{"id":7252,"date":"2018-10-02T14:38:59","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T21:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/?p=7252"},"modified":"2024-01-18T16:26:04","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T23:26:04","slug":"the-agency-interview-scott-tobias-ceo-of-v-digital-services-phoenix-arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/the-agency-interview-scott-tobias-ceo-of-v-digital-services-phoenix-arizona\/","title":{"rendered":"The Agency Interview: Scott Tobias, CEO of V Digital Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scott Tobias<\/a>\u00a0is the chief executive officer of one of America\u2019s fastest-growing digital marketing agencies, V Digital Services<\/a>. Holding a bachelor\u2019s degree in business administration and marketing from the Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado, Mr. Tobias began his sales and marketing career in 1993 as a sales associate at the iconic alternative weekly newspaper Westword. He quickly rose through the ranks of that publication\u2019s parent company, becoming group publisher and chief operating officer before ultimately leading a 2012 management buyout that created today\u2019s Voice Media Group.<\/p>\n

As the CEO of VMG, Mr. Tobias was instrumental in the creation of V Digital Services, and has led the agency since its launch in 2013. On a daily basis he oversees the agency\u2019s many moving parts, taking a hands-on approach that has allowed V Digital Services to post robust profits while competing aggressively in a constantly evolving sector. Mr. Tobias is someone to watch in the digital marketing world as the agency he runs continues to rise above the rest.<\/p>\n

For our first piece in The Agency Interview series, we had the opportunity to sit with Mr. Tobias and discuss his thoughts on digital marketing and the challenges of running a national agency.<\/p>\n

1. What Are Your Top Concerns as the CEO of a National Digital Marketing Agency?<\/h2>\n

On a daily basis, I\u2019m focused on making sure the team at V Digital Services provides top-tier service to our customers with a results-based approach. Our focus is not just on fulfilling the marketing needs of our clients. We want to take the process one step further by doing so with top industry experts in the services we provide. Identifying and hiring top talent is a special skill and it\u2019s hard work. So we\u2019re constantly monitoring the industry to see who\u2019s shining in their field of expertise. Another area of focus is making sure we stay ahead of the curve with technology and the ever-changing digital environment in which we operate. Mobile-first is where the industry is going, and we are leading the way for our clients by presenting them with solid strategies of how to get there.<\/p>\n

2. Can You Describe How You Grew VDS into a National Agency?<\/h2>\n

Back in 2013, we saw an opportunity to introduce Local SEO as a marketing solution<\/a> to all of the legacy print and web advertisers we\u2019d been serving through our publication group. As that Local SEO business took off, we realized we had lightning in a bottle, so we pivoted to add a full range of digital marketing services our clients needed for success. Our customers trusted us, and they wanted more from us in the space. They wanted a one-stop solution. Our next step for growth was to bring in well-qualified people as the digital fulfillment team and staff. In five years we have grown from zero to roughly 2,000 Local SEO accounts, and into one of the leading national digital agencies.<\/p>\n

3. What Are the Top Skills a Successful CEO Needs to Achieve Longevity?<\/h2>\n

I think a CEO needs to be forward leaning and aggressive. You can\u2019t continue to grow a company and keep it successful if you allow inertia to set in. That means continuing to develop new services, and continuing to recruit the top marketing talent available. There are a lot of \u201cnumbers guys\u201d in this business, but we\u2019ve always been a people company because we know that to be successful, you need to surround yourself with intelligent, high-performing individuals, and you need to not be threatened by that. To keep the company growing, you need to listen to your staff and managers, you need to be empathetic to their needs, and, in the final analysis, you need to be as driven as they are. That\u2019s how you create a company culture where employees feel they\u2019re a part of the firm\u2019s future. Focused, motivated people naturally want to take ownership of their work, but to do that, they need a management that gives them the tools they need. That\u2019s why a successful CEO needs to be a great communicator who can talk to all types of people at every level–both in their own company and their customers\u2019 companies.<\/p>\n

4. Where Do You See the Future of Digital Marketing Going After 2018?<\/h2>\n

Digital marketing is an ever-changing landscape. You can never afford to stop learning or keeping your eyes open to new strategies. In the near future, I think you\u2019ll see more self-service on the Programmatic side<\/a> of the business. But at the same time, local businesses as well as national companies will still need agencies they can trust to help them develop a holistic, full-funnel approach to their digital marketing. That will mean being a true partner to your customers. You won\u2019t just fill their immediate needs, you\u2019ll take a patient, strategic approach to helping them play the long game when it comes to fulfillment models.<\/p>\n

Another trend you can expect to see will be the need to accurately forecast where the Internet is moving and get there one step ahead of it. Being on top of industry trends is essential so your staff can be prepared to pivot as needed in a proactive instead of a reactive way. The future is very bright in digital marketing as long as you drive results for your customers.<\/p>\n

5. What Story Does Your Agency Have to Tell?<\/h2>\n

That you can start with one service and grow nationally from there. And that small, proactive steps for growth are possible if you develop the right strategy and pay the necessary attention to hiring.<\/p>\n

In the case of V Digital Services, our growth can be attributed to our belief that a successful customer journey starts with in a full-funnel approach to marketing. We\u2019ve been able to expand so rapidly because we\u2019ve made a priority of understanding the actual needs of our customers and then delivering solutions that will satisfy those needs. Put another way, we don\u2019t sell customers things that won\u2019t help them. This means that rather than being constantly burdened with the need to upsell, the experts on our staff are freed up to do what they do best — and what they love — which is to innovate on behalf of the customer. Whatever your field of expertise, you\u2019re going to be happier if you know you\u2019re actually helping people.<\/p>\n

We also believe in managing budgets responsibly and in driving results. We are accountable, both to our customers and to ourselves. We see our path ahead as strong, and we believe we\u2019ll continue to grow by staying true to the core belief that got us here: that we grow by helping our customers grow, no matter what size their business is when they come to us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott Tobias\u00a0is the chief executive officer of one of America\u2019s fastest-growing digital marketing agencies, V Digital Services. Holding a bachelor\u2019s degree in business administration and marketing from the Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado, Mr. Tobias began his sales and marketing career in 1993 as a sales associate at the iconic […] KEEP READING<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":25935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}