Founder and Lead Marketing Strategist at Plaski Advertising
Emily McKnight is the founder and lead marketing strategist behind Plaski Advertising, a boutique, full-service marketing agency based in Central Indiana. She helps small businesses bridge the gap between their companies and the constantly changing world of digital media through thoughtful strategy, approachable guidance, and marketing built around measurable goals.
With experience spanning agency leadership, website development, search engine optimization, paid advertising, graphic design, content production, photography, and video, Emily brings both creative and analytical thinking to every client relationship. She is especially passionate about helping businesses in construction, home services, and other lead-driven industries determine where to begin, what to prioritize, and how to make their marketing budgets work harder.
Her goal is to make professional marketing feel less overwhelming and more purposeful.
Where Creativity Met Strategy
Emily’s interest in digital media began at a young age. At 11 years old, she started teaching herself Adobe Photoshop CS3 and experimenting with photo manipulation, graphic design, and photography. What began as childhood curiosity developed into a lasting interest in visual communication and the creative possibilities of digital media.
Emily went on to attend Asbury University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in communication with an emphasis in multimedia and a minor in graphic design. During college, she also interned with LEX 18 News, gaining experience in professional media production and communication.
That combination of creative curiosity, formal education, and practical experience helped shape the way she approaches marketing today: strong creative work may capture someone’s attention, but strategy determines what happens next.
Building a Career in Marketing
Before founding Plaski Advertising, Emily worked as a digital design specialist, assistant creative director, and eventually creative director at an Indiana marketing agency. Through these roles, she gained experience leading creative projects, developing marketing strategies, managing client relationships, and translating business goals into cohesive campaigns across digital and traditional platforms.
Emily also spent six years supporting a national nonprofit organization, where her work included managing social media for a nationally recognized public figure. During a period of significant public attention, she helped guide an Instagram account through rapid growth from approximately 200 followers to more than 1.2 million in three months. Managing that growth required timely content, an understanding of audience behavior, and the ability to turn increased visibility into sustained engagement.
Today, she brings that experience together at Plaski, combining creative work, data, and strategy to help businesses build stronger and more effective brands.
Building Plaski Advertising
The idea for Plaski Advertising began taking shape in 2020. Emily officially opened the agency in 2023, making it her full-time career from the beginning.
Plaski was created to offer business owners a more personal and practical alternative to the traditional agency model. Emily had seen how frustrating it could be for clients to submit support tickets, wait days for answers, or repeatedly explain their business to someone new. She wanted to build something more responsive, informed, and transparent.
Since opening in 2023, Plaski Advertising has worked with more than 50 businesses and two municipalities, with many of the agency’s earliest clients continuing to work with Plaski today. In 2025 alone, Plaski designed and launched 25 websites for businesses and organizations across a range of industries.
The work has also created meaningful relationships within the communities Plaski serves. In 2026, the Trafalgar Town Manager recognized Emily’s contributions to the town with a commemorative brick engraved, “Your efforts built our foundation.”
For Emily, that growth has never been about making Plaski a large agency. It has been about building long-term relationships and creating work that serves a real purpose.
Strategy That Fits the Business
Emily does not believe every company needs every available marketing service. Instead, she begins by understanding how the business operates, what its owners want to accomplish, what success realistically looks like, and what resources are available.
From there, she helps determine which efforts should come first and which can be added as the company grows. Depending on the business, that may include grassroots marketing, website development, local SEO, Google Ads, Meta advertising, social media, photography, video, email marketing, or content strategy.
Analytics and reporting remain central to that process. Plaski clients receive access to a custom-built live reporting dashboard so they can see what is happening within their accounts. When something is not producing the expected results, Emily communicates what she is seeing and adjusts the strategy accordingly.
Clients also retain complete ownership of the websites and domain names Plaski develops for them. Emily believes businesses should own the digital assets they have paid to build.
Personally Involved From Start to Finish
Emily remains closely involved in every Plaski account. Client work is either completed by her personally or reviewed by her before it is presented.
That involvement allows her to stay familiar with each company’s goals, strategy, and work in progress. It also means clients have someone who can explain not only what is being recommended, but why.
Whether she is discussing the difference between SEO and paid advertising, setting expectations for a new campaign, or helping a business prioritize a limited budget, Emily wants clients to have enough information to feel confident about the decisions being made with their time and money.
Work That Makes an Impact
Some of Emily’s favorite projects are those that allow Plaski to help shape a business or organization from the ground up.
One example is TAK Floor Coatings. Emily provided creative direction during the development of the company’s new brand, collaborating closely with Jeremy Kidwell of Pop Print, who developed the visual identity. From there, Plaski carried the brand into the company’s broader digital presence, building the website and developing its social media, SEO, content, and ongoing marketing strategy to create a cohesive foundation for how TAK presents itself, communicates its services, and reaches potential customers.
Another is the Town of Trafalgar’s official seal. Emily’s original concept began as a hand-drawn sketch during a flight home and evolved through collaboration with the Town Manager and Jeremy Kidwell of Pop Print, who brought the final artwork to life. Today, the seal serves as a lasting part of the town’s visual identity.
These projects reflect the kind of work Emily enjoys most: understanding what matters to an organization, giving its ideas direction, and creating something that continues to provide value after the initial project is complete.
Small by Design
Plaski Advertising is intentionally structured as a boutique agency, giving businesses access to experienced marketing support without the overhead or layers of account management common within larger agencies.
Remaining intentionally small allows Emily to stay personally invested in client relationships, maintain familiarity with the work, and preserve the responsive service Plaski was built around.
For businesses that need strategic marketing support but are not ready to hire a full-time internal marketing professional, Plaski is designed to fill that gap.
Beyond Plaski
Outside of work, Emily is a proud firefighter’s wife, bonus mom, dog mom, and someone who values time with family. She is also an enthusiastic lifelong learner who is rarely satisfied with simply knowing how something has always been done.
That curiosity continues to shape Plaski. Marketing platforms, technology, and customer behavior are always evolving, and Emily believes her clients deserve a partner willing to keep learning alongside them.
Looking for a More Personal Marketing Partnership?
Emily works best with small businesses that rely on lead generation and want clear, strategic direction without the complexity of a traditional agency relationship.
If your business needs help determining where to begin, what to prioritize, or how to turn disconnected marketing efforts into a cohesive strategy, Plaski Advertising would be glad to start the conversation
“Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought."
– Albert Einstein