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Clear strategy. Reliable delivery. Built to last.
Sustainable Marketing Services is a strategy-led marketing partner for owner-led businesses whose brand and marketing no longer reflect the business they have grown into. We work with manufacturers and distributors, many with technical products and services that take real understanding to explain. We also work with local trade and service businesses across Brisbane and the Redlands.
Since 2008, we've helped over 300 businesses bring clarity, consistency and measurable results to their marketing. Most of our larger retainer clients have been with us for six years or more, and our project clients come back as they grow.
We make your marketing clear, deliver it reliably and build it to last. We do both the strategy and the work, as part of your team. We build foundations that keep working for years, such as your positioning, your brand and your marketing plan, rather than campaigns that fade. That minimises the risk of your marketing failing. Better marketing, not just more of it.
If you want to grow your business with confidence, we're here to help.
Who we work with
Two kinds of business, and each gets its own approach.
Manufacturers and distributors
You own a manufacturing or distribution business that is growing, and your marketing has not kept up. What you sell is hard to explain, and your brand still describes the business you used to be.
We work with you in one of two ways. Ongoing, we become your marketing team: we create your positioning and marketing plan, build your marketing system step by step, and keep marketing your business year after year. Or as a project: brand positioning, a marketing plan, a new website, or a capability document with your case studies inside it.
Either way, we learn and understand your business, so we can explain what you do in simple, plain English that your buyers understand and act on. That shortens the sales process. Your capability document answers what major clients now ask about, including sustainability. We have been an ecoBiz partner since 2011, and we offset our carbon footprint through Greenfleet's native reforestation.
This also suits trade and construction firms targeting commercial work.
Smartcool Australia's sales cycle went from 12 to 18 months down to 3 to 6 months after we repositioned its brand.
Trade and service businesses
You run a local trade or service business with a small team, in a crowded market across the Redlands and Brisbane. Electricians, plumbers, automotive workshops and other trades. You want steady enquiries. You know your trade. Marketing is a different job, and when you're busy it's the first thing to slip.
We start with a short brand positioning, which means working out a clear reason for customers to choose you, and a simple marketing plan. We also find ways to make your brand more distinctive, so customers remember you. Then we run your marketing activity every month, across social media, your Google Business Profile, ads and video. Your marketing turns up every week without you having to chase it, and we report the numbers to you every month, so you always know what is being done and what it is bringing in.
When Compass Fire and Safety had to change its name, we built the new brand and helped it tell its customers. It did not lose a single client.
How we make your marketing work
We don't start with tactics. We start with strategy, so you know exactly where your marketing is going.
1. Plan first. We take the time to understand your business before we recommend anything. Then we work out your positioning and write a practical marketing plan, in plain English. For smaller local businesses we keep this short, so you get to the marketing activity sooner.
2. Then we do the work, reliably. We do what we said we would, on time and on budget, for a fixed price, and keep you informed along the way. We reply within 24 hours or sooner. You have the same main contact, so you never have to explain your business twice, and we bring in specialists when they are needed. For larger clients we also build AI tools your team can use, such as an AI writing guide in your brand's voice.
Human-led, AI-assisted. We use AI to work more efficiently, so we spend more time on your strategy and on maximising the performance of your marketing.
3. Then we measure what matters. We report on the business results you care about:
• Calls from your Google Business Profile
• Enquiries from your website
• Sales and growth
Each month you see what was done and what it brought in, and we keep improving what works.
Each step builds on the last, and we stay with you as your business grows.
Our promises
- Clear. We get to know your business before we recommend anything, and explain everything in plain English.
"You have simplified our complex products." Smartcool Australia
- Reliable. We do what we said we would, on time and on budget, for a fixed price. We keep you informed and reply within 24 hours.
"Some of the things I like about Sustainable Marketing Services are their proactiveness, reliability and trustworthiness... I know they have my back, so I can focus on what I do best." Craig Tennant, Birkdale Hire a Hubby, Google review
- Long-term. We work as part of your team for the long term, with the same main contact who knows your business.
"Over the past 6 years... your marketing and PR work has been a major factor in increasing our sales in both countries year on year." Robert Briggs, Director of Sales and Marketing Asia Pacific, CTEK
How you can work with us
Most of our clients do not have a marketer in house, so we become their marketing team.
Marketing Growth Plan. A clear, practical marketing plan for your business, so you know exactly what to do next.
Fractional Marketing Leadership. We lead your marketing as your senior marketer, setting the direction and priorities every month.
Marketing Growth Partnership. We run your marketing program every month, so your marketing turns up consistently.
We provide the leadership and the program together, ongoing every month, or as a project over three to six months to deliver brand positioning, a marketing plan, a new website or a capability document.
Why trust us with your marketing?
- Helped CTEK become the number one battery charger brand in Australia and New Zealand
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- Months to close a sale for an energy efficiency solutions company, down from 12 to 18 months to 3 to 6 months
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- Clients we built brand strategy for have gone on to sell their businesses
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- Sales revenue growth in one year for a trade business
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- Phone calls a day from social media for a Redland Bay plumber
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- Phone calls a month from Google for an automotive workshop
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- Business awards for an automotive workshop, including Business of the Year
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- Net promoter score for a national sports body, up from minus 12 when we started
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- Manufacturer brand web leads in one month
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Client stories
CTEK: helped make it the number one battery charger brand in Australia and New Zealand. Learn more
K&G Automotive: team grown from 7 to 13 since 2018, with calls from Google up more than 150%. Learn more
City Tree Services: new income from the quick wins in its marketing plan paid for a general manager. Learn more
Smartcool Australia: sales cycle down from 12 to 18 months to 3 to 6 months, after we repositioned its brand. Learn more
"My business was facing some particularly difficult circumstances... I left each meeting feeling inspired and confident in their advice and experience." Andrew Blair, Bella Manufacturing
Sustainable News
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The More Capable AI Becomes, the More Valuable Your Marketing Foundations Become
AI can only be as consistent as the marketing foundations you give it. Here's what building a SOP with AI taught me about what businesses actually need to get right first. Take our free 2 minute Marketing Foundations Scorecard to see what’s holding your marketing back and where to focus first.
Start the conversation
If you want to grow your business, or your brand and marketing no longer reflect the business you've built, we can help you do it in a clear and achievable way.
We work with businesses across Brisbane, the Redlands and South East Queensland as part of your team, so your marketing is clear, reliable and built to last.
Let's talk about what's working, what's not, and what to do next.
Call us on 07 3446 5837