truth so we do encourage even the most well-known businesses and nonprofits to continue marketing, even if it’s on a reduced budget, to avoid falling off the radar. It‘s interesting how we see this within the digital ad platforms algorithm. Pausing ads completely for a few months can be detrimental, whereas even just a small budget to ‘keep the lights on’ has made it much easier to maintain and quickly regain momentum. Maintaining awareness can give you significant cost savings, too. If a business wants to drive leads, we may implement a digital ad tactic, but without maintaining brand awareness, those digital ads are likely working twice as hard to get that first click vs. brands who already have a foundation of awareness. In a practical sense, I’ll use my longtime client, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, as an example since their season is just now kicking off. For awareness tactics to increase visibility their season is starting, we used Public Relations (news releases, calendar listings and TV pitching) and outdoor billboards. Those tactics will be visible to the community, but consumers won’t have the immediate ability to purchase a ticket upon consuming that marketing. Those efforts make our lower funnel/conversion tactics like digital advertising and Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ads more successful in driving clicks to generate ticket sales. First came the awareness, then conversion with the click to purchase. To sweeten the overall campaign effectiveness, we suggested OTT (streaming TV with non-skippable ads) because this acts as a full-funnel tactic spreading awareness via video with completion rates between 90-95% and the streaming campaign is coupled with digital retargeting ads that are clickable to capture the sale. Because we’re a full-service agency, I can easily offer them all these services to ensure their campaign is successful. Of course, this is just one example. Clients may not be selling tickets to a game, but keeping up with awareness really is a part of doing business and maintaining relevancy… it just looks different based on who you need to remain relevant to.”
