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Digital Advertising

Running ads without strategy isn't marketing. It's just spending money.

Spending money on ads isn't the same as advertising. There's a difference.

  • Have you run ads before and seen impressions, not results?
  • Are you spending money on advertising without a real picture of what's working?
  • Do you know which channels actually make sense for your business and why?
  • Bottom line: Is your advertising built to grow your business, or just to run?

Digital Advertising Strategy

The platform isn't the problem — your strategy is.

Two stories we hear constantly — and both end up in the same place.

“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 — and you don't want to hand money to someone who'll pick for you and hope for the best.

"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.

Different situations. Same missing piece: nobody sat down at the beginning and defined what success actually looks like for your business. Not impressions. Not clicks. What would make this worth it.

No Strategy, No Results

Why most ad campaigns underperform

Here's what we see most often when businesses come to us after a failed ad campaign.

  • Reaching the wrong people

    You can have great ads and a generous budget — if they're reaching the wrong people, none of it matters.

  • Only advertising at one stage

    Most campaigns only run at the "ready to buy" stage. That leaves a huge part of your future customer base completely untouched.

  • No connection to real goals

    Impressions and clicks aren't results. If your campaign isn't tied to leads, calls, or revenue — it's just a number on a report.

  • One-size-fits-all approach

    The same campaign template doesn't work for a home builder, a restaurant, and a law firm. Every business needs a strategy built for its specific goals and audience.

Two colleagues discussing project on laptop

The Customer Journey

How digital advertising works

The best strategies reach people at every stage — not just when they're ready to buy.

Awareness

They don't know you yet. Show up before the need hits. 

Consideration

They're researching. Be visible when it counts.

Research & Discovery

They're comparing options. Stay in the loop.

Decision

They're ready to act. The right message closes.

Loyalty

They've already bought. 

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Calculate Your Marketing Budget

Not sure what to spend on digital marketing?

Our free marketing budget calculator gives you a smart starting range based on your revenue and goals — in about 30 seconds.

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Online Advertising Platforms

The right tool for the right moment.

There's no single best platform — just the right one for where your customers are and what you're trying to accomplish.

Google Search Ads

High intent. They're actively searching for what you offer. You either show up or your competitor does.

Facebook & Instagram Ads

Wide reach, precise audience selection. Build awareness and stay in front of warm audiences — the people who've already shown interest in what you do.

YouTube Video Ads

Video builds trust fast. YouTube puts your brand in front of a large, targeted audience before they even start searching.

Connected TV (Streaming)

Your ads on Hulu, Roku, Peacock — actual TV screens, with the precision to reach specific audiences. Most local competitors aren't here yet. That's the opportunity.

Retargeting & Display

Reconnect with people who've already shown interest. Keeps your brand visible across thousands of sites and apps through the buying decision.

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.

Why Cougar Digital Marketing?

We're not the agency for every advertising budget. We're the right one for yours if you're ready to do this right.

We've gotten selective. Not because we're too busy, but because we've seen what happens when advertising runs without strategy, without the right client relationship, without honest conversations about what's actually working. It wastes money — yours and ours.

What we offer is a real partnership. We learn your business, build a strategy around your specific goals, and stay invested in the results. We're local, which means you can sit across a table from the people running your campaigns. We're not routing you through account managers or reading from a script.

  • Strategy before platforms — we figure out what makes sense before we spend a dollar

  • Direct access to the people actually running your campaigns

  • Plain-English reporting tied to goals — not a wall of metrics nobody explains

  • 13+ years in this market: healthcare, construction, food & bev, professional services, trades

  • Invested in what happens after launch — not just at launch

leads in the first year alone

What happens when you pair a new, modern auto repair shop website with a hyper-focused Google Search Ads strategy?

team blog

125+ 5-Star Reviews

When you do great work, people notice.

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!

Great company, great people. Vision matched customer expectation!

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.

We had a great experience working with COUGAR DIGITAL for creating our website and helping us with our ongoing marketing needs. Ashley, did an exceptional job with the website. Josh created an awesome logo and branding bible for us, and Makayla's photos added a professional touch. Highly recommended for top-notch digital marketing solutions!

Working with Cougar Digital on our brand redesign and marketing kit was an excellent experience from start to finish. They took the time to understand our company, the clients we serve, and how we wanted our brand to be perceived. The final result feels polished, professional, and much more aligned with who we are as an organization. What impressed me most was their ability to create a complete and cohesive brand rather than simply updating a logo. Every element of the redesign works together, including the colors, typography, messaging, and supporting marketing materials. The finished marketing kit gives us clear direction and practical resources we can use consistently across print, digital, and other customer-facing communications. Their team brought a thoughtful perspective to the project while remaining receptive to our feedback. They helped translate our ideas into a visual identity that feels modern and distinctive without losing the character and values behind our company. The process was collaborative, organized, and handled with great attention to detail. Cougar Digital delivered work that exceeded our expectations and gave us greater confidence in how we present our company. We are extremely pleased with both the redesign and the tools they provided to help us carry the brand forward. I would gladly recommend Cougar Digital to any organization looking for a creative and dependable partner to strengthen its brand and marketing presence.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Cougar Digital Marketing on both of our company websites—Ellison Earthworks and EE Traffic Management—and we couldn’t be happier with the results. From the very first meeting, their team was attentive, creative, and incredibly easy to work with. They took the time to understand not just our services, but our brand values and voice, and they translated that into two beautiful, functional, and user-friendly websites. Their communication was consistent and clear throughout the process, and every step felt collaborative. They made what could’ve been a stressful experience feel seamless and even fun. The final products truly reflect the heart of our companies and the industries we serve. We highly recommend Cougar Digital to any business looking to elevate their online presence. Thank you for bringing our vision to life so perfectly!

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.

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.

Cougar Digital has been great to work with! With their support we have seen significant improvement with our marketplace campaigns.

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.

Working with Cougar Digital on our company logo and overall brand identity was an absolute delight. Despite having many conflicting opinions on what we all wanted, Josh and the Cougar Digital team were able to create a high quality and cohesive vision that represented our collective vision. I highly recommend Cougar Digital!

Josh did a great job on our logo! He even let us sit with him at his personal computer so we could be involved with the finishing touches. Thanks Josh and Thanks Cougar Digital!!

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.

So great to have a guy like Josh and the Cougar Digital team in your corner. Professional, fast, and awesome to work with.

Cougar digital was awesome to work with. They made the website design experience very simple and were very helpful in accommodating my companies' specific needs!

It was such a pleasure working with Cougar Digital. Not only was the process fast and easy, the work they created is amazing! Josh gave us a variety of different options to work with after taking the time to carefully listen to our needs. He made every little detail count and really brought our vision to life. We will definitely continue to work closely as our business continues to expand. Thank you, we could not be any happier.

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 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!

These guys are great! It's always an interesting scenario when you begin a relationship with a new company. I will say that from experience Cougar Digital is one of the easiest and highly educated companies to work with. If you have a question a quick email or call gets an answer. If you have an idea these guys will without a doubt help to the best of their ability. I'm no expert in the marketing world but Cougar Digital makes me feel like I have everything I would ever need at my fingertips. Thanks a ton guys, we look forward to our continued partnership!

Great company, great people. Vision matched expectations!

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.

Cougar digital marketing is a fantastic company for your online marketing needs I had couple estimates on building my website cougar digital was one of the highest but their knowledge and responsive put them apart from other marketing companies which is why chose them best dollars I've spent for my business is here

Always a pleasure to work with the Cougar Digital Marketing & Design team! They excel in creativity, effectiveness and efficiency.

We've had a great experience working with Cougar Digital. We purchased a package deal with a new logo, photography and web design for the Grace Brethren Church of Sunnyside. Nick and Josh were both great to work with. We've had a lot of positive feedback on the work they've done.

Great experience designing and launching my new website!

Josh produced an outstanding web site for TRI-CITY MUSIC. He ad access to numerous resources that made for an amazing finished product. Josh also provided extensive training on how to update the website myself. I have received numerous positive comments on Josh's creation. For outstanding product and service, I recommend Josh.

It was a pleasure to work with Joshua, he made us all feel comfortable despite not having experience speaking in front of a camera. I would totally recommend Josh and his team. The video was exceptional!

Working with Josh at Cougar Digital Marketing & Design was an excellent experience! The process was incredibly collaborative, allowing us to bring our vision for the Pasco School District Career Guide to life. Josh listened to our ideas, provided valuable insights, and worked tirelessly to ensure the final product exceeded our expectations. We are thrilled with the outcome and can't wait to share our new Career Guide with our students and families. Highly recommend Cougar Digital for any design and marketing needs!

Josh did a great job on my headshot. He provided a timely appointment and spent the time to make sure he got the best shot. He was even willing to try several different locations. I would recommend him for anybody looking to update the professional photos.

We had such a good experience working with Cougar Digital Marketing for building our website. They did an awesome job and worked around our crazy schedule so well for meetings/photo shoots/etc. Would highly recommend for any website/marketing needs.

Josh and the Cougar Digital team did an amazing job with a drone video production that included narration. The quality of audio and video show a professional production level. I appreciate the attention to detail and quality of work by the Cougar Digital team.

Cougar Digital should be your only call for web design. I would give them 6 stars if I could. #Silverline

I highly recommend Cougar Digital. I am currently working with them on 3 separate projects. They took over 2 community based websites that were painful to use and turned them into user friendly, performant websites. Their website & database design is outstanding and they have consistently exceeded my expectations. It has been a pleasure working with everyone at 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.

Thank you Cougar Digital. Over the past couple of years we have worked with Cougar Digital for rebranding, website updates, new logo, updating our business card and promotional material. They also produced an amazing testimonial video - so much fun working with Josh and his team to create this. I can’t begin to express how happy we are with the work Cougar Digitial has completed for us over the years. They are professional, punctual, very creative and so easy to work with. Looking forward to our partnership for years to come. I would highly recommend Cougar Digitial. Our team at New Leaf Creations is thankful for all of your amazing work and looking forward to working with Cougar Digital in the future.

Cougar Digital Marketing ROCKS! I've worked with Travis and Josh from the very beginning. These folks know their stuff and do a fantastic job with website design & promotion, digital photography and so much more. Their services are very reasonably priced and they know how to GET RESULTS. Great BANG for your marketing BUCK. Look no further that Cougar Digital - these folks will take good care of you.

Service is the difference!! Ashley is super sharp and ahead of the curve but the real value is access and responsiveness. Other providers I have had were great until they got paid then very slow to respond to updates and changes I needed. Ashley is lighting in a bottle and handles updates and changes with urgency as well as keeps us informed of new emerging opportunities to consider. Highly reccomend. It would be a Mistake not to give her a meeting before deciding who to partner with.

Every business, large or especially small, should have professional help on marketing. As a small business owner, I only have so much time. I need to keep my focus on the daily tasks and still be able to be a family man. Cougar Digital takes this immense pressure off my shoulders. Not only does my business grow, it's easier. Highly recommend.

Josh Kandle was able to complete a wonderful presentation to my Introduction to Business class at Columbia Basin College. He brought to life the world of Marketing on the internet and how to use it effectively and consistently. The students left the presentation with knowledge they could go out and use immediately. He was great!

It is always a pleasure working with Cougar Digital, especially with Josh and Mykaela. It's been a very good partnership with them. Very professional, always available for any questions or inquiries. Looking forward for more years of partnership.

We had an amazing experience working with Josh at Cougar Digital for our excavation company's new website. He was extremely professional, detail-oriented, and made the entire photo shoot and drone footage process seamless. The quality of the photos and drone shots exceeded our expectations, capturing our work in a way that truly showcases our expertise. Josh's professionalism and creative eye made a huge difference, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Highly recommend him and Cougar Digital for any photography and digital needs!

We needed to update our website and Josh at Cougar Digital was very responsive, helpful, and capable. Our refreshed website looks great! -Jennifer Williamson Forster, Executive Director, South Sound Reading Foundation.

Mykaela Faulconer at Cougar Digital is one of my favorite people to work with, ever, across the board. She is incredibly talented, and has done consistently stellar graphic design for me and my team at Tri-City Orthopaedic Clinic. I have never had a bad interaction with Mykaela, and she goes above and beyond to provider exemplary customer service at every turn. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to work with Mykaela on a daily basis. Everyone at Cougar Digital is amazing, and I would recommend them whole-heartedly.

Awesome experience working with Josh on a 25th anniversary video of my wedding photos set to music. Couldn’t be happier with the finished product. Thank you Cougar Digital and Josh!

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!

It has been a pleasure working with Cougar Digital. From managing our ads, rebuilding our website, and maintaining our Google reviews, we have been more than satasfied. We also have no problem getting a hold of them with any questions we may have or help we may need. I highly recommend them! Thank you, Alison and the rest of us at Columbia Basin Satellite & Electric

We had a short timetable and a limited budget. The end result was great. Working with the Cougar Digital team made the project very enjoyable.

I really love the team approach with Travis and the group, they are very professional, organized, and skilled at what they do. I wish I had employed them for my website and advertising years ago. I regret spending so much money trying to do it on my own or with cheap services that took my money and did nothing. I feel like they are MY team, and I feel I'm not alone trying to achieve my business goals to get my services out to the public.

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!

We had a website built and we were very happy with the quality they did. It was worth every dollar spent. If someone is looking for a website just know that if you find someone cheaper you wont get the same quality as Cougar can do. You get what you pay for. I would reccomend them to anyone looking for a professional job done.

Questions?

Digital advertising FAQs

If you’re thinking it, there’s a good chance someone else asked it too. 

How much do Facebook ads cost?
How much should a local business spend on digital advertising?
How do I know if my digital ads are working?
How long does it take digital advertising to work?
Do you work with small digital advertising budgets?
What is the best digital advertising platform for a local business?
What is the difference between Google Ads and Facebook Ads?

Digital Marketing for Busy Professionals

Learn more. Grow faster.

Quick, useful reads to help you think bigger and market smarter.

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Ready to treat your advertising like an investment instead of an experiment?

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