Joel Goldstein, Goldstein Group Communications: Engineer-to-Engineer B2B PR

Originally published September 2020. Updated June 15, 2026.

Part of PR Agency Q&A Profiles · See also: Jeff Bradford, Bradford Dalton Group · John Corey, Greentarget

Joel Goldstein founded Goldstein Group Communications in 1992 as a B2B public relations agency. The firm has pivoted twice — first to full-service integrated marketing communications, then deeper into lead management, lead generation, and digital marketing as a HubSpot VAR. The agency specializes in engineer-to-engineer technical content for B2B clients and operates a proprietary "Measurably Better Marketing" process that ties marketing investment to attributable sales ROI.

The Interview

Q: Who is Goldstein Group Communications and what has the agency's journey been?

A: We've pivoted the business twice. We started as a PR agency in 1992, always focused on B2B. Most of our clients have some degree of technical or engineered content. About nine years in, we expanded to full-service — adding advertising, direct mail, trade shows, and a fully integrated B2B platform. About seven years ago, we moved deeper into lead management and lead generation. We became a HubSpot VAR and significantly invested in digital marketing and web development.

Three things make us different:

Focus on complex engineer-to-engineer content. Many agencies talk about converting complicated topics into something a layman can understand. We do the opposite — we keep them at an engineer-to-engineer level, because that's who we're trying to reach.

Measurably Better Marketing. We draw a straight line from marketing to sales to ROI. We can show that for every dollar spent with us, clients generated $10 or $20 back in sales — not clicks, not impressions, actual sales.

Marketing managers, not account managers. Our marketing managers work peer-to-peer with clients. They've been a marketing manager before and can provide strategic counsel. They're supported by hyper-specialists — nobody knows more than Britney about paid search, nobody knows more than Erin about user experience, nobody knows more than Rachel about B2B PR.

Q: What are you encountering in B2B marketing communications right now?

A: Many companies are struggling with salespeople having a tough time getting in the door. Companies moved dollars from trade shows and travel into digital marketing. We've created our own virtual trade show product that doesn't have to be rebuilt every time. We use AI in paid search and through programmatic advertising. Video email tools have an 80-90% open rate. We're doing quite a bit on LinkedIn with both paid and organic content.

Q: What should marketers focus on in technology now?

A: Two things: website user experience and CRM/marketing automation platforms. If there was ever a time when your website had to perform and convert anonymous visitors into leads — it's now. The other thing is looking at CRMs and marketing automation to move people through the funnel. We spend a lot of time on installing and optimizing HubSpot, Pardot, and other platforms.

Q: How does technology fit into GGC's approach?

A: Companies used to talk about their IT stack. Many organizations are now spending as much on their MarTech Stack. You must have your CRM integrated with your marketing — building a fully automated lead machine. Our job is to understand those tools, test them, and roll them out.

Q: The role of PR in a fully integrated program?

A: PR doesn't stand for "press release" — public relations is the process of building mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. We use PR to leapfrog competitors when it comes to thought leadership, specifically through earned media. We place engineer-to-engineer content through our proactive media relationships.