Chronos Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of a DTC food supplement brand serving the UK market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chronos Agency, and what were your goals?

Chronos have been engaged to manage all of our email marketing communications with the goal of improving customer lifetime value by improving our replenishment flows and to impact our CaC with improved email messaging to new visitor opt-ins.

SOLUTION

How did you select Chronos Agency and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Chronos based on recommendations from other DTC founders.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

The project was split into: - Redesigning and improving existing flows to include copywriting, graphic design and A/B testing. - A complete service to product up to 3 email newsletter/marketing pieces per week. This service includes ideation of suitable angles, design and copy writing.

How many resources from the Chronos Agency team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We work with Chronos across a dedicated slack channel and enjoy a highly responsive service from our account managers with clear channels for escalation (which have never been required)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Chronos have had a significant impact on our monthly revenues. Without sharing proprietary data, their results provide for a positive ROI when looking at revenues channels versus their costs.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent, Chronos are exceptionally well process driven which keeps time overhead our side to an absolute minimum.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They truly get the ecom email space and are experts in their field. In particular I value the fact that their copywriters carefully research and develop their product knowledge and I've been surprised at how self sufficient they have bee in developing great sales angles.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No. Their service is great, and the team has exceeded and met our goals and expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-owner of Benji Sleep, an e-commerce company that sells affordable bedding products in the Canadian and US markets. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chronos Agency?

We were looking for a firm to help us with email marketing. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chronos Agency runs our email marketing efforts. We come up with an idea for a marketing campaign, and their team designs the email templates. Everything they deliver is custom to our specific needs. 

So far, they’ve implemented browser and cart recovery flows to improve our customer conversion. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with Louis (COO & Co-Founder) and Mira (Lifecycle Marketing Manager), along with an email marketing manager and 4–5 copywriters.   

How did you come to work with Chronos Agency?

We found Chronos Agency at an ad conference, ECom World, where I heard a presentation the founder of Chronos Agency gave. We were initially referred to a few of Chronos Agency’s competitors, but I reached out to Chronos Agency requesting assistance on our marketing efforts. After we discussed what I was looking for and what they provided, we hired them because we aligned well and they were a company that could grow along with us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invest about $4,000–$5,000 a month with Chronos Agency, for a total of $30,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2021 and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We used to have very high bounce and unsubscribe rates on our emails, but it has lowered dramatically since working with Chronos Agency. Open rates increased from 30% to over 50%, and our conversion rates are 3%–8%. Our customer recovery flows are currently between 4%–5%; some campaigns have brought in over $100,000 within the last six months. One campaign brought in over $60,000 on just one email. 

How did Chronos Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Chronos Agency is doing well regarding project management. It took a little while to align with them because this is the first time we’re working with an email marketing agency, but there is good communication. We’ve nailed down the best ways to approve emails for requisition requests — everything goes through an easy-to-read spreadsheet. 

We generally have monthly meetings to discuss the project’s progress and future plans. Outside of that, we communicate regularly over a shared Slack channel and email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We found that Chronos Agency has excellent experience with e-commerce brands in the consumer goods space. That gives us a lot of confidence in their email strategy, which is great.

Along with that, they’re a great support team, very organized, and quick to respond to messages. The schedule they put in place is very easy to follow, and they’re incentivized to improve based on our KPIs. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

My company is based in Canada, and Chronos Agency is located worldwide, so the time difference was a bit difficult at times. It would be nice if there was a teammate in our time zone for the requests we needed rapid responses to. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients need to explain their brand voice and have rough drafts of email template examples prepared at the start of the engagement with Chronos Agency. That way, Chronos Agency can have brand information to build content from.

Also, it’s important to have a spreadsheet to process revisions and approvals. Communication is key — clients should have meetings at least once a month to ensure that all project requirements are understood and schedules are met.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

ForChics is an e-commerce beauty brand that is committed to creating thoughtful, modern hair care treatments that are clean, cruelty-free, vegan and serve to empower and embrace natural beauty.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chronos Agency, and what were your goals?

Our business had a great following due to social media but in order to take us to the next level, Chronos was able to strategies email and SMS marketing tactics for us. These tactics help us further promote campaigns, sales and improve customer return rates, customer knowledge as well as provide us with customer feedback.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We searched online and shortlisted a few vendors and third parties. After meeting with the Chronos team, we chose this vendor based on cost and communication skills as our team is all remote and scattered across a few countries.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Monthly spreadsheets are provided for us to review and approve. We also schedule monthly performance review calls held over zoom to discuss the prior months sales and stats based off of email and sms-texting. Weekly updates via slack were sent to us as well as an other immediate requests.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have a account manager, our point of contact. On our calls, we're joined by the head of client success, a client strategy manager, an email marketing manager, and a graphic designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our email camping performance has maintained above 10% campaign revenue.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Monthly spreadsheets are provided for us to review and approve. We also schedule monthly performance review calls held over zoom to discuss the prior months sales and stats based off of email and sms-texting. Weekly updates via slack were sent to us as well as an other immediate requests.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their team is extremely patient and supportive throughout every "last-minute" update. They are always on time with quick turnaround times or provides a realistic timeframe.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

There were some scheduling issues due to different time zone, but everyone adapted quickly to our schedule and organizing meetings.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I own and operate an online e-commerce website, and we focus on the costume jewelry niche.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chronos Agency?

Up until two months ago, Chronos Agency has been helping me with email marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chronos Agency set up multiple email automation based on customers’ different actions on my website — they also manage email and promotional campaigns for me on top of that. We’ve recently widened the scope of their work, so instead of just handling my email, they’re also handling SMS marketing and content marketing on my Instagram. Apart from that, they’re also helping me build out a mobile app as well as manage push notification promotions.

At the start of project, they put together a slide deck that talked about email marketing. The proposal also talked about how it will account for 25% of my store’s revenue per month through email. They then wrote several email automation inside my Klaviyo account and sent them for me to review. They also created several templates for campaigns that use the brand’s voice. Once all of those are approved, they started sending those messages out.

Over the past couple of months, they mentioned they were starting to do SMS and Instagram content, so Josh (CEO & Co-Founder) put together a proposal talking about what they could do for different channels. After seeing the proposal, I went forward and decided to have them start SMS marketing, mobile app development, and Instagram content.

Currently, we’re still working on the Instagram content promotion side and getting everything set up there, and there’s a scheduling tool that I use called Later that their team has access to. The content that’s scheduled there will go out to all our social media channels, so the message is congruent.

What is the team composition?

Aside from Josh, my main points of contact are Daniel (Senior Marketing Manager) and Leon (Marketing Executive). I also speak with Louis (COO) and a third member of their team that’s more high-level, but don’t really handle any day-to-day operations. In addition, I work with their in-house copywriters and designers.

How did you come to work with Chronos Agency?

Originally, I came across Josh through a post he made in an e-commerce Facebook group. He had a lot of really interesting case studies, examples, and ideas, and he was providing value to the e-commerce community. I then tested some of his advice, and I decided to give them a shot. They’ve been able to hit their KPIs and stay on track, so I continued working and building the relationship, and allowing them to take on more marketing tasks.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent somewhere between $100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started in May 2018, and it’s still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since beginning my partnership with them, we’ve successfully been able to achieve anywhere from 20%–30% of my store’s monthly revenue through the campaigns. They’ve also been able to slowly increase the percentage of revenue as well on a monthly basis.

Apart from that, Chronos Agency is able to provide useful split tests to determine what type of vehicles work best, and then put those steps to action.

How did Chronos Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform very well from a project management standpoint and I’m satisfied with what they’ve been delivering. We typically communicate through Slack and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would say it’s their knowledge in this space and their implementation speed. Sometimes I would have promotion and campaign ideas that pop up in my head last minute, and they’re able to implement them really quickly, which I think other providers may not be able to do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One area we’ve been working on is just graphics. We’re coming up with more modern graphics that really go with the brand and the niche that I’m in. I brought up the concern that they were using dated graphics, and so far, they’ve been doing a really good job of updating and improving.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say to get the most of the partnership, make sure that they’re tracking the KPIs, and that they’re in good communication with the email marketing team. Previously, I got busy with other things and the communication was weak on my end with them, but they were still able to deliver. However, I believe they could’ve gotten better results if they were kept more in the loop of what was going on with me and the business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing executive for a men’s shaving company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chronos Agency?

I handled our company's email marketing efforts, but it was not my area of expertise. At the same time, our company was looking to establish better customer relations through email, so we decided to hire Chronos Agency.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them a rough idea of what we wanted to happen. After that, they took over our email marketing efforts. They continue to be the driving force behind it. The team implements strategies and conducts split testing to find the best processes for us.

What is the team composition?

The team varies each quarter, but we usually collaborate with 3–5 people.

How did you come to work with Chronos Agency?

Chronos Agency was a featured speaker at a worldwide conference for online businesses. Since we liked their capabilities, we partnered with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $20,000 so far, and we pay them $2,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in August 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Chronos Agency has done a good job by increasing our sales and revenue tremendously just by changing the subject line of our emails. We spend $2,000 a month and our ROI is $10,000 a month.

How did Chronos Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re extremely professional, and we never have to worry about their ability to deliver. Chronos Agency gives us monthly reports, and we communicate through Slack and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We've partnered with other agencies before, but our engagement with them has been more profitable. Even though our advertising costs have increased and even tripled because of COVID-19, the team's email marketing strategies have been our saving grace.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not sure what they can improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate with Chronos Agency; always check your email.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of 3–4 different e-commerce stores.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chronos Agency?

I had a customer database of emails, and I needed help with marketing and advertising.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They set up my email automation sequence and managed my email marketing campaigns. In addition, I signed a deal with them to expand their work into managing my social media content.

What is the team composition?

I work with an account manager, a project lead, a graphic designer, and a couple of copywriters.

How did you come to work with Chronos Agency?

They were recommended by another e-commerce company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested somewhere between $130,000–$140,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2018, and our partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their goal was to make an email account for about 20% or more of my full revenue. They hit that goal within three months and so far, it’s been quite consistent. The conversion rate for my emails is about 8% on the automated flows and to me, that’s a great performance.

How did Chronos Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Chronos Agency is responsive and they go above and beyond at times. They manage my email campaigns through Klaviyo and the experience has been smooth. Every month, we have at least one call where they report the previous month’s performance and discuss upcoming plans. We typically communicate through Slack, email, and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that they’re very cost-competitive. We also like that they provide quality content and strategy between every email.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d be a bit happier if the weekly campaign emails they send out would generate a bit more revenue. I think they are limited by the industry, but for them to generate the returns they get on the campaign emails is still pretty decent. Any problems I had with them, we communicated and they resolved them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate a lot about what you want and need from them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of merchandise for a spiritual teacher, leader, and author. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chronos Agency?

I run the Shopify store, and we hired them to handle email marketing for the store.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted to better utilize our email list to keep customers engaged with our work and foster our audience base effectively. Aiming for increased engagement and conversions, we brought their team onto the project because our internal staff was unable to support that effort on its own. 

Before we hired them, we had an email marketing software and email list. We provided them with our branding information, graphics, logos, and content to assist their email copywriters in composing compelling content that aligns with our identity.

What is the team composition?

They have one team member dedicated to bringing in new clients, so we worked with them on an initial sales meeting. There were several people staffed to the work, including accountants, a graphic artist, a copywriter, and more. I have two main points of contact. 

How did you come to work with Chronos Agency?

We received a referral from our Facebook Ads marketer on staff. He’s used their email marketing services for running his own stores.   

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a retainer as well as a monthly revenue share to their team, so our spend with them varies from month to month. On average we spend $4,500–$5,500 each month on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together since February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve successfully elevated the aesthetic of our email outreach. They take suggestions and feedback into account, running A/B testing when needed. We’re seeing more returning customers and higher retention numbers because of their work. They’ve done well in targeting people with the right offers based on their behavior, monitoring email interaction to determine which campaigns individuals should be included in.

It’s not often that we have large new announcements for new products, so our success in bringing old customers back to our services is a testament to their email marketing work. 

How did Chronos Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style is quite inspiring. They have a very cohesive flow between their team. It’s been helpful for our team to witness how they structure themselves. It’s helped us learn and grow as well. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their commitment to incorporating all feedback into their work as well as their sense of urgency impressed us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d love to be able to reach someone on weekends in urgent situations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as detailed as possible from the start when describing your brand. That will help them grasp and grow with your brand as they continue to work with you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of an e-commerce company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chronos Agency?

I was looking for a company to optimize our email marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handle the email marketing completely. They create visual and written content, do copywriting, and campaigns using Klaviyo.

What is the team composition?

Joshua (CEO & Co-Founder) is our main point of contact. There are 5-7 people working in total on the team.

How did you come to work with Chronos Agency?

I had seen them on Facebook. I spoke to a few agencies, and Chronos was recommended more than any other agency, so I decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000 - $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in March 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I had a goal to have 20% of our revenue come from email marketing. They’ve met and exceeded our target. They were able to take full control of email marketing, allowing my focus to be on other things.

How did Chronos Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They do an amazing job. I don’t have to be very involved because they take care of everything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very reliable. I can trust them to do their job without having to micromanage or push them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m happy with them overall.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Let Joshua draw from his expertise and share insights that will help your business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a consumer beauty product company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chronos Agency?

We had just started our Shopify store and needed help with email marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chronos Agency set up our email marketing. 

What is the team composition?

There are 5–10 people, including a project manager, some designers, and copywriters.

How did you come to work with Chronos Agency?

I knew that someone in the dropshipping niche was using their marketing service and thought highly of them. They were affordable for us and we felt they were a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from November 2019–March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our goal was to increase our email marketing revenue by 20% in three months. We saw the goal in the second month. 

How did Chronos Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated on at least a weekly basis over Slack. They were responsive if we have questions. We were satisfied with their project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Chronos Agency was affordable for us compared to other agencies. They got back with us pretty quickly. Every 1–2 weeks, they had the next month’s schedule ready to share with us. They sent us monthly reports as well. We’re pleased with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to improve their graphic design. There could be less text and more graphics. There’s room to improve in their copywriting as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommended Chronos Agency to at least two of my friends to them. It’s so important to have an email marketing agency because it’s not easy for brands to do it in-house at the beginning. Chronos Agency is affordable and quite experienced. They can help you build up the whole email marketing system.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an e-commerce company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chronos Agency?

We didn’t have any in-house email marketing team, so we brought on Chronos Agency to assist us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They covered full-scale email marketing, including copywriting and creative design for our messages. The emails were distributed to customers who had opted in to email marketing through Klaviyo. 

They provide a business proposal for each email that they want to send out. Then, they create a mockup of what the email would look like. After getting our team’s approval, they send it out. 

What is the team composition? 

We had two main points of contact, but the team was about seven people in total. 

How did you come to work with Chronos Agency?

We received a referral from a colleague who put us in contact with the CEO, Josh. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent upwards of $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in mid-2018, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re reliable and consistent. They always deliver on promises. Their emails bolster our revenue each month, more so than what we could've done alone. 

How did Chronos Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always responsive and easy to connect with when I needed to jump on a call with them or make any changes. Their weekly reports were organized and easy to understand.

I never felt like there was any confusion working with them. Everything was very clear. We use a dedicated Slack channel to communicate with them, in addition to phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The ease of use they offered us through their process was impressive. It was easy to set everything up and they handle the whole process for us, which simplifies our work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve their copywriting skills, though there are never any major mistakes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re open to walk through everything and tailor their approach to your business needs. We typically take a hands-off approach, but they’re open to other approaches as well.