Beacon Digital Marketing

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.

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.

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.

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!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of an accounting platform.

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.

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.

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.