A Google Marketer's Best Channel Isn't Online

A Google Marketer's Best Channel Isn't Online

From The Jo Show by Jo McKee

May 14, 2026 · 35 min · Episode 25

About this episode

Ashley Woods, a marketing strategist at Google, shares insights on effective marketing strategies for small businesses compared to large corporations.

Ashley Woods is a marketing strategist at Google and YouTube who built her own business — Primer Libro, a Spanish-language children's book company — on the side. In this episode, she breaks down what works at Google scale that's a complete waste of time for a small business, and what small businesses can do that Google can't. You'll hear how she had a wake-up call running Amazon ads, why mom-and-pop events outperformed every paid channel she tried, and the one marketing principle that holds true at every scale. Plus: how Jo cancelled $850 a month of marketing software and rebuilt it with AI agents. You'll learn: - Why most small business advertising spend is unprofitable, and the wake-up call that proved it - What a marketer at Google does when she's spending her own money - The data advantage small businesses have over billion-dollar companies - Incrementality vs attribution, plainly explained - Why a Google strategist is spending zero on advertising for two months - The one thing to do if you're sitting on an idea and afraid to start - How to use AI for more than just "give me ideas" and "write this email" - The $850 a month marketing software Jo cancelled (and what she runs…

People in this episode

Host: Jo McKee

Guest: Ashley Woods

Topics covered

  • small business marketing
  • advertising strategies
  • Google marketing insights
  • AI in marketing
  • incrementality vs attribution
  • cost-effective marketing

Keywords

  • small business
  • marketing strategies
  • Google
  • YouTube
  • AI agents
  • advertising spend
  • incrementality
  • attribution
  • Primer Libro

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Google, YouTube, Primer Libro, Amazon, McKee Creative

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