In-house digital advertising solutions are key for the team at Webspec. We wanted to understand more about how they integrated programmatic advertising into their overall marketing solutions for their clients and the value they get out of having an in-house digital advertising solution. We sat down with Glenn Martin, Digital Marketing Director at Webspec, to better understand their implementation.
Megan Sullivan-Jenks, Senior Director of Marketing, Choozle: Let’s start with an explanation of what you do at Webspec.
Glenn Martin, Digital Marketing Director, Webspec: I’m the Digital Marketing Director at Webspec, a web design and marketing agency based in Des Moines, IA. I oversee the Content & SEO team, who create website content for new websites with a content-first approach, as well as our Digital Marketing Strategists, who work on clients’ marketing and advertising campaigns with SEO, email & content marketing, SEM, and social media.
MSJ: From your point of view, what is the benefit of having an in-house digital advertising solution at Webspec?
GM: Having an in-house digital advertising solution has long been a goal for Webspec as we grow. We’ve had clients asking for a product like this for several years and have been bumping up against the restraints of the GDN as well.
We’re also an agency that prides itself on doing everything in-house. So many companies choose to outsource certain services, and we didn’t want to go that route for programmatic advertising. We like to be able to as much for our clients as possible from our office in order to keep the synergy between all aspects of their marketing.
MSJ: What won you over when you started exploring Choozle as your in-house digital advertising solution?
GM: A few things really won me over to Choozle. As an agency, when we’re trying to break into offering a new service, we always want to try it out on ourselves first to learn the platform, and to know whether or not the software is going to work for us. So many other companies have such steep monthly minimums that it didn’t make sense for us to run a campaign for ourselves at those levels just to see how the platform worked.
Additionally, the Choozle team is extremely approachable and willing to help at any time. We were visited by Kirk a couple of times in the first few months of signing on, and the entire team has been there to help us the whole time. I feel like that’s rare for a SaaS platform, but Choozle is doing it absolutely right!
MSJ: How did the Choozle team help enable you to be successful?
GM: First off, the Choozle team is amazing. They’re so easy to get a hold of and have so much extensive knowledge in setting up and optimizing campaigns.
Specifically, the Choozle team helped me right off the bat by helping me set up our first campaign and making sure I knew all the settings and options available. Then, they also keep an eye on all the campaigns and their performance (so that I don’t have to). Usually they’re set up properly and run smoothly, but there have been a few times when the Choozle team noticed some poor performance, and they reached out and we fixed it that day.
MSJ: What do you wish you knew when you first started with Choozle?
GM: I wish I knew that the URL parameters needed to be added directly to the creative assets. I had gone in assuming that Choozle had some sort of auto-tagging option for the ads.
MSJ: What are some of the challenges you face when implementing digital advertising at Webspec?
GM: We’re always concerned about the performance, conversions, and ROI for our clients. Oftentimes it’s difficult to advocate for or implement top-of-funnel campaigns when they don’t directly lead to sales or conversions. However, that’s usually just a conversation that we have with them to explain how it all fits together, and that programmatic ads are part of the equation along with the Google search network, social media, SEO, and so on.
MSJ: Do you have any words of wisdom for someone considering Choozle as their in-house digital advertising solution?
GM: My recommendation, as with all digital tools, is to try it on your own agency first. You’ll get to know the capabilities of the Choozle platform, and be able to see direct results in your analytics or reporting. Then, after your first initial campaign, you’ll be an expert in advocating Choozle’s implementation for many of your other clients.
MSJ: Any final thoughts?
GM: Choozle is one of the easiest platforms I’ve used to set up ad campaigns. Absolutely love it!
Glen Martin | Digital Marketing Director at Webspec
Glenn is the Digital Marketing Director at Webspec, a web design and marketing agency in Des Moines, IA. He’s worked at Webspec for three years and worked at a large tech company before moving back to Central Iowa to work at Webspec. In his free time, Glenn likes to travel and cook—especially with any fermented foods.
