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Jake Kurtz
Company
Brick Media
Location
Tampa, Florida, United States
Bio
After a career in corporate marketing, I decided to carve my own path. I am currently the CEO of Brick Media, which I founded in 2018. We are an award-winning social media agency that helps brands reach new heights on today’s biggest platforms. We are based in Tampa, FL and help clients everywhere. We've been awarded Tampa Magazine's "Best of the City" every year since 2022, and we've been finalists several times for Tampa Bay Chamber's Small Business of the Year. In 2025, we won Medium Sized Business of the Year at the South Tampa Chamber. I also personally was named Young Professional of the Year. Business truly feels like a fun hobby for me, and it's a blessing I never take for granted. All of that is great, and I love business - but the most important thing is that I am a follower of Christ and my faith is the foundation of my life. I'm also happily married to my wife Kelly. Finally, I'm a dog dad... and one of the most passionate Pittsburgh Steelers fans you'll ever meet. Happy to be connected! Message me if you ever want to chat.
After a career in corporate marketing,...
description
Brick Media is a social media agency built for today's consumer. We help brands get in front of their audiences using relevant, consumer-centric strategies. We offer social media management services as well as media planning and buying.
Brick Media is a social media...
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Actionable Takeaways
Focus on Established Businesses with Existing Momentum:
Brick Media deliberately targets companies that already have revenue, market trust, and proven offerings. Jake frames this as "you can't pour gasoline on something that doesn't already have a flame." This philosophy allows them to focus on amplification rather than validation, setting realistic expectations that social media builds trust "brick by brick" over 6-12 months rather than promising viral growth in 90 days.
Map Platform Selection to Attention Supply and Demand:
Rather than having platform preferences, Jake analyzes where his target audience is paying attention and where competition for that attention is lowest. He identified LinkedIn as having favorable dynamics for B2B content because most users still view it as a job board rather than a content platform, creating an opportunity gap. He studies platforms "from a business standpoint" looking at the supply-demand equation of eyeballs, not personal preference.
Prioritize Crystal Clarity Over Content Volume:
The strategy has evolved significantly since 2020-2021. Early advice focused on maximizing content volume with less concern for polish. Today's saturated landscape requires brands to be "completely crystal clear" about their identity and value proposition. Jake emphasizes visualizing one specific person when creating content—understanding their situation, mindset, and needs—rather than broadcasting generic messages that get scrolled past.
Engineer Hooks That Earn Attention, Then Deliver Trust:
Jake breaks down the modern content formula: "Attention is earned in the first two seconds, but trust is earned in the 30 seconds after that." Early TikTok success came from clever hooks alone, but today's audiences demand both a scroll-stopping opening AND substantive content that follows through. This requires both strategic thinking (the hook) and quality execution (the full video).
Treat Social Media as Long-Term Brand Building, Not Quick Wins:
Brick Media positions social media as a patience game that delivers compounding returns. Initial months feel frustrating because effort doesn't yield immediate results, but once brand traction hits, inbound business flows naturally without heavy sales efforts. This long-term perspective works best with established businesses that can afford to invest properly rather than startups desperate for immediate results.
Use AI to Supercharge Existing Expertise, Not Replace It:
Jake's philosophy on AI is pragmatic: "A bad marketer that uses AI is still a bad marketer." His team uses AI daily for efficiency and as a brainstorming partner that speeds up thinking, but the tool requires proper judgment, prompting, and ideas to be effective. He compares the AI revolution to the internet revolution, urging marketers to "ride the wave, not get hit by the wave" by studying and adopting rather than dismissing.
Conversation Highlights
In this episode of The Future of Consumer Marketing: Masterclass Edition, host Andres Figueira interviews Jake Kurtz, CEO and Founder of Brick Media Group. Brick Media has evolved from a general digital marketing agency into a specialized social media powerhouse that helps established brands modernize their online presence through comprehensive social media management. Starting as a side hustle in 2018, Jake built Brick Media by recognizing a critical shift in the marketing landscape: the emergence of short-form video and the algorithmic revolution sparked by TikTok. By 2020, he made the bold decision to cut all services except social media, positioning Brick Media as Tampa Bay’s go-to social media agency. Today, the company operates with 21 full-time W2 employees, managing everything from strategy to content creation to analytics for established businesses that need to add “gasoline to an existing flame” rather than starting from scratch.
Topics Discussed:
- Pivoting from full-service digital marketing to social media specialization
- The algorithmic shift caused by TikTok and short-form video dominance
- Building a 21-person in-house team without outsourcing
- Analyzing supply and demand dynamics of attention across platforms
- The evolution from volume-based to clarity-focused content strategies
- Strategic platform selection based on audience attention patterns
- Leveraging AI for efficiency without replacing human judgment
