Digitalization has been the talk of the town for over a year now. COVID did help in accelerating the rapid adoption of digitalization, which today has changed the face of businesses. But how did it affect consumer behavior? The customers today are more informed and knowledgeable as compared to the sales rep. they know what their options are, and specifically what one business may offer vs their competition. Consumers are choosing online shopping today where over 90% of them are online—in some industries, it is 100%. 

This change in shopping behavior has given LTD Connect a unique competitive advantage. LTD Connect is a leading marketing agency in Little Rock, Arkansas, which acts as the digital bridge to help its clients reach new customers and retain current ones. The company is digitally focused and holds the skills and expertise to not only generate leads but work with clients on how to transform those leads into revenue for a business. “We’ve helped our clients generate a new revenue stream and shown them true ROI on their marketing spend for various market niches,” proudly asserts Drew Dees, Co-founder of LTD Connect. 

Drew Dees has almost two decades of experience in the marketing industry. Initially, Dees spent his time running an in-house marketing agency for an 18-rooftop automotive group. Over the years, he withstands the changes in traditional marketing and worked in roles that offered a clear insight into media buying, creative concepts, meeting OEM requirements, production, working with 3rd party vendors, and a multitude of other things. Through these experiences, Dees was able to hone his skills in the retail marketing world. In his journey, Dees witnessed that there was a disconnect between a lot of agencies in what they promised and then what they delivered. Agencies failed to understand the clients’ needs and objectives. “I felt very strongly there was a need for LTD Connect,” said Dees. LTD Connected focused more on understanding the needs and objectives of clients and over the years, it has become more steadfast in its commitment to service for its clients. LTD Connects philosophy can be validated by its clients and their continued partnerships.

 

Pioneer in Digital Age

 

Commenting on the current market, Dees highlighted that consumer spending has increased which is good for the market, but this also may seem like everyone is a hero or that they are a brilliant salesperson when in reality, they are just benefiting from low hanging fruit. However, when the market adjusts some of these sales heroes will not be prepared. For LTD Connect it is different as it is fortunate to work with some really smart business owners, and also inspire the team to continually push to find new methods and techniques. These clients understand the importance of timing the market to grow market share. Dees believes that their partnerships are mutually beneficial, he continues, “We do our due diligence with our clients to ensure they align with our company, just as they evaluate us to make sure we bring what they need to the table.”

This approach has helped LTD Connect pioneer forward in the new digital age. Its exceptional cutting edge technology like first-party data and HITCH technology. In the digital world, data has become the new currency and LTD Connect offers the clients the freshest data, updated multiple times per month, and the team also can layer over 40,000 behavioral traits on top of the data. Working with dozens of DSPs allows LTD Connect to use its data and serve ads where the clients’ customers are and where the competition isn’t. 

Data distinguishes LTD Connect from the other players in the industry. Dees states that LTD Connects’ data is not only unique but also the HITCH technology which stands for Highly Integrated Tactical Customer Honing. By using HITCH, LTD Connect takes clients’ first-party data, to isolate their most profitable customers and then from there create a persona from the data and behaviors to identify targets in the market. This has proven results and over 53% of clients have seen an increase in engagement after switching to the HITCH system. 

 

Reliable Marketing Agency

 

The team is continually striving to improve the tech and keep it relevant in the evolving market. The skillful team of LTD Connect is passionate and shares the same enthusiasm to help the clients. Alike Dees, the team also genuinely cares for consumer success and while working they develop long-term relationships with the clients as the team works extremely hard to go above and beyond the traditional practices. Dees outlines that the team sets a lot of goals for their personal and clients results, which helps the team stay focused and engaged. He adds, “We also have a regular internal meeting where our account managers will review their counterpart's accounts and make recommendations if needed, it just helps to have a fresh set of eyes to get a different perspective.” Apart from this, LTD Connect also has a book club that is home to business-focused books and helps the team to apply things they learn or at the very least have good in-depth discussions among themselves. 

“To me, the ‘Golden Rule’ is pretty simple and straightforward, in fact, I believe just about every major religion has its own version, but we have adapted it simply to take the position when we make a decision for our clients we do it from the owners standpoint, meaning we look at the cost, benefits, and what it means for the employees of our clients” says Dees. LTD Connect does not speak of the rule but the same can be seen reflected in the culture, not only in how the team members operate but also in how they care for the clients. The team is persistent in delivering excellent service and thus treats the client business as their own and takes great care of them. This in turn has resulted in clients trusting LTD Connect as the go-to marketing agency.

 

Pearls of Wisdom from the leader

 

Being an entrepreneur often means having scarce time in hand and one should be able to understand where and how to invest their time. Dees’ leadership philosophy is to simply ‘Inspect what you except’. He believes that there is nothing worse than sitting in a meeting for 30-45 min, and there’s no follow-up or follow-through on items. He adds, “It drives me crazy, so I’ve learned to inspect what I expect to come out of those meetings.” He shares the same advice with aspiring entrepreneurs.

Apart from this, the initial journey for any startup will be filled with challenges. Dees has learned to cherish these challenges and work through them to achieve a sense of accomplishment. One should never stay in their comfort zone but push themselves to excel. David Goggins is a Navy Seal who has written a few books now, and he preaches the idea of “getting comfortable being uncomfortable”. Dees believes that this speaks to personal growth as well as business growth.  “It’s imperative not to get complacent and to always continue to grow and push yourself out of your comfort zone,” said Dees. Even if one encounters failure in the journey they must learn from it and move past it. Dees always ensures that no failure deems as catastrophic for the morale of the team and stunts the growth, rather he with the team would strive to not repeat the mistake.  

 

Push beyond Comfort zone

 

The past 2 years have been catastrophic in nature both physically and economically. Despite the chaotic environment, Dees believes that the silver lining has been his family and close friends coming out healthy amid the crisis. He said, “I know that seems basic, but the pandemic did a few things to not only reset some business operations but also gave some perspective on things that we may miss when we move too fast and don’t slow down to appreciate.”

In terms of business, LTD Connect did not face any major deflections. On the contrary, the company grew with employees and clients and was able to expand in some new industries to test the product. Innovation is constant with technology and to stay relevant in this industry, LTD Connect has to keep working on new products and tools. In the coming year, the goal will be to expand their customer base and also progress alongside technology trends to stay abreast of the competitors. Dees concludes, “Goal setting is very important, we have some goals that seem far-fetched but are good to help make us push beyond our comfort zones.”

Optimistic Perspective: “The way the pandemic has forced people to adapt and embrace technology will be the single largest impact or change when looking at thing’s pre-pandemic vs. post-pandemic.   It’s also forced all businesses to adapt to a new consumer, a new shopping experience, and new customer expectations.”

 

Quote

 

“We focus and work hard on having a good culture at LTD Connect, which means celebrating the wins, we don’t ignore the failures, but we don’t dwell on them, we simply learn and move on.”

 

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