BY ALLISON POTTERMAN
In the world of startups, Christina Spaulding emerges as a genuine advocate for businesses yearning to thrive in an ever-evolving marketplace. Glancing through her history, one detects a quiet resolve that comes especially alive when she talks about her transition from the secure world of in-house marketing to the exhilarating unpredictability of entrepreneurship. “Each layoff was a pivot,” she recalls, her voice a blend of nostalgia and newfound purpose. “In 2023, after getting laid off yet again, I decided it would be the last. My own venture would be the launchpad for change.”
To Christina, success is a silent partner—elusive, yet ever-present. She redefines it not in universal terms, but through the adaptive lens of each enterprise she enriches: “For most, success means upping sales or boosting user acquisition. My approach? Knowing your audience intimately, finding where they engage, and addressing their needs right there.”
Her grasp of 'change' goes hand-in-hand with the rapid shifts in today’s marketing landscape. Christina navigates these shifts with the ease of an experienced sailor charting unfamiliar waters. The rise of generative search tools like ChatGPT has, as she describes, “turned everything on its head. There's no expert here—just us, experimenting, learning, and swiftly adapting.”
Her insights are often as sobering as they are inspiring. When asked about her most eye-opening campaign, she points to a German-language SEO project that reshaped her perspective. Instead of competing head-on with mammoth players, her team opted for niche, less competitive terms. “Suddenly, we weren’t just competing; we were kings in untouched territories. Traffic surged by 200%, and conversions climbed by 50%.” The lesson? Knowing your market and your customer's true needs can be a game-changer.
Yet, success doesn't shield you from setbacks. Christina recounts a humbling experience with a dog clothing brand, where a meticulously planned Google Ads campaign tanked, generating precisely zero sales. “It was a wake-up call,” she admits. “I learned to reevaluate early—to pivot before sinking resources into fruitless pursuits.”
Christina's journey is a tapestry woven from successes, surprises, and the occasional stumble on her path to turning potential into performance. Her story invites small business owners to consider the power of adaptation and precision. For those seeking to emulate her approach or learn from her philosophy, Christina extends an open invitation. She's a guide, connecting through a discovered opportunity, urging business visionaries to take the leap she did not so long ago. “Let’s chart the course together,” she suggests warmly. To spark your own journey, Christina can be reached for a consultation through her website, or by exploring her calendar directly.
As Christina draws her story to a close, one is left with a resonant impression—not just of her expertise, but of her genuine empathy for the challenges that startups face. Her honesty, reflected in both triumph and failure, speaks volumes about what it takes to make waves in today's business world.
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Mastering Startup Marketing With Christina Spaulding's Proven Strategies
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FEATURING Christina Spaulding
Below is our interview with Christina Spaulding.
{Introduction}
Share a bit of history about Christina Spaulding. Why did your choose to start a business?
I have a long history of marketing experience, but I've always been in-house, working for one organization at a time. I launched social media channels for the Vegas Chamber back when Twitter first came out, and I led Textbroker, a content creation start-up, to success through trade shows, content partnerships, and personalized customer service.
In 2019, a friend needed help with their website. I transitioned them from a custom platform to WordPress, and still maintain their site for them today.
In 2023, I was laid off (again) and decided it would be the last layoff I'd ever experience. Instead of working to maintain market share for one large company, I'd be able to create real change for many smaller businesses and organizations starting their growth journey.
How do you define success for the smaller businesses you aim to help?
Success looks a little different for each company depending on where they are in development, but the most common metric is either sales or user acquisition. My approach is to understand your ideal client profile, figure out where they live online, and then deploy messaging that addresses their pain points in those areas.
We can then track where users or clients are coming from, and move more effort into the areas that are the most successful.
How does your personal understanding of 'change' influence your marketing strategy?
The online search industry is truly in upheaval with the advent of generative search. Right now, nobody is an expert on consistently appearing in ChatGPT searches - everyone is experimenting and trying to understand the full impact of a new technology. Tactics are changing at a rapid pace.
The key in marketing is to truly understand your ideal client, and to give them information that they need to make a purchasing/enrollment decision. The tactics should streamline how the client gets that information.
From an organizational point of view, understand that because of the rapid changes, we no longer have a clear and direct playbook of success. There will be initiatives that don't work as well as expected. That doesn't mean that marketing as a whole is worthless. It simply means we have to iterate faster to avoid wasting money on things that don't work as expected.
Reflecting on past marketing work, which campaign taught you the most?
I was brought in to revise an affiliate marketing company's global SEO strategy. For German, the competition for the most popular terms was high, with strong content from long-established players. So we took a different view - we went with more niche terms that had less volume, but also less competition. We built out content localized to the market - previous content had missed some important local manufacturers and important market structures that didn't exist in the US.
With our new content strategy, we increased traffic by 200% and conversions by 50%. It was really a case of knowing the market, seeing where trends were coming from, and getting deep into what our ICP wanted to know.
What was a surprising failure in your past campaigns, and what did you learn from it?
I was working with a dog clothing brand. We had optimized the website, gotten products on Google Merchant Center, and were ready for the next step. We deployed Google Ads, aligned to our ICP, and got 0 sales. That was humbling, especially since I've run successful Google Ad campaigns with other clients.
I learned to check the ad parameters early, and to cut losses early as well.
How can readers connect with you or learn more?
Set up a free consultation https://calendar.app.google/GaFSqwD5hra9htEXA
Visit my website: https://manzanitamktg.com
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