Digital Advertising
Whether you're starting from scratch or starting over, you're in the right place.
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Are your competitors showing up more often than you?
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Are you spending money on advertising without a real picture of what's working?
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Are you unsure where to even start with digital advertising?
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Do you have a strategy behind your ad spend, or are you just guessing?
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Bottom line: Is your business growing as fast as you want it to?
Digital Advertising Strategy
The platform isn't the problem — your strategy is.
We hear two stories a lot:
"I've never done this before."
You know your customers are online. You just don't know where to start, what to spend, or which platforms actually make sense for your business.
"I've tried it and it didn't work."
You ran ads. You got reports. You got impressions. You didn't get much else — and you're not sure what went wrong.
Both are more common than you'd think. And both point to the same root problem.
Digital Advertising Strategy
Running ads without a solid strategy is a waste of your marketing dollars.
A real marketing strategy means:
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Knowing exactly who you're trying to reach
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Understanding where they are in their buying process
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Saying the right thing at the right moment — not just showing up
Done right, digital advertising keeps your business visible from "I've never heard of them" all the way to "I'm ready to buy." That's what we build.
How Digital Advertising Works
The best strategies reach people throughout the customer journey.
The old sales funnel is dead. Real customers don't move in a straight line — they search, get distracted, come back, read reviews, ask a friend, and eventually decide. But even in a non-linear journey, there are distinct moments where the right ad can make a real difference.
The goal isn't to push people through a funnel — it's to be there at every moment that matters, however they get there.
Awareness: They don't know you yet.
Before anyone can choose you, they have to know you exist. This is about showing up for the right people before they're even actively looking — so when the need hits, you're already familiar.
Consideration: They're looking around.
Now they have a need and they're researching. This is where being visible when someone searches for exactly what you offer becomes critical — and where staying in front of people who've already found you keeps you in the running.
Research & Discovery They're going deep.
They're comparing options, reading reviews, visiting websites, asking for recommendations, and circling back again. This stage can last days or weeks. Businesses that stay visible throughout this loop are the ones that make the short list.
Decision They're ready to act.
All that visibility pays off here. The right message at the right moment — a strong offer, a clear next step, an ad that speaks to someone ready to decide — can be the difference between them choosing you or your competitor.
Loyalty They've already bought.
This is where most businesses check out. But a customer who's had a great experience is one of the most valuable audiences you can advertise to. They refer people, come back, and keep your brand alive in conversations you'll never see.
Want to dig deeper?
We wrote an in-depth blog post about how the modern customer journey works.
Marketing Budget Calculator
How much should you spend on marketing?
Why Cougar Digital Marketing?
13+ years of campaigns built around real goals.
We're not a national agency routing your account through layers of people. We're a local team with a genuine stake in seeing the businesses here succeed.
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Campaigns built for your specific goals
Because there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all digital advertising strategy.
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Direct access to your team
No account managers, no handoffs. Direct access to the team actually running your campaigns.
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Honesty and transparency above all
Real numbers, plain-English reporting, and real transparency when it comes to what's working and what isn't.
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A partner, not just an agency
We're invested in what happens after the campaign goes live — not just in delivering a thing and moving on.
Digital Advertising Case Study for a Tri-Cities Auto Repair Shop
What happens when you pair a new, modern website with a hyper-focused Google Search Ads strategy?
leads in the first year alone
Online Advertising Platforms
The right tool for the right moment.
There's no "best" platform to run digital ads on. There's the right one for your goals and where your customers actually spend time.
Google Search Ads
You either show up when someone searches for what you offer, or your competitor does. High intent, low waste — this is the most direct form of digital advertising there is.
Facebook & Instagram Ads
Reach the right people before they're ready to buy — and stay connected with existing customers and warm leads while you're at it. Powerful targeting, wide reach, full funnel.
YouTube Video Ads
Video lets people get a feel for who you are in a way static ads can't. YouTube puts that in front of a large, targeted audience at exactly the right stage.
Streaming TV Ads
Streaming TV ads put your brand in living rooms with digital-level targeting and none of the traditional TV price tag. Most of your competitors aren't here yet.
Display Advertising
Targeted ads served across thousands of sites and apps, based on who your audience is. Built for longer buying cycles where multiple touchpoints matter.
AI-Optimized Campaigns
The latest AI-driven ad tools automatically optimize placements, audiences, and spend across multiple channels at once. Powerful when guided by the right strategy — flat-out wasteful without it.
125+ 5-Star Reviews
Don't take our word for it.
Cougar Digital took the time to get to know our firm and our marketing goals before shooting any video. This made the video production process smooth and efficient. A short time after the shoot, their rough draft clips turned out to be nearly perfect final drafts, requiring very little input from us. They have an impressive creative and production team who strikes the right balance between respecting the time of their customers and getting the customer exactly what they want.
Josh Kandle was excellent to work with on remaking our branding guidelines, etc. He was helpful, patient and his work was outstanding. Thanks Cougar Digital and Josh for making this process so great.
Any time we have a request from Cougar Digital they are quick to respond to our needs! They are professional and personable as well. We are proud to have them as part of our team!
Josh has a great eye and delivers on what he promises. Easy to work with and very responsive.
Cougar Digital has been great to work with! With their support we have seen significant improvement with our marketplace campaigns.
Our website turned out great! Nick was super easy to work with really made the process a breeze. Josh was our photographer for our website, after seeing the results from the first shoot we had to schedule for another! The pictures turned out better than imagined. Josh did a great job staying out of our crews way but managed to catch all the action with great detail. 10/10 would recommend to anyone!
Greatly appreciate the work that Josh and the Cougar Digital Marketing team did for our organization. We had a vague vision and they were able to make it better than we could have imagined. Appreciate their flexibility to work with us on a short turnaround and their suggestions for making the best video possible.
Very helpful and easy to work with. They thought about everything that we needed on our website and it looks amazing! Very satisfied.
I am the Office Manager of a business that badly needed a website reworked. I knew that Cougar Digital was up to the task, but I was unsure of my own Manager. He really didn't want to go through the steps to work with anyone on anything like a website. Nick was fabulous (as in over the top) in his Customer Service skills with a very hard to work with man. The professionalism of Cougar Digital, coupled with the patience and skills of Nick, provided my Manager with everything he needed to get a new website. The website is beautiful and I am one very pleased customer. I will always go to Cougar Digital for all of my marketing needs.
I honestly don't know where to start. My partners and I could not be happier with the process from start to finish working with Ashley and Cougar Digital Marketing. It was an absolute pleasure working with Ashley and I would recommend her to anyone who is looking to either create a website for their business or enhance their current one like we did. The service and pricing we experienced completely exceeded our expectations.
Travis and his team are top notch and very professional! They kept us on tract to make our website target date with daily/weekly tasks. They made the job seamless and supported us through the whole process! Our site is interactive with our industry software because Travis took the extra time to learn what we needed to make it work. Thank you so much Cougar Digital!
Cougar Digital has truly exceeded expectations with their outstanding work on our website. From start to finish, their team demonstrated peak professionalism, creativity, and technical expertise. The design they crafted for our website is nothing short of spectacular. It perfectly captures the essence of our brand while ensuring a visually stunning and user-friendly interface. Every detail was meticulously planned and executed, resulting in a site that not only looks impressive but also functions seamlessly! 100% Recommend Cougar Digital to all businesses.
I recently had an opportunity to choose a web designer to re-vamp and optimize Stepping Stones Alliance's website. Having worked with Cougar Digital before they were my choice for this project. I'm so glad they were able to work with us! The entire process from first meeting to re-launch of the site was stellar. They are quick to respond, listen to feedback, professional and clear in their communications, and spot-on with fulfilling the client desires. The entire team was great to work with along the way and I appreciated the high level of customer service at every point. Not only will I continue to work with them for all our organization's website needs, but I will recommend them to anyone looking for website and marketing projects.
Cougar Digital went above and beyond to ensure our complete and total satisfaction with creating and launching our new website which can be a challenging process when multiple opinions are involved. Josh in particular was very attentive, patient and helpful throughout the creative process and also with recommendations for SEO and innovative solutions for soliciting reviews and feedback from customers to boost online reviews. He also facilitated communication with our existing IT support to smoothly transition our domain and emails. I highly recommend the expertise of Cougar Digital for help with all things digital. If they don't offer a solution themselves, they will help you find one!
Great company! Love how quickly Josh responds to our needs, questions and requests! Highly recommend them
I asked Cougar Digital to create a logo for my organization and make my handmade and very rinky-dink brochure and booklet look professional. They came through with flying colors. They gave me several options for a logo, listened carefully to my feedback and then sent me exactly what I wanted when I myself didn't know what it was I exactly wanted. Their team helped me narrow down the important information, put it in an order that made sense and then make it look fantastic. Everyone who has seen the finished product has been so impressed. Through the entire process, I found them to be easy to work with, easy to communicate with, speedy and responsive to emails and phone calls and patient when we came up against a deadline crunch (through no fault of their own). I would give Cougar Digital my highest recommendation.
Cougar Digital Marketing recently created a new website for our company. They did an outstanding job from start to finish. They took the time to listen to how I wanted my website to look and feel and then they nailed it! This is the second website they have designed for my company. I now also use Cougar Digital for my marketing materials. I highly recommend Cougar Digital.
I would highly recommend Cougar Digital Media! They worked with us on creating the exact vision we had for our website, they worked around our schedule to make sure the website matched our vision. Working with Nick went as smoothly as it could go, he went above and beyond with his creativity!
Cougar Digital has been so incredible to work with! They are always able to turn our words and ideas into a beautiful finished product quickly. The staff is responsive and professional and we love working with Josh. He is a true artist and always delivers a stunning product. Thank you Cougar!
We absolutely loved working with Cougar Digital on the launch of our new website and throughout several incredible photo shoots. From start to finish, their team was creative, responsive, and truly understood our vision.
The team at Cougar Digital Marketing are great to work with! They were very professional throughout the entire process of creating a beautiful website for me. Every member of the team I worked with was attentive to all of my questions/needs and they delivered exactly what I was hoping for in a website. I am so glad I found them!
We have nothing but great things to say about Cougar Digital Marketing! Travis took the time to understand our goals, worked around our schedule, and went above and beyond to make our vision come to life. Ashley was a whiz and was always available when we needed her. Our site turned out better than we imagined. Can't recommend them enough.
I enjoyed working with Josh. Josh explains things in a way that make easily understandable for someone who is not in the marketing industry.
Travis and his team are amazing. They were quick to communicate, completely understood what we were looking for, and delivered an amazing product by the deadline requested. We can’t recommend them enough!
Travis and the Team impressed me as having great listening skills! I had them create a website and the main priorities were SEO, Responsive across all devices, Reasonable loading speed and the Contact Info was responsive so it’s easy to place a call or send email. They surpassed these objectives and did a great job of matching the graphics with the content on each page. Very punctual and professional and we’re sensitive to my schedule also. I was impressed by the way all Team members signed off before launching as a measure of quality control. Their values are put into action and not just on a plaque in the office.
Had a great experience working with Josh! Super easy to work with and really knows his stuff - especially when it comes to lighting and editing for interior shots. The photos turned out amazing, with just the right vibe we were going for. We ended up adding a few extra shot requests last minute, and Josh had no problem fitting them in. He also helped with staging, which made a big difference, and the drone footage was a great bonus. His pricing was very reasonable for the quality we got. Great value for money. We’ll definitely be hiring him again for future shoots!
Cougar Digital Marketing & Design does outstanding work. Prosser School District has utilized their expertise on multiple occasions to assist in communicating our message. They are easy to work with and most importantly, they deliver!
Travis, Josh and everyone at Cougar Digital have been super to work with. They have become a partner in our business. Our web design and online media presence has greatly improved by implementing their recommendations. They go the extra mile.
Had a great experience working with Josh! Super easy to work with and really knows his stuff - especially when it comes to lighting and editing for interior shots. The photos turned out amazing, with just the right vibe we were going for. We ended up adding a few extra shot requests last minute, and Josh had no problem fitting them in. He also helped with staging, which made a big difference, and the drone footage was a great bonus. His pricing was very reasonable for the quality we got. Great value for money. We’ll definitely be hiring him again for future shoots!
Travis Hartliep and his crew are amazing! I worked with Josh on designing a book cover and he was great... was willing to work through numerous changes and updates, suggested helpful things to push the project along, and was very patient and courteous. We came in on budget and on time for the project and the end result was fantastic. I highly recommend Cougar Digital for any and all of your design and marketing needs.
Working with the Cougar Digital Marketing team was an absolute delight. Truly good people who are VERY skilled at what they do. Running a large regional food company, it's a blessing to work with an experienced digital team here locally, and not have to seek services in the Seattle or Portland market. I highly recommend working with Cougar Digital!
We love Cougar Digital! We have worked with them on various projects - rack cards, posters, banners, even a couple commercials. They're friendly, helpful, creative, and truly and do great work. We would recommend them to anyone!
Cougar Digital did a great job arranging literature and building a website for us. Travis was very easy to work with, and the finished marketing material looks great. Thanks Cougs!
Ashley redid our website. She was professional, quick, and listened to all of our requests. Thank you!
Cougar Digital is a top notch company. As a business owner you have to be sure that the dollars you are spending are worth the result. All too often we are promised things that never materialize. These guys deliver and they make it easy. I am not computer savvy and I'm sure asked dumb questions. They took all the time necessary to help make sure I understood and was comfortable. Great people too. Highly recommend.
Working with Cougar Digital on our logo design was fantastic! Their creativity, professionalism, and attention to detail brought our vision to life, delivering a result that exceeded our expectations. Highly recommend their team!
Cougar Digital provides excellent follow through on all our projects. We trust them with developing solutions for our email marketing campaigns, graphic design, and collateral creation. Their designs are used by our partners nationally. We count on them for specific website support work and they always come through for us. They are solution oriented and their upbeat, friendly customer service is unparalleled.
Working with Josh Kandle on several video projects was such a great experience . He is not only a real pro and easy to work with but he was also so open to all of my ideas for creativity and understood a lot of what I was looking for as an independent recording artist. i would highly recommend him and look forward to hopefully being able to do more in the future. ~ Lisa Mitts, Recording Artist Songwriter, Performer
Cougar Digital should be your only call for web design. I would give them 6 stars if I could. #Silverline
Josh Kandle was absolutely terrific to work with and the quality of his product is outstanding. Josh made great use of our time and was very collaborative for our project. I would highly recommend Cougar Digital Marketing they produce great product at awesome value. Cheers, George Stanley General Manager Audi/BMW Tri Cities
We highly recommend Cougar Digital Marketing for their exceptional marketing services. We used them initially to build our new website for our commercial and residential General Contracting company, and we signed on with them for future partnership hours. We have been pleased with the seamless results Travis's company has provided us. The team's collaboration and communication with the website designer, Ashlie, the marketing guru, Josh, and the photographer, Mykayla, were ALL GREAT. Having these marketing resources under one roof has made our transition from our last website company, much easier than expected. Their prompt availability and amazing support made the entire experience enjoyable. We are extremely satisfied with the results and grateful for their partnership and guidance!
Cougar Digital Marketing & Design assisted us in developing a logo for our apple fruit development project. Their creativity, knowledge, guidance, and patience through the process was remarkable. We are very happy with the resulting concept and image. We highly recommend Josh and Travis at CDMD for your media marketing needs.
I have been working with the team and Cougar Digital now for almost five years and I genuinely love working with them. They have become such valuable partners on the marketing side of our business. I can't recommend them strongly enough!! I would give them 10 stars if I could!!!
We recently had the pleasure of working with Cougar Digital Marketing for a photography/video project, and we couldn’t be more impressed. From start to finish, their team was professional, creative, and incredibly easy to work with. We highly recommend!
We hired these guys to handle some commercial photos for both exterior and aerial shots. Josh and team were excellent to work with and made things easy while adapting to changing schedules and weather. The photos turned out amazing in the end. Highly recommend.
Sonar Insights had the pleasure of partnering with Cougar Digital Marketing & Design, LLC on two separate occasions - a video campaign for the Benton Franklin Census 2020 and a video for a client. It was a big undertaking to take the script sand creatively execute on them. Josh Kandle and his team did a masterful job at realizing the vision for the projects with a fantastic end product. Could not be more pleased!
I recently coordinated several marketing projects for the Benton Franklin Census 2020 Complete Counts committee. Josh and Ashley at Cougar Digital provided great service and expertise. We utilized Cougar for several campaigns, including Facebook Ads, YouTube Ads, Display Ads and video production. The quality and creativity were great and I highly recommend them.They also adapted extremely well when COVID-related restrictions were put into place half way through the project. Thank you so much!
Digital Advertising FAQs
Questions? We've heard 'em all.
If you’re thinking it, there’s a good chance someone else asked it too.
How much should I budget for online advertising?
That depends on your goals and how competitive your industry is—but we’ll help you find a smart place to start. We’ll never push you to spend more than you’re ready for, and we’re upfront about where your budget is going. Whether you want to test the waters or scale up, we’ll build a plan that fits.
Check out our marketing budget calculator for a ballpark starting range →
How will I know if my ads are working?
That depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. A brand awareness campaign is going to look different than a lead generation campaign—because success means different things. If you’re focused on getting your name out there, we’ll look at reach, impressions, video views, and engagement. If you’re aiming for leads or sales, we’ll track clicks, form submissions, calls, and conversions.
That’s why strategy matters. Before we launch anything, we’ll talk through your goals and set clear expectations about what success looks like. Then we’ll send you monthly reports with real numbers—not just marketing jargon—and walk through the results together. You’ll always know where things stand, and what we’re doing to make them better.
How soon will I start seeing results?
Some campaigns (like Google Search ads) can generate clicks right away. Others, like brand awareness or retargeting, take time to build momentum. We’ll let you know what to expect based on your goals and the platform we're using—but in general, we aim to start learning and optimizing within the first 30 days.
Why do I need different types of ads? Shouldn’t one be enough?
Because most people don’t go from “never heard of you” to “take my money” in one click. The customer journey isn’t linear—it usually takes multiple touchpoints to build awareness, earn trust, and prompt action.
That’s why a strong ad strategy usually includes more than one type of campaign. For example:
- Awareness ads introduce your brand to new people.
- Consideration ads speak to people who already showed interest (like visiting your site).
- Remarketing ads follow up and give them a reason to come back.
- Nurture campaigns keep you top of mind over time.
We build your campaigns to work together—so your future customers don’t just see you once and forget. They see the right message, at the right time, in the right place.
Digital Marketing for Busy Professionals
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Quick, useful reads to help you think bigger and market smarter.
Free Digital Marketing Consultation
Let's talk about your online advertising strategy.
No hard pitch. Just an honest conversation about your goals and whether we're the right fit.