Devon Anderson, MBA

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:
Reliance on campaign managers to manually analyze, identify, and resolve issues was limiting our ability to scale efficiently as a global leader in digital marketing, managing hundreds of millions in annual ad spend.

𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
We created a data science team function to focus on AI Automation for Campaign Performance. I led this function, releasing several AI automations, including:

◇ Low performance keyword automation - identifies low performing… Show more

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:
Reliance on campaign managers to manually analyze, identify, and resolve issues was limiting our ability to scale efficiently as a global leader in digital marketing, managing hundreds of millions in annual ad spend.

𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
We created a data science team function to focus on AI Automation for Campaign Performance. I led this function, releasing several AI automations, including:

◇ Low performance keyword automation - identifies low performing keywords and updates or deletes to improve performance

◇ Negative keyword automation - identifies and adds negative keywords that would benefit campaign performance

◇ Competitor negative keyword automation - identifies competitors and adds negative keywords that would benefit campaign performance

◇ Keyword match type analysis/expansion

◇ Keyword bidding automation/starting bids optimization - uses proprietary logic to optimize starting bids and increase performance in early campaign cycles

◇ Handling for low quality score and low activity keywords

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲:
Ensuring stakeholder comfort with AI adoption required substantial change management.

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀:
Our AI automation suite significantly increased client retention and campaign performance (13% lower Cost per Click, 29% lower Cost per Lead), while taking pressure off our Campaign Managers by reducing manual changes by up to 35% and optimizing 10x faster. This led to significant labor cost replacement. Use of automations also lead to measurably higher client retention for LocalIQ.

LocalIQ also won three awards based on these AI technologies:
◇ 2023 Sales & Marketing Technology "SAMMY" Award - Product of the Year,
◇ 2024 MarTech Breakthrough Award for Best Overall Conversion Optimization Solution
◇ 2024 AI/ Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award from Business Intelligence Group

Read more about the results here:

https://localiq.com/blog/localiq-wins-product-of-the-year-2023-sammys/ Show less

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀:
Upon its final release into production, the dashboard saw 100% adoption by all users, and the average number of campaign reviews per user per day increased by 46%. The dashboard's success was so pronounced that we expanded its availability to additional audiences due to popular demand, reaching 400+ global users

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:
Our internal campaign management platform did not have one good place to see all the information needed to prioritize, understand and… Show more

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀:
Upon its final release into production, the dashboard saw 100% adoption by all users, and the average number of campaign reviews per user per day increased by 46%. The dashboard's success was so pronounced that we expanded its availability to additional audiences due to popular demand, reaching 400+ global users

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:
Our internal campaign management platform did not have one good place to see all the information needed to prioritize, understand and improve campaign performance. During user research, users accessed up to 13 different screens, 17 separate reports, and up to 51 data points. I knew I could bring this together more efficiently.

𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
I designed and launched a fully integrated, live campaign management dashboard that pulled all the necessary elements together in an easy to use interface with goal tracking, smart alerting, and prioritization.

The Campaign Management User Dashboard:
◇ Listed all campaigns managed by the user, automatically prioritized by those most needing attention. Prioritization took into consideration campaign performance VS goal, performance vs. benchmarks, performance vs. goal, budget, client sentiment, client churn risk, and much more.

◇ Laid out all necessary KPIs in one place, with red/yellow/green health indicators for all important metrics, and trending over time. Users could see at a glance what was going well, what needed attention, and where to start to improve performance.

◇ Integrated smart alerts to flag performance issues

◇ Integrated operational alerts and reminders for client renewals, client call scheduling, and more

I managed this system for couple more years, increasing the features and alerting. The system is still in place today, and still the screen where LocalIQ campaign managers spend most of their time.

Special Thanks:
Keri Williams - co-wrote initial scoring algorithms, and created a live Tableau Prototype for rapid user testing
Balkrishna Darji - Engineering Lead Show less

I led the design, development, and implementation of the company’s first proprietary churn prediction model, which delivers highly accurate churn probabilities for all active clients. This model flags clients likely to churn within 30-90 days and identifies specific reasons for the risk. The churn scores are integrated into internal user dashboards and Salesforce, enabling Campaign Managers, Account Managers, and Sales teams to take proactive steps to prevent churn through targeted client… Show more

I led the design, development, and implementation of the company’s first proprietary churn prediction model, which delivers highly accurate churn probabilities for all active clients. This model flags clients likely to churn within 30-90 days and identifies specific reasons for the risk. The churn scores are integrated into internal user dashboards and Salesforce, enabling Campaign Managers, Account Managers, and Sales teams to take proactive steps to prevent churn through targeted client engagement. Additionally, leadership reports were created for C-suite intervention and Save Team actions based on at-risk clients.

This project was a large contributor to our best in class retention of over 95%, as described in Gannett’s annual report. Show less

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:
Due to changes in match type handling by Google, advertisers were experiencing lower quality impressions and clicks, driven by searches for competitors. Searchers looking for competitors do not convert well, decreasing campaign performance and wasting advertiser budgets.

𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
We created an AI automation using NLP to identify a list competitor names for the client. Using a third party business database, we identify all competitors, and generate a list… Show more

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:
Due to changes in match type handling by Google, advertisers were experiencing lower quality impressions and clicks, driven by searches for competitors. Searchers looking for competitors do not convert well, decreasing campaign performance and wasting advertiser budgets.

𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
We created an AI automation using NLP to identify a list competitor names for the client. Using a third party business database, we identify all competitors, and generate a list of negatives to add. After processing and filtering the data using proprietary logic, we provision the competitor name variations as negative keywords for the campaign. 179 competitor negative keywords are added per campaign through the automation (on average).

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀:
Competitor impressions and clicks went down significantly, up to 28% in one vertical.

These features were part of our AI automation suite that significantly increased client retention and campaign performance (13% lower Cost per Click, 29% lower Cost per Lead), while taking pressure off our Campaign Managers by reducing manual changes by up to 35% and optimizing 10x faster. This led to significant labor cost replacement. Use of automations also lead to measurably higher client retention for LocalIQ.

LocalIQ also won three awards based on these AI technologies:
◇ 2023 Sales & Marketing Technology "SAMMY" Award - Product of the Year,
◇ 2024 MarTech Breakthrough Award for Best Overall Conversion Optimization Solution
◇ 2024 AI/ Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award from Business Intelligence Group

Read more about the results here:

https://localiq.com/blog/localiq-wins-product-of-the-year-2023-sammys/ Show less

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:
Without clear goals and benchmarks, campaign performance was nebulous and difficult to manage

𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
I pushed for and established the collection of goals and adoption of benchmarks to manage individual campaign performance. There were many components I needed to address to get these adopted throughout the SEM product lifecycle:

◇ In the Campaign Management system I managed for our platform, we built the ability to collect Cost Per Lead goals at… Show more

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺:
Without clear goals and benchmarks, campaign performance was nebulous and difficult to manage

𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
I pushed for and established the collection of goals and adoption of benchmarks to manage individual campaign performance. There were many components I needed to address to get these adopted throughout the SEM product lifecycle:

◇ In the Campaign Management system I managed for our platform, we built the ability to collect Cost Per Lead goals at the individual campaign and/or client level

◇ In the Campaign Management user dashboard we built, we displayed these goals with health tracking of performance to goal. We also incorporated health metrics for tracking goal vs historical, benchmarking vs peers, and other key insights

◇ Created tool to suggest client goals for new campaigns (based on historical data). Over time we would flow this into our proposal processes.

◇ Managed adoption and clean up efforts where needed to drive goal adoption to 100%

◇ As adoption picked up and this because part of our lifecycle, we focused on surfacing benchmark insights in our client reporting system

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲:
Significant change management was required for these efforts. With hundreds of global sales/account managers and campaign managers, I had to lead efforts educate, persuade, and get all stakeholders to agree to this process and agree on goal and benchmark definitions and calculations.

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀:
Campaigns became easier to manager and evaluate, and we achieved greater transparency of campaign performance for our clients. Understanding of true performance to goal allowed for better prioritization of work for Campaign Managers, improving campaign performance, leading to greater client retention and satisfaction. Show less

I was a key part of the Google relationship for LocalIQ (formerly ReachLocal) . LocalIQ was one of Google's first and largest partners.

As part of this relationship, I attending all meetings and quarterly business reviews, conventions, and client events. I worked on key projects with our Google team to optimize results for our mutual clients.

Notable Key Projects with Google:
◇ Led Google Optiscore optimization program for LocalIQ, improving our overall optimization score by… Show more

I was a key part of the Google relationship for LocalIQ (formerly ReachLocal) . LocalIQ was one of Google's first and largest partners.

As part of this relationship, I attending all meetings and quarterly business reviews, conventions, and client events. I worked on key projects with our Google team to optimize results for our mutual clients.

Notable Key Projects with Google:
◇ Led Google Optiscore optimization program for LocalIQ, improving our overall optimization score by 16%, 2023

◇ Spoke at Client Summit at Google Playa Vista April 2023 (pictured). Presented on Macroeconomic Factors Impact on Cost Per Lead, and on an panel alongside Google discussing AI Automation

◇ Google Automation Partner Summit, 2023 (Google Playa Vista)

◇ Google Automation Partner Summit, 2018 (Google NYC)

◇ Client spend optimization projects

◇ Spoke on a panel at 2015 Google International Franchise (GIFA) conference on SEO to over 350 attendees at Mountain View campus Show less

Participation in various M&A efforts, including:

◇ Led M&A integration efforts across operations and technology for Gatehouse, Gannett, GoDigital, Thrivehive, Wordstream and SweetIQ.

◇ Conducted key analysis and participated in sessions for acquisition planning. I participated in calls and led the evaluation of integration targets, supporting due diligence. For the Wordstream integration, I played a central role in analyzing features, fit, and feasibility from the early stages… Show more

Participation in various M&A efforts, including:

◇ Led M&A integration efforts across operations and technology for Gatehouse, Gannett, GoDigital, Thrivehive, Wordstream and SweetIQ.

◇ Conducted key analysis and participated in sessions for acquisition planning. I participated in calls and led the evaluation of integration targets, supporting due diligence. For the Wordstream integration, I played a central role in analyzing features, fit, and feasibility from the early stages. Also provided data to recommend against acquisitions that would not drive the desired results, which we passed on.

◇ Facilitated the Wordstream transition, overseeing the migration of 1,600 campaigns, achieving 7% lower CPC (cost per click) and improving CTR (click through rate) by 77% post-migration. Led the analysis and communication of the results, and solving of process issues.

◇ Facilitated the Thrivehive transition, overseeing the migration of several thousand campaigns and improving performance post-migration.

◇ Integrated office (GoDigital) post-acquisition, regularly traveling to Phoenix to provide subject matter expertise, train the local team on tools, processes, and campaign management best practices, and improve Search and Facebook campaign performance. Show less

I led the design and development of several key algorithms that drive LocalIQ's conversion-based optimization for digital marketing campaigns. Notable projects include:

◇ Keyword and publisher-level bidding algorithms for Search Engine Marketing, Social Advertising, and Display Advertising products.

◇ Cross Media Optimization (XMO) algorithms, which allocate a single budget across multiple publishers for goal-based advertising. XMO leverages insights, optimizations, and automated… Show more

I led the design and development of several key algorithms that drive LocalIQ's conversion-based optimization for digital marketing campaigns. Notable projects include:

◇ Keyword and publisher-level bidding algorithms for Search Engine Marketing, Social Advertising, and Display Advertising products.

◇ Cross Media Optimization (XMO) algorithms, which allocate a single budget across multiple publishers for goal-based advertising. XMO leverages insights, optimizations, and automated actions to deliver optimal campaign results.

◇ Algorithms to optimize keyword performance, ensuring the best overall Cost per Lead (CPL) and Cost per Acquisition (CPA).

◇ Algorithms powering the LocalIQ Grader, providing tailored recommendations for starting tactics and budget levels.

These innovations significantly enhanced campaign efficiency and performance, driving measurable improvements in client outcomes. Show less

I spearheaded the design and development of the company’s first AI powered Product Recommendation Engine, a strategic system that identifies the most impactful products for clients to add to their digital marketing portfolios. Leveraging client goals and the historical performance of products for similar businesses, the engine provides sales teams with actionable insights, including the next best product to recommend, tailored budgets, and optimal tactics to drive conversions. This innovation… Show more

I spearheaded the design and development of the company’s first AI powered Product Recommendation Engine, a strategic system that identifies the most impactful products for clients to add to their digital marketing portfolios. Leveraging client goals and the historical performance of products for similar businesses, the engine provides sales teams with actionable insights, including the next best product to recommend, tailored budgets, and optimal tactics to drive conversions. This innovation not only empowers the salesforce to close deals more effectively, but also lays the groundwork for substantial revenue growth by cross-selling new products to existing clients with minimal risk. Show less

Together with my data science team, I led several key enhancements to the algorithms for the LocalIQ Grader, a system that evaluates prospective clients' websites and digital marketing presence to recommend optimal starting products and budgets. This tool plays a crucial role in generating inbound leads, sales, and onboarding processes, providing data-driven insights that streamline client acquisition and set the stage for successful digital marketing campaigns.

I led a function for evaluating and executing custom client integrations for large budget, strategic clients. These clients wanted their CRM systems to work seamlessly with LocalIQ's platform and reporting. I would review the requests from our sales team, assess, and meet with the clients to understand the need and opportunity. If it made sense, I would work with internal and external resources on the LocalIQ side and client side to facilitate and test the integrations.

I collected… Show more

I led a function for evaluating and executing custom client integrations for large budget, strategic clients. These clients wanted their CRM systems to work seamlessly with LocalIQ's platform and reporting. I would review the requests from our sales team, assess, and meet with the clients to understand the need and opportunity. If it made sense, I would work with internal and external resources on the LocalIQ side and client side to facilitate and test the integrations.

I collected common client reporting requests and compiled requests and requirements for what would become LocalIQs first client reporting API (Application Programming Interface). Show less