What is actually different about marketing across Alberta
The two big markets are not interchangeable. Calgary is a head office town where the buyer is often a corporate decision maker with a procurement process behind them. Edmonton is anchored by government, health care, education and heavy industry, with a stronger seasonal swing. Running the same campaign and the same landing page into both is the most common Alberta mistake I see, and it usually means one of the two is quietly subsidising the other.
Then there is the cycle. Alberta demand moves with commodity prices in a way no other provincial market does, and that has a specific consequence for marketing: a flat monthly budget is the wrong instrument. What you want is a channel mix that does not collapse when spending tightens, which in practice means the organic and AI-visibility side has to be real rather than an afterthought, because it is the part that keeps producing when the ad budget gets cut.
For agency owners and professional firms specifically, the province rewards patience. In energy, construction and trades, agriculture, professional services and logistics and transportation the buyer researches, involves several people, and takes months. That is a lousy fit for judging campaigns on a 30 day window and a very good fit for being the firm that has published the clearest explanation of how the work actually gets done.
Three ways to grow an Alberta business, run by one accountable person
Same three services everywhere I work. What changes in Alberta is that the plan has to hold up through a downturn, not just through a good quarter.
Google Ads Management
In Alberta that means separating Calgary from Edmonton so each can be judged on its own numbers, budgets that flex with the season and the cycle rather than sitting flat, and spend cut off searches that were never going to convert.
$1,500/month + ad spend
SEO Consulting
The part of the plan that keeps working when the ad budget gets cut, which in this province is not a hypothetical. Technical fixes first, then the pages that answer what Alberta buyers actually research before they call anyone.
$1,200/month
AIO Consulting
Being the Alberta business ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews name when someone asks for a supplier or a firm. Cheapest of the three, one-time, and almost no Alberta competitor has started.
$1,800 one-time
Where in Alberta I work
Alberta metros with their own page
Each of these goes into what is actually different about that market. If you sell mainly in one of them, start there rather than here.
Across the province
I take on clients throughout the Calgary region, the Edmonton metro region, central Alberta, southern Alberta, the Peace Country and the Wood Buffalo region. Everything is run remotely over video and email, so where in the province you are makes no difference to the work or the price. The two hour time difference is real and I schedule around it.
- the Calgary region
- the Edmonton metro region
- central Alberta
- southern Alberta
- the Peace Country
- the Wood Buffalo region
And in the smaller centres
A lot of good Alberta businesses are nowhere near either big city. I work with businesses in Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Airdrie, Spruce Grove and Okotoks on the same terms.
- Red Deer
- Lethbridge
- Medicine Hat
- Grande Prairie
- Fort McMurray
- Airdrie
- Spruce Grove
- Okotoks
Questions Alberta businesses ask
Do you have an office in Alberta?
No. I am based in Toronto and work from home, so there is no Alberta office and I am not going to imply there is. Everything is run remotely over video and email, which is how I run every account.
We sell in both Calgary and Edmonton. One campaign or two?
Two, almost always. The buyers are different, the seasonality is different and the competition is different, and a combined campaign hides which of the two is actually paying for itself. Splitting them is usually the first change I would make on an Alberta account.
What happens to our marketing if the economy turns?
That is the right question to ask in this province and it should shape the plan from the start. Paid search is the first thing that gets cut when budgets tighten, which is exactly why the SEO and AI visibility work needs to be genuinely underway before you need it. If everything you have is rented attention, a downturn takes all of it.
I run an agency. Do you work with agencies?
Yes. Some Alberta agencies bring me in on Google Ads or AIO work they do not run in-house, white labelled or not depending on what you prefer, and some agency owners hire me for their own marketing. If we compete in the same lane I will say so on the call.
What does this cost?
Google Ads management is $1,500 a month plus your ad spend. SEO consulting is $1,200 a month. AIO consulting is $1,800 one time. No setup fees and no long contract, anywhere in the province.
Tell me where you are stuck in Alberta
Twenty minutes, free, no pitch. Describe the business and I will tell you what I would do first, starting with whether your plan survives a bad quarter.
Book 20 free minutes