BEFORE YOU HIRE US
Is digital marketing worth it for a small business?
If your offer works and your margins leave room to pay for a customer, yes. The real question is not whether, but in what order and through which channel. Referrals are great until you want to control your growth; digital is what makes growth a decision instead of luck.
How much should I budget for marketing overall?
A common benchmark: around 10% of revenue to hold your position, 20%+ to grow aggressively. More useful rule: the budget has to be big enough to buy real data in your channel. If it can't, don't shrink the ads. Fix the foundation first, it costs less and compounds.
How long until I see results?
By channel, honestly: paid ads bring first leads in days to weeks, a stable cost per lead takes 4–6 weeks of optimization. Local search and Google Business Profile move in weeks to months. Organic social compounds over 3–6 months. That's exactly why we work in 90-day terms: anything shorter measures noise.
SEO, paid ads or social media — which should I start with?
Wherever your demand already lives. If people search for your category, start with Google and your Business Profile. If trust and visuals sell your service, Meta plus organic content. And if you sell B2B contracts, LinkedIn and cold email. The free 3-minute audit points at your answer.
Agency, in-house marketer, or freelancer?
An in-house generalist costs a salary and gives you one skill set. Freelancers give you single channels you still have to coordinate. An agency gives you a system across channels for less than one salary. The honest flip side: past a certain scale, in-house wins, and we'll tell you when you're there.
Do I need a new website before running ads?
Not always a new one, but a converting landing page, yes. Sending paid traffic to a site that loses it is the most common leak we see. Sometimes one focused page fixes it; a full rebuild is only for when the foundation itself is the problem.
How much of my time will this take?
One to two hours a week at the start: access, approvals, and interviews that pull out your expertise. Then less. Marketing usually fails when everything waits on the owner. The system is built so it needs you less every month.
How do you use AI? Will my marketing be AI-generated?
AI accelerates the layers where speed wins: research, production drafts, reporting. We run 14+ live AI workflows in our own operations. Strategy, taste and final word stay human, and nothing ships unreviewed. You get the speed without the robot voice.
Can you work with my existing team or brand?
Yes. We plug the gaps: strategy on top of your executors, or execution on top of your strategy. Your brand stays unless the brand itself is the leak. If it is, we show you why before touching it.
Which businesses do you turn down?
Offers that haven't been validated by anyone paying for them, industries where we can't verify the claims we'd be making, and anyone who needs a guarantee or a 30-day miracle. An honest no is cheaper for both sides than a bad case study.
How does the engagement start?
With a diagnostic, not a campaign. We audit your acquisition path, ad spend, landing conversion and follow-up, and find the two or three gaps costing you clients before anyone touches your budget.
What do the first three months look like?
Month 1 we build the infrastructure: audit, tracking, CRM, funnel, launch. Months 2 and 3 we test, read the data and optimise. By the end you know your CPL, CAC and what to do with more budget.
Why a three-month minimum?
A system takes about 90 days to validate honestly. Month 1 builds it, months 2 and 3 show how it performs. Anyone promising results in 30 days is selling vanity metrics.
Do I have to sign a long-term contract?
Three months minimum, then month to month. Most clients stay because it works, not because a contract locks them in.
How often will we meet?
Weekly or bi-weekly calls, plus async updates. If something breaks mid-month, you hear it the same day, not in the monthly report.
Who will I work with day to day?
One dedicated lead owns your account start to finish. We pull in specialists as the work needs them, and you stay with one point of contact.
Can I cancel?
Yes, after the three-month minimum, with 30 days notice. If a channel is not profitable we tell you to cut it before you do.
How quickly can you start?
Usually 5 to 10 business days from signed proposal to kickoff.
How much does it cost?
The first growth review is free. Standalone services from $700. The 90-Day Growth System runs $1,500 to $3,500 a month. Ad spend is always separate and goes to the platforms from your own accounts.
Is ad spend included?
No. It goes directly to Meta, Google, TikTok or LinkedIn on your own accounts. We never mark it up.
Do you do performance-only pricing?
No. A fixed fee lets us recommend cutting a channel the moment the math stops working, instead of keeping it alive for a commission.
Are there setup or hidden fees?
Only scoped foundation builds like a new site or rebrand, quoted upfront. Nothing beyond the agreed fee without it in writing first.
What services do you offer?
Three tracks: Brand & Presence, Acquisition, and Optimization. Most engagements use more than one, in sequence.
Do you build websites?
Yes, conversion-focused sites on Shopify, Webflow, WordPress or custom, structured around buyer intent and tracked from day one.
Which ad platforms?
Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn. We pick where your buyers are and where the math works, usually starting with one channel to validate.
Do you do branding?
Yes. Full brand systems, logo, visual language, tone of voice and guidelines, priced as project work.
Do you do SEO?
Technical, local and on-page SEO as part of foundation builds. No standalone rank-you retainers.
Do you produce content?
Yes, across video, photo and copy. We work with your team or run it with our creative partners.
Who do you work with?
Businesses ready to build and ready to scale: home services, trades, dental, wellness, professional services and e-commerce, with a validated offer and a real budget.
Do I need to be in Calgary?
No. We are based in Calgary and work across Canada and the US. In-person sessions are available at Shedpoint in Calgary, by appointment.
I am pre-revenue. Can you help?
Maybe. Marketing amplifies what already works. We use the free growth review to decide honestly — and we'll tell you if marketing money is premature for your stage.
Agencies did not work before. Why is this different?
We fix the actual problem first, then report against a clear plan every step. That is the part most agencies skip.
What CRM stack do you use?
We help you choose and set up the right one with our partners, whether GoHighLevel, HubSpot, Salesforce or another. What we impose is clean tracking.
Who owns the accounts and assets?
You do. Ad accounts, website, creative and data are all yours. If we stop, you keep a working system.
What happens if we stop working together?
Everything is handoff-ready from day one. We do a formal handover to whoever takes over. No hostage tactics.
Do you share client data?
No. Your data stays with you. Case studies are published only with written approval.
Do you guarantee results?
No. We guarantee the process: audit before spend, a 90-day validation window, transparent tracking, and the honesty to cut what is not working.
What metrics do you report?
The ones tied to your goal. For acquisition that is CAC, CPL, conversion rate, LTV and ROAS. Follower counts do not make the report.
How do I see what is happening week to week?
A client portal with strategy, timelines and numbers, plus regular calls. If CPL spikes mid-month, you hear it the same day.
Do you outsource work?
Strategy, audit, direction and reporting stay with your Syntri Labs lead. Production runs through a vetted partner network we brief and review before anything reaches you.
What if marketing is not my real problem?
We tell you immediately. If the offer or close rate is the issue, we scope a fix first or refer you out. A system on a broken model just fails faster.
A channel stops working mid-engagement?
We tell you the same week, try to fix it, give it a short window, and move the budget if it does not recover. We do not keep weak campaigns alive for the invoice.
My marketing is a mess. Is it too late?
That is the most common starting point, not a dealbreaker. Start with the free audit.
Will you push me to overspend?
No. Ad spend recommendations are tied to your unit economics, not our revenue.
Will you report on followers and reach?
Only if they tie to revenue for your business. Our reports have four to eight numbers, all connected to dollars.
Will you tell me bad news?
Yes. Stop ads if the funnel is broken, refer out if marketing is not the problem, cut the channel you are attached to if the math does not work.
Tell us where you are and what you are trying to move. We look at what you have today and decide together whether we are the right fit.