Marketing built around the problem

Find the problem.
Fix the problem.
Grow the business.

I find the biggest marketing problem holding your business back — then build and implement the solution to fix it.

See how I work
No pre-packaged marketing plans. No channel-first thinking. Start with the commercial problem.
A different starting point

Most marketing starts with the solution. I think that's backwards.

“You need SEO.” “You need social media.” “You should run ads.” “You need more content.”

Maybe. But none of those things matter until we understand the commercial problem we're actually trying to solve.

I don't start by asking which marketing channel you need. I start by asking: what's costing your business money right now?
Real problems, not marketing jargon

What does a problem actually look like?

It's usually much more specific than “we need better marketing”.

01 / UNUSED CAPACITY

Valuable capacity is sitting empty.

Empty wedding dates. Unbooked rooms. Unfilled appointments. Unused production capacity. Once that opportunity passes, the revenue is gone.

02 / CONVERSION

Plenty of interest. Not enough customers.

People visit, enquire, request information or ask for quotes, but too few take the next step and buy.

03 / DISCOVERY

The right customers don't know you exist.

You have a strong product or service, but competitors are capturing demand because they're easier to discover or understand.

04 / POSITIONING

You're better than you look.

There's something genuinely special about the business, but your marketing isn't communicating it quickly or convincingly enough.

05 / LOST OPPORTUNITY

Interested prospects disappear.

Potential customers show intent, but there's no effective journey keeping you relevant until they're ready to decide.

06 / GROWTH

You know there's more demand out there.

The business works. The question is how to reach more of the right people without simply throwing more money at advertising.

How I work

Diagnose first.
Prescribe second.

The strategy depends on the problem. Not the other way around.

01

Find the real commercial problem.

I look at the business, customers, competitors, numbers, customer journey and current marketing to identify where revenue or opportunity is being lost.

02

Work out why it's happening.

More leads aren't always the answer. The problem might be visibility, positioning, trust, targeting, conversion, follow-up or something else entirely.

03

Build the right solution.

Only then do I decide which tools to use: website, content, offer, advertising, email, SEO, outreach, automation, social media — whatever the problem actually requires.

04

Actually implement it.

I'm not interested in handing you a strategy document and disappearing. I get hands-on and help build, launch and improve the solution.

05

Measure the thing that matters.

Bookings. Sales. Qualified enquiries. Revenue. Occupancy. Conversion. We measure the commercial outcome rather than hiding behind vanity metrics.

Why Plasmic?

I don't need your problem to fit my service.

If you hire an SEO agency, it's not surprising when the answer turns out to be SEO.

Hire a paid media agency and there's a good chance the answer involves spending more money on ads.

I want to start one step earlier.

What's the biggest commercial problem or missed opportunity in the business? Why is it happening? And what's the smartest way of fixing it?

Sometimes that's advertising. Sometimes it's content, positioning, conversion, email, search, outreach, technology or a better offer.

Sometimes the answer might even be that you don't need me.

The toolkit

Strategy is only useful if something actually happens.

Once we've identified the problem, I use the right combination of marketing disciplines to solve it.

Strategy & positioning

Offers, differentiation, messaging and commercial direction.

Web & conversion

Improving the journey from first visit to enquiry or sale.

Content

Content designed to earn attention, trust and demand.

Paid acquisition

Targeted campaigns when paid media is actually the right tool.

Search & discovery

Getting found by customers already looking for what you offer.

Email & CRM

Turning existing interest into customers without badgering people.

Social media

Reaching customers where they actually spend their time.

Outreach

Finding and approaching valuable prospective customers directly.

AI & technology

Using new tools intelligently to work faster and smarter.

Who's behind Plasmic?

Hi.
I'm David.

David McLean, Plasmic Marketing

I'm a hands-on marketer who likes solving commercial problems.

I've spent my career working across marketing strategy, digital, ecommerce, content, advertising, email, websites, analytics and technology.

But I've become increasingly convinced that businesses don't need another person trying to sell them a particular marketing channel.

They need someone willing to understand the business, identify the problem worth solving and work out the smartest way to solve it.

That's what Plasmic Marketing is for.

Let's start with the problem

What's costing your business money?

Tell me about the problem, bottleneck or missed opportunity you're struggling with. I'll tell you whether I think marketing can realistically help — and what I'd look at first.