Disruptive Advertising

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Manager for an events company that puts on fun runs across the country. We are in sixty-plus markets a year. I help in driving revenue through B2B and B2C by maximizing our reach in each market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising?

We started as a small brand that didn't have much knowledge of digital advertising. We turned to Disruptive to help us build out a strategy for Google Ads and conversion optimization.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase the number of people registered for our races. We also wanted to create a marketing strategy that made sense for our brand of fun runs.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We looked at different companies that offered to manage digital advertising. We went with Disruptive Advertising because of their commitment to making data-driven decisions and their openness with us.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They have managed our paid search ads on Google Ads and Bing. They also provide us with reports as needed. They have helped us manage millions of impressions over the years.

What was the team composition?

We have worked a number of different people as Disruptive Advertising has grown through the years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have helped us to grow multiple races into national brands that have had hundreds of thousands of participants. They are always helping us to reduce the cost per result we want.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have had weekly phone calls with the person managing our account. We also have consistent emails back and forth.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How much they care about our successes. They are great people that are easy to get along with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

When things get busy it can feel like they don't look at your account as much. But that is something that happens towards the end of the year when the advertising industry is going crazy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a digital marketing analyst at the Golden Nugget Casino & Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We hired Disruptive Advertising to help us stay competitive in a crowded hospitality and tourism region. We felt that we needed to expand our digital advertising to stay ahead of other casinos and hotels.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We rely on Disruptive Advertising to manage our PPC campaigns through Google Ads. Our account manager maintains that account in accordance with what we want to spend per day, per month, and per contract year. All the while, he makes sure Google and its algorithms accept the content we put out there. We hope that these efforts foster high-quality ads on the first page of Google’s search results.

The relationship with Disruptive Advertising began before I started in my role. From my understanding, we didn’t have a dedicated internal role for these services, so the production, preparation, and marketing of digital ads were always out of our hands. With that in mind, I would assume that Disruptive Advertising was hired and tasked with simply getting us on the market, and then we’d grow from there.   

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three representatives so far. The first two left the company, and the third one has been with us since November 2018.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

I’m not sure if other vendors were considered or not. Disruptive Advertising had a longstanding relationship with one of our sister properties, which has a director of digital marketing that had worked closely with them. I imagine we selected Disruptive Advertising based on that recommendation and their company’s expertise in the hospitality and tourism sector.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost so far, including our Google spend and Disruptive Advertising’s fee, has been around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Disruptive Advertising around October 2015, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We run a few Google Ads campaigns because we want to make sure we track a multitude of topics that other properties may not be looking out for. When I first started in 2018, we weren’t putting a lot of money into what I would call a “competitor campaign." We describe that as a set of keywords and search terms intended to mooch business from competing properties in the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As I started getting a better understanding of how our digital placement was functioning, we were able to put some more money behind the competitor campaign. That campaign helped us be a bit more visible when people happen to be searching for one of our competitors. We hope that they would instead click on one of our ads and ultimately decide to book a hotel room with us instead of our competition.

We’ve seen some good results with that strategy, but our most significant result has come recently. For the longest time, we were running a campaign called “Enhanced Cost Per Click,” or ECPC. That method allowed our rep to monitor our account and manually adjust bids to make sure we were getting in front of as many people as possible at profitable times.

So far this year, we have increased hotel bookings and conversions by 1,000% month-over-month, and we’re not even done with July. Disruptive Advertising’s recommendations have gotten us more quality impressions, which means a higher level of clicks, which then translates into a better reputation with Google. We are appearing higher on search pages and spending less money to get there.  

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

Our first account manager was everything we could have asked for in terms of being professional, responsive, and proactive. Our second rep was not nearly as ambitious, however. We’ve found our stride again with our current representative, who coincidentally trained our original manager. He works nonstop in the same ways as his mentee, so we’ve been very successful since he took over. We have weekly calls, and our rep is always eager to hear our ideas and challenge us to try new strategies. We are knocking metrics out of the park based on his recommendations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our account manager has a knack for customer service at a level that is higher than most other industries. Our rep always makes it a point to keep us in the loop and apologize when we don’t hear from him for day or two.

 Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Our rep makes working together very easy. He gives us great updates and tells us what’s working or not working.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should let them drive the engagement. It’s a humbling experience to go into something thinking we know everything only to find out we don’t. I’m not the best as far as digital marketing and advertising go. I was able to learn a lot by letting Disruptive Advertising do their thing and utilize best practices.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a C.E.O running a LLC company which deals with the sales of telecom products throughout USA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising?

For the digital marketing where through call only adds we could generate sales of the relevant services nation wide.

What were your goals for this project?

To generate sales, maximize the revenue and achieve the set targets.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had been through a pretty good research where I listed down the agencies based on reviews and the nature of workflow. This one managed to make a place under the shortlisted three and finally after a thorough discussion based on the quality and commitment to work, I on-boarded.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After the onboarding process, we had a meeting where we dive in to a detailed conversation and explained the nature of project, I was crunching around. Moreover, I shared my thoughts on the objectives and the way I wanted to take this further keeping in view the quality and consistency required. I was acknowledged gingerly and they related to all my needs while presenting their solution. We had several meetings afterwards resulting in different experiments which turned out to have a positive effect on my business. However, some experiments resulted otherwise and were adjusted accordingly without any delays.

What was the team composition?

I am in contact with the marketing consultant and the manger. Beside that, there are any faces which I am un-aware of. However, they have been helping us in various aspects throughout.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had met the set targets for quite a couple of months and have experienced a reduced call cost accordingly.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They had been pretty responsive throughout. I never experienced any/all delays. They've acknowledged and addressed each and every one of my inquiries.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The commitment and dedication to work I would say is the most impressive quality.

Are there any areas for improvement?

So far, they have met my expectations. It has been a roller coaster for me but they have been there throughout for making everything smooth and streamlined with effective suggestions and creative ideas.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing director for three companies that Disruptive manages PPC for:

1. RaiseRite—our local Wisconsin concrete raising contractor
2. HMI—We manufacture concrete raising equipment, foam & train individuals around the world to start their own concrete raising company
3. Foamjection—We provide leads to our contractors around the US and Canada

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising?

Originally, just PPC, and then they introduced us to the benefits of site testing and conversion rate optimization (CRO). 

What were your goals for this project?

Our simple goal was to increase leads. We had no idea how much money we would save at the same time—literally thousands are being saved! Therefore, we used our cost savings to hire Disruptive to perform website testing

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them on google. Simple searching best PPC management. We had cold calls with two other companies and ultimately chose DA. DA made a great first impression, so I repitched the summary to our owners and they told me to test them for three months.

Describe the project in detail.

When we hired DA, we told them they would have a three-month test to prove their services to increase our decreasing leads per month. After just two months, we were convinced to give them another one of our accounts to manage. At five months, they were managing all three businesses' PPC campaigns for us.

What was the team composition?

We originally worked with Jeff Allan on our account updates but now we can reach out to our specific team leaders depending on if its Google tweaking or site testing. The team grew over time. I now have three main contacts: Jeff, Casey, and Jake. Casey manages our PPC and Jake manages our site testing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So many great highlights! We've cut our cost per lead by 50% and we're currently spending 70% less on PPC then we used to. Simply by having a set management fee. Our leads are up on all three accounts as well!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team has been seamless to work with. Emails throughout the week and regular phone calls every other week keep us organized

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Aside from the results, I really trust their knowledge and price for management of our accounts. Our old vendor was never open about how much the management fee was and how much was being spent in our Google account. We never saw budget back or rolling over.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We hope we see leads continue to increase as time goes on. We can never have too many leads. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We primarily focus on DoD government contracting, and a little on the civilian side. We recently invented a new technology to help our projects. I'm a co-owner of our company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We hired them as our principal digital marketing agency.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They do digital marketing on Google, Bing, and Facebook. Their work encompasses SEO, keyword optimization, AdWords, content marketing, and social media marketing. They've created a series of ad campaigns, all with specific funnels and targeting. Some of our ad campaigns focus on different things like video, education, et cetera.

What is the team composition?

I've worked with a team of about four so far. Two of them are specialists in Google and Bing, and the others are managers who jump in as needed.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

I found them on Google before they became Disruptive Advertising. I contacted between ten and fifteen companies, but I decided ultimately to use them.

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we've spent somewhere between $5,000–$7,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around the middle of May 2019, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not only are they awesome to work with, but they've also done some incredible things for us. We've seen 300% gains in revenue from ads, and we're averaging over six times the amount we spend on ads each month. Traffic to the site has almost doubled in the last month alone.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

They're on top of their game and do very well. They take our company very seriously, and they follow up consistently and in a friendly manner. They're a phenomenal company to work with.

We do a weekly brief to discuss how everything is doing. They give their recommendations, and we make requests. They're almost like having a whole marketing firm working for us at a remote location, and they're very easy to get ahold of.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We really strive to provide old-fashioned customer service, and they work exactly the same as we do. They truly care about their customers, and they do what they say they can do. They're also fairly inexpensive for the work they provide. We see a huge return on ad spend over what we pay them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I'd be interested to hear about other alternative ways to market. Other than that, I can't think of anything they should improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do what they ask of you, and make sure to give them the full picture when you start working with them. Describe your unique market to them, and that information will help them with their targeting. They take everything we give them and make it better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO of a company that makes a consumer exercise product for ears. Our products help people clear clogged ears when they can’t do it themselves.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

Because most of our business is generated through online advertising, we decided to reach out to a PPC service provider to help us optimize our campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Disruptive Advertising manages our online ad campaigns as well as implementing conversion tactics for our websites.

Our ultimate goal is to get people to buy our products, but we only sell to nationwide retailers. So, we need to make sure that site visitors use our “store locator” function to find our products. Their team continuously optimizes and A/B tests our main and internal pages, working to funnel as many people to that “store locator” function as possible.

Recently, Disruptive Advertising has created an entire site to support a new product launch in Australia. They’ve developed the content and designed the site to give people another avenue to view our products.

What is the team composition? 

We typically work with about two people: an account manager who deals with our PPC/Google Ads and a contact who runs our website and A/B tests changes to drive conversions. The second person is an add-on service. Initially, we used them for about six months and are now re-engaging them again to test new site modifications.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

We found them through their strong online reviews, which can be a good guidepost but don’t always show the actual reality of the situation. After looking through their site, we noticed that they’d worked with some pretty impressive brands, so we reached out to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $3,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work started in September 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While click-throughs and impressions can vary, we’ve seen a continual increase in sales since partnering with Disruptive Advertising. They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them and more, from click ads to A/B testing and site optimizations.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly calls every Monday to go over updates. They’re always very personable and friendly on the phone, and the team is willing to answer any question at short notice. If we’re A/B testing, they’ll usually send a report showing different options we’re considering and how each is performing. Then, once they say they’re going to implement something, they do it right away.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The number one thing is their technical know-how. Their team stays abreast of the latest Google changes, making critical updates that we would’ve been completely in the dark about. Just last year, they walked us through getting our site secure based on Google’s criteria, which we wouldn’t have considered ourselves. They learn more and more about Google Ads each week to keep us updated.

On top of that, they’re all just really nice, friendly people. They’re the kind of people that I’d want to invite over for lunch and introduce to the family. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve never had an issue working with them up to this point. They make suggestions and offer helpful advice. I appreciate that they’re always working toward something new and not just staying in place.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
Just sign with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of an escape room, a live entertainment venue with six different game rooms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising?

We hired them to handle and manage all Google Ads and targeted display ads.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to increase sales, bookings, and brand awareness.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were referred by a former employee who recommended their services.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Disruptive Advertising manages all Google Ads listings, target markets, target audiences, and more. They ensure that our company is showing up at a high rate and watch the competition. To determine ad effectiveness, they test ads at the beginning and then move forward with the ones that get the best response. They also drop cookies on the devices of people who visit our web site without converting and send targeted display ads to generate sales in the future. 

What was the team composition?

We had a sales or business development rep who got us set up. They later turned us over to Bryan Davies (Marketing Consultant, Disruptive Advertising) who was our account rep and Lui Castro (Marketing Strategist, Disruptive Advertising) who was the account team leader.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We show up as the first name in Google searches at double or triple the rate of our competition. Conversions have far exceeded our goals—almost triple what we set up as our first goal.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Both Lui and Bryan have done an excellent job. Communication has been great, the results have been better than expected, and it’s been a great value for the price. We had lots of attention initially to get us set up. Now, there is a monthly conference call with our reps to review stats, set new goals, and review new ad campaigns or specials that we’re running, and monthly reports come automatically.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I’m impressed that there are two layers involved in the account: the account rep and the team leader. They’re both on the monthly conference call to review what is going on.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, there’s nothing to improve. We have only been with them a few months, and everything is going great!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing director of a dental office. I am responsible for all aspects of marketing, including new patient acquisition, patient retention, sponsorships and promotions, and online and print campaigns.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising?

We hired Disruptive Advertising to manage our paid online presence.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase our overall revenue by improving our online presence and ultimately bringing in new patients.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The owner of our dental office had known Kyle (Account Strategist, Disruptive Advertising) since before he joined Disruptive Advertising. We were confident selecting them based off of his recommendation.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Before working for Disruptive Advertising, Kyle had done some freelance work for our dental office. He had a strong understanding of the company, along with the owner's goals, and was able to customize a plan that would help the company continue to grow. Each month, Kyle sits down with our team to discuss current trends, successes, and areas for improvement. As we find areas that seem to work better for us, Kyle can use his knowledge to help us focus our energy there.

What was the team composition?

We have mostly worked with Kyle, but we also have occasional meetings with his supervisors.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to Disruptive Advertising’s efforts, we have found new patients and seen our online search rankings improve.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Kyle is an excellent communicator. He manages our monthly phone calls and emails updates throughout the month. Following any meeting with him, he sends follow-up emails wrapping up what we discussed. He monitors our Google accounts and maintains spreadsheets regarding our monthly progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are very resourceful and always brainstorming unique ways they can help us improve. Kyle goes out of his way to find ways to better his process and our internal methods.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Despite their hard work, we don’t always see an increase in patients that matches the dollar amount we're spending on services. But Kyle is very open to feedback, proactively adjusting areas to try to help whenever possible. In our most recent meeting, we discussed some of our issues, and Kyle came up with his own list of changes he will be implementing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Northern Arizona University is one of the three state schools in Arizona with over 30,000 students. I’m the digital marketing manager for all of the colleges and departments. In my role, I’m responsible for driving our digital initiatives and strategy for the website, SEO, and paid advertising as well as email communications and lead generation follow-up.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We mainly hired them to handle our paid advertising for social and search engines.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Disruptive Advertising mainly manages our paid advertising on Google, Facebook, and Bing. They create most of the ad content themselves and run it by us before pushing it live. 

One of the more innovative projects we’ve collaborated on is a separate microsite landing page where we send all of our paid traffic. We used Squarespace as the CMS, and their developers did a lot of custom work.

On top of that, there’s a lot of reporting that goes into all of our campaigns. They’ve cleaned up our Google Analytics to make sure we have all of the right trackers in place and now give us weekly performance updates.

Other deliverables involve analyzing the market to identify the latest trends and developing a future strategy for how we should attack those channels. They also provide budget estimates for tasks based on our overall budget.

What is the team composition? 

We’ve worked with at least a dozen individuals. At the moment, we work with four main contacts: an account manager who oversees our Google campaigns, a Facebook specialist, an analytics specialist, and a conversion rate optimization (CRO) specialist.

I like how they’ve split up their responsibilities. If I have a specific question about our Facebook ads, I can go to a dedicated contact who can devote all of his time to the issue without getting bogged down by other platforms/concerns.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

My boss had worked with them on a previous job, so we reached out again for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $140,000 in fees to them thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking with them in June 2018 and went through our university’s approval process. Once we got started, they put out their first ads at the end of August 2018. All of the paid campaigns are currently ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We can’t tie their efforts into our revenue quite yet, but our conversion rate is our main metric. Since their initial involvement, there’s been a substantial increase in conversions as well as a decrease in cost per conversion.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

They manage our projects well overall, and I enjoy having a designated contact for each service. As for scheduling, they’re good at meeting the necessary deadlines when we plan them out in advance but will occasionally miss cues for more ad hoc assignments.

For example, if our upper management asks us to get a campaign up and running in two days, it would take them at least a week to complete the task. This doesn’t happen often, but it would be nice if they were flexible enough to pivot quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re definitely a very personal group. They know how to keep the atmosphere light and calm, which generates a better environment when it comes to brainstorming and being creative.

Are there any areas they could improve?

For the first several months, there was a bit of a disconnect in expectations. They spent more time listening to us rather than coming up with strategies to move our campaigns forward. Granted, this might have been because they weren’t familiar with our industry, but part of the reason we hired them was for consulting work. Now, they’re doing a decent job at strategizing.

They might also benefit from improving their ability to ramp up projects. When we increased our ad spend and upped the amount of work involved, there was a bit of a lag before they were able to get more people onto our account.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
Have a clear plan for future initiatives so that they can appropriately plan for it and organize their resources.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of marketing and business development at Micro Kickboard. We are the sole US distributor for micro-mobility, offering scooters and ride-ons for people of all ages. Our company is global—with over 80 distributors worldwide, however, we cover the US exclusively.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising?

We currently use Disruptive Advertising to manage our PPC efforts.

What were your goals for this project?

Our overall goals are to decrease our cost per conversion (CPC), improve our keyword bidding, and assess competitor behavior in the PPC space.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them through an internal search and assessment of other PPC agencies, relying on reviews from other companies who utilized their services.

Describe the project in detail.

Disruptive Advertising manages our PPC account for Google AdWords and Bing, providing weekly reporting on our spend/return and bringing up areas for improvement or new opportunities in the space.

What was the team composition?

We had previously worked with other account managers but transitioned to Jacob (Account Analyst, Disruptive Advertising) in January 2019. The team is comprised of Jacob as a direct contact, who is in communication with myself and our general manager.
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

Our CPC has stayed at or under our goal figure, which we provided to Disruptive Advertising at the beginning of our relationship. Our account has operated in a much leaner manner, offering great return on our spend.

How did the Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

The contacts at Disruptive Advertising have been great to work with. We speak on a weekly cadence, and they provide key updates via email when necessary outside of this call. They are very responsive to our concerns/questions whenever they arise.

What impresses you about the Disruptive Advertising?

Jacob assisted our team when our website was breached recently, contacting Google for scans which took hours on the phone. His help was greatly appreciated, and he was a key contact for us as we worked through this issue.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, there are no adjustments required. We're happy with our current relationship with Disruptive Advertising.