Marcel Digital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former manager of web operations at Rush University System for Health’s marketing department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Marcel Digital?

We needed assistance with our university’s marketing efforts, especially for SEO and search engine marketing (SEM).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Marcel Digital has managed the SEO and SEM strategies for the university and hospitals. They manage the SEO and SEM campaigns for our university and hospitals, targeting students and patients as needed. Although I’m no longer involved in the project, the university has an ongoing agreement with Marcel Digital, and they’re responsible for looking for backlinking opportunities and researching keywords that could be used for content and articles. 

As our relationship evolved, Marcel Digital later assisted us with our website’s conversion rate optimization (CRO). They’ve advised us on web development improvements and UX best practices for different sites of our organization. Marcel Digital has worked with our in-house web developer on web improvements. They also set up our Google Analytics and gave us reports about our site’s performance.

Lastly, Marcel Digital manages the university’s PPC campaigns on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google. They create ads and manage ad spending. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Marcel Digital’s account manager, SEO manager, analytics manager, PPC manager, and account executive. 

How did you come to work with Marcel Digital?

Marcel Digital had worked with the company on a past project, and we contacted them again. However, I wasn’t involved in that initial project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $400,000 yearly with Marcel Digital, including ad spending and service fees.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Marcel Digital in December 2015, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had year-over-year (YoY) growth in website traffic throughout our engagement with Marcel Digital. I can attribute that increase to Marcel Digital’s SEO and PPC campaigns’ reach. 

Marcel Digital’s SEO efforts have contributed greatly to our web traffic and revenue increase. 

How did Marcel Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Marcel Digital is proactive and organized. They’re good at managing ad spending and providing monthly performance reports. We’ve communicated through email and Zoom meetings, and they’d come to our office before the COVID-19 pandemic started. 

Marcel Digital uses Trello for project management and has a dedicated staff that works collaboratively with other companies. They always have a positive attitude.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked in marketing for more than a decade, and I’m impressed with Marcel Digital’s deep knowledge of SEO and PPC — they’re experts in their field. 

Moreover, Marcel Digital is easy to work with and understands the limitations and pressure we have on the client’s side as well. They’re dependable and always have the client in their best interests.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I can think of for Marcel Digital to improve is that it took them time to understand how the university created their written content and how they could get involved to suggest ideas to our writers. However, once Marcel Digital understood this, they were very good at pitching the right content ideas for our SEO strategy. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend potential clients make an effort in order to take advantage of Marcel Digital’s work. They’re an endless source of ideas, but you have to understand your company’s possibilities and resources to decide which ideas are right for you. Decide the number of work your team can actually execute to have realistic expectations on both ends.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We’re a family business that provides freshly prepared meals to people that need to lose weight for health reasons or just wish to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. Nationally, in any state where we do not have a franchise, we serve our customers directly via UPS.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I am responsible for most of our Web needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal in working with Marcel Digital?

Initially, all we wanted to do was maximize our SEO [search engine optimization] capabilities and get help with the general Google search population. But, we were not surprised when Marcel Digital suggested that we needed to rebuild our entire website. We knew we lacked a lot in terms of functionality.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Marcel Digital helped with Web development, SEO and our search campaign on Google. We had lots of conversations with them about what we wanted our site to look like. We had to balance our interests with our need to be sure that Google and other search engines could read our site.

The only other constraint we were working under was that we had no leeway on the color scheme because we have an established brand, which we needed to reflect.

What was your process for selecting Marcel Digital with which to work?

Although I must have contacted at least 30 companies, many were either unresponsive or overly aggressive. I liked Marcel Digital because they responded immediately, which was very important to me.

Another part of the decision was that we’re not a huge company, and we didn’t want to get lost in a big Web development company. We felt that we could get the kind of individualized attention we wanted from Marcel Digital.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms?

We’ve spent something in excess of $200,000 in working with Marcel Digital, and we believe we have received very good value for our money. Marcel Digital also put in a lot more hours than they billed us for, which we really appreciated.

When was the work completed?

We just launched phase one of the website in December 2014. We have other things we want to add to the website, but at least right now customers can order directly from the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How satisfied are you with your work with Marcel Digital?

We’re very satisfied. With having both franchises and a national home shopping network, we could not use an out-of-the-box management system. So, Marcel Digital had to build our site from the ground up, and they really worked hard to understand how we operate. So, there were a lot of moving parts to address to get a functional website up and running.

We probably launched earlier than was ideal because our old site was really falling apart, and we needed to make a December deadline because January is always our busiest time of the year. Marcel Digital was great in helping all of that happen. They actually pulled in some additional hands on the team in order to make the December deadline. They really stepped up to the plate and worked with us to get our site done before the early 2015 rush.

I’ve been involved in many other Web launches in my previous job and I’d say, overall, this was one of the smoothest launches I’d ever experienced.

Is there anything unique or special about Marcel Digital that really makes them stand out compared to other online companies?

They are a small company and, as I mentioned, that’s one of the reasons we went with them. Their availability to the client is really what makes them stand out.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

In the beginning, we under communicated or forgot to communicate a portion of our needs to Marcel Digital, which required that we needed to spend more time and money than we really should have.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a marketer and manufacturer of socks and headwear.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the director of product development and also e-commerce and Web.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Marcel Digital?

We were looking to increase our organic traffic on the site.  

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

It’s basically been SEO [search engine optimization] work. They audited our site and gave us recommendations.

What was your process for selecting Marcel Digital with which to work?

They came as a referral from one of the other vendors we utilize on the social side. We looked at a couple other companies that offered SEO but, when it came down to it, they were very familiar with Umbraco, which is one of our main platforms so that was one of the high points and benefits of selecting them.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

[It was between] $50,000 and $200,000

When was the work completed?

It’s ongoing work. We started a relationship with them in January and the work started in February of 2014. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

The work they did drove up newsletter signups, retailer look-ups, contact us submissions, and increased online revenue. We saw strong growth and traffic on the landing pages and increased traffic to internal pages.

Are you satisfied with their performance?

We are satisfied with their work. They service our account very well.

Is there anything unique or special about Marcel Digital that really makes them stand out compared to other online marketing companies?

They are very easy to communicate with. They are well versed in weekly changes with Google, which I think provides a great advantage. They know how it actually applies to our specific business. Their customer service is excellent.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

At this point, I would say no.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We’re a brokerage firm. We trade on behalf of clients that trade on the futures markets for corn and gold and things like that. We represent people that want to trade in those markets.

What is your role?

My role is executive director of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Marcel Digital?

We outsource quite a bit of our marketing. I’m a one-man shop so I need help. Our media buying is outsourced and our SEO [search engine optimization] is outsourced with Marcel. We rely on them to represent us on the Internet as far as searches and Google ranking.

SOLUTION

Please describe their work in more detail.

They do both paid and organic search engine optimization. They do remarketing, too. We’ve given them banner ads to run plus text ads. We have done some social media marketing including publishing content on YouTube. We use them when we want to do special promotions through YouTube or Facebook.

What was your process for selecting Marcel Digital with which to work?

They were already here when I started four years ago. I cannot comment on their selection.

Can you provide a general cost range to give a sense of the size of the project?

I’ve never documented hours. All I can tell you is our budget is around $25,000 a month. When I started it was only $20,000 monthly. We bumped it up to $25,000 in 2013. That includes fees and what they spend on paid search.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Are you satisfied with their performance?

Overall, we have been satisfied. We’ve had some issues, but I can’t attribute the issues directly to them. We’ve had some bumps on the road ourselves because our website was built more than 10 years ago. We’ve had issues where the speed of our site and some of the things we’ve tried to do to implement new content have been very slow.

Do you have any statistics or metrics you can share about success of their work?

We are showing growth in 2014 but we have a big "V" trend for the firm’s growth. In 2013, it was a complete decline and 2014 has been an incline in our traffic and our leads. With their help and suggestions, we have been able to do some things in 2014 that obviously have helped reverse that decline we were seeing in 2013. We still have more work to do. 

Is there anything unique or special about Marcel Digital compared to other online companies?

Personally, I don’t have any comparison because they’re the only company I’ve worked with as far as SEO. But, I can tell you from my experience that because they’re not a huge company it’s to their advantage that they’re easy to get a hold of. They’re easy to work with because you have that rapport where you feel like you can call them if there’s an issue. I think that makes them stand out to me.

Looking back at the work they’ve done, is there any significant area of improvement they could do on their end or anything they could’ve done differently?

I think where Marcel is lacking is in reporting. They don’t have the reports to present to clients.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive of Lightmart

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Manufacturer and distributor of commercial lighting products 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Marcel Digital to accomplish?

• Increase revenue
• Minimize ad spend
• Increase organic rankings

SOLUTION

How did you find Marcel Digital?

Online Search

Why did you select Marcel Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Marcel Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Help the company achieve double digit revenue growth year after year while minimizing ad spend and maximizing ROI 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall monthly revenue increase 

Maximize ROI 

Maximize Organic Rankings 

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

Marcel acts as if they are part of our marketing team. They are always engaged and always show us the way through the jungle of digital marketing. They are always on time and they are all about delivering results. They helped us grow to become the most visible authority in our field.

What was your primary form of communication with Marcel Digital?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Marcel takes performance personally. They are driven to deliver results non stop. They feel vested to our success and results they delivered are the best proof. Every team member at Marcel is spectacular and driven to achieve success for their clients.

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

None. Marcel Digital has delivered results beyond our imagination.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product marketing manager of AANA

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

AANA advances, supports, and protects nurse anesthesiology. Our Vision. AANA is the transformational leader driving innovation and excellence in healthcare.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Marcel Digital to accomplish?

• Increase awareness and visibility
• Increase ROI (ROAS)
• Lower ad spend where possible

SOLUTION

How did you find Marcel Digital?

• Referral

Why did you select Marcel Digital over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Marcel Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Manages paid ads campaigns for all products and events.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Attained FY23 revenue goals while lowering ad spend.

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

They are thorough and quick to respond.

What was your primary form of communication with Marcel Digital?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their ability to align strategies with the specific needs of our members and association.

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

N/a

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at Cole Wire

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We our a stocking distributor offering value-added services in specialty electrical and electronic wire and cable

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Marcel Digital to accomplish?

• Develop our website
• Host the site

SOLUTION

How did you find Marcel Digital?

Met principals throughYEO

Why did you select Marcel Digital over others?

• Pricing fits our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Marcel Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Designed website pages using Umbraco. 
• Trained Cole Wire Team member on the use of Umbraco and how to edit content. 
• Provided content with key words and SEO in mind

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Going live and being able to navigate the site easily and intuitively.

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

All was delivered on time or within reasonable variation. They promoted great communication and kept us up to date on what was going on during the process. Any questions we asked or requests we made were responded to very quickly and then depending on the request they delivered reasonably.

What was your primary form of communication with Marcel Digital?

• In-Person Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

How a small tight knit team is able to communicate and respond so well.

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

I am not sure really.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Marketing Analyst of RJO Futures

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

My company is a futures brokerage.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Marcel Digital to accomplish?

• Run Effective Lead Generating Paid Google Ads
• Increase our SEO presence and drive organic traffic and leads
• help migrate relevant content from our old site to our new one while maintaining ranking authority

SOLUTION

How did you find Marcel Digital?

They were partners when I was hired

Why did you select Marcel Digital over others?

Great culture fit

How many teammates from Marcel Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We hire Marcel to be our digital partner and facilitator. Marcel ran monthly Google paid ad campaigns on our behalf with the goal of maintaining an affordable CPC while generating quality leads. Marcel also did a ton of work on the SEO front for us by consistently doing keyword research and providing use with detailed outline to create SEO optimized content

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Marcel helped increase our organic website traffic by over 100% and helped increase our organic lead generation by 50% Marcel additionally helped us rank #1 on google for a variety of different pages. Additionally, for our paid ads, Marcel helped reduce our Cost per lead by nearly 30%

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

I have nothing but good things to say about Marcel and their project management. They were always on time and jumped at any ad-hoc requests we sent their way in a timely and detailed manner.

What was your primary form of communication with Marcel Digital?

Virtual Meeting

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

What I found most impressive about Marcel was despite their vast library of clients, they made us feel like we were the most important ones to them, and I assume they made their other clients feel that way as well. Due to organizational restraints we were forced to reduce our budget with Marcel over time, but that did not impact the way Marcel treated us. The CEO, Ben joined every single one of our calls and was always prepared with questions and answers which I found very impressive.

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

nothing comes to mind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP, Information Technology of a software company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Endpoint management and VPN solution provider

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Marcel Digital to accomplish?

• Company website uptime monitoring
• 24/7 support and availability
• Address and resolve outages and/or issues

SOLUTION

How did you find Marcel Digital?

Online Search

Why did you select Marcel Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Onsite In-person visit

How many teammates from Marcel Digital were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

24/7 Uptime monitoring, response and resolution.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Exceptional uptime percentage, and quick proactive monitoring & response when there were issues.

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

Assessment, plan and ongoing support were documented in a detailed SOW. Regular meetings to ensure continued progress, recommendations for improvement, etc. Annual renewals are captured in a signed SLA agreement.

What was your primary form of communication with Marcel Digital?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their communication and dedication to our initiative and company are outstanding. 

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

None that I can think of.