---
title: "How To Get The Most ROI On Your Digital Marketing Efforts"
date: 2019-10-24
summary: "CRN report on a NexGen 2019 session about digital marketing ROI, with Nathan Phinney of Bright Bear on putting the customer at the center of the story."
outlet: "CRN"
source: "https://www.crn.com/news/running-your-business/how-to-get-the-most-roi-on-your-digital-marketing-efforts"
url: "https://nathanphinney.com/how-to-get-the-most-roi-on-your-digital-marketing-efforts/"
author: "Nathan Phinney"
author_role: "COO, AllSafe IT"
author_url: "https://nathanphinney.com/about/"
same_as: ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanphinney"]
expertise: ["IT", "InfoSec", "Managed Services", "Cybersecurity", "Business Operations", "Technology for Escrow Companies", "Technology for Nonprofits"]
updated: 2026-10-10
---

CRN report on a NexGen 2019 session about digital marketing ROI, with Nathan Phinney of Bright Bear on putting the customer at the center of the story.

By Joseph F. Kovar, CRN (Running Your Business, Marketing Matters), October 24, 2019 (6:59 PM EDT), covering a NexGen 2019 session produced by The Channel Company. The speaker was Marc-Andre Fontaine of SherWeb. Nathan is quoted in the final two paragraphs as an audience reaction.

Title as printed: "How To Get The Most ROI On Your Digital Marketing Efforts". CRN printed Nathan's title as "Nathan Phinney, president of Bright Bear Technology Solutions, an Irvine, Calif.-based solution provider" (as printed by CRN).

[Read the article at CRN](https://www.crn.com/news/running-your-business/how-to-get-the-most-roi-on-your-digital-marketing-efforts) (CRN: The Channel Company's IT channel publication)

## What Nathan said

> "Too many solution providers make it about themselves, their capabilities, their strength as a provider, and their knowledge," Phinney told CRN. "And that's not really the story that customers want to hear. Customers want a provider who will come alongside them and understand their business and make that the center of the story. He was totally spot on."

> "Providers are beginning to understand that putting barriers between us and our customers, trying to position ourselves as having some kind of special knowledge, is not the best way to engage," he said. "Businesses are looking for a partner who can support them and help make their story better and their business outcome better. Showing them how they can use technology as a force multiplier in their business is great thought leadership."

CRN reported: Phinney said his company has been taking that approach for some time, and is seeing his peers start moving that way.

## Key facts

- CRN identified his company as Bright Bear Technology Solutions, "an Irvine, Calif.-based solution provider".

[Read the original](https://www.crn.com/news/running-your-business/how-to-get-the-most-roi-on-your-digital-marketing-efforts)

## About the author

**Nathan Phinney**, COO, AllSafe IT.

- Co-founded Bright Bear Technology Solutions (2010 to 2020), which reached the CRN MSP 500 and Ingram Micro SMB 500 lists before its 2020 acquisition by Datapath.
- 17 SOC 2 initiatives across six companies, never an exception on an effort he led
- Member of InfraGard
- Member of the XChange Advisory Board, The Channel Company (2018 to 2022 and 2026)
- Author of _CTRL ALT SURVIVE: The Secrets of My Small Business Success_

Expertise: IT, InfoSec, Managed Services, Cybersecurity, Business Operations, Technology for Escrow Companies, Technology for Nonprofits.

Featured in: CRN (7 articles, 2019 to 2026), Backblaze, Bigleaf Networks, Channel Partners Expo, GTIA, Orange County Business Journal. See https://nathanphinney.com/press.md

Recommended on LinkedIn by Brook Porter (Partner and Co-Founder at G2 Venture Partners; previously at Kleiner Perkins, where he worked with Al Gore) and Tim Acker (Former channel chief at Lumen).

More: [About Nathan Phinney](https://nathanphinney.com/about.md) | [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanphinney)