Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Madden.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Matchnode’s 3 co-founders (Brian, Dan, and I) met around 2007 when Brian was in-house running digital marketing for an athletic recruiting company in Chicago. Brian hired Dan and me to build their affiliate program.
In 2013, each with a small book of independent consulting business, Brian and I joined forces to build and operate Matchnode as the agency it is today, with Dan as a valued co-founder, shareholder, advisor, and friend.
We started like most by taking any and all businesses that came our way, including startups, SMBs, and B2B companies as we iterated our way through their campaigns and our business model. After years and dozens of clients, we now exclusively service great B2C companies looking to grow with annual revenues in the $5MM – $500MM range.
We offer strategy, digital advertising, and conversion optimization all wrapped deep in data so we can track ROI and run tests to improve your business. Our favorite tactics currently include Facebook ads, mobile landing pages, video, and analytics.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been smooth in that we have been fortunate to hire the right people and to grow slowly, gradually moving up market to working with larger and more established businesses.
We still are small enough to the point that we are 2 clients in the right direction from having too much work and 2 clients in the wrong direction from not having enough, which can feel precarious at times. So we have to balance sales with services and operations, which is not a new challenge but one that can be stressful.
I’ve learned to be mindful of my emotions in entrepreneurship (and in life), but the ups and downs that do occur are usually tied to the sales pipeline and communication within the team or with our clients.
When we position our work to allow for personal growth for all parties–our team, our clients’ teams, and our clients’ businesses, things go well.
But that is necessarily hard work so the road is winding and (very) choppy at times.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Matchnode – what should we know?
What I am most proud of is our emphasis on personal growth for our team and for our clients, and that we explicitly identify 5 attributes that we’ve been driving towards since the very early days of Matchnode.
The 5 attributes are (1) intellectual curiosity, (2) empathy, (3) passion for marketing, (4) balance, and (5) business acumen. We strive to help our teammates and clients develop in those areas.
While all Matchnode teammates spend their first 6 months doing a deep dive on marketing tactics, technology, and client work, they chart their own course after that as only then do we develop and define the specifics of their role. We sit down and ask” “knowing what you know now, what areas of our business and our clients’ businesses do you want to develop in? what role or person do you want to have / be in 5 years and how do we help you in that direction?”. And together we lay out a plan and check in quarterly over the next 12-18 months on what we agreed to do.
As far as what makes us different, it a combination of data and communication. Data backs all of our decisions, opinions, and viewpoints, and we always prioritize communicating with our clients. We built custom software so clients can log in and see a history of what we’ve been doing. The ROI of the work will be clear, we should learn lot together, and our work is always strategic.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Intellectual curiosity.
I love to learn new things, always reading, trying to keep perspective while looking ahead as we try to better understand ourselves, each other, and the world.
Pricing:
- We have a retainer model in the range of $4000 – $10,000 monthly
- Plus a monthly ad budget of $5,000 – $100,000+
Contact Info:
- Address: 318 W. Adams
Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60606 - Website: www.matchnode.com
- Email: chris@matchnode.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Matchnode/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/matchnode
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