Looking Back on 2018: A Year for Growth and Gratitude

The Approach Marketing Columbus team raises a glass to celebrate the agency’s 2018 Columbus Business First Fast 50 award.

I admit, I tend to be a forward-looking person rather than reflecting on the past. But this time of year (while enjoying the holiday season with my family—including our newest little addition, who made us a party of 5 this year!), I give myself permission to slow down and celebrate what we’ve accomplished together.

If I had to pick an Approach word of the year for 2018, it would definitely be growth.

This year, we welcomed great new clients to the Approach family, expanded into a new market in Indianapolis, and continued to work with organizations that have been long-time friends and strategic partners. Our success truly couldn’t happen without you, our clients, having confidence in our ability to help you grow and achieve your public relations and marketing goals. And for that, we thank you. 

Here’s a look at some of our other top milestones for 2018:

We shook things up.
As an agency, we’re never satisfied with the status quo, for our clients or ourselves. So, we looked at how we could help clients drive growth even more by embracing a holistic approach to PR and marketing. By incorporating the PESO model (referring to paid, earned, shared and owned media), we’ve helped our clients keep their sales funnel full by engaging in a broader range of tactics including everything from strategy development to services around media relations, paid media, social channel management, influencer engagement, SEO and content development.

We welcomed five new consultants to the Approach team.
Our newest team members collectively boast decades of experience working for top global agencies and organizations and were responsible for delivering award-winning campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands, including Walmart, Unilever, Barilla, Kraft Foods, Jockey and Dove. I’m in awe that our team is now made up of 20 contract consultants plus a robust network of freelance talent, who not only represent some of the top marketers in the industry, but who also happen to be pretty amazing people to have in my corner.

We opened a creative meeting space in Columbus.
While we still operate 100 percent virtually (a value proposition that will never change), I am excited to have an official gathering place for Approach. My vision is that this creative meeting space will be a place where our team and clients can gather to “make the magic happen” by kicking off client projects, hosting brainstorm meetings and leading discovery sessions.

We proudly earned industry recognition, awards and a WBENC certification.
I’m extremely proud that Approach was recognized by Columbus Business First as one of the top 10 fastest-growing companies in Columbus and was named to the finalist list of PR Week Boutique Agency of the Year. In addition, this year we became a certified women-owned business through The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, Inc. (WBENC).

Even more than growth, the other word I reflect on this year is gratitude for the amazing clients we get to work with every day. We are truly your biggest fans and biggest cheerleaders for your success. Thank you for allowing us to play a small part of that.

Cheers to all of you for an amazing year! We look forward to all the incredible things 2019 will bring.