Disruptive Advertising

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of business development for an educational service company that specializes in K–12 teacher certification.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We were at a competitive disadvantage in terms of our paid ad presence primarily on Google and Facebook, but also on Instagram and LinkedIn.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Disruptive focuses on paid advertising campaigns to become more competitive in certain spaces. They also provide ancillary services such as lead conversion tracking and ROI analysis. 

They use geographic search, search term comparison, and keyword searches to help facilitate our Google traffic. Their team has total creative flexibility with ads. Through conversations with us, they learned our brand, our messaging, and user information associated with our Facebook profile. We also provided them with different value propositions. Over the past three years of our engagement, I’ve never given them copy.

Our initial metric was website traffic. Disruptive actually told us that website traffic wasn't necessarily valuable if it wasn't quality traffic. From then on, we've targeted leads and conversions. They help measure conversions through our entire customer lifecycle. Their team helps us to understand quality leads from based on the continuum of our customer timeline.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with three main account executives. We initially had one account executive that was bifurcated into a Google specialist and a Facebook specialist.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

We engaged a freelance contractor for SEO and paid search services. This individual opened our eyes to the potential of paid search. We realized his limitations and his firm wasn’t aligned with our scope. I started looking for a reputable firm and interviewed several agencies. Disruptive won us over with their level of engagement and track record of successes.

How much have you invested with them?

Our spend with them is roughly $50,000 annually.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017, and it’s an ongoing engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our metrics month over month are phenomenal. We’ve reduced our cost per conversion from nearly $39 to $11.14, which was our cost last month. Cutting cut cost per conversion by two-thirds is certainly impactful. By spending less on conversions, we're able to further extend our dollars. That efficiency is our biggest win. We can get a lot more bang for our buck.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

I asked to have weekly phone calls. On Mondays, their team provides a summary of the previous week. During our standing meeting, they get into the data and we review opportunities to allocate our budget for new market penetration. They also proactively provide updated Google analytic conversion data.

Disruptive found the perfect balance to provide the information that I need to know without making my brain hurt with data. They certainly can provide the data, but I trust them to create thorough summaries.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Disruptive listens, which stands out to me. When we moved to Disruptive, we had conversations about what I expected and why I had these expectations. When I spoke about our needs, their team was willing to listen. Amongst all the different vendors that we source, Disruptive stands out as the one that listens.

If needed, they will also push back against our ideas based on data. Their team also changed their level of service based on my comfort level. They genuinely care about our feedback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Overall, I’ve been happy. They’re worth every penny that we spend.

Our company was acquired two years ago, so we joined under one umbrella. That company left their marketing firm to engage Disruptive based on our experience with them.

They’re growing because of their great work. We had a change of account executives, which was a surprise to us. It smoothed out, but it was seemingly abrupt on our end.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set their expectations high because they can live up to them. Raise your expectations for what’s possible and think creatively because Disruptive’s with you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for RAdata Inc. We do water and radon testing and treatment, mostly for home sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We hired them to help us with our Google marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They help us create all of our Google Ads. They help us with keywords, monitor our account, create landing pages, and add text. They’re also able to make adjustments throughout the week.

What is the team composition?

I work with one person, Tim (VP of Marketing), on a weekly basis. He does a phenomenal job and always comes up with great ideas. We’ve also worked with the design team for the landing pages.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

I wasn’t on the team when Disruptive Advertising first started, but I believe they were selected based on internet search and reviews.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $2,500 per month on their services (approximately $120,000 USD).  

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since June 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a lot of success since we started working with them. I really enjoyed working with them. They take initiative and are very thorough with everything they do.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly calls and we discuss what they’re doing each week, which isn’t something they do for every client. The president of our company asked for that, and they were happy to accommodate that request. We get weekly updates for reporting as well.

Tim takes care of everything, so we never have to worry that things get done in a timely manner.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do a phenomenal job with project management. Their communication is very thorough. If we have an issue, we simply ask and they come up with a solution in a matter of hours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, it has been a great relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Teamwork is the trick. They don’t just manage the account, you have to make sure that you give them a thorough description of your services

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner president of a family owned business serving the chicago land ,Wisconsin and southern Ft Lauderdale, Miami. Our Company offers commercial, industrial and residential concrete epoxy solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Garage flooring experts has been highly successful for over 35 years in advertising in saturated and direct mail publications. Our objective with Disruptive advertising is to mediate a quick and proficient ROI.

What were your goals for this project?

Well through this pandemic issue it is extremely important to revamp through changing times. Helping my company adjust to the decline of traditional advertising and power thru a more proficient and prosperous method.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our sister locations after utilizing comparable company’s reported exhausting losses and weak hand to hand support. We fell into our third venture and came across Disruptive advertising. Amazing results!

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Disruptive advertising introduced an elite group. Starting with Casey Christiansen and team members, unrolling an awesome discovery of our company’s needs. A very impressive approach that moved progressively every day in a forward direction!

What was the team composition?

Casey as well as other partners work in group video conferences. Questioning and creatively helping to set the strategy we needed to delivery why I am taking the time to write this! A plan well executed in what has been almost a flawless development!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have shifted gears in a marketing for our company. “Extreme” results for a choice of better words. My company has experience a significant spike in quality leads and markets as well as profitability. Have to keep an open mind in building with Disruptive. Focus on front load of more exposure and letting them reduce your ROI costs.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our assigned project manager and his team, in all my years of building marketing relationships have done an excellent job! The on going reports as well as walking you through it all with patience and compassion have impressed myself as well as our staff!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Every aspect of Disruptive Advertising has literally left me speechless. The asset value that there team led by Casey Christiansen has been a Blessing! Especially now thru some very changing times.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Well there are always areas of improvement. Having our team is a peace of mind if and when they will be reporting to me and advising on whether or not to make adjustments. As a business owner we can’t really ask for a better solution to drive our success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Kimmel & Silverman is a consumer law firm that handles Lemon Law, Breach of Warranty, Fair Debt Collection and other areas of consumer law.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired disruptive to manage a PPC advertising campaign for our Credit Law division expanding into two other areas during our first three months.

What were your goals for this project?

To optimize our online advertising campaigns for maximum value, reducing spend while increasing quality and volume of leads.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Unfortunately I was not involved in vendor selection.

Describe the project in detail.

Our own advertising efforts were proving ineffective for bringing in leads using traditional PPC methods. We were spending too much money for too little return. Advertising was bringing in leads that didn't fall within the scope of people we could help. We also expanded our service offering and looked to Disruptive to help us increase our reach and capture leads from potential clients falling within that scope.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of a project manager, marketing consultants and technical advisers who worked with us directly and through team meetings.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people we would normally help were not looking for help as they had other concerns. Due to the unprecedented nature of what has occurred, we cannot deem the project a success nor can we deem it a failure. We have seen progress and Disruptive has been fluid in working with us and adjusting budgeting for our needs. Once things return to "normal," we will re-evaluate the project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. We had weekly meetings reviewing our techniques, budget, what we were targeting and technical considerations for tracking. Everyone was accessible via email and responded quickly. Expectations were met.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Communication is their team's biggest strength. We were kept in the loop for all projects, updates and questions outside of our normal meetings. Even if our questions were not immediately addressed due to requiring more information or something of that nature, we were informed and given a time for a response. Very professional.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a co-founder and CTO of an online education company that runs UI/UX design training courses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking to acquire new leads and customers via Google Search Ads and also manage retargeting campaigns across Facebook Ads and Google's display ads network.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to acquire new leads and customers profitably.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We did research online and also got some recommendations from people in our network, received quotes and did intro calls with a handful of vendors, and were most impressed by Disruptive.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Disruptive manages our Google Search Ads campaigns — they select the keywords, draft ad copy, and monitor results so we can optimize the campaigns. They also manage retargeting campaigns on the Google display network and Facebook Ads.

What was the team composition?

We primarily interact with 2 consultants — one that specializes in Google's platforms and another that specializes in Facebook's.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've been very happy with the results so far — we've been able to increase the number of leads we get each month and are acquiring new customers profitably through the advertising channels that Disruptive manages for us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been very effective. We've been impressed by their commitment to great communication. Their response times are very fast, and we were happy to learn that they were amenable to using our internal project management tool in addition to just email.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their knowledge of all the ins and outs of Google Ads and Facebook Ads platforms is very impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

At times, we've wanted to supplement our ads reporting with Google Analytics, and we've run into some challenges that our consultants have not immediately known the answers to. Granted, these are fairly technical/nuanced issues with Google Analytics — it's nice that there are other team members at Disruptive who are more specialized in these areas who have been able to step in to help.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing and online retail manager at a locally owned and operated outdoor retailer in Estes Park, Colorado. Our company has about 20 employees and has been in operation since 1986. We not only serve the millions of guests that come visit Rocky Mountain National Park through the yea, but also reach customers nationally through our online store. I oversee the store marketing and manage the daily operations of the online store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking to reach more customers through our online store. We started with a very organic outreach, and had a limited budget to put toward advertising. With my expertise focusing on traditional media, we turned to Disruptive to guide our online advertising.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase sales and awareness of our online store specifically by building a greater presence in a difficult and competitive retail sector.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We began our search for vendors by researching both local and national companies. We selected the top 5 we wanted to reach out to, and proceeded to call/discuss our project with each vendor. Disruptive stood out to us because they were very willing to work with us especially with our limited budget, and had an enthusiasm for the project that we did not receive from any other vendor. They answered all our questions, and explained the process efficiently. Communication from Disruptive was (and has continued to be) easy and they were very responsive.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After team meetings and discussions on goals, they put together a comprehensive and focused plan to use our budget efficiently. The main focus of their work was display advertising, shopping campaings, paid digital advertising, and remarketing/retargeting campaings as well as a small venture into social media advertising

What was the team composition?

I've worked very closely with our marketing/PPC consultant Samantha Rugg (she is amazing) - she is our main contact, however, there is a team of supporting personal that helps manage our account.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since working with Disruptive our sales have greatly improved. We are seeing more people on the site and conversions have increased. Each month seems to be getting better and better as we continue to improve and optimize our strategies

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is great between our teams. We have regularly scheduled meetings, and if anything should need to be discussed prior to that meeting they have always reached out in a timely manner. The great communication and prompt action of the team, has given us total trust of Disruptive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We have found the knowledge of Disruptive and our Disruptive team very impressive. This is an area that we knew very little about, and they have always been great about explaining the ins and outs of what they are working on. I've also found it very impressive their flexibility and willingness to try new ideas without putting all our budget toward one goal/idea - they are always monitoring and adjusting depending on how outcomes start presenting.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No - overall we have been very pleased with the team/company

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We manufacture and ship high-quality murphy beds all across the United States. My position is the Director of Digital Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Conversion rate optimization and site testing

What were your goals for this project?

To improve the performance of our website, and specifically the percentage of individuals who call us from our website

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were highly recommended, so we reached out to them directly and began the process that way.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After selecting Disruptive, we met with them regularly over-the-phone in order for their team to become very familiar with our business, our products, our goals, etc. They caught on very quickly and immediately began suggesting improvements to our website that drastically improved our conversion rates.

We meet with our consultant, Jacob, 2-3 times a month and exchange emails very regularly about ideas for new tests. He has been tasked with redesigning multiple pages including all of our product pages.

What was the team composition?

I've worked closely with Jacob to develop test ideas. He then get's them designed and proposes them to me. We take these designs to our internal management and marketing teams and provide him with feedback. Once we've settled on the design, he works with his developers to implement the designs. Jacob personally reports on the progress and success of the variants directly to our management team in our monthly marketing meeting.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen enormous improvements across multiple pages. We have drastically improved traffic to our most important pages through their tests and some tests have increased phone calls by as much as 50%. Each test has been successful to some degree, and it's very common to have a test that simply hits it out of the park.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It's great! It's very organized on Disruptive's end. the process is simple and easy to understand.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They get the big picture. Jacob has become so much more than our "CRO guy", he really is a business and website consultant to us. He understands our business and our goals and digs into the data to come up with new test results.

Additionally, I reach out to him regularly with ideas just to get his opinion and he always promptly provides me with his thoughts. We work with multiple agencies and Disruptive Advertising is the shining example of professionalism and success. We value our relationship with them immensely.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing that immediately comes to mind. We are overwhelmingly happy with our service.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Founder and CEO of PigeonCorp. We’re a custom gaming PC manufacturer. We currently build the most dramatic and fastest gaming PCs in the industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We hired them to assist with growth and sales via digital advertising.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their responsibility was to create quality ads with the assets provided by our team. They were to determine an appropriate ad budget and then run ads to produce sales. The success metric was the number of sales they were able to bring in.

The ads were pushed out on Instagram and Facebook. We gave them initial interests, and they spent a month doing research and building lookalike audiences.

What is the team composition?

I was initially assigned to work with our account manager. Due to the poor performance, our account manager was removed from our account. She was disruptive and was no longer a good fit. I briefly worked with one of their VPs before they brought on another manager and his supervisor.  

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

We leaned on review sites like Clutch, which is where I found them. They appeared to be among the best in the industry.

How much have you invested with them?

The management fees cost us $4,200, which was questionable considering we were billed for four months of service and we only worked together for three months.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from March–May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were capable of delivering traffic, but it was not the right traffic. In the three months we worked with them, they didn’t produce any sales. So we decided not to renew our contract when it ended.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

The second account manager performed better than the first. Prior to that, their team performed poorly. They required heavy oversight from my team to follow up and see where things were. There were multiple occasions when we were told they would communicate daily, but they did not. There were a lot of communication expectations that they set and consistently failed to meet. Despite that, they were always kind and pleasant to talk to.

We shared our assets via SharePoint links. They also provided analytics and data tracking.

What did you find most impressive about them?

That’s a loaded question considering they failed to meet our expectations. Still, their team’s kindness stands out. They were wonderful to talk to despite the situation. They were very honest. I told them that I was going to do this review and they understood that it would not be positive.

How could they improve?

They dropped the ball, largely because of an individual on their team. She clearly did not understand our industry or market. The ad spend was substantially lower than anticipated. When we initially discussed the contract, the ad spend was supposed to be $3,000 per month. The individual leading our project decided to save money and we only spent $1,200 per month. Instead, we only spent $3,540 on ads based on their budget recommendations. That’s one of the biggest failures here; they just did not appropriately evaluate the market.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking purely to drive traffic to your site, they are good at that. However, if you’re looking for targeted sales, look somewhere else.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Contour Design is a manufacturer of Ergonomic Computer mice. I am the US Marketing Manager and am in charge of all US/CAN/AUS marketing activities and projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

To help us create, manage, and optimize our online advertising presence and increase overall online sales.

What were your goals for this project?

We had just finished a massive website overhaul and we wanted to capitalize on that in attempt to grow our direct to consumer sales. Part of that plan was to run Google (and eventually Bing) ads effectively both in return and total cost.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Through Google and various other sites that provide business reviews. I had spoken with at least 5 digital advertising companies before deciding on Disruptive. Not only were there reviews stellar, they had unmatched transparency about overall costs, timeframes, and sales expectations, they also seemed to bring the most support features and expertise to the table .

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

In the beginning Disruptive fixed connectivity from our Google AdWords account to the backend of our website and kick-started our Google AdWords account. Things really started to "click" when Samantha Rugg took over managing our account. She added a Bing account, and really optimized our GoogleAds account while delivering a massive increase in results.

What was the team composition?

We've been with Disruptive for a couple of years now and I have had a handful of account managers. Currently Samantha Rugg is our account manager and she has separated herself from the others by being highly accessible, and really brining a collaborative element to working with Disruptive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the past few months Samantha has taken our account to something that we happy with to something we are ecstatic about. Without sacrificing ROAS she has effectively increased our monthly spend while giving us our highest months in online sales in the companies history.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Highly effective, Samantha seems to be at the ready on a moments notice to help, or answer and questions that we may have.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The results. To be honest most of this is a direct result of Samantha taking over our account. We went from 5-8K in revenue from our online ads on any given month to the 15-18k range very quickly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have 0 complaints.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Global digital marketing manager at an industrial manufacturing company that produces test & measurement equipment for maintenance, utility companies, engineering, R & D and manufacturers of oil & gas, food & bev, pharma, etc

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

For some of our large PPC accounts we've always hired outside agency support as we're not staffed to support. We were not thrilled with the performance of the previous agency. We vetted quite a few agencies and Disruptive won the contract.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to maintain the PPC accounts and to work consistently to continuously improve the individual campaigns. Decreasing the costs per conversions, increasing the count of conversions, identifying any wasted spend, etc

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We vetted a number of agencies, created a matrix of what each agency excelled at, and what our needs were and we went with Disruptive.

Describe the project in detail.

Weekly (or more frequent) updates on campaign performance after the initial on-boarding.

What was the team composition?

Our team consisted of a dedicated digital demand manager, and product marketing representatives.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The campaigns were so successful that we expanded the scope of the projects and added additional PPC accounts for the Disruptive team to manage.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were always very prompt with communication and scheduling of meetings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were very prompt and attentive and we had pretty stable performance overall. They had many folks helping with different aspects of the accounts like landing page design and creation, keywords, or day parting, etc. We didn't have the capacity in-house to manage all of this so we found it tremendously helpful!

Are there any areas for improvement?

It would be great if the team did more frequent deep dives and offered more solutions to test. like LP copy, improved text ads, ad placements, etc. Often it seemed as though they weren't sure why we had poor performance for a given week instead of digging in and seeing where the performance dipped, why it occurred and how we could go about fixing the problems.