Hamer Marketing Group

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of Marketing of ProfitSolv

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

ProfitSolv serves as a holding company for 10 portfolio companies providing software and business solutions for small professional services organizations, specifically in the legal and accounting fields.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Hamer Marketing Group to accomplish?

• Streamline marketing team centralization
• Create go-to-market plans & models
• Align sales & marketing

SOLUTION

How did you find Hamer Marketing Group?

Referral

Why did you select Hamer Marketing Group over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned
• Necessary experience

How many teammates from Hamer Marketing Group were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Hamer Marketing Group executed on 30-60-90 day plans to develop ICP, deliver GTM strategy and marketing framework, and guide creation of marketing organization restructure. 

Deliverables included: 

1. GTM Strategy for four of our portfolio companies
2. Markeitng-Sales alignment analysis and recommendations 
3. Sales pipeline analysis
4. Marekting restructure plan with org chart, job descriptions, and RACI documentation

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Hamer Marketing Group delivered the following measurable outcomes:

1. Marketing structure and campaign framework created and implemented
2. Templates and recommendations to align marketing with sales in productive ways
3. Marketing reorganization chart with defined roles and RACI matrix 
4. Recommendations on contract resources that have been implemented with positive results 
5. Marketing playbooks instituted for portfolio companies Hamer Marketing was successful in identifying our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and providing the right tools and analysis to fix the issues.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Hamer Marketing was very attentive to our needs and delivered project assets on time. They quickly established normal meeting times for the 3 days a week we were committed to and pivoted their work based on needs-based assessment for our short-term success while still focussed on the long-term deliverables.

What was your primary form of communication with Hamer Marketing Group?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Kyle has the experience of working for and with companies that have gone through exactly what our company has experienced. Rapid acquisitions of various companies and brands and trying to modify their unique processes to common standards and centralization is hard. His knowledge of the pitfalls and inevitable friction that occurs during these changes was highly valuable. He's literally walked he walk, which proved valuable. 

As well, he is not afraid to dig deep into the weeds and really pull apart data for analysis. He's not a fly-by fractional CMO who only offers platitudes and some templates. He asked the right and sometimes uncomfortable questions about how we structured our teams and worked through how and why it could be better, based on his experience. They fostered a judgment-free zone and were very empathetic when suggesting changes and why. He made sure his demeanor did not make us defensive when describing the changes in our systems he felt needed to be made for long-term success.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Hamer Marketing Group could have done differently?

I'm having a hard time finding areas where I believe Kyle's group could improve or what they should have done different during their contracted time with us. I just wish we could have continued our relationship longer!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing for a tech company that serves the logistics industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hamer Marketing Group?

We hired them for events services and conference planning.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided consultation surrounding conference planning. First, they took time to understand the business and learn about our industry and competitors. 

Then, they conducted their own research surrounding the conference with relation to our business. We needed them to assess the quality of the event in the market based on our user base. Following that, they made some recommendations on what we needed to do for our 2021 strategic conference planning.  

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Kyle (Founder & CEO)

How did you come to work with Hamer Marketing Group?

Kyle and I worked together previously. In addition to our preexisting relationship, He also had experience in exactly what we were aiming to accomplish. He has experience in conference planning and is an expert in sales and marketing. We needed both skillsets for this project so we turned to him.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $5,000–$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–December 2020.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We reached out about something that was time-sensitive, and he was very responsive and rearranged activities on his end to work with us on this project. He also had the expertise and willingness to take time to learn about our business. 

How did Hamer Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were able to accommodate our timeframe, which was hugely important for us. Kyle ended us adjusting his availability to make time for consultation with us. He was responsive and had the availability to work with us on a time-sensitive project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Before diving into their own research, they already had an understanding of our business operations. Their level of experience in understanding market conditions and forces within competitive landscapes. They understood the nature of technology and targeting users, applying high-level expertise to tactical operations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was satisfied with the entire engagement. Having a very short, high-level list of takeaways to go along with the executive summary in their final report would’ve been a nice bonus. We were pleased overall. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared and open to getting additional value from them. Sometimes, we marketers can be pretty specific and tactically driven. They have a broad skillset, so it can be helpful to take a little extra time so that questions can be asked that will help you access their full value.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We do financial consulting, focusing primarily on startups and smaller businesses that don’t have a need or can’t get full-time help. We bring in expertise in quantitates that they need. I’m the owner and lead project manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hamer Marketing Group?

I work with a client that has a fairly unique business; they basically do virtual mechanic inspections. Their primary source of leads and incoming sales was through PPC on Google. I had some misgivings about how much we were spending; at a high level, it was basically losing money on the frontend to make money on the backend. Something seemed off about it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Over about a month-and-a-half, Kyle (CEO) did some analysis and figured out a much better way to manage the PPC. He took the work over from another firm. His team went in, and they changed some of the copy, but most of their work was changing the bidding strategy and some of the keywords. It made a huge difference.

This particular project was just PPC; we haven’t gone too deep into organic search yet, but that’s our next step. For the same company, Kyle helped us get off of our outdated, disjointed CRM system and into HubSpot, where everything is unified. The client has about five different pieces of software that they need to do their virtual mechanic inspections, and we put all of that within HubSpot. Kyle also redid our website’s copy and pages.

What is the team composition?

I primarily interact with Kyle. I know he works with 2–3 other people. 

How did you come to work with Hamer Marketing Group?

I found them through a mutual client. I saw the work Kyle had done and the effect that it had.

How much have you invested with them?

My personal financial investment at this point is about $3,000. We’re discussing spending about $1,000 a month for him to manage more marketing stuff on our end. For the mutual client, the investment was around $30,000; this year, it will be around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial project was about a year ago. We’re both still working with the same client, and I now work with Kyle on a few other things. He can do quite a bit.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We cut our client’s PPC spend in half while only losing about 5% of the volume. It was a significant change; we went from spending a losing amount of money per lead, to each sale being profitable from the PPC. Also, the leads are profitable on the frontend. Within a week of Kyle relaunching our website, I started getting organic traffic leads. I don’t pay for any advertising right now, but I’ve gotten a number of calls from it, which is pretty cool.

By streamlining the CRM, we gained substantial efficiency. We need about half as many people as we did before to do the volume. Whereas our old system had duplicates, Kyle cleaned all of the data, so moving forward, we have accurate reporting. We can run reports, have metrics, and get insight that we didn’t have before. It’s definitely allowed us to make better decisions as far as staffing, time to convert leads, and all of those important things.

How did Hamer Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Kyle is very straightforward, which is important, and he focuses on ROI. He suggests and advocates for things that have a bottom-line, positive effect. In my opinion, it’s important for founders and owners to hear the truth, such as whether an idea that sounds good is probably just going to cost a lot and not make any money. You can just give Kyle an objective, and he can take it and turn it into reality. He’s a fractional CMO, so to speak; he can see the bigger picture and realize it without micromanagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

ROI-driven decision making is really important, and I think it does get lost, at least in my experience working with other people.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I know he’s been really busy lately and has been growing, which is great. He should just hire more people.

Any advice for potential customers?

He works really well on a project-by-project basis. If you give him phases, he can execute that really easily.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for ILS. It’s a soft company and we provide market intelligence information to the aviation industry, specifically to people buying and selling parts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hamer Marketing Group?

We inherited Marketo as our email management system. On top of that, we’re a very lean company, and we had almost no marketing team in place. We were going through a transition and changed how our sales force was compensated. So one of our big challenges was getting leads to sales. So, we needed to get campaigns up and running in a short period of time, and with few resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve executed four medium-complex campaigns. They helped build the campaigns out and put the structures we needed in place. Before this, we didn't have any templates, the assets, and nothing had been customized. So everything that we did starting out was we had to customize it.

They helped us look at the campaign and identified the gaps ahead of time.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we offered one of our reports to our customers for free as part of one of our campaigns. They ensured that we had all the support we needed before it was launched. We also launched a virtual roundtable about how to use our reports., which has gone very well.

Our CMO will reach out to them for things outside campaign execution as well. For instance, we were struggling with Google Analytics stuff.

They also helped us consider whether or not we wanted to stay with Marketo or transition to HubSpot.

What is the team composition?

We just worked with Kyle (Founder & CEO). 

How did you come to work with Hamer Marketing Group?

I met someone at a marketing networking event, and she wasn’t certified with Marketo, but knew someone who did. She then pointed us in Hamer Marketing Group’s direction.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $15,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been pleased with the result. Without their involvement, we wouldn’t have gotten this far. They went above and beyond by ensuring that the campaigns weren’t just launched, but were successful. Our most recent campaign launched last week, and it has already received hundreds of views and our customers have said they want to see more like this. The content is great, and the execution is wonderful.

We’re looking at extending our contract because we’re so thrilled with their work.

Everyone is thrilled that they’re part of our team. They’ve become thought leaders and trusted resources. Since our CMO reaches out to them independently, the level of trust there is obvious.

How did Hamer Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very organized, and they’ve even kept me on task a few times. We have regular touchpoints and I always know what we’re working on. They’re there when we need them, especially on last-minute things. They’ve always been flexible and do everything as they come up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a lot of integrity. I trust them and I know I’ll get an honest answer from them. So, we have a lot of confidence in them and the projects that they’re working on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything offhand that they need to work on from a consultative perspective.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear roles and responsibilities in place, and outline expectations ahead of time. We struggled a bit at first, not because of Hamer Marketing Group, but because we were chaos. Ensure everyone’s roles are clear, and the project will run smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and COO of a B2B mobile platform. We’re present in over 550 cities and 11 countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hamer Marketing Group?

As a startup, we’ve found ourselves moving very swiftly and needing support with our marketing strategies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our original project with Hamer Marketing Group was mainly focused on consolidating our marketing data points into one view so that we as an executive board could more efficiently track our spending and returns. Their team analyzes the data to see what’s valuable.

However, as that project developed and we were able to visualize our strategies better, Kyle (Founder & CEO, Hamer Marketing Group) has started suggesting and implementing new programs and continuing to take on a consulting role. Now, he and his team provide written content as well as PPC, SEO, and general day-to-day support.

What is the team composition?

While we mainly work with Kyle, we’ve been introduced to contacts who’ve helped with some SEO and page-building efforts along the way. We’re also going to start working with someone soon who will support our operations team with process flow and documentation.

How did you come to work with Hamer Marketing Group?

We came across Kyle and Hamer Marketing Group on Upwork. We ultimately decided to work with him because we knew the marketing work we needed would go beyond our initial project, and that he had the skills and experience to undertake that work. We also appreciated that we had similar backgrounds.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent about $18,000-$20,000 with Hamer Marketing Group.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first project with them began in April 2019, and the work has naturally progressed to be ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw cost savings almost immediately, as Kyle was able to identify problem areas. We were losing about $12,000 on converting leads that couldn’t actually use our app because of their location. 

We’ve also had a record year of growth both geographically and in terms of customers. Our retention and activation rates are higher than they’ve ever been. 

It’s been a great help to have all of our data in one system that I can quickly glance at and feel confident about before meeting with our investors. The reduction of stress since we’ve brought Hamer Marketing Group onboard has been invaluable to me. 

How did Hamer Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Hamer Marketing Group brings a sense of order and structure to what is otherwise a chaotic world. We’re always pushing Kyle to do more with less, and he’s never failed to handle the pressure. Not everyone has that kind of panache.

He also came in well-versed in many of the systems we already use, like Basecamp, Sigma, Trello, HubSpot, Slack, and Notion. Even though our initial project didn’t include those, Kyle has been able to provide a lot of additional value to our team that way.

The team uses Asana and Slack to communicate with us, and we have two weekly check-ins on Thursdays.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kyle always brings solutions to any problems that occur within the data. Especially as he’s gotten to know the personality and culture of our company, he’s able to come up with the best way to respond to any issue we might encounter. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of. We’re doing all the things I wanted us to do. If anything, I wish we could’ve arrived earlier at the pace we’re at now, but it takes patience to build a great partnership with someone.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have an idea of what you’d like to accomplish even past the duration of your initial project. If you can come to the table with what long-term success would look like to you, Hamer Marketing Group can help you get there. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a company called RideShareMechanic. We are a platform based in the virtual vehicle inspection realm that allows certified mechanics to perform vehicle inspections for rideshare companies over video chat.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hamer Marketing Group?

At first, I was trying to address the social media gap that we were experiencing, and then it turned into email, marketing, and revenue operations help as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As of now, Kyle (Founder & CEO, Hamer Marketing Group) works as a strategic consultant and also manages a team on our behalf that runs our revenue and marketing operations. He is currently working on developing a strategy for our social media presence and email campaign and will be stepping into more full control of our revenue beginning next quarter.

What is the team composition?

We work with Kyle directly. I’ve been interviewing some contractors that can help him fulfill specific goals that we have but at the moment it’s just him and his team.

How did you come to work with Hamer Marketing Group?

We found him on a website called Upwork. He immediately demonstrated an understanding of where we are at as a business and found a way to add value that made sense for our company, so we decided that we wanted to work with him.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $20,000 with him so far but are planning on working out a much bigger contract for the new year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with Hamer Marketing Group in February 2019 and are continuing to work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of revenue operations, he has significantly helped our business, but I don’t have the numbers in front of me. He’s been working on optimizing conversion rates at different points in our funnel as well, and at one point he was able to increase conversions by about 50%

How did Hamer Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a clear statement of work and a description of the responsibilities he was going to be taking on from the beginning. We utilized the OKR methodology for project milestones, and he kept us up to date on his progress toward those objectives via weekly phone calls. If we had any questions or issues for him, he was always very available to us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kyle is somebody who leans in when there’s a problem to be solved. Even if an issue is outside the bounds of his technical responsibilities, he really goes above and beyond in providing solutions that require more critical thinking skills.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think there’s anything I wish he could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Find a way to trust their advice as soon as possible. The value Hamer Marketing Group can bring to your company is substantially larger than the initial thing you are bringing them on for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former president and COO of On Center Software. We’ve since merged with another company where I’m now the senior vice president of business development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hamer Marketing Group?

We hired Hamer Marketing Group to provide us with marketing services on a contract basis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were transferring our automated marketing system from Pardot to Marketo. We brought in Kyle (CEO & Co-Founder, Hamer Marketing Group) to consult us on how to build our program and lead flow correctly for our sales team. He also helped migrate data from Pardot, set Marketo up for our marketing processes, and established our PPC, email outreach, and direct mail campaigns. 

The team built our website as well using a CMS, making it easy for us to update pages on our own. Kyle implemented SEO into its backend.

What is the team composition?

Kyle was our main point of contact. However, he coordinated people behind the scenes, and we interacted with 2–3 other people throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Hamer Marketing Group?

Our vice president of sales had worked with Kyle at a previous company. When we needed a marketing partner, the vice president recommended Kyle. We considered two other companies but ultimately went with Hamer Marketing Group because of that recommendation and the high-quality presentation that he gave.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $160,000–$220,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from July 2015 until February 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Hamer Marketing Group doubled our lead flow within the first year, and we saw a 15%–20% gain every year since. In addition, we paid them half as much as we were spending before on PPC and SEO and saw twice the number of impressions. 

We were so happy with Kyle’s work that we brought him on board as a full-time employee to build our business for three years and three months. He really helped build our business while he was here. 

How did Hamer Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Kyle worked well with his team and stayed on top of multiple projects. He was good at setting a structure and delegating what needed to get done, offering support without micromanaging.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kyle started out having no idea what our business was about. However, he ramped up quickly and applied that knowledge to drive leads and create campaigns for us. Understanding our business fully was an important task for Hamer Marketing Group. He also did a great job communicating with internal teams to make sure they knew how to handle the information we gave them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The team tended to push our budgets. Other than that, I can’t think of anything glaring that they need to fix.

Any advice for potential customers?

Communicate your expectations. Kyle will take an analytical approach, so be patient with that—it will pay off in the long run.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We started around 2010 as an oil and gas services company. We provide frontend land services, leasing, and mineral acquisitions. Most of our work now is in mineral and royalty acquisitions. I'm a co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hamer Marketing Group?

We wanted to focus our branding and marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us create a new logo, a new website, and new content. They completely changed our image, and they gave us a new face. They did a deep dive into what we do and how we communicate with our target market. They sat down with us on a number of occasions, and they helped us differentiate our company from our competition.

Initially, they were a strategic partner. They helped us put everything into writing and come up with core values and core principals. They touched on a lot of different aspects of our business, and they established a solid base for us. From there, they helped us with creative briefs and other details.

What is the team composition?

I have one main contact, their owner. He did a lot for us, but I'm not sure how many people he had under him on his side.

How did you come to work with Hamer Marketing Group?

I've known their owner for a very long time. When I heard he'd started a marketing company, I reached out to him to see what he was doing. I was impressed by the business model, and I decided to hire his company.

How much have you invested with them?

The total will fall between $10,000-$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We hired them at the beginning of August 2019. Our goal is to roll out the new brand by the start of 2020. We have all the building blocks in place, but we're still working on some final pieces before we relaunch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Feedback from our team has been great. They're very supportive of Hamer Marketing Group and the direction they've moved us in. Customers, friends, and family have all responded well to the logo, and we're really pleased with the results so far.

How did Hamer Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is good, and they're always very responsive. Hamer Marketing Group has met all of our deadlines and answered all of our questions. They were very patient with us, and they helped us focus. Most of our communication has been through email and phone. We've also met a few times in person, both at our offices and at theirs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They know their stuff, and they're great to work with. They always point us in the right direction, and we're very pleased with everything they've done for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This is my sole experience with a rebrand, but I can't think of anything they should change or improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask questions, and be comfortable with the relationship. I had trouble relinquishing any control of my company, but I knew I could trust them to build the right solutions. They will treat your project as if it were their own.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My position is the CEO and Founder of BuildBuddy, and we provide take-off and estimate services for construction companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hamer Marketing Group?

We were trying to improve our email marketing and figure out how to communicate better with our current and future customers so that we could grow our customer base.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hamer Marketing Group handled our email marketing campaign strategy and created content as well, both for our emails and our website. They also kept track of our statistics for emails and conversion rates in order to optimize language and frequency of our campaigns.

On the website side, their team helped with Google analytics in the background, tracking our visit data to help improve the marketing work that they were doing.

What is the team composition?

I believe there’s a small team working behind the scenes, but I only ever interacted with Kyle (Founder & CEO, Hamer Marketing Group).

How did you come to work with Hamer Marketing Group?

I believe I received a cold email from Kyle, and it just so happened that we were able to engage and start working together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $3,000–$5,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted about 5 months, from April–August 2019

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since their role was to assist us in increasing the effectiveness of our ongoing email campaigns, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how much of our incoming leads were directly attributable to their work. All of the metrics we were trying to pinpoint, however, moved in the right direction as a result of the work they did for us. The increase in clients is absolutely paying for the work that they did.

How did Hamer Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We use a CRM system that we have that previously had about 20,000 leads, and Kyle helped us clean that up significantly. Getting rid of a lot of the items and false data that we had internally helped increase the efficiency of our overall operations from the get-go.

He was always available to communicate with me on weeknights or weekends, and we often exchanged text messages. His availability to help troubleshoot the efforts we were launching or data we were tracking was incredibly helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think his experience in the construction industry was a significant benefit to our project. The fact that he’s not just a marketing professional but also has background knowledge on construction and the people who work in it allowed us to target our market much more effectively.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think he was still in a relatively early startup phase when we worked with his company, so I look forward to seeing him grow and add extra capability to his team. In terms of the work Hamer Marketing Group performed for us, they did a very good job and I have no complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have as much of your current processes in place and clearly documented so that they can integrate more quickly and help you achieve your overall goals at the end of the marketing process.