Directive

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of Galen Data. Our company provides a cloud platform for connected medical devices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive?

We hired Directive for SEO services to boost our site’s organic traffic growth.

What were your goals for this project?

Our objective for this engagement was to increase domain authority, organic site traffic, and conversions. Specifically, we wanted to improve our search positions for certain SEO keywords.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We initially found Directive through a referral. After doing our due diligence by researching three different providers, we selected Directive based on their process and demonstrated understanding of our challenges.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The overall project centered on seven types of work.  Based on a site and keyword analysis, Directive updated core pages and optimized blog posts. They conducted AB experiments and helped us with guest blogging and Hotjar tracking.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager as point of contact. Additionally, a team of SEO experts and content writers was involved.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Directive helped us establish a better understanding of our keyword rankings. They showed us what to keep in mind during our content generation efforts. Our domain authority, site traffic, and rankings for specific keywords improved as a result of their work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our two teams was very good. Jim (Project Manager, Directive) diligently communicated the agenda, status, actions and schedule changes.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Directive’s knowledge, skills, and ease of work were most impressive. They provided a notable level of customer service. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are none I’ve seen so far.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CyberDefenses is a managed security service provider that serves the US military, local and state governments, and enterprise business. We provide services that include a 24/7 Security Operations Center, CISO guidance and cyber intelligence.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive?

We needed a partner to implement SEO.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase organic traffic and bring in high-quality leads.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After interviewing several SEO and digital agencies, I chose Directive because of their comprehensive approach. They recognize that SEO is a holistic effort that involves content development, and they understand the latest SEO tactics.

Describe the project in detail.

Directive did a thorough assessment of our current website performance and ranking. They made recommendations for ways we could improve. The team implemented a contributed article outreach program to drive quality backlinks to the site. They managed ongoing SEO optimization and conducted a PPC campaign.

What was the team composition?

We worked with an account manager, SEO specialists, content writers, and graphic designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

We saw a steady increase in the organic traffic to our site month-over-month, surpassing our goal of a 25% increase.

How did Directive perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly meetings that kept projects moving smoothly forward.

What impresses you about Directive?

They have an organized and effective process, yet they’re willing to adapt and adjust to our business needs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

My only recommendation would be to work more with the client's tools and resources when possible instead of adding new ones.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CMO for Winmo, a B2B sales intelligence platform. We are based in Atlanta with over 100 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive?

We needed a digital agency to take over our PPC efforts. Having bad luck in the past with other agencies, we were looking for someone who could provide results and bring our business into new areas of growth opportunity.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking to increase our number of MQLs and raise our qualification rate.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

One of my colleagues was listening to a podcast and came across Directive. They had experience in the B2B space. We thought would talk to their team and see if they could solve our problems.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After hiring Directive, we did a thorough 30-day audit where we recalculated our campaigns and keyword strategies. Their team has experimented with putting us in new ad groups and forming new keywords, while also refining our key drivers.

What was the team composition?

My demand generation team works closely with their PPC strategic team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have no metrics at this time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Sam (Account Manager, Directive) is one of the best people I’ve worked with in my history of engaging with agencies. He manages the PPC work meticulously.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I’m thoroughly impressed with Directive’s work ethic and PPC expertise. I’ve never engaged with an agency as hardworking as Directive. Their team is eager to hit our targets, which is unique to find in an outside partner.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Directive has done an excellent job so far.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO of a B2B software startup. We sell messaging to consumer brands, which enables their customers to engage over multiple channels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Directive?

We had been in the market for almost two years and needed to appear in searches because our name was unknown at the time. Our team had a local vendor, but we wanted a more mature agency to help us improve SEO, organic search, and paid search. As a B2B software company, we aimed to drive awareness and requests for demos.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project started with a kickoff call. We focused on generating quality inbound leads via SEO and paid search. We met with the account manager weekly. He focused on paid and organic search efforts. During these meetings, we reviewed the list of changes, updates, and improvements his team was managing.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked with an account manager. There was a team working behind the scenes, but we didn’t know the exact composition.

How did you come to work with Directive?

They were a referral from a partner. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,000–$25,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from April–December 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did the relationship with Directive evolve?

Directive’s leadership was involved during the project’s early stages to ensure that everything ran smoothly. However, they became inaccessible as time elapsed. Their unresponsiveness to multiple asks made us feel like an unimportant client. The account manager did his best, but there seemed to be a managerial gap between him and the executives. The experience was disappointing because we, as a small team, chose to outsource to experts.  

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

The first few months were encouraging. We experienced gradual progress with SEO and paid results through August 2018. Positive traction with SEO made us optimistic about future results. However, our numbers then fell below the levels from our first partnership with the local vendor. We ended the partnership after Directive shut our campaign down twice—one time lasted a week—without informing us. Their unsatisfactory performance made it impossible to justify the partnership from a fiscal perspective.

How was project management handled?

The account manager was great, but the executive leadership was not. He capably executed a handoff and remained supportive throughout the engagement. I cannot say the same for the rest of his team.

This is the first negative review I’ve left in my career. We were truly disappointed in Directive because I thought they were going to support us.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

The documentation was comprehensive, which is especially important for SEO and paid projects. They captured everything and established a continuous dialogue between the project manager and us.

In what specific areas can they improve?

The team could have been more detail oriented. We kept spending money, hoping that additional investment would turn the project around. However, the problems were caused by a lack of diligence and strategy. Ultimately, their expertise, recommendations, and execution did not have a positive impact.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

We used several review sites including Clutch to find a replacement agency. Customers should check references and online reviews before hiring a vendor. We hadn’t talked to Directive’s references. Furthermore, clients should ensure the vendor’s experience aligns with their industry. In short, do as much diligent research as possible.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on February 11, 2019.

We appreciate the feedback and the opportunity to learn from this experience. While Directive can improve in specific areas, the project did have some positive outcomes. Our team increased organic traffic by 63% in seven months and grew PPC marketing qualified leads (MQL) by 330.43% between 2018 Q2–Q4. During that period, we also lowered the cost per acquisition (CPA) by 74.71%. Unfortunately, proper CRM tracking and attribution was not made a priority before Directive’s start to the engagement so no year over year data is available

Despite the positive results, we were asked to cut our retainer in half without scaling back the scope. This request essentially asked us to work for free. Directive was unable to meet that ask and still provide the exceptional services that had generated 50% of all demo requests. We have learned much from this experience and are hurt by the negative feelings in the review. Nonetheless, we look forward to serving our future customers humbly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing manager for a leading IT services company based in South Jordan, Utah. I oversee all of our company’s marketing efforts, including branding, online presence, events, and internal marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive?

We hired Directive to optimize our relatively new site and position us for successful future launches into new markets.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to regain our top rankings for certain keywords and improve our overall ranking for auxiliary services terms. We also wanted to increase traffic, specifically by generating more high-quality leads.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were unsatisfied with the customer service and results from our previous SEO company and looking for a vendor to help our growing company expand into new out-of-state markets. I found Directive through one of their content marketing pieces related to B2B SEO. Their focus on B2B strategies, as well as a dedicated, data- and results-driven approach, set them apart from other local vendors we considered. Thorough in their proposal and evaluation of our current rankings and website, they clearly demonstrated that they wanted to accomplish our goals together.

Describe the project in detail.

After working with a sales representative in the early stages, we conducted several initial calls with some of their team members, including our account executive. During these meetings, we discussed in great detail the nature of our business and our goals for the future. They then performed a preliminary in-depth audit and evaluation of our current rankings, web presence, and website, which took a month to complete and produced great insight to help shape the project going forward. Using information we provided, Directive built out a series of "profiles" that described our key terms, our rankings, and our competitors. In addition to requesting feedback on all of these items along the way, they used a variety of tools to show both our current position and good opportunities for growth.

Now, with a scope of ongoing SEO maintenance and growth, Directive regularly makes direct changes to our website, such as content changes and creation, blog outreach, analysis, and more; they are not involved in the code or development side of the site.

What was the team composition?

We work exclusively with an account executive that serves as a liaison to several internal experts and team members responsible for design and content creation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The results have exceeded my expectations. Over the past few months, organic search visits have increased by 30% while the bounce rate has decreased by 25%. The number of ranked keywords has increased by 23%, with a nearly 100% improvement in the number of keywords ranked in the top three positions. SEO can be a slow process, so the fact that Directive has accomplished these levels of results in such a short time is incredible.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Service and communication are excellent. Our account executive has been fantastic. He responds promptly to email questions, even those that may relate more to general marketing than specifically SEO. Our weekly scheduled calls are helpful and thorough.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their thoroughness constantly impresses me. Great time and thought are put into their detailed and frequent reports, which offer tactics, suggestions, and overall strategies for growth and improvement. They are transparent with their methods and always seek to align themselves with our goals.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, no. This has been one of my best client-vendor relationships, and it is with the finest SEO vendor I've ever worked with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the VP of marketing at a cloud-native commerce platform. We use microservices-based technology to help retailers and enterprise-sized companies quickly create personalized omnichannel experiences.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive Consulting?

We wanted resources who could serve as an extension to our demand generation team. They needed to support both SEO and SEM as well as various marketing campaigns and initiatives.

What were your goals for this project?

Our objective was to improve SEO and search engine marketing (SEM) performance. We also sought to increase our prospects, expand our customer reach, and improve conversion rates.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We researched various vendors and chose Directive Consulting based on their hunger, response, and critical thinking capabilities.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Directive Consulting has helped with the SEO aspects of our newly relaunched site, augmented the reachability of selected assets (e.g., Gartner MQ), and take part in our account-based marketing (ABM) efforts.

What was the team composition?

Directive allocated an account representative and team of experts to support our account.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We’ve seen a clear increase in the number of new users and page views to our newly relaunched/revamped site. Our domain authority has also increased. On the asset-promotion front, we have seen promising conversions across multiple channels.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their workflow is very effective. Responsive and proactive, Directive Consulting functions as a seamless extension to our demand generation team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciate their hunger for getting great results.

Are there any areas for improvement?

While our results have been impressive and continue to improve, I’d like to get even more metrics to compare ourselves with the competition. More detailed benchmarking and comparative data would help us see how we stand in the marketplace overall.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the digital marketing specialist at Alaska Communications. We have over 500 employees and work mainly in Alaska. I head a team that is responsible for PPC, SEO, conversion rate optimization (CRO), and the overall consistency of our brands digital content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive Consulting?

As part of a company-wide initiative, we needed a digitally focused agency to support an online marketing push. We hired Directive Consulting to manage several campaigns and create content.

What were your goals for this project?

Ultimately, we wanted to improve our organic rankings and increase performance on search engines. Another main focus was cleaning up our image and portraying a consistent brand across all of our web presences.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A few of our team members met Directive Consulting at a conference. They hit it off immediately, and we decided to partner with them.

Describe the project in detail.

In an extensive onboarding phase, we gave them access to a majority of our internal applications like Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Moz, to name a few. They started implementing strategies focused on increasing visibility and establishing our brand’s digital identity. They continue to maintain these efforts, providing weekly updates, quarterly reviews, and goal-setting advice. We speak with them almost daily.

What was the team composition?

We meet weekly with our account manager, Jesse (Director of Accounts, Directive Consulting). I also have access to their CEO and COO when necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

We’ve been working with Directive Consulting for just over six months now. In that time, we’ve improved our organic rankings/traffic, referral domains/traffic, and conversion rates. Since last month, our conversion rate has increased by over 50%, so we’re quickly growing.

How did the Directive Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

I feel like I'm their only client. The team’s receptive service, excellent communication, and actionable approach are incredibly effective. If I email our account manager, I am confident that I’ll receive a prompt response. In addition to daily interactions, we track the project using Trello. Across all communication channels, they’re consistently responsive.

What impresses you about the Directive Consulting?

Directive Consulting looks at each task proactively rather than reactively. They're always one step ahead of the game. They stay up to date on industry trends, which helps us stay competitive. I can say, without hesitation, that they are the best B2B agency I’ve ever worked with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

At times, the number of action items we have can be slightly overwhelming. Directive Consulting does a great job of explaining all the details, but sometimes we feel overloaded with information.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the senior digital marketing manager at a nonprofit organization. We seek to increase awareness and support for persecuted Christians worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive Consulting?

We hired Directive Consulting to increase our organic online presence and boost brand awareness.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A former team member of ours went to school with the CEO of Directive Consulting. From there, we developed a business relationship.

Describe the project in detail.

Directive Consulting has improved our site by targeting keywords and cultivating internal linking opportunities. They’ve also identified places where our conversion funnels could be improved. They back all proposed changes with actionable data.

What was the team composition?

The Directive Consulting team consists of Blake (Account Manager, Directive Consulting) and an SEO specialist. They have the support of other resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

This past month, our traffic has grown by 18%. We now rank first for one of our bottom-of-the-funnel keywords.

How did the Directive Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They report to us on a weekly basis. Blake is extremely thorough and makes sure everyone is on the same page. Working with him makes SEO seem more manageable than I would've previously expected.

What impresses you about the Directive Consulting?

Directive Consulting is all about data. Too often, agencies make suggestions based on a whim or a feeling. Not Directive—they make data-based suggestions that have clear benefits. If one tactic doesn't work, they analyze why and develop a further plan of action. We can tell they are committed to making our site the best version that it can be.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at this moment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the director of demand generation at a company that provides the world’s only smart data warehouse for business intelligence (BI). I am responsible for building the sales pipeline through organic and paid acquisition programs. Built for the cloud, Panoply utilizes machine learning and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to automate highly diverse data integration, query optimization, and elastic data management. We make it fast and simple to gain actionable insights without the need for IT engineers. The company, based in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, is privately held and funded by investors such as Intel Capital, 500 Startups, Blumberg Capital, and C5 Capital.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive Consulting?

We want to build and scale our paid acquisition efforts beyond branded search.

What were your goals for this project?

Our vendor needs to deliver 15+ first touch MQLs per month and grow the business. We need to keep up with our organic and earned media channels growth.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was introduced to them by our VP of Marketing. We compared them to two other agencies, and they presented the best strategy and deliverability with ROI as a focused key-performance indicator (KPI).

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Directive Consulting curates our creative and media-buying strategies. As part of this, they are tracking and reporting our marketing metrics using Google AdWords, Remarketing, Perfect Audience, LinkedIn, and Capterra. Their program manager provides branding guidelines, approvals, and roadmaps for other programs. Their team manages the development and delivery of paid acquisition campaigns.

What was the team composition?

The team consists of the account manager (our main point of contact), a marketing specialist, analyst, designer, and a salesperson.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Their marketing efforts increased MQLs and helped us thoroughly understand  CPA per channel thus far. I am very happy with Directive Consulting, and they are doing a great job.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are polished and professional. We use Google Hangouts, phone, email, and Zoom. Our account manager listens closely to feedback and delivers next-level improvements.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Our account manager is excellent. They fully understand that in the services industry the people and service delivery are the product.

Are there any areas for improvement?

A co-location would be great for faster collaboration and planning, but this is minor.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the SEO manager at an insurance/financial provider. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Directive Consulting?

We needed local SEO for brick-and-mortar locations, including on-page optimization for local web pages, online review and backlink strategies, conversion optimization, and optimization of third-party directories such as Yelp, Google My Business, and Facebook.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase the online discoverability of our locations, as well as improve overall traffic and conversions. Also, we were looking to identify and test new SEO tactics and assess our ability to scale across locations.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We’d previously engaged Directive Consulting on a small content-focused project, which we expanded into a broader, local SEO project.

What was the team composition?

A project manager led the team, and other subject-matter experts were added as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

Our key metrics increased. More importantly, we implemented a lot of new tactics and test scenarios, which will boost our company’s future prospects.

How did the Directive Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

I have no complaints; they were attentive and responsive.

What impresses you about the Directive Consulting?

Each team member seems highly knowledgeable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They could be more data-intensive in some areas by reading between the lines as far as measuring and analyzing performance metrics and identifying potential measurements. Key metrics are important, but many factors feed into those key metrics. Some are less obvious than others, so it’s important to understand as much of the context as possible.