Mattan Danino, CEO & Founder of WEBITMD talks about his adventure in the digital marketing industry and the story behind the agency’s success.
WEBITMD is a Growth Marketing agency that delivers an engineered approach to digital marketing that combines marketing and sales strategy with technology and automation. He shared with us how his journey that has started with a studio apartment turned into a growing success with three office locations in the US.
Keep reading to get inspired by his professional background and learn more about what makes WEBITMD different in the marketing industry!
Q: How has WEBITMD evolved since you started it in 2008? What was your motivation to start a company in the first place?
Oh boy! Let’s just say it’s evolved from my studio apartment to today with 3 office locations and partnering with global brands. We started as a performance-based traffic driving agency focused on Organic SEO & Paid Media (at the time just Google AdWords).
I was motivated to start WEBITMD out of pure need – there was a void in the market for small/mid-sized organizations unable to work with large agencies due to budget constraints but also lacking the knowledge of how to manage and maintain in-house marketing teams. That is where WEBITMD stepped in and offered solutions to help those such companies grow their businesses working with experts at an affordable cost.
Q: Which challenges did you face during your journey? How did you overcome them?
The 3 biggest challenges along this journey have been; talent, client education, technology.
Finding people that want a job is easy, finding the “right” team members are more challenging. Since inception, I have been very picky with who joins our team. I have hand-picked and curated each team member to ensure passion, expertise, culture, and overall drive in our agencies offerings. Clients see that and appreciated it greatly.
Client education has been another challenge throughout the years that we found tricky to overcome. Clients think they know what they want but the reality is that they are coming to us for advice. What we learned is that it’s not just about the tactics delivered but rather the strategy and consultative approach to educating clients on why we are doing those tactics in the first place. Teaching is a part of our DNA.
Technology is ever-changing – and it changes fast! We have had to keep up with technology and stay at the forefront of integrating various tech platforms into our strategic engagements. We advise our clients on platforms and technology and ensure that they work together.
Q: What’s the biggest change in the agency business since you started? How have you and your team adapted to these changes?
About 2 years ago (late-2017) we rolled out The WEBITMD® Growth Stack – an innovative offering that combines digital strategy, tactics, and technology to produce a marketing and sales generating machine.
Our Growth Stack starts at the foundation of how humans consume information and make purchase decisions. From brand awareness to marketing automation to closing deals into revenue; our stack brings together the strategy & tactics driving measurable business growth.
To date, our Growth Stack has helped radically grow 50+ businesses ranging from startups to Fortune 1000 enterprises.
Mattan Danino shares insights about sales pro tips.
Q: What are some useful digital tools that help you and your team accomplish your goals every day?
We are big on tools & technology ourselves. A few that we use daily are Asana for project management, Slack for communication, DataBox & Google Analytics for data collection and display, and HubSpot for CRM, email marketing & automation (marketing & sales).
Q: You promise your clients on your website that WEBITMD is Not Just Another Agency – what makes you different? How do you ensure that you provide the best service for your clients?
Great question! The landscape within the agency world is messy; anyone can start one, claims are made left and right, and the assurance for client success is a black hole. For years digital marketing agencies were accountable for driving traffic or helping improve rankings for their clients. They had reports that prove it and that was considered success.
We approach things differently. We consider ourselves an outsourced marketing department for our clients. Quite often we serve as their CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) as well. We don’t just drive traffic but rather feel accountable for the overall success and impact on our clients’ bottom line. We look at traffic, leads, and revenue together. Our goal is to help our clients’ businesses grow. With that aligned objective, we have found wild success.
Q: What is the future of search marketing? What would you say will be the next big trends in the industry?
That’s a tough one. We have found a shift lately in more dollars towards paid media strategy vs. the increased competition within search results on the organic side. Simply put – Google, Facebook and others make their money from advertising revenue and have adjusted their platforms to reflect that. We feel that search marketing will shift more towards paid products vs. organic positioning that are being pushed down the page.
Q: “Near me” searches are on the rise… What do you think about its importance for digital agencies and what are your tips on ranking for these searches online?
Local is everything! Our agency has team members in 3 markets (Los Angeles, New York City, & Dallas). We have a local presence in each and optimize to attract businesses locally. Despite the fact that we can (and do) work with clients around the globe we have found the most success working with clients locally in our markets.
Strategy wise; focus on local pillar pages. Produce long-form optimized content pages on your website for the markets that you do business in and then 2-3 supporting blog posts in a cluster model to help rank that pillar page. Content is still king!
Mattan Danino talks about marketing and sales alignment
Q: We receive great insights and tips about growth marketing thanks to WEBITMD University series. How do you decide on the topics you cover in your Blog? Which topics mostly attract your readers’ attention?
First of all, thank you! We put a lot of thought into our WEBITMD University. It’s a collection of content (written, audio, video) that we produce ongoing highlighting the latest in digital marketing & sales strategy. It’s been a huge part of our success and serves not just as a sales tool for lead generation but also a valuable educational resource for the community.
We’ve found the most traction with topics centered around technology (AI, bots, marketing automation) as well as tactical marketing & sales advice that you can read and implement on your own. We are an open book of information and glad to share all that we can.
Q: How does being a DAN member contribute to WEBITMD’s success?
DAN has been a fantastic partnership for WEBITMD. Our profile sees quite a bit of traffic, a few of our team members contribute content to DAN, and it has surely provided us with the credibility and lead generation as a result. We are thrilled to work with DAN and look forward to a continued relationship!
About WEBITMD
WEBITMD is a Growth Marketing agency delivering an engineered approach to digital marketing that combines search strategies & creative with technology & automation.
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