Disruptive Advertising

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a decorative concrete company, offering staining and epoxy coating for commercial and residential projects. Our team takes on about 1,500 jobs each year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We were looking for a company that could provide leads at a low acquisition cost while optimizing our Google AdWords account. Previously, we worked with 2–3 other agencies that didn’t work out, so we needed someone new.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

To start, we met several times to determine goals for lead acquisition or lead cost. Together, we crafted a plan to drive traffic toward our landing pages to boost our sales. They were responsible for optimizing the correct keywords and regions through AdWords to get quality leads at a reasonable price.

Now, when a customer clicks on one of our ads, they’re taken to a landing page with a submission form. Ultimately, that form gets us either to an estimate or consultation, which is how we make conversions. 

For a new product we’re introducing called an overlay, we’re building a campaign. They’ll have it up and running in 14 days.

What is the team composition?

There were three people working directly with me. Starting out, I spoke with a sales manager to discuss my goals for the project. After that, I was assigned to Caden (Marketing Consultant, Disruptive Advertising) who acted as our account manager. 

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

All my research started with a Google search. I was looking for a social media or PPC firm with good reviews and high volumes of reviews. After narrowing it down to three companies, I interviewed them and decided on Disruptive Advertising. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $15,000–$18,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

On any given day, we can receive as many as 40 requests for estimates, which is huge considering our niche offerings. We book about 60% of those requests, too. That indicates that they’re targeting our desired demographics well. 

Our cost per keyword has been improving and acquisition cost is low. All of our market ads have click-through rates of about 8%, which goes above and beyond what I expected to be able to achieve with them. Our Google AdWords account now generates more leads than Home Advisors, which was definitely not the case before.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

I work strictly with Caden, who’s very responsive to our account. If I have a question or request for a change, I can shoot him an email, and the problem will be addressed in a few hours. When I was speaking with him yesterday, he made the changes while we were on the phone. He’s a rockstar. It’s great that he’s able to coordinate a campaign with only a 14-day window. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sometimes, agencies want to start Google AdWords campaigns without fully understanding how a business operates. Disruptive Advertising took more time than I expected to dig into AdWords, but that ended up being a good thing. They handled our account carefully and really understood our business before diving in. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve jumped on everything I’ve asked them to do, bringing only positive results for my company.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Everyone’s business is different. The best advice would be to thoroughly explain your company to their team. When they’re chasing those keywords, they’ll get great results. The last thing you want for your company is to be going after the wrong demographic, so pay close attention to how you discuss your needs.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO and co-founder of the nation's fastest-growing, privately-held medical waste disposal and compliance services company. We cater to non-acute healthcare providers in 46 states.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Disruptive to manager our paid search advertising, specifically Google Ads and Microsoft Ads pay-per-click campaigns. We have outsourced to agencies a few times over the years, but for the past two years had primarily run in-house with inconsistent results (cost varying wildly from month-to-month, quality of leads all over the place) and no executable game plan when it came to iterative changes for A/B variant testing.

What were your goals for this project?

To reduce our cost per lead and cost per acquisition while increasing overall leads growth. We wanted to increase our presence to ensure there were no keywords or queries for which we were not appearing in paid results.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We established a baseline with our in-house efforts and then compared Disruptive's proposal to two or three other vendors. Each vendor performed their own keyword analysis based on a series of interviews before ultimately being given read-only access to our Ad and Analytics accounts to provide a more comprehensive report.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Disruptive put together a campaign strategy based on geographic parameters and keywords identified as most likely to convert. They then designed multiple landing pages to launch variant testing. From there we had weekly check-in calls to review results and compare their data (clicks, cost, etc.) to what was showing in our CRM and based on feedback from the sales team making adjustments to various campaigns.

What was the team composition?

I worked primarily with Jacob Secrist, our assigned account manager. Occasionally, a few other people from his team would participate in calls as they might have responsibility for landing page design or other facets of our campaign strategy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our cost per lead dropped by 15% while cost per opportunity dropped by 37% and, most importantly, our cost per acquisition decreased by 17%.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We continue to have an incredibly effective collaboration process between our two companies. Weekly check-in calls often turn into in-depth strategy sessions and I think we both walk away from those meetings feeling as if we've learned something new.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They seem to be on top of all the changes occurring and never once do they stumble over the numbers. They come into every call with a clear agenda and know the numbers quite intimately. It feels like we're their only client.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is nothing that comes to mind. They are fairly responsive, though perhaps a slightly quicker turnaround time on some design components, but even that is usually done in under a week, guess we're just impatient

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for a retail business that sells hot tubs, swim spas, and saunas. For those of you that aren't familiar with these products, they are comparable to luxury vehicle purchases. We only carry the top brands in the industry. My position at the company is controlling everything Marketing and Ecommerce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I used to have an in house person who managed our google ads, facebook ads, and all other PPC marketing channels. I had to let this person go but I didn't have the time to handle all of the work and optimize our PPC setup. As a result I hired another agency (just for clarity...Disruptive Advertising) that spent way too much money and provided me with horrible communication and reporting. I was paying them to take work off my plate and they caused more headache for me. That's when I started doing some more research for the best agencies in the business and I found Disruptive Advertising. They are truly experts on everything related to PPC.

What were your goals for this project?

My goals for this project were to optimize our PPC efforts and learn more about the best strategies to drive traffic to our website and retail locations to convert leads better. I also wanted to set up end to end tracking so I could better assess how much I should be spending on PPC vs other advertising channels.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was doing research online and got a recommendation from a friend who works for a reputable company. To give me more reassurance, my exploration call with Disruptive was wonderful. They already did some research on my business and looked at some of the ads we were running so they hit the ground running. Even before working with me they had advice for making our account better and I knew that they were the perfect fit.

Describe the project in detail.

The ultimate goal of the project was to set up end to end tracking and to establish the best strategies to drive more leads into our sales funnel. Obviously we focused on making sure these were quality leads.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with Kyle, Brian, and Josh. Kyle seemed like the account manager who was in charge or leading the calls I had with them every week. Brian set up the ads in google and Josh was the technical guru who set up the end to end tracking.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I cannot share explicitly, but I can tell you that they accomplished exactly what I was looking for when I hired them to handle our PPC ads. End to end tracking was set up properly and they did increase the number of leads we were getting from our PPC efforts. They routinely hit the goals I had set for them monthly.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was great. They really stayed on top of everything so it was easy working with them. They even responded to my inquiries on the weekend and were able to make last-minute changes that I thought needed to be made.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The precision of their reporting and the consistency in their communication stand out. They never wasted my time on weekly calls with them and they stayed data driven. They were also proposing new strategies and teaching me about the latest google updates that could be beneficial to my account.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No areas for improvement. They exceeded my expectations in every way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and CEO of iLash Inc. We distribute eyelash extension products including tools, glues, and anything that’s related to professional eyelash extensions. The extensions are placed by licensed technicians.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We were trying to make our PPC campaigns more efficient through Google and Facebook. We were spending a lot of money on this effort but wanted to make sure that we were getting the best bang for our buck as far as the number of clicks we were getting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with an in-person meeting that went into our business, customer base, and goals. There was a lot of evaluation before we started implementing them. They also offered other digital marketing services that went beyond PPC in an effort to help our business and website.

What is the team composition?

I work with four different people. One who is responsible for social media, one for works with the PPC campaigns, someone who is in charge of customer analytics, and another who focuses on email campaigns.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

I’ve used a lot of different companies over the years. I wanted a company that was more localized, so I could meet them more in person.

How much have you invested with them?

Throughout our different projects, we’ve spent somewhere in the $50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Disruptive Advertising began in January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Disruptive Advertising has done a professional job for us.  All of their team is specialized in different areas, which has been helpful. They’ve continued improving and meeting our return on ad spend, which was our main goal.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they’ve performed great. Along with being extremely knowledgeable, their team is easy to communicate with and responds quickly to questions. Their office is about 30–45 minutes from us, so I can easily meet them.

I found that during our initial talks, I’ve only had to meet with them once or twice in person. After that, we primarily speak during conference calls. The team at Disruptive Advertising is dedicated to their accounts. They do their best to stay on top of things.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Most companies only offer PPC or SEO services and don’t push other options on their customers. With Disruptive Advertising, customers start with what they’re interested in before building a rapport. The option to integrate multiple services outside of the initial scope at any time is excellent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing that I could think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

An in-person meeting is great in the beginning, even if flying is involved. That goes with all companies because starting off the relationship with a more personal connection is a benefit in the long run. I would also evaluate your budget because they’re willing to work with you in that regard. I would recommend Disruptive Advertising for any company.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an account manager at a a tech company based in Silicon Valley. We have over 15K+ employees globally and I oversee the relationship with some of our top tier advertisers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have a shared customer with Disruptive and worked with the Disruptive team to define strategy and execute on the client's primary B2B marketing initiatives.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to alleviate bandwidth constraints on the client's side and grow the business while maintaining quality of execution and insights.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our shared client selected Disruptive as their vendor, but we fully support and have pitched them to other business lines we have relationships with because of the quality of their work and communication.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Disruptive has taken over the complete management of the marketing campaigns, performance, and most recently the budget pacing. The team we work with, Kezlie, Katie, and Kaden, have been true consultants and partners throughout the process - asking great discovery questions, providing their insight and expertise, and always keeping everyone in the loop with that is happening.

What was the team composition?

Saunder is the primary lead and has helped develop and execute the strategy. Kezlie, Katie, and Kaden have been the front-line experts when it comes to the execution, suggestions on how we could do more/better, and also the delivery of results.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Disruptive team has helped grow the client business, meet their KPIs, and assist us in continuing to build a long-lasting relationship centered on trust and transparency.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

In many ways, the Disruptive team feels like an extension of us. We trust them implicitly with their recommendations and have an open channel of communication where we can brainstorm and collaborate effectively together.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How incredibly smart and hard working they are, especially for their age.

Are there any areas for improvement?

B2B is hard an very different from B2C. It takes a vastly different approach and what works there doesn't work for B2B. Most agencies aren't great at this, but Disruptive is learning fast.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a water filtration e-commerce direct to consumer startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

We had recently terminated our relationship with another agency that failed to create an honest relationship with us. Disruptive Advertising was brought in to do credible PPC and search engine marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the time, we were still developing our nationwide product, preparing for its launch. Because we’re a bootstrapped company, we wanted to find ways to increase revenue. Our expertise isn’t in marketing, so they guided us through their process during the project.

We didn’t have hard requirements. In our discover sessions, we fleshed out plans to use ad revenue to cover operational expenses. As a startup, we had tight constraints on that front. Their team was also tasked with picking up the pieces from our previous partnership.

They continue to handle and grow our paid advertising on Google to drive more revenue to our business. They’re in charge of our Google AdWords account.

What is the team composition?

Our primary point of contact was Clayton (Marketing Strategist, Disruptive Advertising), our account manager. We interact almost exclusively with him in our advertising efforts. He’ll occasionally bring someone else from the team onto calls, but they’ve made an effort to keep us with a point of contact.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

After doing a Google search and getting background information on possible partners, we vetted five agencies for how well they would represent our business. In our conversations with them, Disruptive Advertising floated to the top. We noticed their salespeople were operating with integrity and character, which we thought was indicative of their company culture. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent about $41,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in August 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we started our work with them, we’ve increased our ad spend 10x and received 12x the revenue in return. We’ve been able to focus our concentration on unit economics because they’ve optimized our unit cost per acquisition. While it’s difficult to contribute all the impact to a singular channel, they’ve been a huge benefit to our company. I’ve even referred friends to them, which is a big testament to their abilities.  

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very strong. It’s been nice having a single, responsive point of contact in our account manager. Especially given our novice level of marketing understanding, it’s important to get quick answers to our questions over phone and email. They were always able to provide insight into the more technical aspects of digital marketing. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a sense of high moral character and always follow through on promises. If they’re unable to complete a task, they communicate that to us before it becomes a problem. Because of their honesty and integrity, we’ve been able to treat them like an extension of our business. The conversations I have with Disruptive Advertising personnel use the same tone and transparency as discussions with my internal team. Their ability to operate with integrity speaks volumes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No partner is perfect, but we’ve built an honest, true relationship. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re not going to let you down, so treat them as an extension of your team. You’ll be able to maximize their value add by informing them of your weak spots. They have plenty of institutional knowledge and can provide great insights. But, if your experience is wildly different from mine, don’t be afraid to move on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager and owner of a financial media firm. In addition to my media channels, I also sell online courses that provide a technical analysis of cryptocurrency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Disruptive Advertising?

I was initially driving sales to my product through my YouTube channel by referring viewers and subscribers. But I knew there was still an untapped part of the market to explore, so I hired Disruptive Advertising to support me with video and display ads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Disruptive Advertising manages my Google Ads and YouTube ads, setting up the accounts and running several campaigns on my behalf. That includes display ads, video ads, and another piece that I’ve created myself.

We’re currently testing different approaches along with a dynamic remarketing campaign. Their team tracks performance through Google Ads and sorts through the analytics to determine what works best.

What is the team composition? 

Madelyn (Marketing Consultant, Disruptive Advertising) is my main point of contact, but I believe she works with about six other team members to help me out.

How did you come to work with Disruptive Advertising?

I searched on Google for various marketing and PPC agencies along with review sites like Clutch. Across the board, Disruptive Advertising had a lot of great reviews, and their clients seemed to be happy with them.

I messaged them through their website, and, within 10 minutes, they’d called me back to set up a consultation. A couple of days later, everything was up and rolling.

How much have you invested with them?

They’ve offered a great value for my money, so I’m happy with the price structure. For smaller companies, they typically have a base fee until you hit a certain return. Then, it switches offer to a percentage of your ad spend.

While this works for us, it might be more cost-effective for smaller companies that make less than $50,000–$100,000 in revenue to go with someone else. It just depends on your marketing budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve set up my analytics, which allows me to track which ads are generating traffic. They’re also doing a good job of driving product sales. Right now, they’re landing about 10–20 sales per month, or about $3,000 in revenue. That puts us at around two times our return on advertising (ROA), but we’re shooting for three times this month and will probably get close.

How did Disruptive Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been absolutely fantastic. It’s hard to give criticism when there’s nothing to criticize. They’re just good at what they do—the ads are converting pretty highly, so I can’t really ask for anything more.

I talk to Madelyn on the second Monday of every month. Each time, she sends a 10-page PDF report on what we’ve done so far, our current status, and our plan for the next month.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The first word that comes to mind is professionalism. For example, their reports could just come as a text document, but they’re so well-produced. It has their color scheme, is well-structured, and is easy to understand. 

I also want to make a special note about Madelyn. She’s a great account manager who communicates clearly and excels at her role. I’ve talked to several other team members, too, and they all know exactly what they’re doing. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing to say. They’re big on constructive criticism, so they’ve asked me this question before, too. I couldn’t think of anything then, either.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d say ask for Madelyn, but everyone is great. They have such a good process set up and are all relatively responsive.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the office manager of a window covering business in downtown Los Angeles. We manufacture and sell roller shades to residential and commercial customers throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our company was looking to expand its internet advertising to reach more customers in Southern California. We were also interested in pursuing new avenues of advertising through social media.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increased the number of leads generated per month while also maintaining a high lead to sale conversion rate. Our secondary goal was to reduce the cost per lead for all our advertising by changing the focus of where we spent our advertising budget.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Disruptive Advertising had been recommended by several of our product vendors. After some research and an initial consultation, we decided to place a portion of our advertising budget with Disruptive Advertising. After a successful first month, we switched the entirely of our advertising to them.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Disruptive Advertising increased our search engine advertisements through Google and Bing and expanded our advertising to a variety of other sites (Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc.). They helped us craft specialized advertisements and rolled out our new ads to these sites. They also helped us integrate these new channels into our existing website and customer database.

What was the team composition?

We've worked primarily with their marketing team, but several of their IT and web design specialists have also assisted us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since switching to Disruptive Advertising, our total sales have increased by 150% and our average sales have increased by almost 20%. In addition, our cost per lead has fallen by 15%.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everyone at Disruptive Advertising we worked with, from their marketing team to their IT department to their managing directors, was extremely helpful and easy to work with. They were responsive to our questions and always offered useful feedback.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I most appreciated their willingness to adapt their marketing solutions to our business. The number one priority for them was adapting their design to best fit our company.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. We wish I had heard about them years ago so they could have handled our advertising from the time the company started. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of digital marketing for Venafi, an IT security technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have a very small digital team at Venafi so we decided to bring on Disruptive to help us with our PPC campaign execution and strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to decrease our costs per lead and find the right balance of types of ads (display, keyword, remarketing, brand search) to give us the most valuable leads for the money we spend.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were already using a SEO consultant that we'd been very successful with. They recommended Disruptive to us and we signed up right away because we were impressed with their professionalism and expertise.

Describe the project in detail.

We first met with Disruptive to completely redo our inherited SEM campaign. The first thing we needed was to make sure that we were tracking everything properly. Disruptive helped us set up proper tracking before we made substantive changes. Once that was set up, they built a brand new PPC campaign from scratch, including building it so that testing for all campaigns could easily be tested and changed on a weekly basis. We then embarked on years of weekly testing, constantly refining our programs to bring the costs down and the value of leads up without ever hurting our lead volume more than 10% based on changes and tests.

What was the team composition?

We have an account manager who is our main point of contact, and we rarely need contact with anyone else. Our account manager pulls in anyone that we need but that's mostly unnecessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because cost per lead was the most important thing for Venafi, we focused on it relentlessly. We have now succeeded in making our PPC campaign the lowest cost per lead of any program at Venafi. Disruptive was able to do this while not affecting the quality of the leads coming in through massive amounts of audience testing.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are great. We have a regular cadence of meetings and rarely have any need to communicate between our meetings. When necessary, however, they are very responsive. They always deliver on what they promise and are great at communicating progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The thing I find most impressive is their knowledge and professionalism. I have had three different account managers while working with Disruptive but there was no time or expertise lost when we had to change to a different account manager.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I haven't noticed any areas for improvement while I have been a customer of Disruptive. They have been great through multiple account management changes and various business initiatives.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Collective Intelligence is a content marketing tool geared to help teams generate better content. Some of the best content resources every company has is its employees/customers. At Collective Intelligence we believe in harnessing that feedback and utilizing it to better understand and improve your customer journey. I am the head of Marketing and Sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired them to jump-start our online presence. We are a small start-up that needed to generate more leads and help us build some landing pages.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals for this project are very simple. We are trying to get 35-50 new trial sign up and at least 1-2 closes per month.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected them by doing some research for the most cost-effective digital agencies in the United States. They are a primer google partner and have won several awards. After we saw that and their reviews it was a no brainer.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We needed to start building our lead generation engine. The traffic we were getting was small and no one has ever heard of us. Disruptive Advertising was tasked with getting us found for keywords on google and brining in highly qualified prospects to our trial.

What was the team composition?

There is a whole team dedicated to your account. Our account manager Preston has been great staying on top of our account and bringing new ideas to the table. I know there is a few other watching our account and helping.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still in the first couple of months of using them but they are looking to hit their goal ahead of schedule. Which is more than I can ask for.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been smooth. They are on top of everything and willing to listen and implement my ideas.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The results. At the end of the day, that's, how you judge an agency and they have been delivering the results and setting real expectations since day one.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at the moment.