Mal Alder is #MadeForKnoxville.

Mal founded Alder & Co. to bring affordable, quality digital marketing to smaller businesses in her community. Although her digital marketing tactics are helping businesses around Knoxville flourish, it’s Alder & Co.’s heart that’s leaving a lasting impact.

To Mal, the big picture goes beyond marketing: “One of the biggest things that set Alder & Co. apart from other agencies is how deeply we care about the relationships we build with our clients. The digital marketing landscape can change tomorrow, but how we treat others is always within our control.” While they’re busy helping businesses take back control of their marketing, Mal and her team make sure to never lack compassion for those around them.

“The digital marketing landscape can change tomorrow, but how we treat others is always within our control.”

Mal’s Original Submission:

I always toyed with the idea of owning my own company. However, when the opportunity to actually act on that dream presented itself, it was not something I was expecting or exactly prepared for. 

Prior to opening Alder & Co., I spent my career learning as much as I could in the digital marketing space. I worked for agencies, single-brand companies, and even some freelance. However, it wasn’t until I found out the company I was working for was closing that I decided to take the idea of becoming a business owner more seriously. 

During my job search, I had trouble finding a local agency that put as much emphasis on digital marketing as I had in building my career. I was finding that agencies were either outsourcing this work to third parties and upselling the cost to clients or they were passing the duties off to an in-house person who may not have had a lot of experience in the field.

Either way, neither structure was set up to help small to mid-sized businesses. For example, a former boss once told me if a client did not have $10,000 to spend a month, we could not afford them as a client. That never sat well with me because I have a big heart for the community and helping local, small, businesses flourish.

I launched Alder & Co. with a single Facebook post, and we have grown ever since. December 2020 will mark our second full year in business. I am proud to say even with COVID, our business grew 60% over last year. We are now moving into our first office space and hiring W-2 employees. I credit all of that success to our driving mission of being a valuable resource to the community and always being willing to help those around us.

Alder & Co. grew out of a desire to help business owners take back control of their digital marketing. In today’s world, a brand’s digital presence is more important than ever, and your business deserves a partner who is there to help guide you through the right marketing decisions for your company. At Alder & Co., we treat every client account as if it were our own business. One of the biggest things that set Alder & Co. apart from other agencies is how deeply we care about the relationships we build with our clients. The digital marketing landscape can change tomorrow, but how we treat others is always within our control.

Interested in sharing your “Made for Knoxville” story? Submit here!