legitmarketinggroup.com · Next.js redesign · October 2026

Six directions for Legit Marketing Group

Six homepage concepts. Each one is a different bet on what the site should lead with. All of them use LMG's real team, photos, services and numbers. Anything LMG still has to supply is shown in [brackets]. Each concept has a Design notes button (bottom right) that explains the strategy and the Next.js build.

The business

Our read of LMG

LMG is a founder-led agency and consultancy in Lexington, Kentucky. On paper it sells everything: media buying, digital, creative, analytics and consulting. Underneath, the evidence points to something more specific and more valuable. They run broadcast and digital media for multi-location and multi-brand businesses, home service companies above all, across 56 markets in 34 states. They make the TV and video creative in house. And they tie every channel back to calls, booked jobs and revenue in the client's CRM.

Their own analysis work is unusually rigorous for an agency. One unpublished report compares dozens of brands year over year, with significance tests, to judge whether another agency was earning its fee. Holding vendors accountable is something they actually do, not a line on a services page.

The name is the promise. Sarah Fisher started her first agency to protect businesses from being taken advantage of. "If it's worth marketing, make it legit" is a strong line for a company that can prove its numbers. The current site never shows that proof.

Strengths to put up front

  • Accountability you can audit. Revenue-level attribution, vendor scorecards, real statistics.
  • The full stack in one building. Consulting, TV-to-search media buying, in-house creative, analytics.
  • Senior people with names and faces. A founder-led team with 65+ years of combined experience.
  • Deep home services expertise, including multi-brand platforms, plus auto, financial, hospitality and retail.
  • National reach from Kentucky: 56 markets in 34 states.
  • A timely AI stance: experienced people lead, AI speeds the work up.
  • A name and tagline that do half the marketing on their own.

What the current site gets wrong

  • No proof. "Success Stories" is lorem ipsum. There are no case studies, testimonials, logos or work samples.
  • Generic, recycled copy. The same paragraph appears under different industries.
  • Old, inconsistent numbers. "60 years" on one page, "65+" on another. The headline result is from 2020.
  • The best material is hidden. The creative, the analysis, the AI article and the real team photos sit on drafts. The hero is a stock football photo.
  • One way in. A "Let's connect" button and an email address. No offer, no phone, no clear next step.
  • No stated audience. "From startups to large corporations," and the industry list changes from page to page.
  • Hygiene. Test pages in the sitemap and a recently compromised WordPress install.

The brief

What every concept has to do

Prove itCase studies with real numbers, a method a CFO would trust, and labeled samples until the real data arrives.
Say who it's forMulti-location and multi-brand operators, with home services first.
Show the peopleSix named, senior people and real photos instead of stock.
One clear next stepA discovery call or an audit offer, with email and a form on every page.
Clean and secureA static-first Next.js build with no drafts in public view and client reporting behind a login.

The concepts

Six directions

Hero of the The Legit Standard concept

CONCEPT 1

The Legit Standard

Trust and the founder's ethic. Bodoni masthead tagline, a signed four-point code of conduct with a brass seal, and Sarah's origin story.

Best for
Owners and CEOs choosing a long-term partner.
Trade-off
Keeps the existing wordmark's look, so it's the safest evolution. Quieter on proof than the others.
Open concept →
Hero of the Proof Engine concept

CONCEPT 2

Proof Engine

Accountability as the product. A working attribution ledger, a sample vendor scorecard with p-values, and a free Vendor Accountability Audit.

Best for
CMOs and operating partners at multi-brand platforms.
Trade-off
The sharpest match to what LMG actually does best. Relies more than any other on real case-study numbers.
Open concept →
Hero of the Peak Season concept

CONCEPT 3

Peak Season

Home services first. An interactive demand calendar for heating and cooling seasons, booked-job KPIs, and other industries in a switcher.

Best for
HVAC, plumbing and electrical operators and platforms.
Trade-off
The most focused bet. It narrows the audience on purpose, which may not suit auto or finance prospects.
Open concept →
Hero of the On Air concept

CONCEPT 4

On Air

Creative and media under one roof. A playable four-screen hero, a broadcast rundown sheet, a reel grid and the two creative directors.

Best for
Brand leads who need standout TV and video plus efficient buys.
Trade-off
Most dramatic and memorable. Without a real showreel it falls flat, so it needs work samples first.
Open concept →
Hero of the Human-Led concept

CONCEPT 5

Human-Led

Experience leads, AI accelerates. A working blue-pencil demo correcting an AI draft, the four non-negotiables, and all six faces up front.

Best for
Owners wary of AI-generated work and faceless agencies.
Trade-off
The warmest and most timely. The AI angle may date faster than the accountability angle.
Open concept →
Hero of the Make It Legit concept

CONCEPT 6

Make It Legit

Brand-forward poster. The tagline at full width and a 60-second Legit Check quiz that scores your marketing and stamps the result.

Best for
Owner-operators and marketing managers across industries.
Trade-off
The best lead magnet and the most personality. Bright blue fields may read loud to banks and dealer groups.
Open concept →

Side by side

How they compare

ConceptLeads withBest forPersonalityLMG must supplyBuild effort
The Legit StandardFounder ethic, code of conductOwners, CEOsHeritage, restrainedSarah's sign-off on the letter; 1 case studyLow
Proof EngineAttribution and vendor auditsMulti-brand CMOs, PEPrecise, analytical3 case studies with numbers; audit termsHigh (ledger, scorecard)
Peak SeasonHome services seasonsHVAC / plumbing / electricalPractical, boldKPI figures; home services case studyMedium (calendar)
On AirCreative + media togetherBrand and marketing leadsCinematicShowreel and spots with permissionMedium-high (device cluster)
Human-LedHuman-led AIAI-wary ownersWarm, editorialTeam bios; article sourcesMedium (blue-pencil demo)
Make It LegitTagline + Legit Check quizOwner-operators, broadLoud, confidentQuiz sign-off; 1 case studyMedium (quiz + stamp)

Recommendation

Lead with Proof Engine's message, wear The Legit Standard's clothes

The strongest site says what LMG is uniquely good at: proving where the money went. That is Proof Engine's headline, ledger and vendor audit offer. Its dark instrument-panel styling is the riskiest part, though. The heritage serif look of The Legit Standard keeps the brand equity in the existing wordmark and reads as trustworthy to owners and CFOs.

So the hybrid: Legit Standard typography and palette, Proof Engine's hero message, attribution ledger and audit offer, Peak Season's demand calendar on the Home Services page, the Legit Check from Make It Legit as the lead magnet, and the blue-pencil demo on an AI page. On Air works well as a future Work page once LMG has a reel.

Whatever direction wins, the deciding factor is the same: three real case studies. Every concept has slots for them, and none of them works as well without them.

Content

What LMG needs to gather before launch

Proof

  • Three case studies with real before/after numbers (calls, booked jobs, revenue, cost per booked job) and the client's permission to publish, even anonymized.
  • Two or three testimonial quotes with name, title and company.
  • Permission to show client logos and creative (TV spots, CTV, display, social).
  • A current headline result to replace the 2020 figure.

Basics

  • A phone number and a street address (Lexington), or a deliberate decision not to publish them.
  • Short bios for the six team members.
  • A 60-second showreel if On Air is the pick.
  • A decision on the AI article's acronym (see below) and sources for its statistics.

Fix on the live site now

Problems on the current site that can't wait for the redesign

Build

Next.js notes that apply to every concept

Structure

  • App Router with static rendering for every marketing page. Design tokens in CSS variables, shared by every component in both themes.
  • Case studies, industries, team and insights as MDX content collections (or a headless CMS if LMG wants to edit them without a developer).
  • Interactive pieces (ledger, calendar, Legit Check, blue-pencil demo, device cluster) as small client components. Everything else stays server-rendered.
  • A gated /portal for client reporting, so dashboards never live on public URLs again.

Migration

  • 301 redirects from /marketing/, /consulting/, /meet-the-team/, /about-us/ and /contact-us/ to their new homes.
  • Carry the spam cleanup forward: middleware that returns 410 for /product, /products, /tmp/405, /temp and any ?ctgItemCd= query, matching today's .htaccess.
  • Contact form through a server action and Amazon SES, which is already verified for the domain with DKIM and a custom MAIL FROM.
  • Organization and LocalBusiness schema, per-page Open Graph images, a fresh sitemap with no drafts, and a Search Console resubmit.