Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Carey.
Brian, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Most of the adults in my family have started multiple businesses; some successful, some not so much. I suppose it’s in my blood to want to create my own destiny but I’m the first person in my family to go college. While earning my BFA in Musical Theatre from OU (I used to think I was going to be a Broadway star), I opened a small gift shop just off campus. I had more fun creating that brand than I did in music theory class so after I graduated I closed the business and went right back to school for my MBA with a Marketing emphasis. Out of grad school my first job was working for a direct marketing company in North Dallas where I had an opportunity to meet hundreds of small business owners and learn about their challenges. I built a large book of business over 3 years but became frustrated that I only had a limited set of marketing products to offer these clients when they really needed customized solutions. So I took a big risk…I quit my job and started driving for Uber in the evenings to pay bills while I started building my own company…..TIK:TALK Marketing. It started slow, just me on my couch reaching out to my personal contacts for referrals. I worked hard to provide the best quality and service that I could and that paid off with referrals…who gave referrals…who gave referrals. Almost 4 years later and now we work with close to 200 small business clients with a staff of 6 from our office in Uptown. Almost all of my new clients come from referrals. I’ve assembled some very talented people who all share the same drive for quality and service, as well as continuing education to stay relevant in a digital landscape that changes every day.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Heck no. Our growth was organic and completely self-funded. My passion and talent is in marketing and sales so I have struggled to wear the CFO hat. Luckily I found a great bookkeeper partner and a coach to help me sort out the finances. The biggest challenge has been finding the right talent. My expectations are pretty high for members of my team and it’s been a struggle to find the right folks, but well worth it. The right people make all the difference and I’m very proud of the team we’ve assembled. I’ve learned a lot of lessons to help me hire the RIGHT people as we continue to grow.
TIK:TALK Marketing – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
TIK:TALK Marketing is a full-service agency for small- and medium-size businesses. We do just about everything a small business could need from web design to email marketing, social media management, direct mail…you name it! The fact that we’re a one-stop marketing shop means that our clients save a lot of TIME (hence the name…TIK:TALK) because they have a single point of contact for all of their marketing needs. The fact that we do it all also means we can provide custom marketing plans that fit the client’s strategic plan and budget. Marketing and advertising companies that only offer 2 or 3 products or services are always going to push those 2 or 3 products or services. Branding agencies are going to deliver beautiful logos and graphics without a concrete plan to drive sales conversions and revenue. At TIK:TALK, our philosophy is that every project needs 3 brains: A great designer, a great developer, and a great sales strategist. Our team covers all areas and the fact that we are product-agnostic means we’re only proposing the marketing plan that best fits the client’s needs rather than our own. To top it off, we don’t have any term agreements…ever. Our clients stay with us because we care about our relationship with them, and because we do high-quality work that gets results. Our 90+% annual client retention rate (without any term agreements) speaks for itself.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
In marketing, our core purpose is to figure out how to influence buying decisions. So the primary question here is how are customers going to be influenced to make decisions in the coming years. We’re all wrapped up in our smartphones right now, which is why we see such a heavy focus on channels like search, social media, and mobile apps. I think that trend will continue, but with such a massive increase in digital impressions, the opportunity is figuring out how to use targeted, personal, and emotional messaging in those digital channels. I think influencer marketing will become much more important as the industry learns how to organize and analyze influencer campaigns more effectively. As the AI for smart devices becomes “smarter”, people will start to trust Siri, Alexa, Cortana & their friends to make buying meaningful recommendations based on a customer’s behavior and buying history. Overall, the competitor who can provide a tailored solution with an emotional value message on the most convenient channel is going to win.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2609 Hibernia St Dallas, TX 75204
- Website: http://tik-talk.com
- Phone: 214-235-3951
- Email: info@tik-talk.com
- Instagram: @tiktalkmktg
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tiktalkmarketing
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tiktalkmktg
- Other: https://www.behance.net/tiktalk
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