People Are the Soul of Marketing, Says CEO Madison Gorn
editorialteam If you drop in for a day at Maddie Girl Marketing, you’ll see a flurry of activity. Between staff meetings to plan out digital marketing campaigns, consultations with clients over their business goals, and creation of podcasts, social media posts, apps, NFTs, and online content, it’s hard for the company’s twenty-year-old CEO and Founder, Madison Gorn, to find a free moment to talk. She agreed to meet with us, however, and discuss what it has been like to run one of the most popular digital marketing firms in the country. The word in the industry is that Madison is sharp and possesses an intuitive understanding of how to harness the Internet to connect thousands of potential customers to her clients. What we found as we talked to her is that she goes beyond this perception – she is also someone who cares deeply about her clients, whether they are giants like brands seen in Target, Walmart, or Sephora or a passionate entrepreneur just getting their company off the ground.
“It’s really about the people, not the product,” she agrees, settling back on a couch. “Yes, I find what I do to be very exciting. I like strategizing with my clients to help them to reach their business goals. In the end, though, even when the campaign is successful, I’m still happier about having helped the person to succeed more than I am about the product having found its niche in the market.”
When pressed for an example of her favorite success stories, Madison thinks for a moment before answering. “Of course, I was thrilled when my digital campaign for a client in Bed Bath & Beyond met its target. That said, I have a special heart for entrepreneurs, who face so many hurdles as they bring their ideas to the public.”
One client she was especially proud of was a man who had spent months designing an app that would make it easier for school children to submit assignments from home when away from their computers. “With so many school closures and students struggling with learning from home, especially when they had limited technology, he really wanted to give them the tools to succeed. I helped him to design a campaign that would bring his app to the attention of school districts, and I celebrated with him as he found new clients.”
On a more personal level, Madison recalls a female entrepreneur who was ready to throw in the towel until Madison helped her to grow her business. “She had been working so hard for quite a while but just couldn’t gain any traction, unfortunately,” she says. “When I met her, she had a dream in her heart and a vision for her company’s future, but there was no gas in the engine, so to speak. I helped her to understand that with everything my digital marketing team could do, she could have a completely different future for her company. Within a few months, her sales had doubled, and she was on her way to a new level.”
People, she believes, are what marketing is all about. “I couldn’t do my job if I believed the product was more important,” she says. “Obviously, it is crucial. However, when a client sits down with me, I connect with the person first and the product second. My client has important goals they want to reach, and those become my goals, too. When our campaigns make them possible, I absolutely love to see the happiness and satisfaction on my client’s face. A whole new level of business has been opened up to them, and they’ve got a solid footing to go after their next goal. It’s so satisfying to be part of making that happen.”
