Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Capozzi.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My story starts in a place most people wouldn’t expect for someone who now runs a digital marketing agency.
I’m a CODA, a child of deaf adults, so sign language and advocacy were part of my life before I even had a career. It felt natural to start out in the nonprofit world, working with people with disabilities, particularly the deaf community. I was interpreting, teaching life skills, helping people navigate a world that wasn’t always built with them in mind. It was meaningful work, and for a while it seemed like exactly where I was supposed to be.
But I had another passion tugging at me the whole time: television and video production. In 1998, I made the leap and went back to school to chase it. That decision opened the door to a completely different career path. After a few stints at startups, I landed at Blattner Brunner, one of the largest marketing agencies in Pennsylvania, where I became an Internet Project Manager right around the year 2000, back when “internet marketing” was still a fairly new idea. I spent the next several years working with clients of every size, learning the business from the inside out.
The real turning point came in 2009. I had just had my first child less than a year earlier, and I knew something needed to change. So I did something that felt a little terrifying at the time: I went out on my own. I founded i.e.Interactive in June of 2009.
Almost two decades later, that leap has grown into a team of 11 people with a wide range of skills, all working to help businesses navigate the digital landscape; figuring out how to grow and adapt and reach the customers that matter the most to their business. Over the years we’ve had the privilege of partnering with everyone from local Pittsburgh institutions like the University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Technical College to national names like PPG Industries and the PA Lottery, along with dozens of small and mid-sized businesses we’ve grown alongside. What I’m proudest of is this: every single client we’ve worked with since day one has come to us through referral. Nothing has ever been about cold outreach. It’s been built entirely on relationships and results.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Honestly, it’s been smoother than people expect.
A lot of that comes down to networking, doing the next right thing, always, and building trust through honesty. I’ve always wanted my clients to feel like my team is a true extension of theirs, not an outside vendor. That approach is exactly why the referrals have never stopped.
If I had to point to a real inflection point, it was COVID. My company had been virtual since 2009, so when the world suddenly had to catch up to remote work, we were already there. It opened doors we hadn’t been able to fully walk through before. We started working with clients we never would have reached otherwise, businesses on the other side of the state. One of my largest clients today is in Harrisburg, and I have several others out in State College. That shift, born out of a really hard time, ended up being one of the best things for the business.
2025 was probably the most difficult year, though, in a different way. It felt like more businesses were pulling work in house, and that created a real sense of uncertainty. It made me think harder about how we prove our value, not just execute the work.
Today, the biggest challenge isn’t clients or competition. It’s keeping up with technology. Things are moving so fast that staying ahead of it, so we can keep our clients ahead of it too, is a constant job in itself.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At the core, i.e.Interactive is a digital marketing agency, but I think what actually sets us apart is how we approach the work. Everything we do follows what I call our Five D’s process: Discovery, Define, Design, Develop, and Deploy. We don’t jump straight into execution. We start by really understanding a business, its goals, its customers, and where the gaps are, before we ever build a strategy or write a single piece of content. That upfront work is what makes everything after it actually work.
We handle the full range of digital marketing: SEO, paid media, content and blog strategy, email marketing, Google Business Profile management, website management, and reporting that actually means something to a business owner, not just numbers on a page. Lately, a big part of what we specialize in is helping clients show up in AI-driven search. Google’s AI Overviews and tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing how people find information, and we’re writing and structuring content so our clients are the ones AI trusts enough to cite. That’s a space a lot of agencies are still catching up to, and it’s one we’ve been building for.
What I’m most proud of, brand-wise, is that our reputation has been built entirely on relationships. Every client we’ve worked with since day one has come to us through referral. We’ve had the chance to work with everyone from local Pittsburgh institutions to national names, and small businesses we’ve grown alongside for years. That range keeps us sharp, but the thread running through all of it is the same: we treat every client like a true partner, not a line item.
If there’s one thing I want readers to know, it’s that good digital marketing isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about doing the strategic groundwork first, staying honest with clients about what will actually move the needle, and being the kind of partner a business can trust for the long haul.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best way to work with us is simply to reach out and start a conversation. We always begin with Discovery and Define, the first two steps of our Five D’s process, so we can really understand a business before recommending anything. There’s no pressure and no cookie-cutter pitch. It’s a chance for us to learn what’s actually going on with a business and figure out if we’re the right fit to help.
For anyone who isn’t ready for a full engagement yet, following along and engaging with our content is genuinely helpful too. Since almost all of our business has come through referral, word of mouth means everything to us. If someone knows a business that could use help with their digital presence, sending them our way is one of the best ways to support what we do.
People can find us at ieinteractiveservices.com, or reach out directly to start that first conversation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ieinteractiveservices.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vcapozzi/
