Kyle Rutledge

Gradari is a paid ads lead generation agency for B2B and SaaS companies that want more qualified leads — not just more leads. We partner with teams who are already spending on ads but need strategic clarity, cleaner tracking, and a focus on quality that marketing and sales can both trust. Before launching Gradari, I was the top-performing strategist at Disruptive Advertising (Clutch’s #1-rated U.S. digital marketing agency in 2023). I’ve managed millions in spend across Google, Meta, and LinkedIn — and I bring that depth into every client relationship. Here’s what clients say: 🗣️ “Kyle didn’t try to string us along or collect fees on underperforming campaigns. He told us the truth — even when it meant pausing spend. That’s rare.” — Marq (B2B SaaS) 🗣️ “We had a huge knowledge gap around advertising and customer acquisition, and Kyle filled it in. His expertise across both ads and HubSpot was particularly impressive.” — Cerebras (SaaS) 🗣️ “He helped us fix our Google Ad tracking and explained things in a way that made sense. Our meetings did more than fix problems — they opened doors.” — LoanPro (B2B) 🗣️ “Increased our average ticket price, cut cost per lead in half, and improved our close rate from 30% to 50%.” — Aurora Lights 🗣️ “They implemented offline conversions so we could finally optimize for leads that turn into revenue — not just people who fill out a form.” — Aurora Lights 🗣️ “They go above and beyond to understand the uniqueness of your business — not just to hit metrics, but to help you grow.” — Off Highway Van We don’t coast. We test, learn, and adapt — always moving forward. That’s built into our name: Gradari, from the Latin gradus — step-by-step progress. Want to improve lead quality and get real clarity from your ad spend? → Book a free strategy session at gradari.com or the link in my profile

I joined Hona to help drive demand for their legal tech platform — aligning brand, content, and performance into a more structured growth motion. While it became clear within a few months that the company needed a field marketer more than a performance-driven strategist, I’m proud of what we accomplished in a short time: Launched a brand-new website in just 39 days — improving design, UX, SEO capabilities, and overall brand presence with zero dip in organic traffic (despite industry averages showing ~229 days of recovery post-migration) Increased inbound demo requests by 47% by implementing a self-scheduling feature Broke the record for marketing-sourced sales in a single month — 166% higher than the prior month and 137% above the previous record Improved RevOps reporting and dashboards for cleaner attribution and smarter decision-making Created the company’s first case study, plus a system for capturing future success stories and referrals Developed a cross-channel content strategy to support ABM, SEO, social, and email efforts This experience gave me the final push to launch Gradari — and double down on what I do best: building lead generation systems that create clarity, drive qualified pipeline, and never stagnate.

At Disruptive Advertising — ranked the #1 digital marketing agency in the U.S. by Clutch in 2023 — I served as a strategic advisor to a portfolio of B2B and lead generation clients. My role blended marketing leadership with revenue strategy. I wasn’t just running campaigns — I was helping clients connect their paid media efforts to real business outcomes. I worked cross-functionally with platform experts in paid search, paid social, SEO, and lifecycle marketing to align efforts around a shared goal: qualified pipeline. I regularly led high-level strategy calls with founders, CMOs, and growth teams to clarify what was working, what needed to change, and where we could scale next. By the end of my tenure, I was Disruptive’s top-performing strategist, consistently delivering results that earned trust and drove measurable growth. Highlights: ⭐️ Maintained top performance for 12 consecutive months (2022–2023) ⭐️ Winner of the “100 Club” award for 100%+ client retention — highest in the company at 103.39% ⭐️ Managed $2M+ in monthly ad spend across 11 accounts ⭐️ Led a cross-platform team of 29 specialists ⭐️ Achieved an 83.3% client goal attainment rate — with remaining accounts trending upward This role shaped how I approach paid ads today: not just as a media channel, but as a business lever that requires strategic clarity, sales alignment, and continuous testing to unlock real ROI.

Core Functions 🛠 • The face of Disruptive Advertising (DA) • Acting as a "Part-Time Marketing Director" for clients • Understand how businesses work and align a marketing strategy that supports and grows that business • Continuously building impactful relationships with clients • Know best and understand what’s most important to clients - their goals, their needs & their wants • Build highly adept social skills; maintain steady and frequent client communication • Report on data, and analytics and determine ongoing strategies • Conduct regular internal meetings that address marketing strategy, assigning accountability, and resolving internal concerns while always maintaining standards and deliverables

Highlights ⭐️ • Received a 98% yearly average approval rating from my direct reports • Developed time management tools for my team increasing work efficiencies by 30%+ • Identified & recommended fixes for misaligned pricing structure for one of our newer product offerings • Achieved 97% average team revenue retention over 12 months • Achieved 100% client strategy buy-off as a team for 8 months Core Functions 🛠 • Building a small team of individuals that are great individual contributors • Own strategy and relationship for the larger accounts on the team • Lead and train a small team (up to 6 people) of digital marketing strategists • Conduct quarterly reviews, monthly and weekly 1:1s, and weekly team training • Provide coaching/mentoring opportunities • Hire and onboard new team members • Help team members with escalated clients • Define, monitor, and analyze trends within the team's client KPIs • Build & optimize Google & Bing campaigns for a roster of clients across search, display, and YouTube • Build and execute a Facebook and Instagram advertising funnel inside of Facebook Business Manager • Develop paid search/social strategy based on client-specific goals • Actively test and analyze targeting criteria (keywords & audiences), ad creatives, landing pages, and bid strategies to drive results in line with client's goals • Communicate performance results and strategy recommendations to clients & secure buy-in from decision-makers • Identify and maximize new opportunities for client growth • Think creatively to develop innovative tactics and strategies that drive results • Follow industry trends, drive innovation, and contribute to case studies and training • Contribute to projects, process changes, and roll-outs • Partner with clients to consult on overall digital marketing strategy • Create quarterly business reviews and other client-facing presentations that outline performance, insights from testing, and key strategic opportunities

Highlights ⭐️ • Managed a full book of business while reserving 5-6 hours per week for coaching and mentorship opportunities • Helped onboard and train two new employees on the team • Maintained 99.13% client average client retention throughout this role • Recognized for maintaining the second highest client revenue retention in the company during 2020 • Expanded product knowledge & services managed to include LinkedIn Ads Core Functions 🛠 • Assisted with the onboarding and mentoring of new employees and the larger team as needed • Partnered with clients to consult on overall paid social digital marketing strategies that create a win-win relationship • Built and executed advertising funnels inside of Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Facebook Business Manager, CRO, and LinkedIn Ads • Defined, monitored, and analyzed trends in clients’ KPIs • Developed a paid social strategy based on client-specific goals • Actively tested and analyzed targeting criteria (keywords, audiences, etc), ad copy, ad creatives, landing pages, and bid strategies to drive results in line with clients’ goals • Communicated performance results and strategy recommendations to clients & secured buy-in from decision-makers • Identified, maximized, and presented new opportunities for client growth • Created quarterly business reviews and other client-facing presentations that outline performance, insights from testing, and key strategic opportunities

Highlights ⭐️ • Led my team to first place in a company-wide strategy development competition 🏆 • Recipient of multiple innovation competition awards by continually testing and adopting new platform features in creative ways • Maintained 97.49% client revenue retention during this role • Trained one new employee in their onboarding process and mentored them for six months thereafter • Expanded product knowledge & services managed to include CRO

Highlights ⭐️ • Managed $6.3M+ in ad spend for my clients in the 2019 calendar year with an average 4x ROI • Expanded product knowledge & services managed to include Facebook & Instagram Ads Management • Retained 103.07% average client retention for Q4 of 2019

Highlights ⭐️ • Completed all Google Ads, Google Analytics, and Microsoft Ads certification • Managed $400,000+ monthly recurring platform ad spend Core Responsibilities 🛠 • Managed new client acquisition for my clients in Google Ads and Microsoft Ads

Highlights ⭐️ • Finished the 12-week program in 6 and got hired on full-time • Assisted in the management of over $185k monthly recurring revenue in the Google Ads platform Core Functions 🛠 • Complete training blocks scheduled to last 12 weeks. Training blocks for a new skill consisted of reading material, shadowing the work being performed, practicing the skill with supervision, and practicing the skill independently with a final check • Assist Marketing Consultants with their clients in Google Ads

• Assist clients in demand generation, PPC, SEO, and content creation in the B2B SaaS, Automotive, Dental, and Financial Services industries. • Increased new leads by 69% and decreased costs per lead by 40%

• Teach students in peer-to-peer workshops how to use Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and other Creative Cloud products to benefit their future careers • Led a small team in the organization of Adobe Creative Cloud workshops in partnership with the Marketing Association • Partner with various student groups and implement guerilla marketing tactics to increase workshop attendance • Promote free trial downloads for increased product adoption (get your free week trial of the Creative Cloud at https://adobe.ly/2hAiJoF)

• Create and run events to teach Marketing Seniors Analytical-based skills • Work with companies to teach skill-based workshops and increase internship and full-time opportunities. • Teach skills such as Excel, R, Statistical Analysis, and Sequel.

Managed all social media channels and social media partnerships – Increased traffic to site from social media 258% over previous time (Dec 2016 - July 2017) – Generate an additional 200,000+ site visits/year through social media partnerships with an average cost of $0.03/click Managed PPC channels, including social channels and Google AdWords – Grew average CTR for text ad campaigns from 0.07% at the beginning of June 2017 to 0.71% by the end of July 2017 by implementing a new strategy Head designer and manager of document design and corporate style guides – Manage all outsourced design work – Saved the company over $15,000 in annual design expenses. ・ Analyst, researcher, copywriter, and designer for all client marketing reports. ・ Content writer/blogger for content marketing strategy. ・Employee of the month (June 2017) (Last updated in July 2017)

Managed social media and implemented a new social media strategy – Increased link clicks 353% – Grew social following 81% – Increased social interactions 48% Designed marketing materials for internal and external use – Saved over $16,000 in design costs – Helped design a new logo for the DrivingSales Executive Summit, one of the highest acclaimed events in the industry

• Worked as a crew member and team leader in road maintenance projects, such as crack seal, cleaning, seal coating and painting of public and private parking lots, roads and airports • Organized crew members daily to work on multiple projects efficiently and in good quality

• Edited creative videos such as interviews, tours, breakout and speeches • Filmed interviews, speeches and presentations • Gained proficiency in Final Cut Pro X and Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere • Learned to work on multiple projects at once under tight time constraints and staggered deadlines

• Assistant-taught two lifeguard certification courses (Red Cross certification) • Protected and served the public in and around aquatic facilities • Worked in teams to protect others by being properly trained and acting in emergency situations • Learned leadership skills in time management, quick decision making, teamwork, and customer service • Learned to communicate and give good feedback with various types of clients • Learned to teach in multiple different ways Certifications: ・Lifeguard ・First Aid/CPR/AED ・Aquatic Instructor

• Lead Brand Ambassador for Adobe teaching workshops on the Adobe Creative Cloud products • 3x guest speaker for the Digital Marketing subgroup of the Marketing Association • Director of Analytics in the Marketing Association helping organize events and training

• Lead as team captain of the lacrosse and swim teams while actively involved in broadcasting/video work and working part-time • Helped teach college-level courses in Digital Media programs, including Digital Photography, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Final Cut (ART 1800 at the SLCC) • Self-taught video production skills for the school's video announcement class. Proceeded to teach the rest of the video production class for two years