How I actually help
This isn’t AI consulting. It’s marketing that accounts for AI.
Strategy, content, media, the technical stuff underneath: I work all of it together, not as separate projects. Here’s how I get there, in plain language.
What I do
Most marketing breaks down because everything’s handled in separate pieces: different people, different vendors, different tools, none of them talking to each other. I do it differently. I start with the audiences that create the most value for your business, then work outward, in one connected process, in four parts, where each step feeds the next so nothing gets fixed in isolation.
1. First, I figure out who actually matters most
Not every visitor is worth the same to your business. Before I touch a website or a keyword, I find out which customers or audiences create the most real value for you, and I build everything else outward from there instead of chasing whoever’s easiest to find.
- Which of your audiences are actually worth the most, not just which searches get the most traffic
- A plain-language look at who’s finding you now, and who’s slipping through
- What those audiences are really trying to figure out before they choose you, and where they get stuck
- A look at whether tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers can find and describe you correctly to the people who matter most (this is sometimes called AEO, or AI answer engine optimization, though you’ll never need to say that out loud)
- A clear list of what to fix first, starting with your highest-value audience and working outward
2. Then, we build a plan around who matters most
Once I know who your highest-value audiences are, I turn that into a clear plan: not a wish list, but a plan with priorities and a direction, built around them first.
- Where you stand today with the audiences that matter most, and where you should stand
- A marketing roadmap you can actually follow, starting with your highest-value audience and working outward
- What those audiences are really asking, and how to answer them
- A simple, honest way to talk about what makes you different, to the people who matter most
3. Then, we make sure you can actually be found
This is the part most businesses skip, and it’s become the most important part. I make sure the systems behind your website and content speak a language AI tools and search engines can understand, trust, and repeat correctly.
- The technical groundwork that helps computers read your site correctly (the industry calls this “structured data”; think of it as translation, not decoration)
- Making sure AI tools describe your business the right way when someone asks
- Organizing your content so both people and machines can make sense of it
- Traditional search engine work too (SEO); it hasn’t gone away, it’s just no longer the whole story
- Making sure your business information is consistent everywhere it appears online
4. Then, we put it to work
A great plan means nothing if it doesn’t run. I activate it across paid, organic, and local channels, and track what’s actually working, not just what looks good on an old-fashioned report.
- Planning and buying media that actually fits together
- Running paid and organic side by side, not as separate projects
- Local and channel-specific work where it matters
- Reporting broken down by audience, not just one traffic number, so you can see which segment is actually moving
- Reporting that tells you the truth, not just the highlights
Where I go deeper
Tourism, education, automotive, and government
I work across a lot of industries, but four are where I’ve spent the most time, and where I can move fastest.
Tourism. Twenty-five-plus years in tourism means I’ve sat on every side of the table: inside destination marketing organizations, alongside provincial governments, writing MRDT plans and tax and funding strategy, building economic development plans, and running go-to-market and performance marketing for tourism brands. I work white-label, behind the scenes, or directly with you, whatever fits.
Client experience: Destination BC, Cathay Pacific, District of Houston, Tourism Prince George, Salmon Arm Economic Development, BC Ministry of Tourism and the Arts, Destination Campbell River, Ucluelet, Tourism Kelowna, City of Burnaby, Go North RV, Northwest BC, and Northeast BC, among others.
Education. I’ve done this work at both the hands-on and executive level: marketing planning, performance marketing, content, influencer work, team structure, and getting stakeholders on the same page.
Brand experience: UBC Sauder School of Business, SFU, Camosun College, UFV, TRU, Gustavson School of Business, and Vancouver Film School.
Automotive. Fifteen years across manufacturers, dealer associations, and ownership groups (including time inside GM and Ford) means I understand this business from the inside, not just from the outside looking in.
Brand experience: General Motors of Canada, Ford, Gain Automotive Group, Honda Dealers.
Government. I’ve worked directly with provincial governments on economic development: building international profile for worker and investment attraction, and helping local districts navigate the transition out of dependence on a single primary industry. This is strategy work at the scale of a region or a province, not a campaign for a single department.
How we’d start
Every relationship starts with one of these, whichever fits what you’re dealing with.
Audit: a clear-eyed look at where you’re losing clarity, traction, or visibility, and what’s worth fixing first.
Upgrade: I rework the strategy, structure, and signals around one thing that matters most right now.
Advisory: ongoing, senior-level help, without adding another full-time person to your payroll.
Leadership alignment: helping your team actually agree on what’s changed and why, before you spend money fixing it.
Not sure which one fits? That’s a completely normal place to start.
John Hall, 604-787-2917, findtheethos@gmail.com
