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In today’s business environment, marketing and advertising are vital factors for the company’s success. Over the years, the advertising industry has rapidly evolved and underwent several transformations, but the end goal has remained the same—help the clients increase and grow their business. Also, primetime advertising is now in the consumer’s hands, so businesses have to reach their audience with the right message. Ad agencies not only have to prioritize the right message but also fulfill the creative quotient, while also keeping up with the changing consumer requirements. Despite the demand, there was a dearth of creative ideas and customer services that other agencies were providing. Drew Dees and Wes Hymer took the opportunity to introduce a revolutionary platform called LTD Connect, by marketing their clients in uncluttered environments where its customers spend time and helping bridge the gap between sales and marketing to provide a true ROI.
Drew Dees (Co-founder at LTD Connect) has worked for more than a decade in the industry. Prior to LTD, Dees worked as the marketing director for an 18-rooftop auto dealer group. While managing close to a million dollars a month in ad spend, measuring ROI, trying new technologies, Dees still exceeded OEM and dealership sales goals, and meeting the turn time of being quick to market and capitalizing on the limited number of selling days in the month.
Wes Hymer (Co-founder at LTD Connect) is a leader in tech and innovation. He helped digital ad agency Team SI grow into one of the fastest-growing companies in Arkansas by leading the automotive vertical for the company. He has since increased his digital footprint with the establishment of LTD Connect and oversees the day-to-day sales and operations for the company.
LTD stands for “Living the Dream” and that “dream” is not the destination but the journey. “We started LTD because we were tired of the lack of ideas and customer service other agencies were providing. Marketing Directors are wary of telling their agency what to do instead of receiving fresh ideas, and not having a reliable partner who answers when they call,” asserts Dees. The mission of the company is to connect the clients to customers to help them grow their business. The following can be achieved by offering the highest level of customer service to the clients and treating business as if it was their own. LTD Connect’s approach is data-driven and its strategy leverages advanced tools that are capable of finding uncluttered marketing mediums to help the brand stand out. LTD Connect offers a wide range of services from the paid digital media such as search engine marketing, CTV, and social to managed services like SEO, social and reputation management.
Apart from the above-mentioned services, LTD’s unique offering is the HITCH technology. It is often observed that several businesses put all their marketing efforts into acquiring new business, but in the process forget that to grow they must retain the customers they already have. LTD Connect combines technology and human touch strategy to hone in on both audiences to meet their requirements with the right message. Despite third-party targeting being restricted with the new regulations, HITCH offers the opportunity to target at a hyper-personal level without being restricted.
Highly Integrated Tactical Customer Honing—HITCH, allows you to target the right customer, on the right device, at the right moment. It leverages the business’s first-party data to retain current customers while building ‘lookalike audiences’ to attract potential customers who ‘look like’ the current ones. “Target customers who look just like the ones you’ve been most profitable with. HITCH functions with all segments you want to reach, target the customers that generate the greatest return to your business,” explains Dees.
Dees and Hymer have been successful in establishing a revolutionary platform that is soaring to new heights. The initial journey of establishing the business can be extremely challenging. It demands a ton of sacrifice. While on this journey it is easy to get lost in the day-to-day and lose sight of the big picture. The co-founder duo also encountered several challenges along their journey but was persistent to meet the goal. They created a long-term vision for the company and a mission that is bigger than any one person. This has shaped accountability and given the team a long-term mindset to really make an impact.
Challenges are part and parcel of a journey, it is the approach that distinguishes one from the rest. “Seeing your idea and vision come to life. It’s energizing when you make decisions and take the risk to see them pay off. I wish I would have known that you don’t have to have it all figured out before you start. Just start. Don’t be afraid to try things and fail. That’s the best way to learn,” advises Dees.
In recent times, COVID-19 has been catastrophic to the population—both physically and economically. Businesses around the globe have witnessed an abrupt stop, which can be temporary or lasting. However, few of the companies have managed to survive this wrath, one of which being LTD Connect. The company was recently launched, and this sudden halt gave the company an opportunity to self-examine and tweak not only some internal processes but also allowed the team to better serve the clients. This also showed the duo where the real threshold is for the company when it comes to the team and clients.
The pandemic has managed to increase the adoption of digital tools. Virtualization has become the new normal. But in this new normal, data privacy has become a vital factor impacting how companies market to consumers. Dees is anticipating that in the post-pandemic world, first-party data will be more important than ever and finding audiences who look like the existing customers to market to will be extremely important. LTD Connect specializes in this niche and the team guarantees it will continually strive to provide its clients with fresh ideas to help them reach their audience in new and unique ways.
“LTD Connect will be a leader in digital innovation, but more importantly we’re going to bridge the gap between marketing and sales so clients know the value of their marketing dollar,” concludes Dees.
