Today we’d like to introduce you to Beth LeTendre.
Beth, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started Catalyst in 1998 with co-founder, Heather Frahm. And believe it or not, at that time, the Internet hadn’t really taken off yet. Google had only just launched! However, we quickly identified digital marketing as a huge new opportunity. We were extremely passionate about it and got to work building an agency dedicated to digital.
Success and clients came slowly since Fortune 500 brands were just starting to test the digital marketing waters and they only had small budgets for digital initiatives. However, we remained focused and kept working to build our agency. We launched our paid search offering in 2002, and around that time, we started to realize the success that we knew was possible.
We kept building out our services and evolving our approach to digital, and more specifically to search marketing, and were eventually acquired by WPP in 2006 and placed in the GroupM network. Today, we manage the search and social marketing for some of the largest and best-known brands in the world. And, we’re continuing to enhance our services to maintain a best-in-class search marketing offering. For example, this year we added eCommerce search (search marketing on sites like Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc.) to our services.
Our clients span all industries and verticals. Whether it’s CPG, pharma, travel, B2B, or eCommerce/retail, we deliver innovative and strategic search and social marketing strategies that always help brands maximize their business results. Our number one priority has always been, and will always be, to help brands grow their businesses through search and social marketing.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road, particularly at the beginning. We took no salaries for the first two years; literally zero. That was very challenging, but we remained patient and flexible and were always trying to be as creative as possible. Like all businesses, we still have challenging days today, but we welcome the challenges as each one makes us stronger, and has helped us get to where we are today.
Catalyst – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Catalyst is a leading digital marketing agency that has focused on search and social marketing expertise for nearly 20 years. We specialize in developing digital solutions that are innovative, effective, and consistently deliver business results for Fortune 1000 companies. We leverage our proprietary technologies and data sciences investments, in conjunction with advanced audience insights, to deliver sophisticated digital strategies for enterprise marketers. Our services include search engine optimization (SEO), paid search (SEM), paid social, eCommerce search, advanced marketing on Amazon, and more. We’re recognized as the advanced agency that brands hire when they need more forward-thinking strategies, more sophisticated marketing insights, and ultimately, better business results. We’re very proud of the results that we’ve been able to achieve for our clients.
For example:
• For one Fortune 500 client, we drove a 350% improvement in ROAS while increasing revenue by 188% on Amazon alone.
• For another Fortune 500 manufacturer, we drove a 600% increase in campaign revenue.
And, to quote one of our Fortune 100 clients, Catalyst has “taught us a lot and helped us ramp up significantly. You continue to deliver and deliver and deliver. You’ve made us smarter and better.”
We’re also incredibly proud of our people. From our Search Associates all the way up to our Group Directors, everyone is a search expert and unbelievably passionate about helping their clients accomplish bigger and better goals through search and social marketing. We’re also fortunate to have some of the most well-known search thought-leaders in the search and social industry. For example, our Managing Partner of Marketing Integration, Kerry Curran, was shortlisted as Search Marketer of the Year in both the Landy Awards and Executive of the Year at the Bing Agency Awards. Paul Shapiro, our Director of Strategy & Innovation, is recognized industry leader with the top SEO column on Search Engine Land. Our thought-leadership can also be found in key industry outlets like SMX, ClickZ, MediaPost, Forbes, CMO.com, Pubcon, Hero Conf, Social Media Week, Confluence Con, Insight Exchange Network, Internet Retailer, and more. And our work for many clients has been honored and recognized by the Shorty Awards, US Search Awards, Google Search Excellence Awards, OMMA, Vega Awards, Summit Marketing Effectiveness, iMedia Awards, WPP Atticus Awards, and more.
If you’re interested in accessing our thought-leadership or learning more about our capabilities, you can visit us at www.catalystdigital.com where you can register for our webinars, sign up for complimentary events, add yourself to our mailing list, or download our latest industry articles and research.
Contact Info:
- Address: 501 Boylston Street, 6th Floor, Suite 6101, Boston, MA, 02116
- Website: https://www.catalystdigital.com/
- Phone: 617-663-1247
- Email: info@catalystdigital.com
- Facebook: Facebook.com/CatalystOnline
- Twitter: @CatalystSEM
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