Client Testimonials

"When I received an email from my franchisor announcing that the franchise I’d been part of for years would cease to exist, I thought the solution was simple—just change the name. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I quickly realised that everything my business operated under—website, emails, branding on vehicles, uniforms, stationery, and more—belonged to the franchise. I had no brand of my own in the marketplace and was starting from scratch.

Being time-poor and lacking the expertise to handle rebranding, I knew I needed help. That’s when I thought of Maria. I’d met her years ago at a networking group, and I’d been managing her fire compliance in her business ever since. I’d always been impressed by her professionalism, although I hadn’t had a reason to use her marketing services until now.

So, I called Maria, and she took the reins from that moment. Within weeks, she had organised a comprehensive marketing and brand strategy and creative presentation for a new visual identity with multiple branding options for me to choose from. She coordinated everything—from the new visual identity, a new website (and email) and marketing communications to professional photos, car signage, stationery, and uniforms.

The team at Sustainable Marketing Services ensured the strategy was executed consistently across all touchpoints. Maria led and managed the visual identity creation (developed by Matt Tesch from Masthead Design & Creative), the web development (built by Website Essentials), professional photography (captured by Allan McKenzie from MAV Media), car signage (produced by Venom Wrap), and printing for stationery and uniforms.

Throughout the process, Maria kept me involved, making me feel like I truly owned the journey, while her expertise ensured a cohesive and professional brand presence.

What can I say but thank you, Maria, for pulling everything together so efficiently and professionally. You delivered a brand strategy that I could understand, relate to, and confidently use to relaunch my business.”

— Mark Davies, Owner of Compass Fire & Safety

“Working with Sustainable Marketing Services has been an absolute pleasure. Their team of skilled professionals is not only knowledgeable in their field but also dedicated to providing top-notch service and support. They always take the time to understand our organisation. If you’re in search of a reliable, innovative team, look no further. They're a team of seasoned professionals, friendly, work with you as a partner, always happy to develop a tailored solution that exceeded expectations with exceptional customer care.

They deliver a range of services from marking planning, brand positioning, digital strategy, public relation, marketing communications, social media, research, customer surveys, crisis communications and change management. Recently they worked on the digital marketing strategy for our new website and managed the build from beginning to end allowing us to focus on strategic priorities within our organisation.”

I engaged Sustainable Marketing Services in late 2023 to get the phone ringing with more leads and to drive sales for my plumbing business. Maria Anderson and her team exceeded my expectations in every aspect.

They started by creating a social media playbook, providing us with a roadmap to grow our sales through social media and Google My Business. The playbook contained a number of strategies to increase the number of people we reached, ultimately generating more leads.

The content they created for our social media platforms was customised to our business, and the creatives helped make our business stand out in what is a very crowded market.

Maria and her team exhibit the utmost professionalism and expertise. They possess a deep understanding of both digital and traditional marketing, which reflects in their work. Their responsiveness and proactive approach in suggesting improvements have been invaluable.

My team has also commented on the high quality of their social media content. They are very proactive in making suggestions on how to make improvements and to get better results. I would recommend Sustainable Marketing Services to any business looking to grow through digital marketing and social media.

Thanks to Sustainable Marketing Services, our social media management consistently generates 2-3 phone calls a day, significantly boosting our sales pipeline and income. Furthermore, the quality of their content has garnered praise from my team.

I would recommend Sustainable Marketing Services to any business seeking to enhance their digital marketing and social media presence. Their dedication to delivering results and their high level of customer service make them a standout choice in the industry.

"Maria Anderson and the Sustainable Marketing Services team created a strategic marketing plan, brand positioning and key messages that gave us the roadmap to achieve sustainable long-term growth.

The marketing plan was personalised to our business, prioritised quick wins such as Google My Business, and gave us strategies for the future to continue to grow.

Maria has the unique ability to integrate digital and traditional marketing strategies to deliver better results.

The team at Sustainable Marketing Services developed the digital strategy for a new website, writing copy and selecting images that brought our brand to life. In addition, they managed the build of the website for us.

We have always delivered very high-quality work, and now we feel more comfortable knowing that our marketing showcases this quality with a more professional brand.

The quick wins, such as Google My Business, have brought in an increased income stream, providing income to allow us to scale up our business and hire a general manager.

The professional capability document and supporting sales letters have helped us bring on two strategic landscaping partners, helping grow our commercial income.

Our general manager is now actively implementing the marketing strategies to drive future growth. I'm confident within six months, we will see another uplift in our sales based on the strategic marketing plan.

With the foundation laid by Sustainable Marketing Services, we now have the tools and confidence to further scale our business. We are excited to see the continued impact of their strategies unfold, expecting significant sales growth within the next six months.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Maria and her team for empowering us to reach new heights as we continue to invest in our business's future success."

Tony Jansen, Founder / Owner

"Maria Anderson and her team at Sustainable Marketing Services took the time to understand the goals for my business and recommended the most practical ways to achieve the best result.

Sustainable Marketing Services has a good understanding of my industry and the requirements of a start-up business, making the process very easy for me.

As I was very busy managing another business, their team completed most of the work without needing assistance from me. I have been delighted with the results.

We are receiving regular and ongoing bookings for Sovereign Lady, which has grown into a profitable business. In addition, the clients coming in are our ideal type of client.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Maria Anderson and her team."

"Sustainable Marketing Services helped the Little Ship Club achieve a 10% growth in membership in 2020/2021 during COVID and helped us achieve a surplus over $160,000 (before depreciation) in 2020/2021. (We had significant deficits over $162,000 in 2019 and $129,000 in 2018.)

Maria Anderson, their managing director, has a high level of experience in business strategy, marketing strategy and implementing marketing. She restructured our Club and outsourced the bistro and stopped it from losing money. She is also our treasurer and works with our bar staff to manage the Club. Our staff are more engaged with her leadership and management.

One of the key reasons for Sustainable Marketing Service’s success is introducing marketing communications to keep members informed and engaged during COVID. They adopted a transparent communication style. The critical tactics used were newsletters and social media. We have received enormous unsolicited positive feedback from members about their appreciation of our communications.

Maria and her team have many years of experience using marketing to assist membership-based organisations change attitudes, increase engagement, grow membership, and make improvements to the bottom line.

She has organised special event days to attract members and the public to our Club, such as the seafood spectacular and special music days. These events help us generate an additional source of income above our member subscriptions.

During lockdown in 2020, our members were not allowed to visit our Club on North Stradbroke for a significant time to protect our indigenous population from COVID. During this time, she used Facebook and newsletters to keep our members engaged and connected with our Club, and we had a strong retention rate in 2020/2021 and now in 2021/2022.

She maximised attendance of members and the public at our events through Facebook, newsletters, local area marketing and radio advertising on BayFM and 4KQ.

One of Maria’s strengths is her ability to prioritise the marketing activities that deliver the best results first, or address the biggest marketing problem first, before moving down the list of marketing priorities.

Now that we have a more profitable income coming (and have built up some cash in the bank), she is focused on increasing our tourism visitors and events business for weddings and events."

"Sustainable Marketing Services started work with the Model Aeronautical Association of Australia (MAAA) in 2014 and worked as our marketing team for over 7 years. They helped us build our brand reputation, our visibility online with our members and assisted us achieve an average new membership growth of 9.2% each year. Our online search visibility within Aeromodelling grew to 17% (source: Moz). In addition, they helped us retain members and improve member perceptions with new marketing communications such as the launch of a quarterly Wingspan Magazine which helped us increase our net promote score from a negative -11.77 in 2014 to a positive 40 in 2020. This approach was adopted and driven due to a new aeromodelling association competitor within Australia. Wingspan has been very popular with our members and is seen as adding considerable value to members by sharing their club and member stories. During the time they worked for MAAA, they regularly achieved some PR/media coverage of our hobby/sport on National TV, radio, national press and local coverage. They built our Facebook presence from 1,450 In October 2016 to over 13,000 today and it has one of the strongest engagement rates in the world for our industry. In addition, they created and implemented a digital strategy and built a range of websites for us during that time from our industry website to specific national modelling events. The team at Sustainable Marketing Services have a high level of expertise and marketing, PR, digital marketing and social media. They are a delight to work with and always go above and to help us. Importantly, the team at Sustainable Marketing helped MAAA to drive the marketing existence we needed for our sport with the demonstrated results mentioned above."

August 2021

“The Model Aeronautical Association of Australia (MAAA) is the leading model aircraft association in Australia and has a membership of approximately 10,000 members consisting of 8 State Associations and approximately 360 clubs.

During the years 2012 to May 2021, I occupied the positions of MAAA Vice President and President. At the commencement of my term of Presidency, the visibility, confidence, and support of members was extremely low. The knowledge of the objectives, functions, and day to day activities of the organisation were misunderstood by many members who considered the organisation only existed to provide third party insurance. This concept was far from the truth. To turn these negative perceptions around and to increase the visibility and openness of the organisation, the governing council of the MAAA took a decision to engage a marketing company to assist.

Sustainable Marketing Services to commenced working with the MAAA in 2014 and worked as our marketing team for over seven years.

By providing advice and resources, Sustainable Marketing Services helped the MAAA to build our reputation, our visibility online with our members and the public; they also assisted in achieving solid membership growth at a time when most industry bodies were struggling to do likewise.

The MAAA’s collaborative approach with Sustainable Marketing Services has seen an average growth of new members of approximately 10% per year. Like all organisations whose majority of members are elderly, this growth was insufficient to offset those leaving the sport. Growth and attrition numbers were similar and has resulted in stable membership numbers. To further reduce the loss of membership a “Beyond 10000” membership drive assisted in further reducing the fall of membership numbers.

Between 2014 and 2020, Sustainable Marketing Services planned, implemented, and assessed the results of seven (7) surveys to members. These surveys proved extremely useful for future planning and assisted the MAAA Executive to understand what the members were expecting and to refine marketing communication products. These surveys also provided members the opportunity to communicate their individual ideas to the MAAA Council.

A new and improved website was launched in 2014, Sustainable Marketing Services grew the MAAA’s online search visibility within aeromodelling to 17%. Maria Anderson, their managing director, proved to be very community orientated, and often donated resources to assist the MAAA secretary to add new content to the website.

Due to the decline in Australian aeromodelling publications and requests from members, the MAAA Executive saw the need to help fill this popular vacuum. In consultation with Sustainable Marketing Services, a quarterly magazine “Wingspan” was produced. This publication was launched in May 2014 and has regularly been produced until August 2021. Wingspan also assisted in achieving our safety obligation to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) by the regular publication of safety articles. Wingspan has an average of 3,991 unique views per edition and up to 45,000 page views.

The publication achieved the highest average open rate of 47.4% and an average click through rate of 21%, compared to the hobby industry rate of 6.6%. Research indicates the publication is read by members and non-members; views are not restricted to Australia.

Through Sustainable Marketing Services initiatives, the MAAA was able to improve member perception. Statistical data indicated a change in our net promoter score of -11.77 in 2014 to a positive 40 in 2020. The communication strategy for Wingspan, Member Updates, website content and social media delivered considerable value to our members and progressively shifted member attitudes and behaviours. Wingspan is very popular with members and shares the collective knowledge of our 360+ clubs and member stories which helps educate and facilitate change at the club level.

During the time Sustainable Marketing Services was contracted to the MAAA, they regularly achieved strong PR and media coverage of our hobby/sport on National TV, radio, national press, and local coverage.

From the commencement date, 2014, up until the end of my term as President, Sustainable Marketing Services continued to deliver email communications to all MAAA members; statistical information indicating this output substantially exceeded the hobby industry average. For example, newsletter average open rate was 46.3% compared with the hobby industry average of 28.8%.

Sustainable Marketing Services grew the MAAA’s Facebook presence from 1,450 in October 2016 to over 13,000 in 2021; it now has one of the highest engagement rates in the world for our

industry. The MAAA Facebook page is now the 3rd largest aeromodelling page in the world after the American Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) and the British Model Flying Association (BMFA).

The team at Sustainable Marketing Services have proven have a high level of expertise and marketing, PR, digital marketing, and social media in the marketing of air sport industry bodies and organisations. They have always gone above and beyond to assist the MAAA in achieving our objectives. They have a strong focus on measurement, which they use to make continuous improvements.

I have no hesitation in recommending the marketing products of Sustainable Marketing Services; during the term of my Presidency, I found they provided a very knowledgeable and professional approach in their marketing activities. Although not initially familiar with the sport of aeromodelling they were willing to listen and learn and adapt their style to MAAA suggestions.”

17th August 2021

"Shout out to Maria from sustainable marketing, I’ve tried several different approach’s to gain more work and more customers only to be let down. Maria explained in detail where to focus our marketing strategy. Maria also connected my business to the right people who were also very responsive and took immediate action to boost my customer base and make my business visible, I would highly recommend Maria to anyone looking to shift their business to the next level."

"Sustainable Marketing Services introduced marketing management systems to give us greater control over our marketing. They helped us focus our marketing dollars on the best performing marketing activities for the Blue Mountains destination marketing. By improving our digital strategy and assets they helped increase our direct bookings (online and via phone) which is more profitable than bookings from the OTAs. By improving our brand story, key messages and marketing communications via public relations, ad copy, newsletters, guest experience communications, webcopy and social media, helped us elevate our brand and increased engagement with our Facebook fans. Their professional team worked collaboratively with our team and went above and beyond to help us drive more bookings. Thank you."

“Let me start by saying thank you, to Maria and her team. Maria has been assisting us for the best part of 10 months, Maria’s goal is to take the brand of our small family business and position us alongside our customers.

We have come from a very technical beginning over the last 8 years and until now have had a very engineered and complex marketing look. Maria and her team have now delivered us with a new look that is fresh, clear and understandable.

Our current and potential clients now clearly and simply understand what we offer, we have not changed who we are or what we offer, we now simply deliver our business in a less complex format.

By simplifying our sales process and enhancing our corporate brand, we have taken our sales process from typically 12-18 months to 3-6 months. Allowing our business to rapidly expand to meet our client demands.

More recently our long term clients have commented on how our new look has cemented their trust in us, a long-term supplier.

With a client base ranging from the high-end domestic market to the boardroom of large multinationals, and with positive comments coming from companies like Hastie services, Ergon Energy, Australia Post and others, I have no hesitations to recommend Maria and her team to help with any ideas you may have.”

"Cleveland Central Medical Centre has a long heritage of caring for families in the Redlands community, providing personalised and genuine healthcare for more than 20 years.

Sustainable Marketing Services team worked in collaboration with Web Essentials on a new high-quality website that was easy to navigate for ClevelandCentral Medical, while conveying the heritage of the practice. The new website design and copy was created to build trust and tell the unique story of the medical centre.

The website has had a big impact on our patients who have commented on how great it looks. It’s easy to navigate and the content is easy to digest. The newly designed website has brought our brand story to life and has clearly outlined our services for our patients. Due to the exceptional photos the photographer took of the local Cleveland community, we have also repositioned those images and placed them throughout the practice. This has received a positive response from our patients who have noticed the fresh facelift within the waiting room and in the Doctors’ offices.

Cleveland Central Medical has also worked with the team at Sustainable Marketing on blog posts for our website to provide educational and engaging content to our patients. We would highly recommend them to any organisation."

- Sheryl Bradley, Practice Manager, Cleveland Central Manager