Just a short time ago, Kevin Simonson was working as a marketing expert for a tech startup. But when the startup went under, rather than searching for another, he decided to launch his own agency. His clients are happy that he did, as he's become a go-to expert for driving scalable growth for B2B eCommerce.

Metric Digital is a performance marketing agency based in New York City. Their focus is on helping B2B companies drive measurable goals through paid advertising and on direct response and customer acquisition for eCommerce and lead generation companies. They are experts in scaling paid advertising on social media and search engines while increasing lifetime value through retention strategies across paid channels and email marketing.

We caught up with Simonson to find out what makes Metric Digital different from other marketing agencies, and the advice he has for B2B companies looking to grow their business through digital marketing and digital transformation.

What inspired you to launch Metric Digital?

I was actually asked to start it by a number of people. I used to run Facebook performance marketing for clients at an agency/ad tech startup that went bankrupt. As the company went under, I had six job offers to run marketing for my clients from that company. After speaking with all of them, the CEO of one of the companies told me I should work for all them at the same time by starting my own agency. I called them all back and five of them signed up over the phone as clients that afternoon.

In your experience, what is the biggest struggle for B2B businesses when pursuing digital commerce?

Having proper attribution tracking in place. For B2B, there are often multiple touch points until the signature is on the contract and the money is in the bank, so building a foundation of tracking data is crucial and often a struggle for most businesses.

What channels of promotion are you finding are best for businesses? What kind of returns can be expected?

A combination of channels is going to be the best way to efficiently drive conversions for B2B. Those channels usually are various ad types in Google Adwords, combined with Facebook and LinkedIn. They all have their pros and cons and some are better for specific verticals, but they are usually all useful.

When measuring return on B2B, it’s best to look at the ROAS from each channel and a blended return from all channels as well. Often times B2B contracts are longer-term contracts, so ROAS can be very high. But the time to convert can make the return negative for a long time compared to B2C contracts.

How has Metric Digital adapted their processes to meet the needs of a B2B client?

We always start with building reporting and making sure we’re measuring data. Since this is usually our biggest struggle, we’ve developed specific B2B reporting that measures multiple touch points along the conversion funnel. Once tracking is in place, we then optimize our ad spending and adjust our strategy based on the data that comes through those multiple touch points, which is usually different than a traditional eCommerce B2C strategy.

What is your biggest piece of advice for businesses just now moving to B2B eCommerce?

I’m biased, but my advice is to bring in an expert to help, whether that’s a consultant or an agency. Measure everything and base your decisions on data. Lastly, if you’re going to invest in your business, really invest in it and don’t jump and do things halfway.

What trends are you seeing in this arena and how can sites and brands take advantage of them?

Account Based Marketing (ABM) is the biggest trend right now and probably the most ignored in terms of how a strong paid digital strategy can help. Brands can take advantage of it by centralizing their media buying across the sales team, content team, marketing team, and PR into a funnel. This isn’t an easy thing to do, but it’s incredibly powerful.

How have you separated yourself from the other agencies?

Hopefully through our proven results! We joke that we’re the agency you hire after the agency you fire, but it’s true that our clients average working with 3.5 other agencies before working with us. Our retention is really high. A lot of that has to do with driving the best results and being transparent through what works and what doesn’t.

When asked what annoys him more than anything else, Simonson's answer was people who complain about their situation but refuse to take action to change it. Perhaps that's why he's had so much success in helping B2B clients who do decide to make a change scale and grow their businesses through effective marketing with Metric Digital. Whether you choose to bring in help from an agency or expert, smarter advertising decisions and a narrowing of channels and focus is a must for any company looking to scale their B2B eCommerce business.

Metric Digital

Metric Digital is a performance marketing agency based in New York City that focuses ondriving measurable goals through paid advertising. We experts in scaling paid advertising on social media & search, while increasing lifetime value through retention strategies across paid channels and Email marketing. We focus on direct response and customer acquisition for ecommerce and lead generation companies.