Disruptive Advertising

Please describe your company and your position there.

MyHealthTeam is an umbrella of social networks within the health space that allows people with chronic conditions to meet others living with the same chronic condition. We provide medically reviewed info, tips, treatments, etc to help them better manage their day-to-day lives and minimize the impact of their chronic conditions. I am the Growth Marketing Manager and I lead the Disruptive team to promote each individual network to grow its member base using paid social and paid search.

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising, and what were your goals?

Our company pivoted from a volume goal to a cost-per-new-member goal. This involved a deeper analysis of each platform, the quality of the audience, and more importantly - how do we keep our CPAs low and consistent?

Being within the health industry, targeting audiences is a very sensitive and personal situation, so we also wanted to be mindful of how we were targeting people living with chronic conditions. In addition to this, our internal team is just me, so I needed a team that was knowledgeable in each platform and be able to scale out strategies across a large number of campaigns.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Disruptive has worked with MHT for ~1.5 years before I transitioned to my role. The team was intelligent, responsive, and collaborative - always keeping our company's goals in mind when planning/executing strategies so I knew I wanted to continue working with them. When we pivoted our company goals, they were proactive in getting us data and recommended strategies.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

The work included managing ~20 conditions on facebook, google, and bing - as well as creative production for each condition across each platform. We used GSuite to keep track of creatives and budget pacing as well as platform CACs.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I worked with 3-5 members from Disruptive. I worked almost daily with 3 members: an account manager, a social media specialist, and a paid search specialist. The other 2 members were on the creative team and we met monthly to review creative pitches.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The team reduced our CPA by 25% and have kept it consistently within the lower range. This was exactly the result we were looking for.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our teams is seamless and based on mutual trust and communication. We kept each other updated on changes (big and small) on the campaigns and the team was always punctual with the deadlines.

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

The team is really knowledgeable and willing to share what they know. They take the time to explain why they recommended certain strategies and they were always open to try new things. They are always extremely helpful when I have random questions about platforms or propose new ideas/strategies.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

An area of improvement would be an increased focus on data and optimization tracking (i.e. being able to tie in a decrease or increase in CACs due to certain optimizations they've made).

This review was published on October 12, 2021.

Dawn Allen

Performance Marketing VP, MyHealthTeams, Inc.

Healthcare

51-200 Employees

San Francisco, California, United States 

$10,000 to $49,999

Nov 2019 - Ongoing

Project summary

Disruptive Advertising has been providing social media marketing for a telehealth company. The client wanted to increase their bandwidth through the project.

Feedback summary

Disruptive Advertising has brought successful strategies and test learnings over the years of their campaigns. They exhibit a deep understanding of the marketing industry and the company's goals. Moreover, the client states that it feels like they are working internally.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

MyHealthTeams has 41 social networks for people living with chronic health conditions. I am the VP of Performance marketing driving member growth across our platforms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have a lean team and needed to increase our bandwidth by engaging with an agency to leverage their deep understanding of social media marketing.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I started by looking at preferred partners in Facebook, then contacted a few of the top options based on their service offerrings. Upon interviewing and evaluating our options we ultimately enlisted Disruptive based on their demonstrated knowledge, service, and value.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Our working relationship is going on 2 years, so several strategies and projects have been kicked off. Functionally, based on internal focus and strategy, we will task their team with a new project, they will prepare the scope and details, we will discuss and sign off on launch. Each week we will track progress, make necessary optimizations, and continue achieving key KPIs.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We've been exposed to various teams over our 2 year history, CRO being one (Derek Peterson), however tere has been two constants - Jordan DeGraw, Enterprise Account Manager and Mandy Holman, Sr. Marketing Consultant. Colby Zimmerman, Director of Fulfillment, joins us regularly for check ins as well. I appreciate the steady nature of our service with Disruptive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There have been several successful strategies and test learnings over the years, but I will highlight our success with Google Ads. The program had been struggling for years and with Disruptive's strategy and focus Google has emerged as an important, and efficient growth engine that continues to receive additional budget.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We meet each Wednesday to track results, hear recommendations, and make necessary adustments. At the beginning of each month we are presented with results from the month prior, key learnings, and strategy for the month ahead. This cadence and structure works well within our team and has produced positive results.

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

What I find most impressive is the deep understanding of our company's goals. With the same two account reps, it's as if they truly are on our team internally.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing that I can think of.

RATINGS

Overall rating: 4.5

We are still growing, and Disruptive will continue to be a part of that.

Quality: 4.5

Overall, Disruptive Advertising has been easy to work with and I completely trust their knowledge and the value that they are providing.

Cost: 4.5

Value outweighs the cost.

Schedule: 5

Always responsive.

Willing to refer: 5

I'm happy to recommend Disruptive Advertising to anyone.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO and partner of Vodaland USA. Vodaland is the manufacturer and distributor of all different types of water directional products and much more. Trench Drains, Permeable Pavers, and oil/water separators are just some of the many products we offer.

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising, and what were your goals?

We hired Disruptive advertising to completely manage and upkeep our google advertising and all PPC campaigns with Facebook as well.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking all around the United States and settled upon Disruptive based off reviews we read, as well as in person meetings. It seemed they understood what we were planning to accomplish in 2022.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

We began with the introductory meeting which we met many people that we did not see again after that meeting. They then took over our google campaigns which is over 200K per month, and since that time, the immediate decline of our success started.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had a team of 4 people, some came and left. One project manager, and those that worked with him.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Nothing but extremely terrible results. In essence , we spend more than double in 2022 , and we literally had less traffic and less results. Disruptive was putting high value on calls and chats to boost their numbers. We lost over 1 million alone in just advertising spend. They did not listen to our directions, ignored what we asked for completely, and the results continually got worse over time. Each and every single month was worse than the rest. We even asked for a decrease if possible in charges... They ended up adding services and charging us more.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They seemed to care, but the results were absolutely terrible. We asked to switch to transactions only - they ignored that for over 5 months. Putting google values of $750 per phone call to pad numbers making things look like YOY results were better than they were. We lost millions this year based off the poor management and care of our account, we could not be more disappointed and upset. Communication was good, but only goes so far with poor results.

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

Nothing honestly - as most companies we are a results driven business. Unfortunately Disruptive Advertising bled us dry completely, charged us more and more each month - never cut us any deals, and we spend over DOUBLE in google costs , and less revenue than the year before. They tried to blame it on the times.... but when we made the decisions we asked for - the past 2 months without them hav been the best of the year.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Its very important to note that the past 2 months without them, when we made the changes we were asking for 6 months, have been the best we have had all year. Bottom line , staying with Disruptive and signing them was the largest mistake we have made in a very long time. Do not recommend this company if you want what is best for yours.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a small costume manufacturing company that markets B2B and B2C.

For what projects/services did your company hire Disruptive Advertising, and what were your goals?

With our B2B business on a successful streak we decided to branch out and build us our own website and enter the retail market. We hired several companies to help with this task but ultimately have landed on Disruptive as the best fit for us.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We chose Disruptive because they were local, had a great track record, were highly recommended through networking and when we met them we felt the personalities of the team assigned to us were a great fit for our team.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

Disruptive is overseeing all of our marketing ads on all social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Google. We meet weekly with the Disruptive team assigned to our company. Each team member has their own specialty and they review how things are going in their area. We strategize together as a team on how we can continue growth forward each week. Kalin oversees everything as the project manager and is also highly skilled in the number analysis. He utilizes a power point each week to keep us up to date on trends and goals.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Our team consists of Kalin who oversees everything and also analyzes all the stats. Wyatt is the team lead for social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Sarah is over everything Google. Annie is over all graphic design and the overall branding and look of the marketing materials. Together they make a dynamic team that we love working with!

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our company has seen significant growth in the last 18 months that we have been working with them. Even through some economic downturns, they continue to help us move onward and upward.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Working with the Disruptive team is very easy. They are quick to respond to all emails and calls. They treat our company like it is their own company and even when traveling, holidays and other situations that take them away from regular office hours, they still are on call and ready to help when needed. They're excellent at keeping us on task and a great resource for maintaining organized and communicated timelines.

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

In comparison to other companies we have worked with, we get a whole team! This is huge! Everyone knows their area, everyone works fluidly together. We love the team at Disruptive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We love Disruptive and only wish we could branch out in more areas in their company like email marketing. We have not been able to do that so far due to cost restraints but that is mostly because we have a very economical way of doing it and we have had a hard time taking the leap.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m VP and partner at Phone Ninjas. We offer phone and web sales training to automotive dealerships.

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We wanted more customers and conversions.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Disruptive Advertising helps us with our overall digital strategy. Their services include managing social media content, creating and managing Google Ads, developing and managing marketing plans, and creating marketing strategies. They’ve also done competitor research and identified different keywords to use in our campaigns. Additionally, they’ve identified areas of improvement in our website not only to attract more customers but to keep them on our site longer.

The platforms that Disruptive Advertising manages for us include our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They also handle our Google My Business and Google Ads accounts. The content they launch is both paid and organic, including blogs with different topics to leverage, which they then use to create infographics and other collateral.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with around five people from Disruptive Advertising. Whenever I need to add something new to our efforts, they bring in a specialist in that area; they have specialists for everything.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

I found them on Google. After that, I researched them, vetted them, and called some references who had worked with them. Ultimately, we decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

After launching our first Google Ads campaigns, we immediately saw a 40% increase in the type of leads we wanted, including demo and mystery shop requests. We were able to convert at our normal conversion rate, which was very strong by itself. In other words, they added top-quality opportunities to our top-more funnel without compromising our conversions. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email and virtual meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Disruptive Advertising takes a holistic approach to our digital advertising strategy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CEO of a roofing material company. We sell roofing safety tools. Our company is a partnership of four family members which is a family investment trust. We are inventors and investors as well as have a patented safety product that helps people get on and off of steep roofs.

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?
We were at the part of our business growth where it was time to scale and start getting more exposure nationally, as opposed to regionally. I brought in the people at Disruptive Advertising with their online advertising expertise to help make that goal a reality.

What was the scope of their involvement?
Originally, they started with Google Ads online advertisements. Then, we started adding in a remarketing campaign on Facebook. Now, we’re beginning to work on an email strategy to contact customers at the shopping cart, all the way to several weeks after they’ve received their product. Disruptive Advertising has also worked on SEO and PPC. At the beginning of the engagement, we did a series of screen shares educating them about our business, but then they did their own extensive research as well.

What is the team composition?
We currently have about nine people either doing the work or overseeing the work. We have two marketing analysts, one client growth specialist, four managers and strategists, as well as two ad specialists. There is a team of two that are my main points of contact, Skyler (Marketing Consultant) and Kyle (Marketing Consultant). I copy them on everything.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?
I did my own extensive research. I was looking for a company in the western US because our product does very well in the eastern US. We have various campaigns running in the eastern US with a different agency, but I needed to expand our hours of operation. When the east coast firm ends at five, I can get another three or four hours of service out of having a company in the west.

I started searching online for respected ad campaigns for companies that were in the western US. Then, I started looking through portfolios of the different online ad agencies that I was researching. I liked what I saw with the Disruptive team based in Utah. They had a good portfolio and a clear business proposition. Their site was easy to navigate. It made the decision very easy to choose them over others, but they weren’t the only firm that I contacted. 

I contacted 3–4 agencies from Texas, California, and Utah. Their rates were so much more realistic for what they required to get started than some of the agencies that required a minimum of $25,000 a month to get started which I felt was too much for an experiment to see if an ad agency in the West would generate results. I’d rather go with $5,000–$10,000 to see if it’s going to work than $25,000–$50,000. All those factors considered made it a pretty easy decision.

How much have you invested in them?
The agency fees are a little under $20,000, and with the online advertising I had done, the total is around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?
We began working with them in October 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Before we used Disruptive, our sales were slow and steady. Now, there has been a substantial spike, positively, not only in the traffic but also in the clickthrough rate. Additionally, we’ve seen an improvement because the advertising spending we’re doing is leading to purchases.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?
We have ongoing email communication but also talk by phone every two weeks. On the sliding scale, they’d be about as high as I could imagine. Number one is they have expert knowledge in the systems of Facebook and Google. Disruptive knows what they’re talking about and take the time to ramp me through the learning curve when I don’t know exactly what they’re talking about. 

In terms of language, they manage me — which is what I tell them. Disruptive is also very good at communicating their ideas for an ongoing strategy to continue growth. They’re always tweaking the plan based on what they see. For project management, they’re checking my account on a daily basis to look for any kind of anomalies that stand out, good or bad. They contact me when those things do happen. From a project management standpoint, I’m extremely happy.

What did you find most impressive about them?
It’d have to be their time management. As a client, they make me believe that I can call them at any time and will be prioritized. Even though I’m not spending probably nearly as much as some of their other clients, Disruptive really has the ability to make their client feel prioritized and heard. All of the requests I have ever made to them have been accomplished which, believe it or not, is hard to find.

Are there any areas they could improve?
What they’re not doing as well as they could be is leaving a lot on the table of the services they provide. Disruptive has some incredibly smart people who are very technologically intelligent, but the range of services seems rather narrow. I wouldn’t know that by going to their website because I was looking to meet a specific goal and they had what I was looking for. 

What they could do better is take a look at each of the competencies of each of their employees, listing them out, and then find additional products and services that they could offer to clients like me. I always tell them that they know more than me and if they see there’s something I’m not doing that they know how to do, to think of my company as a blank canvas for them to paint their intelligence all over. I don’t want to leave anything on the table. I think leveraging their employee competencies is something they could do even better on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be very clear on your goals before you start working with them because they’ll be able to immediately start applying resources to get you to your goals as soon as possible.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of OP2 Labs LLC, and we develop, manufacture, and distribute health and nutritional supplements to both medial and retail.

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We had a gap in our marketing advertising program that we were looking to fill. In the past, we had worked with other SEO or online digital advertising companies and didn’t find much success.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Disruptive Advertising manages our online advertising platforms. This includes Google Ads, Google Express, Facebook, Instagram, Yahoo, Bing, and Amazon. All of our channels are within their wheelhouse. Their team develops our graphic content, optimizes our content, and monitors our various ads. They launch new content capabilities for us as well. 

They manage our complete ad budget. We trust Disruptive Advertising enough to allocate them an increasing monthly budget and let them manage it. Their team also manages our R&D spending, which we use to test new ideas or concepts within our existing platform. They conduct this research based on ideas that our team generates internally. 

What is the team composition?

We work with three members of the Disruptive Advertising team in addition to our account manager. There are likely more individuals who work on graphic design or content development teams that I don’t interact with. 

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

I received a referral for Disruptive Advertising, but what set them apart was their approach. It’s easy to tell the difference between an organization that knows what they’re doing and is experience versus one that doesn’t. Disruptive Advertising definitely knows what they’re doing. 

They were the first company that we approached that both presented their process and capabilities to us, but also took the time to interview us back. Disruptive Advertising took the time to assess our capabilities as well, making sure they felt they could deliver upon their given goals and objectives within our industry. This showed me that they were a very performance bound company.

The second indication that they would make a good fit was their willingness to elaborate on metrics from prior customers. Disruptive Advertising presented us with detailed data. Not all of it was good but it was honest. They were also able to explain the variance of why certain things happened for clients when they weren’t as successful. 

We also met their entire team, including the individual who would become our account manager. The whole experience showed that they were a professional company. I had a good grasp of their past performances thanks to the data and they seemed eager to partner with us. 

How much have you invested with them?

At this time, we have invested about $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Disruptive Advertising began in May 2018.

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

Since partnering with Disruptive Advertising, our return on ad spend has consistently been in between 2.5–3x return. Our conversion rate is between 2-3%, which is higher than the industry average. Additionally, our website revenue has grown 24% month over month. 

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

Disruptive Advertising leaves the agenda up to the needs of the client. They format and structure meetings however we desire. Each week, we have a one-hour meeting and they allocate time for each of the platform experts to speak to their relevant metrics. Not only do they deep dive into the specific metrics but they also cover aggregate metrics. 

We interface with the different members of the Disruptive Advertising team to talk about new strategies or ads or new target audiences and demographics that we want to focus on. Their team is very responsive. They’re a very efficient and effective agency. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed by their organizational structure. Disruptive Advertising has designed and built their company for success. Their corporate culture is performance-driven, and that’s a very noticeable aspect of their company. They are very process-oriented, but not so rigorous that it impacts their ability to innovate. 

They’re also very skilled at recognizing talent. Disruptive Advertising has a very keen eye for experts in the industry. They attract, hire, and retain very knowledgable individuals. Their team adjusts to our needs. When we started working with them, they did not focus on Amazon advertising. When we told them we wanted a comprehensive program, they ended up hiring someone who was an Amazon expert to fill that gap.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They are the only organization I’ve ever worked with that I could say that about. Everything about them is solid. I’ve had no hesitations or reservations about continuing the relationship. They’ve been a fantastic team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to be engaged, even as a client. Even though Disruptive Advertising is a phenomenal company and they have a lot of great capabilities, they’re ultimately better served from knowing and understanding your industry. This is best achieved by the client staying engaged over time. Think of it as bringing on a new employee and getting them up to speed through an indoctrination process and getting them familiar with the company. 

It also helps to be patient. As with any marketing goals or objectives, nothing happens overnight. As a customer, invest your time in the process. Help your marketing agency understand your goals and vision for products and services, and they will best be able to deliver.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the president and CEO of Premier Health and Safety, a leading first aid and safety training program that provides American Red Cross training classes for all industries.

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

I hired Disruptive Advertising to redevelop our online marketing strategy so we could grow our business from a local service to a regional one. We'd used a couple of different marketing companies in the past but really had no luck until we teamed up with Disruptive.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase the size of all classes by 50%. This goal was reached and surpassed quicker than I could've imagined. We also wanted to add and run new classes in new, untouched geographic areas. That goal was reached as well.

How did you select this vendor?

We researched a number of companies, and Disruptive stood out quickly. They didn't tell me that they had a silver bullet when we talked. They gave it to me straight and truthfully, they managed expectations and still over-delivered. 

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After selecting Disruptive, we had a lot of back and forth as they tried to learn about our business, customers, and goals. From there, we started creating content, which also took a lot of back and forth to get right. The challenge we had was that the Disruptive team schedules time to work on our stuff but it often doesn't line up with our time/schedule. This results in their team waiting on us for a while to give feedback, which could delay our ads by as much as a week. Once our team from Disruptive learned about us, how we speak, and what we offer, the whole flow became very natural and productive, however.

What was the team composition?

I have a team that works on my type of business. Kaden oversees the team communications and handles our social media advertising. Chris handles our Google Ads.

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

Nothing but success! For a two-week period where our finances got tight, I shut down ad spends and our revenue shut down instantly. That says it all.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The only challenge is the lining up of schedules. Once I have a better handle of things, I will be assigning staff to work with the Disruptive team, which should make things flow more naturally.

The one thing I will say that has been a challenge is that I'm used to being able to speak to my developers at any time. The team at Disruptive is busy and I can't always get a hold of them when I need to.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The knowledge, the desire to learn about our business, and the flexibility. We aren't just any old client. We feel like we're very important to them. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

I wish there was a marketing 101 class I could go through with Disruptive so I understand their process better. I am new to digital marketing, and a few introductory lessons would have helped. Luckily, information is easy to find online if you do a bit of research.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Storq is a Direct-To-Consumer brand focused on apparel and accessories for women who are pregnant, nursing, and prioritize comfort while looking and feeling like themselves. I hold the position of Marketing Manager, overseeing marketing strategy across paid and organic channels.

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

We work with Disruptive to manage our paid marketing efforts in Facebook and Google. As an online-only business, Facebook and Google are important levers for driving growth in our business. We trust our team at Disruptive to actively optimize these channels and test new strategies.

What were your goals for this project?

Our ongoing marketing goal is to drive growth while hitting at or below a specific return on ad spend. It's also very important to us to maintain the standards of our brand, and our team we collaborate closely with our team at Disruptive to make sure every piece of creative is something we can be proud of.

How did you select this vendor?

We were introduced to Disruptive by a friend and business owner. I was not a part of the decision making process (before my time), but I can speak to why we've stayed with them:

• We continue to see year over year growth.
• Our team really pays attention to our account, actively searching for ways to improve performance and testing out new strategies to find new pockets of growth.
• They're very communicative and collaborative
• To top if off, our team is super kind and very pleasant to meet with.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Disruptive works on strategy, marketing execution, and reporting across Google and Facebook. They lead a biweekly meeting covering performance, budget pacing, learnings, and new opportunities.

On top of evergreen campaigns, they also make specific strategy recommendations for important product launches and marketing initiatives like sales. Disruptive briefs me on strategy, and we work together to edit depending on business goals and priorities. I ultimately approve strategy with my CEO.

What was the team composition?

We have three people actively working on our account: one focused on Google, one focused on Facebook (and soon Pinterest), and a third overseeing them both. The size of the team has grown, with a new manager on our Google account and the former Google account manager promoted to oversee her.

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

We've had great success in our paid marketing channels since Disruptive has been managing our accounts. We continue to see year over year growth in terms of revenue, repeat purchases, and new customers. We've also hit new revenue milestones in our annual sales.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Super effective! We speak biweekly to stay up to speed with performance and budgets, and stay in touch via email between meetings to cover any asks or updates. We have an overall great rapport that I'm happy with.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I'm most impressed with the way they're always striving towards and forming the conversation around improvement. They get ahead of the next thing, even when things are going really well and I find myself inclined to just ride the wave. I can also tell that they're doing the work, staying close to the account and keeping a close eye on the day-to-day performance so they can react quickly when they need to—it's much appreciated!

Are there any areas for improvement?

I'd like to hear more from Disruptive about what we need to do as a business to help them do their work better. I'd also like to hear more of their perspective on what our expectations should be.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the founders of Pinch. We make Pinch Magic Fiber, which is an all-natural premium daily fiber supplement.

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We previously partnered with a different advertising agency and results eventually stagnated.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially gave them the background of the company and talked about our unique voice. Their team listened and absorbed our brand nuances and goals. They then came up with a whole roadmap.

Disruptive audited our social account and looked at all of the existing content. Their team quickly identified deficiencies and then helped to build out campaigns. Their team retargeted and nurtured our strategy.

They identify audiences and run ad campaigns that target more than the of the funnel. Their team also helps with the creative side of campaigns, creating images and videos.

In addition, they developed a Google ad strategy and optimized our landing page. Their team set up structured tests for the landing pages to help us refine that content.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

We found Disruptive on Clutch and then reached out to a few of their previous clients who gave them phenomenal feedback. Also, their reviews on Clutch were great. We reached out to them and explained our situation.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $5,000 a month on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our engagement in January 2020, and it’s ongoing.

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

We had a baseline level of ad and business performance. Since we partnered with them, those quantitative measures are notably higher. They almost immediately made changes that provided a lift in our performance.

We’re also extremely impressed by their strategic thinking. They brought thoughtfulness and empathy to our brand. Their team truly feels like a part of our overall business. They’re genuinely interested in seeing us grow and make smart recommendations to help us do so.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

They keep my co-founder and me abreast of how different projects' performances. We constantly communicate with their team about campaigns. During meetings, we decide what changes to make and then discuss our longer-term strategy to keep energy in the ads. Their emails are organized, efficient, and informative. Their team’s organized and communicate clearly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re an extension of our team. Disruptive’s in tune with our projects and goals. We don't just assign them work to execute. Rather, it's truly a living relationship. They quickly proved themselves, and now have a lot of autonomy to make decisions. The disruptive creative team’s brilliant and detailed-oriented.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve exceeded our expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be vulnerable. I was apprehensive about sharing the details of our overall business model because it seemed excessive given the initial scope. As they earned our trust, we shared more, which allowed them to think more strategically about our business and make recommendations for long-term growth.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder and CEO of an online men's training brand that sells strength accessories and apparel since 2010.

For what projects/services did your company hire , and what were your goals?

We hired Disruptive to manage our Facebook/IG and Google advertising channels. We wanted a team to manage both of these channels so that they could work better together and help us spend our budget more efficiently between the two channels and scale where there were opportunities.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Disruptive because of all the great reviews we read and their reputation for starting our as one of the best Google Advertising Agencies in the country. They went into our accounts and were very confident they could scale our Google side because it had performed so well over the past 5 years. We ultimately decided to go with them because we felt confident they were going to help us expand our advertising efforts and that they had the experience to make it happen. Their communication on calls in the beginning were great so that gave us confidence. They also communicated to us that we would have a manager for each channel, an account manager and a creative asset - so the value of the team was there.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Disruptive was hired to manage all of our advertising efforts on the Google Platform - specifically Search SEM, Shopping, Youtube etc. They were also tasked with managing our Facebook/IG Advertising which included building out campaigns, setting up funnels of different ad sets, creating 1 video creative a month, writing copy for the ads and overall managing the budget and spend. They were supposed to monitor both channels to optimize ROI across the advertising channels based on revenue coming in to our Shopify website. The minimum return we had expressed was a 3X ROI. Before we began they had identified an opportunity to scale the spend of the Google platform 3X - so that was part of the project as well.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with mainly two people. We were told we would have an Account Manager, Facebook Ads Manager, Google Ads Manager and Creative Manager. When we began we worked with the Facebook Manager almost exclusively for calls and emails. We did not have an account manager and we were never in contact with a creative person. This was the first red flag.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Within the first 3 weeks of working with disruptive all of our major performance metrics (KPIs) has dropped to all time lows. Our Conversion rates sank by 50%. Our time on the site dropped by 40%. Revenue sank by 20%. Cost per acquisition on Google increased by 12x. Our traffic had doubled and tripled on some days but it was very low quality traffic with a large percentage coming from outside our demographic (India). They had completely demolished what performance we had from before working with them.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We would have a call weekly at first and then it pushed out to every two weeks. Email correspondence was fast at first and then it slowed down after we started to have problems. As mentioned earlier - we did not have an account manager. Only when we started to raise concerns were we in contact with their VP of Paid Teams.

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

We were initially impressed by their communication and their understanding of our goals. They claimed to understand how the channels needed to work together and how the end goal of a business is to bring in revenue - not to show stellar stats on an ad set. After working with them - we were not impressed and to be honest - quite surprised by how negligent their management was.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Pretty much every area they could have improved on.

The team we were assigned did not know what they were doing. They did not look at our historical data or take our input seriously. They wasted our budget with cookie cutter strategies that have proven not to work. They recycled old ads with inaccurate offerings and tried to run settings from 2018. We all know the Facebook platform has changed very much since then.

Our Facebook manager didn't even read the copy in the ads he was turning on. When new ads were created they would copy one line of copy from an Instagram post and run it on all the ads. There were no call to actions, value propositions or any other copy proven to be effective in paid advertising. They had setting that had Facebook spending budget to bring low quality traffic from India to our website. They bombarded Google Ads with so many major changed it completely tanked and they did not revert any of it. They just let it run, waste our money and hurt our business.

When we contacted their management to ask for a new team the response we received was that they were at capacity and they had no other managers who could take us on. This company has 100 employees and they could not assign us to a better team. Their VP of Paid Teams stepped in himself to work on our Google Account. The first changes he made was to introduce negative keywords that blocked our branded terms. Google sent us an email warning us that our ads were not running properly because of his changes.

The whole experience was painful and extremely damaging to our brand. When we finally fired Disruptive - they refused to give us a refund for the most recent billing that had occurred 10 days prior. They stalled in fixing the situation because they knew our next billing cycle was coming up. Overall this company has very bad practices and their team is inexperienced and lazy.