Digital Drew is a new Manhattan-based digital advertising agency that specializes in search engine marketing (SEM) and social media. Founded by Drew Blumenthal four years ago, the company has grown into a full-service agency offering web design, search engine optimization (SEO), graphic design, and organic social media. Current clients range from e-commerce stores to software-as-a-service (SaaS) clients with budgets of $1,500 to over $100,000 per month.

The boyish, 28-year old Blumenthal, a self-described "born entrepreneur," had the idea for Digital Drew while working at global ad firms out of college. While he was grateful for the corporate experience, he remembers his natural enthusiasm quickly fading as the freedom he'd enjoyed as a child serial entrepreneur--lemon stands and a babysitting service were among his earliest ventures--proved elusive. What did not disappear was his interest in the digital media landscape in particular and innovation in general. When a small business he frequented hired Blumenthal to optimize their digital advertising, an idea crystallized. Digital Drew was born. Its mission? Make digital media available and accessible to all.

He quit his day job a month later.

Blumenthal thinks of his creation as more than an agency. He calls it an idea--that digital media be usable and accessible to any business of any size. Digital Drew wants to challenge the conventional wisdom that digital means enigmatic.

"To build a successful business these days," Blumenthal says, "you need to move from being an 'interruption' to being what people are interested in. Digital media should be fun, exciting, and adaptable."

Digital Drew's efforts are focused on helping clients and individuals reach new audiences while engaging with current and past customers through social media ads across Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, YouTube, and, of course, Google. "I'm a 'paid' guy," Blumenthal says. "Organic, i.e. original content, can work too though more as a way to build your own brand as a thought leader or influencer than making money per se. My goal is to make digital advertising part of every single advertisers' budget. We want businesses from all industries and of all sizes to embrace the digital age. These platforms are tools to not only enhance their businesses but their lives!"

Blumenthal may be less than thirty years old but he's already seen tectonic shifts in social media. Granular user data, for example, has largely disappeared due to privacy concerns. This has created some opportunities and a lot of pitfalls, which is why he thinks that hiring a digital ad agency is more important than ever. "Digital marketing is a lot more than just likes, comments, and expressions," he says. "It is a complete world where user engagement defines the success of a business. An agency like ours can be the navigator that directs your company to success."

Common fails made by the D-I-Y SEM crowd include ignoring or failing to educate and entertain one's audience. Blumenthal has seen a lot of businesses throw their money at social media and search engines with no clear strategy--and no idea how to track their success or failure. "If you're not seeing results," he says, "that means the algorithm isn't working. And the reason it's not working is that you're not creating content that people want to see or you're reaching the wrong audience. Testing is key. Even with advanced tools like A.I., so much of digital marketing is still trial and error. You can't just plug it in and walk away; there has to be a human manning the machine."

Digital Drew not only tests and tracks its own clients' ad campaigns; Blumenthal is always watching and analyzing their competitors too. "You cannot stay a step ahead in the competition until you know what they're doing," he says. Knowing how to use hashtags and keywords, for example, is key.

Of course, expertise costs money, and Blumenthal knows that some small businesses don't yet have thousands of dollars to spend. He's written a series of paperback digital ad guides that sell for $15, available on the Digital Drew website. He also offers hour-long digital marketing lessons in person or over Zoom and writes a weekly blog that's available to anyone for free. Making digital work for anyone means reaching everyone, he says, and building a business requires patience--to a point. Blumenthal expects Digital Drew to be a seven-figure agency next year.

Readers in need of new social skills can find him at digitaldrewsem.com.