Beacon Digital Marketing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Vice President, Marketing of RiskLens / The FAIR Institute

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Help cybersecurity teams make better decisions through cyber risk quantification, which measures cyber risk in financial terms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Beacon Digital Marketing to accomplish?

• Manage and Measure our Digital Marketing Programs
• Continually create content assets for use across the marketing mix
• Design and engineer major updates to the company website

SOLUTION

How did you find Beacon Digital Marketing?

Inherited from Previous CMO

Why did you select Beacon Digital Marketing over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Beacon Digital Marketing were assigned to this project?

At least 20 individuals over time

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

During my time managing marketing for RiskLens and the FAIR Institute, Beacon Digital served as the sole digital marketing agency, considered an extension of the marketing team, and responsible for more than half of the content creation, analytics and promotional strategy. The near-constant flow of projects (too many to list) ranged from promotional strategy consulting sessions to graphical layout of marketing reports and assets to major updates to the website, and much more.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Beacon's efforts were tightly woven into the marketing strategy and operations for RiskLens and the FAIR Institute, to the effect that an outcome Beacon (a new lead, new member, etc.) was equal to an outcome for the marketing team. 

Over a 2-year span: 

• Thousands of qualified leads 
• $10+ million in pipeline 
• Multiple tens of thousands of content downloads 
• Millions of views and opportunities to view

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We were assigned a few different account managers throughout my time working with Beacon. My account manager was highly proficient, highly communicative (through multiple means) and highly organized, meaning my projects (again, in the hundreds) were either on time (usually my fault) or else communicated immediately with proactive updates out of our regular meeting cycle (1-2 times a week, minimum). 

Throughout my partnership with Beacon,my account director would proactively and regularly reach out to ask about my experience and thank me for being a customer. I also had the pleasure of meeting Whitney and some of her leadership in person, which was a great opportunity to further align our relationship.

What was your primary form of communication with Beacon Digital Marketing?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Professionalism, talent and enthusiasm for our company's success are at the top of my list of things Beacon brought to the table during our time working together. I never saw a weak link in any project team, never had more than a couple of rounds of edits, never had a moment's doubt that Beacon could (and would) come through, even with the most ambitious of requirements.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Beacon Digital Marketing could have done differently?

I don't have any feedback about how things could have been done differently. I was truly grateful for my time working with Beacon Digital, and I would make sacrifices to be able to work with the team again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CRO of Cyderes, a cybersecurity company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Beacon Digital Marketing?

We hired Beacon Digital Marketing for marketing consulting and website development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our engagement began with a website redesign, and Beacon Digital Marketing conducted a discovery phase. During this phase, we worked together to determine our aspirations and core values. We then looked through our competitor's sites and our position in the market. Beacon Digital Marketing analyzed our website to determine what we were missing and how to communicate our message and services.

The website was built from scratch, and the team used HubSpot on the backend. The site acted as an opportunity to showcase our services and differentiate ourselves from competitors. Beacon Digital Marketing also assisted us with articulating the technology we specialized in for potential clients. 

The team provided consulting regarding the type of content we should be putting on our website. They helped us with campaigns and used our social media and website to open engagement avenues for clients to find us. The team also provided video production services and created an introductory video for our company. 

Beacon Digital Marketing completed event-based marketing and created video content from those events, including customer testimonials. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with around six people, including Whitney (CEO & Founder) and Chris (Account Director). They were both fantastic to work with and were incredibly engaged with the project. We also worked with Ashley (Agency Producer), Lily (Senior Director of Production), and Nicole (Director, Content). 

How did you come to work with Beacon Digital Marketing?

Beacon Digital Marketing was a referral. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $200,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2023; I recently left the company but worked with Beacon Digital Marketing for about five months. I believe my previous company is still engaged with Beacon Digital Marketing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Everything they created for us was unique and bespoke. They learned about our company and took the time to understand our business during the discovery process to better serve our needs. Overall, the quality of work was extremely high. 

How did Beacon Digital Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They always pushed us to keep us on track and consistently delivered on time. We used Asana, Trello, and Google Docs, and we used shared project management sites that were updated daily so we always knew what was happening. They were transparent about challenges and guided us effectively. We communicated via Google Meet and phone calls. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I want to shout out Chris because he led the whole project. He made a point of showing up to everything and did a tremendous job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We thought it was unique that we got to work with the CEO of Beacon Digital Marketing consistently. All the content they created was tailored to our company. They specialize in the cyber industry, and no one else has the content knowledge they do. Beacon Digital Marketing was organized in their approach and had a wonderful process overall. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can come up with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Open up and listen to Beacon Digital Marketing because they have a high level of expertise and know the market inside and out. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am VP Marketing at Cysiv, a Dallas-headquartered cybersecurity company that provides 24/7 cyber threat detection and response, delivered as a cloud service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Beacon Digital Marketing?

As an early-stage company we were looking to implement an integrated tech stack that would then provide the foundation for all of our digital marketing and sales activities. We hired Beacon to implement Hubspot (CMS, CRM and Marketing modules), build a new website (with new photography, graphics etc.), implement email marketing, paid advertising and Account Based Marketing campaigns, and create content (video, blogs).

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted a single, integrated solution and I wanted a team of digital marketing experts that could operate as a seamless extension to me.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I researched Hubspot partners and created a short-list of three based on services offered, expertise, location and team. From there, I sent them each a detailed description of what I was looking for, and what we already had in place (the context). After speaking with each of them to review things, and learn about them further, I then asked for a proposal outlining their approach.

Two of them responded and they each walked me through their proposals in detail, explaining their approach and answering any questions. I maintained a back/forth dialogue via email with them as well, and part of this was to assess their responsiveness. Ultimately, I made a decision based on three things:

1. Hubspot certification: confidence in their knowledge and expertise. Ability to fully leverage the platform.

2. Team: Leadership (capacity for handling strategy AND execution); Breadth of expertise (Creative, Copywriting, Web, Email Marketing, Social Media)

3. Responsiveness & Service: A company that got to know me. Not a templated response. Personalized. Thoughtful. Cared about our business. And they wanted our business.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Implement Hubspot (CMS, CRM and Marketing modules) and train Cysiv team. Enhance our brand (new photography and design treatments, brand voice) Build a new website Implement campaigns: email marketing, paid advertising and Account Based Marketing campaigns, Create content (video, blogs, infographics...) Reporting/dashboards, and quarterly business reviews

What was the team composition?

I've worked with an extensive set of team members: daily, I work with our assigned project manager, but as necessary (and frequently), I'm working directly with their CEO/founder (strategy through ABM, details), as well as experts in design, video, SEO, email, web etc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We've achieved everything I'd set out to accomplish, and continue to work towards evolving and elevating the quality and quantity of our marketing. Most importantly, they give me stress-free confidence: being the lone marketer in a rapidly growing startup with high expectations has its stresses. But my working relationship with Beacon is frictionless, and gives me absolute confidence that the path we’re on, and the work we’re doing, will deliver the results we need to grow our business.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Phenomenal. Their project manager is other-worldly in her responsiveness, and attention to detail. We have a weekly call setup for general marketing activities and one for the website refresh project. After each call, I receive a detailed email with all the action items (which is usually pretty extensive). Tracking and managing these activities, budget/expenditures in Google sheets, has been smooth. And she's always accessible via email/Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Results: I'm getting what I’d expected and hoped for. Coordination: Beacon is a well-oiled machine. Everything I do goes through our project manager. She’s a digital marketer, that’s part conductor, part traffic cop, and part advocate. Thoroughness and Timeliness: Nothing falls through the cracks, and it's always on time. Flexibility: I've worked with a lot of agencies, and many try to force you into their approach or creative vision. Beacon is collaborative, and flexible when I’ve pushed back or provided input to nudge things in a different direction.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of an accounting platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Beacon Digital Marketing?

We needed a full-service ad agency to fill the needs of three separate agencies we worked with in the past.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handle all of our digital marketing. The team does SEO, blogs, and Google Ads. They’ve added amount more ads to help us keep more competitive in the market place and have more angles. SEO-wise, they assessed our strategy and started posting multiple times a week. The team also implemented top funnel, middle funnel, bottom-funnel ads. They’ve written a lot of thought leadership articles as well.  

What is the team composition?

Jordan (Sr. Project Manager) is my main point of contact. I also work with Whitney (CEO & Founder), as well as Nicole (Content Marketing Manager), John (Sr. Manager of SEO & Paid Search), and a graphic designer.

How did you come to work with Beacon Digital Marketing?

I wanted to hire them at my previous job since our agency at the time wasn’t very creative. They never tried to tell our story differently. Beacon was completely different, and the team definitely goes after it.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We spend the same as we did when we had three agencies, but we doubled our clicks with 30%–40% fewer impressions. We also have 75% more click-throughs, and we’re generating more leads. SEO-wise, we’ve grown our followers from less than 800 to almost 1,000.

How did Beacon Digital Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Jordan is an excellent project manager, and she never leaves us hanging. It’s great because she’s not just a project manager, she’s done a lot of the roles, so she can answer a lot of our questions without having to go to other teams. Overall, they’re really great to work with. We do content plans once a month, go over metrics once a month, have weekly standups, and email back and forth every day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really great at collaboration. It feels like they’ve got skin in the game and they’re not just there to take our dollars. If they quote you hours to get a project done, they stick to them. If it costs them more hours, for whatever reason, that’s not a problem. They’re true to their word.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re pretty solid on all avenues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be forthcoming and honest with them. As long as you are, they’ll return the favor.