Digital marketing for government and public sector: scoped, priced and documented before your committee ever sees it.
Residents don't search your department, they search the task: a permit, a payment, a closure, a pickup date. We map that behavior before we touch a page or a dollar of public money, then hand you a scope, a price and a timeline your committee can approve without a single follow-up call. We've worked with 500+ clients across Canada and the US over 10 years, and every build is accessible to WCAG 2.1 AA.
- Generated for clients
- $100M+
- Clients
- 500+
- In business
- 10 Years
- In-house team
- 30+
Accessible public-service website
Reach the residents affected.
Build a real content library.
Here’s the short version → Setsail Marketing is a digital marketing agency based in Vancouver, BC that runs communications, websites and public engagement campaigns for government and public sector organizations across Canada and the United States.
- Clients:
- City of Prince George · City of Coquitlam · City of Vernon · BC Hydro · City of Santa Cruz · Colorado Department of State
- How we work:
- Every engagement starts with a Growth Strategy: a documented read of how residents actually search for, compare and complete a public service, built before any delivery work begins
- Accessibility:
- Builds meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility
- Delivery:
- 100% in-house
- Credentials:
- B Corp certified · Google Partner
- Proof:
- In business for 10 years · $100M+ revenue generated for clients · 500+ clients across Canada and the US
Public bodies that hired us through open procurement, and what they got.
Every case below is a government, a Crown utility or a public-mission organization. Named, checkable, and none of it borrowed from another industry.
City of Prince George: 750,000+ people reached, $50M+ in investment interest generated
Prince George needed to change the story before they could sell it: no usable creative assets, a narrative stuck on being 'a one-stop forestry shop,' and full turnover in the economic development team. We built four content pillars (housing, workforce, business retention, downtown livability), then shot the photography and drone video to back them up. The city ran an open competitive RFP, chose Setsail, and moved into a three-year contract.
City of Coquitlam: 400 to 600 photos contracted, about 2,000 delivered
Coquitlam hired us through a competitive RFP for a year of stock photography. We delivered roughly four times the contracted minimum, then Coquitlam brought us back for videography, a brand and design system their own staff could use, and the Economic Development website. One RFP turned into a multi-year, multi-department relationship.
Colorado Department of State: an accessible public-service website
A high-traffic public-service platform that citizens needed to actually finish tasks on, under an accessibility law with no wiggle room. We rebuilt the site and handed over a 200-plus-component design system so the state's own team could keep it consistent after we left. Won through competitive state procurement.
Owens Valley CDC: Brand recognition up 75%, participation up 65%
A community development organization serving an Indigenous community needed a brand people would actually recognize and trust, without flattening the culture behind it. We built the strategy, identity and visual system from the ground up.
BC Hydro: An explainer customers actually watched: 85%+ average watch time
BC Hydro needed behavior-change communication that could reach an entire province and survive review from multiple stakeholders at once: safety campaigns, rebate promotions, seasonal energy-saving pushes. We run it as a standing production partnership, on location and in studio, handling everything from the shot list to the final cut.
City of Santa Cruz: Two departments, one brand
Santa Cruz needed to compete with the entire Bay Area for investment and, separately, compete for talent it couldn't outbid on salary. We built a brand system first, then the Choose Santa Cruz investment site on top of it, plus recruitment collateral for the city's HR team. Two departments, one brand, still active.
We know how your residents search, before you spend a dollar reaching them.
Most agencies start with your org chart. We start with the resident, because most public communication fails in the gap between how a service is organized and how someone actually looks for it.
How they search
Residents search the task, not the department. They type "renew my business license" or "when is recycling pickup," not the name of your division, and they don't know or care which office owns it. A site built around your org chart sends them to the wrong page, and they leave. We build around the task instead.
How they compare
There's no competitor to lose them to, only the alternative of giving up. Residents weigh your website versus calling, calling versus asking a neighbor, all of it versus doing nothing until it becomes a complaint. So the number that matters isn't clicks, it's how many people finished the task without ending up at a service counter.
How they decide
On engagement and consultation work, turnout comes down to three things: is the ask small, is the deadline clear, and does the person believe their answer matters. A long notice in institutional language fails all three. Ask one question, tell people what happens with their answer, and reach the people the decision actually affects.
This research over 10 years, across 500+ clients in Canada and the US. It's the part of the work a competitor can't copy from a template.
Four things public bodies hire us for, and why each one earns its place.
The services public sector clients actually need from us, and the reason each one made the list.
10 Years in Business$100M+ revenue generated500+ clients
B Corp Certified
Google Partner
- Channel Partner
- Claude Partner
Free 30 min
Your residents are searching either way. Let’s make sure they find the service.
Start with a call. We’ll walk through what we already know about how residents in your area look for your services, what we’d fix first, and what a fixed-scope plan for it looks like. Bring whoever approves the budget, if you can. It saves a second call.
Before the call, we'll have already looked at your current site and how residents likely search for your top services, so we're not starting from zero.
10 years · $100M+ revenue generated · 500+ clients
On the call, we’ll walk you through:
- What we found in a quick look at your current search visibility and accessibility
- Where residents are likely falling out between search and a completed task
- What a fixed-scope plan for your organization would include, and roughly what it would take to run it
Bring whoever approves the budget, if you can. It saves a second call.
Not ready for a call?Send us your questions, RFP or procurement requirements. We’ll get back to you with clear answers, a proposed scope and the references and accessibility details you need to share with your team.We do not share or sell your information.
Trusted by governments and 500+ businesses
10 years · $100M+ revenue generated · 500+ clients
In their words · Reviews ★★★★★
They say it better than we can
From political campaigns to nationwide rebrands and massive product launches: an in-house team that moves fast and delivers, across North America and worldwide.
“If I have a client who needs something up in three weeks, you guys will just do it… I never hear no, or ‘it can’t be done’.”
Theodora Jean
Founder & CEO, Coldwater Communications
“Everything that Setsail has designed for us, we try to incorporate that now in all of our presentations, including investor materials.”
Dorthy Cheng
Executive Assistant, CleanDesign
“You made yourselves part of Charlo. You made yourselves part of my story.”
Lia Psomiadis
Founder, Charlo
“We changed our direction of our business and Setsail has been matching that pace each and every time that we made that adjustment.”
Blake Voyer
Microworks Handyman
“I’ll immediately hear from somebody… It’s just handled. It’s just white glove considerate handled without a white glove price tag.”
Melanie Clarance
Co-Founder, AetherEV
“Creating a real strategy with KPIs that aren’t out of touch… this isn’t a pie in the sky story, this is an actionable work plan.”
Lucas Ens
Economic Development Officer, City of Prince George
“We’ve been working with Setsail for 7 years for all our marketing materials, website design, product design, videos, photos. They’ve been great. Responsive, responsible, great materials.”
Larry Knurik
VP Logistics, GVA Brands
“It’s been really easy, smooth, and it’s been a great time, and I’d recommend it to anyone.”
Antonio Zivanovic
Founder, ElektraFi
“Tom and Jason are a thrill to work with… The direction and strategy that they bring to the table is top notch.”
Gordon Lai
Surface 604
“If you’re looking for a marketing team that really gets it and delivers outstanding results, Setsail Marketing is the way to go.”
Sam Atakhanov
Founder, DŌST Bikes
One person can't handle photography, accessibility compliance, brand systems and public engagement copy at once. So you get a specialist for each part.
Your account isn't one generalist juggling everything. It's a small in-house team, each person doing the part they're actually best at.
Strategist
Builds the resident research and the 90-day plan before any delivery work starts, and defends the numbers if your committee asks.
Accessibility-focused web developer
Builds and tests every page to WCAG 2.1 AA before it ships, not after a complaint.
Video and photography producer
Runs the shoot from location scouting to final cut, so you get a usable content library instead of a folder of leftovers.
Account lead
Owns the reporting and the relationship, and puts the misses in the report right next to the wins.
Same four people on every report, every meeting, every year of the contract.
Communication and reporting that make marketing the easiest thing on your desk.
From “is this even working?” to watching it work: live portal, monthly report, scheduled calls, or a quick message when something’s on your mind. However you like to work, we’ll match it. Inside the portal: your live dashboard and anything that needs your approval.
01
Day one: you know where you stand
We record your starting numbers before we touch anything, so every win after that is one you can see.
02
Every week: you see it moving
Progress shows up in your portal as it happens, so you never wait for a report to know.
03
Every month: you know what your money bought
What we expected next to what happened, in a report you can read in five minutes.
04
Every cycle: steered
Every 90 days the plan re-forms around what’s working, so your budget keeps flowing to the work that pays.
Plans designed to reach your goals, at a pace that matches your ambition
Every plan is priced and scoped before you ever call us. See how they break down on our pricing page.
Every plan starts the same way: a Growth Strategy call. 30 minutes, free. You’ll know whether we’re a fit and what we’d look at first.
Government marketing is a hundred small jobs. Here's every one we do.
Research and strategy
- Resident search behavior research
- 90-day plan with named milestones
- Public engagement and consultation strategy
- Growth Strategy deliverable, fixed scope and price
Websites and accessibility
- WCAG 2.1 AA accessible builds
- Task-based information architecture
- Accessibility testing before launch
- Ongoing accessibility maintenance
Video and photography
- On-location and studio shoots
- Drone photography and video
- Behavior-change and public safety campaigns
- Content library builds
Brand and design
- Brand strategy and identity systems
- Design systems your staff can maintain
- Environmental signage and print collateral
- Investment and economic‑development decks
Search and paid visibility
- SEO for the tasks residents actually search
- Public information PPC campaigns
- Social content and community management
- Email for service updates and notices
Reporting and accountability
- Live dashboards, showing projected numbers next to actual results
- Monthly reporting a council can read
- Misses reported alongside wins
- Reference-ready documentation of scope and results
What’s included depends on the plan you pick.
If you catch yourself nodding at one of these, book the call
The State of Colorado careers site we built, on a MacBook Pro on a wooden deskState of Colorado- ✓ You have to justify this spend to a council, a board or an audit, not just a boss.
- ✓ Residents can't find the service you already built, and support calls are your SEO.
- ✓ Your last notice went out and turnout was still terrible.
- ✓ Accessibility isn't optional for you. It's the law, and you know it.
- ✓ You need a scope and a price you can put in a report before the contract closes.
- ✓ Marketing keeps landing on whoever has time, not whoever has the skill.
If two or more of these sound like your Monday, we've probably already solved it for someone in your position.
Questions from public sector leaders
Setsail Marketing
Vancouver, BC + Beaverton, OR
- Clients across Canada and the US
- 500+
- Revenue generated for clients
- $100M+
