Captivate Search Marketing

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director for the Women’s Institute for Health (WIFH). We provide laser cosmetic procedures.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Captivate Search Marketing?

We hired Captivate Search Marketing to do SEO and backend development after another vendor built our website. We weren’t ranking and needed to correct course as quickly as possible.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We focused on SEO before expanding the scope. The team now produces blog content as a component of their full-service digital marketing.

Captivate Search Marketing does PPC and Google AdWords in addition to social media marketing for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. The team also handles our graphics and ensures that we own all of our digital assets, such as photography. They coordinate with third-party photographers and help develop mood boards. They track our performance with Google Analytics.

Captivate Search Marketing has overhauled our WordPress site; this is our third redesign with the team. They’ve recategorized drop-down menus and updated navigation with new categorization and tagging for blog posts. The team is also expanding our video and photography galleries. Currently, they’re developing new functionalities including a scheduling portal. We also plan to revamp our reviews widgets.

What is the team composition?

I work with Katie (Managing Director, Captivate Search Marketing), who serves in a project manager capacity. I also communicate directly with Chris (CEO, Captivate Search Marketing).

How did you come to work with Captivate Search Marketing?

I searched for new vendors and reached out to Chris. His immediate response time impressed me.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2011 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve experienced significant growth in the last year. Captivate Search Marketing had a dramatic impact on reducing our PPC and conversion spend. That result is huge for such a competitive market. Also, the team diligently tracks our SEO performance and Google’s algorithm updates.

The website has beautiful imagery and captivating content. We’ve received positive feedback on our social media accounts. The team’s digital asset strategy makes our multimedia content more relevant for users. Our site stands apart from competitors’ with more generic photography.

How did Captivate Search Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Katie is very responsive and I can’t ask for more. The team goes above and beyond—they work weekends—to meet deadlines. We have weekly standing calls and monthly in-person meetings. We used to communicate via instant messaging, email, and text.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They know how to push and develop good content based on rigorous keyword research. Captivate Search Marketing has implemented new relevant terms and makes corrective decisions when an SEO tactic doesn’t perform as expected.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they have a seamless internal system. The team knows how to connect resources and manage the project’s moving parts.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Although clients can feel they know their business better than anyone else, they should still listen to Captive Search Marketing’s options and recommendations. The team proposes creative solutions that often become exciting growth opportunities. For example, I needed time to understand the implications for owning all digital assets. But I can now see how owning photography helps drive business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing and digital strategy for the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). We’re a membership-based organization that has gained about 1.5 million members across 170 countries. We primarily focus on high-achieving high school and secondary school students. Once they join our association, they receive a range of member benefits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Captivate Search Marketing?

We initially engaged Captivate Search Marketing to handle our PPC and SEO. As our collaboration evolved, they worked with our team to add more structure to our digital marketing strategies and create a new website, all for the sake of increasing and enhancing acquisition and engagement strategies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When I joined my role, Captivate Search Marketing was already providing PPC and general SEO work, but they lacked both input and feedback from our side. We needed to establish metrics to gauge our success, so they helped us implement Google Analytics, define key objectives, and identify opportunities. Since then, we’ve collaborated to develop a strong SEO program and further refine our PPC efforts.

One of our major projects was upgrading our previous website to be more modern, mobile-responsive, and visible in searches. Our business model involves sending out direct mail to people who haven’t heard of us. When they receive our letter, it’s a request for money, which can be quite awkward. Having a new, attractive site allows people to find us and validate our offer. From a technical standpoint, the site also provides more efficient transactional support to make it much easier for people to join our association on desktop and mobile devices.

Beyond that, Captivate Search Marketing has helped us create an impressive social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Although we haven’t optimized our YouTube presence, we’ve incorporated video marketing across all of our social platforms and have more to come. Now, we’re building our LinkedIn presence as a secondary audience channel.

What is the team composition?

The process is really convenient. Katie (Managing Director, Captivate Search Marketing) serves as my main point of contact, but the communication is flexible. Because they’re a small, nimble agency, I can reach other teammates. There are more resources working in the background, but they communicate effectively with each other, so I don’t need to talk to everyone individually.

How did you come to work with Captivate Search Marketing?

I inherited them when I came into my role. As my team grew into a cohesive unit with key hires, we gained access to Captivate Search’s team. That’s when we started to collaborate to set up clearly defined metrics and objectives.

How much have you invested with them?

Our monthly spend fluctuates anywhere between $9,000–$13,000 based on our seasonal activity.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’m not sure when the NSHS started working with them, but the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

My highest priority at the outset was to redo the website and, subsequently, manage its maintenance, traffic, and inbound/outbound performance. Immediately during the first campaign year of the new website, we saw marked improvements: a 10% increase in users and a 13% decrease in bounce rate. The second year saw an even better performance with a 3% incremental increase in users and a 39% decrease in bounce rate. Because we worked closely together to understand traffic, user pather, and content relative to our PPC placements, we were able to hone in on a better, more profitable web experience for users and the organization.

In terms of our social media, their marketing efforts have been a significant driver for us. Audience growth across all channels combined has increased by 14% since last year. This breaks down to 25% new followers on Twitter, 7% more on Facebook, 101.5% on Instagram, and 3% on LinkedIn. Our outbound message volume jumped by 50%, and our inbound message volume grew by 235%. Furthermore, our total impressions went up by 549%, and the number of engagements has increased by 194%.

We use Google Analytics and AdWords, though I’m sure that their team has a range of tools behind the scenes. We’ve also worked with Google Data Studio and Google Ad Network. Sprout Social serves as our metrics tool.

This digital mix did not exist before and has become not only the baseline critical for our new brand but has also spun off other activities. This includes social media takeovers (providing authentic social proof and exponential reach), geofencing and custom segment advertising, and honing in on the right PPC creative and landing pages. Activities like these continue to move the needle upward on both acquisition and engaegment results.

How did Captivate Search Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with. Katie is really organized, and we have regular standing scrum calls with her to keep on track. Beyond in-person meetings, we invite them to our larger training sessions, and sometimes they’ll just stop by to have some face time.

I appreciate how effectively they communicate; they’re straight to the point. If we have any questions, they respond immediately. Our entire organization feels comfortable reaching out to Captivate Search Marketing directly.

Their team is also able to adhere to our plans, consistently reminding us to stick to the strategy and keep our eyes on the prize. They don’t just wait to be told what to do. Rather, they make proactive recommendations. When we suggest anything, they’re happy to provide recommendations, so it’s a true partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Captivate Search Marketing’s main strength is their ability to understand our brand, model, and ways to effectively blend digital marketing—mainly social, SEO/SEM, and content—to our goals. I’m very particular when it comes to tracking metrics and making them meaningful. As such, I dislike frivolous reports that are just numbers without context. Their team comprehends this and strives to work toward our goals. They’re an exceptional partner not just for our social campaigns but also for the brand.

The team also understands SEO/SEM very well. We’ve created and leveraged a whole new blog to drive traffic, actual joins, and sales. Captivate Search Marketing works on several aspects of that blog. Although SEO is not our biggest strategy, it’s a derivative byproduct of their work that actively helps us. In addition, they also optimize all content we post on our CMS.

Finally, I appreciate that they handle everything from client relations to social media training. They’ve got it down to a science: they’re fast, effective, and clear. They do phone training for our ambassadors across the country once a month and also advise us on our A/B testing for creative and landing pages. Since they understand our testing model, they’re able to tell us how much time we need for tests to be statistically relevant.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While they do have creative resources who’ve contributed to optimizing blog posts, I’ve sometimes struggled with the caliber of some of that the writing. At times, we’ve needed to do a lot of rewrites. This isn’t bad overall, but, for the money we’re paying and our readership, we would expect a bit more professional copy. I'd also appreciate it if they had creative development options for larger campaign assets.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Potential clients should be rigorous in their efforts to learn metrics and analytics. If all parties can speak the same language, then the programs will be that much more effective. Give Captivate Search Marketing a shot. The team is just small enough, and they’re extremely powerful, fast, and smart.