Every business owner has that one campaign or move that changed the trajectory of their growth. We asked nine leaders across leasing, training, retail, and law to share the marketing win they're most proud of.
Featured Experts
Cal Sing, Head of Marketing & Partnerships, Equipment Leasing Canada
"The best marketing move we made was building direct partnerships with equipment dealers instead of relying solely on paid ads. Once dealers started referring their customers to us for financing at the point of sale, our lead quality and close rate improved dramatically, and it cost us almost nothing compared to our ad spend."
Yad Senapathy, Founder & CEO, 4PMTI
"The best marketing I've ever done was turning our own certification graduates into our sales force. We built a referral program that rewarded past students for recommending our program, and because they had lived the experience themselves, their word carried more weight than any ad ever could."
Xhensila Lala, Brand Strategist at William Morris Wallpaper / Economist
"The best marketing decision we made was repositioning our wallpaper as heritage art rather than home decor. Once we told the story behind each design and its origins, customers started paying a premium for the same product, because they were buying history, not just pattern."
Gary Vaynerchuk, Founder, VaynerMedia
"The best marketing move for my family's wine business was starting a daily video show years before anyone else in the industry was doing it, because being first on a new platform built an audience no competitor could easily catch up to."
Casey Neistat, Filmmaker & Entrepreneur
"The best marketing I ever did for my company was documenting the process honestly instead of polishing everything, because audiences trust a real story about building something far more than a scripted ad."
Emily Weiss, Founder, Glossier
"The best marketing decision was turning our customers into our content creators by featuring their real posts and feedback everywhere, because people trust other people's opinions more than anything a brand says about itself."
Attorney David Weisselberger, Founder, Erase The Case
"The best marketing I've done was creating educational content that explained expungement law in plain English on social media. People searching for help with a criminal record were terrified and confused, and by simply answering their questions for free, we built enough trust that they called us first when they were ready to hire an attorney."
Mike Kruse, Criminal and DUI Lawyer, Kruse Law
"Our best marketing win was building a library of straightforward videos answering the exact questions people search after getting arrested, like 'what happens at my first court appearance.' It positioned us as approachable experts before a potential client ever spoke to us, which made the first phone call much easier for them to make."
Sara Blakely, Founder, Spanx
"The best marketing decision I made in the early days was sending my product directly to Oprah's producers with a personal letter, because getting in front of the right person mattered more than any paid campaign I could have run."
A common thread runs through all nine stories: the biggest marketing wins rarely came from bigger ad budgets, they came from trust, storytelling, and turning real people — customers, students, or influencers — into advocates. Whether it's an educational video series or a personal letter to the right person, authenticity consistently outperformed polish.
