Marketing Strategy
Stop guessing. Start compounding.
A clear plan for where your next customer comes from. Research, positioning, and a 90-day roadmap - so every marketing dollar builds on the last one instead of starting from zero.
Random acts of marketingdon't add up to a result.
A boosted post here. A few hundred dollars of Google Ads there. A website that hasn't changed since 2021. A newsletter that went out three times and quietly died.
That's what marketing looks like inside most NZ small businesses. Not because the owners are lazy - the opposite. They're flat out running the business, so marketing happens in the gaps. A bit here, a bit there, whenever someone has an hour spare.
The problem is that none of it compounds. The ads don't feed a website that converts. The website doesn't answer the questions customers are actually asking. Each effort starts from zero and ends at zero. You're spending money and energy, but nothing is building.
Strategy is the fix, and it's simpler than the industry makes it sound. Strategy is deciding where you can win, and putting every dollar and every hour behind that decision. Fewer things, done properly, all pointed in the same direction.
That's what we build. We research your market, sharpen your positioning, pick the channels that fit your budget, and hand you a 90-day plan with measurement behind it. Then, if you want, we execute it with you.
Busy isn't a strategy. Knowing where you win, and backing it with everything you've got, is.
- Louis, King Tide
What You Get
A strategy you can actually act on.
Market and competitor research
We dig into your market before we recommend anything. Who you're really competing with, what they charge, where they show up, and where they're weak. Most owners are surprised by what we find - and by how beatable their competitors actually are.
Positioning that differentiates
A clear, honest answer to 'why should I pick you?' Not a slogan - a position you can defend. When your positioning is right, everything downstream gets easier: ads convert better, your website makes sense, and price becomes less of a fight.
A channel plan matched to your budget
You don't need to be everywhere. You need to be where your customers are, with enough budget to matter. We pick the two or three channels that fit your market and your money, and cut the rest without guilt.
A 90-day action roadmap
Not a vision document. A week-by-week plan of what gets done, in what order, and who does it. You'll always know what the next move is - no more wondering what you should be doing about marketing.
Measurement that shows what's working
We map out the tracking so every enquiry can be traced back to what caused it. Which channel, which page, which campaign. When you can see what's working, deciding where to spend stops being a guess.
Quarterly reviews that keep it honest
A strategy is only useful if it survives contact with reality. Every quarter we look at what the numbers say, keep what's working, and change what isn't. The plan stays alive instead of gathering dust in a drawer.
Pricing
Transparent pricing.
One sprint, one price, delivered in two weeks. Launch pricing while this service is new.
Strategy Sprint
From $1,500
one-off, no retainer
Common questions.
Do I need a strategy, or can I just run some ads?
You can run ads without a strategy - most businesses do. It's also why most ad budgets underperform. Ads answer 'how do we reach people'. Strategy answers who you're for, what you say, and why customers would pick you. Get those right and the same ad budget works two or three times harder. Get them wrong and no amount of optimisation saves it.
What do I actually get?
Five things: research on your market and competitors, positioning that says why you over the alternatives, a channel plan matched to your budget, a 90-day action roadmap, and a measurement plan so you can see what's working. It's a working document, not a 60-page deck. We present it, talk it through, and you keep everything.
How long does it take?
Two weeks from kickoff to delivery. Week one is research and interviews - we'll need a couple of hours of your time. Week two is building the plan. Then we present it and hand it over. No months-long discovery phase.
What if I already have marketing running?
Even better - that's data. We audit what you're currently running, work out what's actually producing enquiries, and build the plan around it. Usually the answer isn't 'do more'. It's stop doing three things, double down on one, and fix the gaps in between.
Do you implement the strategy too?
Yes - that's the point. The strategy connects directly to our execution services: websites, SEO, Google Ads, Meta ads. Most clients have us execute at least part of the plan. But you're not locked into that. The plan is written so you could hand it to your own team, or another agency, and it would still work. You own it either way.
How is this different from a big agency strategy engagement?
Big agency strategy work runs $15,000 to $50,000, takes three months, and often ends up as a beautiful deck nobody opens again. We built this for NZ small businesses: two weeks, from $1,500, and every recommendation is something you can actually afford to do. The goal is momentum, not a document.
What size business is this for?
NZ small and medium businesses - typically owner-operated, doing anywhere from $200k to $10m in revenue. Trades, professional services, retail, manufacturing, local services. If you're big enough to spend money on marketing but not big enough to have a marketing department, this was built for you.
Do you work with businesses outside the Waikato?
Yes. We're based in Kihikihi and a lot of our clients are Waikato businesses, but we build strategies for businesses across New Zealand. Research calls and the final presentation happen over video. Location doesn't change the work.
Case Studies
Real results from real businesses.
View all →
Empower Software
A workshop-software company with a tight ad budget and a flat year behind it. Three months later: a paid lead engine that scales, a search-optimised site pulling free organic traffic, and the first leads landing in Australia.
31
Qualified workshop leads, first 3 months
~$102
Cost per qualified lead
Airmax
A basic WordPress site replaced with a 98-page, search-optimised website - built with AI. Google visibility went up 10x in under a month, and the enquiries started coming.
1 → 10+
Calls per day
1,490 → 16k
Impressions, first week
Alpha Trailers
A tired WordPress site replaced with a fast, search-optimised website - built with AI, live in six weeks. The owner now edits it himself in plain English.
199
Google clicks, first week
4,360
Impressions, first week
River Path Home Loans
A team of mortgage advisers left an established brokerage to start their own firm - no brand, no website, no online presence. Seven days later they had all three.
7
Days to launch
55+
Pages built
PPC Foiling
From 7 dealers to 95 - how a Kiwi wing foiling brand built a global B2B channel from scratch with King Tide.
7→95
Dealers across NA & Europe
Consistent
Reorders from dealer network
Smart Housing Solutions
From tyre-kickers to 6 signed contracts in two weeks. How a husband-and-wife tiny home business in New Zealand transformed their marketing from scattered to strategic.
6
Contracts in 2 weeks
10+
Quality leads per week
Testimonials
Don't take our word for it.
“The team deliver results at more than twice the pace and impact than normal marketing executives. A real hands on do and deliver team. Jumping from strategy to execution and results in days. The best marketing exec I have ever worked with.”
Mark Robotham
CEO, Manta5
“Louis has a rare and hard-to-find talent for reaching and engaging a target market. He made marketing a core competency of our business. I'm still blown away by the reach and engagement we had on social media and the thousands of enquiries we received over the years.”
Guy Howard-Willis
Founder, Torpedo 7
“The foiling industry is super competitive, and standing out isn't easy. We've made huge progress - we're selling more to end consumers and signing up dealers faster than we ever have. It's momentum.”
Sam Loader
Founder, PPC Foiling
“The team at King Tide are great people to work with. They strike a rare balance between big picture strategic thinking and sharp execution to ensure they deliver actual results, not just glossy reports. Highly recommend.”
Greg Johnston
37 South Capital
“Louis and Ella at King Tide are incredible, after a full brief, intel gathering and outlining our current frustrations and what we were looking for, these guys delivered!! Not only were they incredibly responsive, but they were also intuitive to tap into our Industry to produce result quickly, collaboratively and without fuss - would 100% recommend.”
Cherrie Wheeler
Presto Resourcing
“We've been using King Tide for 12 months as a general advisor for all marketing. The improvement we've seen in our business is off the charts and I see no other reason for it. They're awesome to deal with, incredibly knowledgeable, and their advice works. Can not recommend enough.”
Jake
RB Thomas Building
Ready to stop guessing?
Call Louis on 021 027 61476 or get in touch. Tell us what you're currently doing for marketing and we'll tell you honestly whether a strategy sprint would change anything.