Today we’d like to introduce you to Terry Murphy.
Terry, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
After spending 15 years in broadcast television, I founded Strategic Marketing in 1992 with a telephone, a computer, a fax machine and a burning desire to succeed in this competitive and challenging field. My mantra was “spend my client’s money as if it were my own, and everything else will take care of itself.” That philosophy remains at the forefront of my mind to this day and has served my company well for 25 years. Strategic Marketing has always been on the leading edge of technology, and we have been early adopters of digital marketing strategies. If we can’t find the right solution in the marketplace for our clients, we have often created our own.
Gale Force Digital Technologies was founded in 2014 to offer software solutions to marketing agencies, franchise groups, multi-location operators and media companies. We equip our partners with the rebrandable solutions they need to scale up their offerings and grow their businesses. As an example, we saw a large void in media planning, which has been occupied for years by old legacy operators. Our new MediaForce platform allows a media buyer to manage both digital and traditional advertising campaigns from a single dashboard. We also offer advanced pay per click, review generation, local search management and online display solutions, all of which are evolving on a continuous basis.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No matter what business you are in, there are going to be bumps in the road and certainly growing pains. A lot of our competitors got hurt in the 2008-2009 recession, but we had two great years. We were doing everything we could to help our clients survive, which meant thoroughly reexamining and justifying every dollar being spent. We were selling a lot of pay per click at that time, and our clients were getting great ROI. I think that strategy propped up a lot of our clients through the hard times.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Strategic Marketing, Inc. – what should we know?
Marketing is both art and science. A successful campaign depends on both message and medium. If either one of those is out of whack, your client will not be happy, so our livelihood relies on hitting the mark. While we don’t concentrate on serving clients in one particular industry, like real estate or automotive–and we have done both–we like to say that we specialize in solving our clients’ communication problems, whatever they are.
Each client has unique needs and objectives, and we tailor our solutions and our approach to what is going to best help that client achieve success. If we are known for any single thing, it would probably be lead generation. We know how to make the phones ring and drive traffic. It’s the single most important metric for most of our clients, and because it is measurable and trackable, we get a daily report card on how well we are doing. We take pride in the fact that a lot of our clients have been with us for many years and that they refer other people to us.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I would be remiss if I didn’t give a lot of credit to my wife, Mary. We both came out of broadcasting, but she has a business degree and some agency and publishing experience. She is a master proofreader, a good writer, and she understands accounting well. She definitely has a hand in our success. I would also add that my father, Jack Murphy, was a tremendous source of sage advice. He was an attorney in St. Louis and was involved in various business ventures. His knowledge and experience were invaluable.
I am also thankful for all of my clients who have trusted me to spend their dollars wisely, especially Lou Morano of Capitol Carpet, who has been with us for more than 20 years, and Bob Montgomery, whose high standards compelled us to do some of our very best work. Both of these men graciously referred other clients to us, which has helped us to grow. Also to Marty Perrone, who gave me the idea in 1992 to open my own agency. Without his encouragement, I’m not sure we would be here today.
And I also have to give a lot of credit to the many talented and devoted people we have employed over the years. Mary and I certainly could not have achieved success without a strong team making it all possible.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8895 N. Military Trail
Suite B202 Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 - Website: www.thinkstrategic.com
- Phone: 5616888155
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strategicmarketingwpb/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkstrategicm
- Yelp: https://www.facebook.com/strategicmarketingwpb/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/409947/
Image Credit:
Gale Force Digital Technologies, Inc.
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