Mezzanine Growth

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the global marketing leader at Husky Technologies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mezzanine Growth?

We were looking to build our lead generation and growth marketing as a core competency at the company. We didn't have any internal resources that had the right skillset for this project, so we looked externally to find a company to support the acceleration of building that core competency.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Mezzanine Growth to help us build out a process for lead generation. This involved helping us upskill our team members by teaching them how to deploy and manage campaigns. Their main responsibilities include project management, content development, lead generation, and campaign management. They also handle all of our social media marketing, paid ads on all platforms, and organic work.

Aside from that, they’ve also helped us write scripts for our outreach campaigns and process leads before they get into our CRM. They’ve also provided us with consulting services on automation platforms, reporting, and organizational structure for building out our growth engine.

Lastly, they’ve helped us look at what digital channels are available for us to be able to generate leads, whether it's social media ads, paid ads on Google, and landing pages and forms. In terms of content, they’ve helped us build out gated content.

What is the team composition?

We work with Lisa (President), Andrew (VP Client Strategy), Katie (Senior Lead Generation Specialist), Eva (Content Director), and one other person who takes care of our paid ad work.

How did you come to work with Mezzanine Growth?

I found Mezzanine Growth through research. I had never worked with them before, but they were known to me and I did my research in terms of lead generation agencies and found them. Then Lisa came in and pitched to us and we chose to use them, and we've been working with them for the last two years.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere between $200,000–$500,000 CAD (Approximately $150,000–$400,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of metrics, we've been able to increase our lead generation year over year from 2019 to 2020 by 3.4 times and then into 2021 by 9.5 times. 

Our main goal was to grow our opportunity pipeline. So far, we’ve seen an increase in our traffic because of the campaigns that we're running. We are also seeing an increase in form conversions on our website. Some of that's linked directly to campaigns, and some of that is on the internal work we've been doing in the backend with our SEO experts. 

How did Mezzanine Growth perform from a project management standpoint?

Mezzanine Growth has performed well in terms of project management. We have weekly campaign calls using Microsoft Teams, and we use email to communicate regularly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with Mezzanine Growth’s knowledge, experience, and the value that they've been able to bring us. Their help has been really helpful in influencing change within our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I think they’ve done very well at adjusting and adapting to our working environment. It's taken a long time for us to get there, but I believe that's just because we're a challenging organization to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think spending time upfront with them is something that's really critical. You need to articulate the culture of your organization and really understand who your stakeholders are, and you need to be very clear about the different systems that you have in place. Moving with speed is good, but moving with speed with the right information is even more powerful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of Marketing for a telecommunication agency. I oversee all marketing, advertising, and PR initiatives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mezzanine Growth, and what were your goals?

We were entering a new market and wanted to accomplish two things in our early months. First, we wanted to get a few leads through the door to prove the demand for our service. Second, we wanted to gain deep insights and learnings from the initial leads acquired to fuel future growth.

SOLUTION

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

We had worked with Mezzanine before for the redesign of its website. We loved the professionalism and marketing savvy team at Mezzanine. When it came time to engage an agency for our export project, the decision was a no brainer.

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

We tested several platforms for lead generation including Google ads, LinkedIn advertising, and display advertising through a targeted industry website and newsletter. Mezzanine helped create ads for each platform and gave guidance on landing page creation. The entire process was very collaborative.

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

Amanda, Senior Director was our primary contact during this project along with Andrew, VP of Client Strategy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The campaigns saw mixed success, some we only ran for one month and quickly adjusted to a new platform, others we are still running to this day; and that was the whole point of our engagement with Mezzanine, to find what works and what doesn't work, then double down on what works. We generated about 20 sales qualified leads through the duration of our project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent communication. We had regular meetings which Mezzanine always came to with high quality insights, and any time I had one-off questions Mezzanine was there to answer them quickly.

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

It was what they DIDN'T promise. To me, the biggest red flag from a marketing agency is a results promise. What impressed me the most about them was the careful consideration for each factor or variable presented. They ask the right questions. Mezzanine is methodical and clearly steeped in experience.

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

Nope. I look forward to our next engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a market leader for after-the-event legal insurance. We provide access to justice for plaintiffs who want appropriate compensation after their day in court. I'm the director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Mezzanine Group?

We offer a great product, which we feel is best in its class. We wanted to restart the company and refresh the brand, with much more focus on this particular product. We wanted help with the messaging, audience targeting, and lead generation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We discussed how the product works and what it does. Together, we examined our competition and analyzed the parts of our product that were stronger than similar options on the market. They understood our needs immediately, and they helped us pinpoint the key points and the important information to share. Suddenly, we had a laser-focused picture of what people respond to, which was a huge positive for us.

They did some design work for us, which we presented at a major conference. Their work included the whole layout of our booth, our messaging, and our marketing materials. They came with us, listened to our client interactions, and observed how clients responded.

What is the team composition?

We have one main point of contact who acts as the project manager. We also work closely with another team member who does a lot of the day-to-day work.

How did you come to work with The Mezzanine Group?

We circled all the potential companies in the phonebook that might work for us. After some awful telephone calls, we had a great conversation with The Mezzanine Group. We decided to work with them the next day.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000 in the first three months with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around August 2019. The work is ongoing, and our plan is to use them for the long-term.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Compared to last year, this year's conference was hugely successful. We've had several meetings since then, and The Mezzanine Group raised our presence dramatically. Companies reach out to us and are very interested in us. We've done a few campaigns with them, which attracted an audience of 17,000 potential candidates. That's up from 200. Our social media campaigns have a lot of traffic, and we're hopeful that our leads will improve over time. 

How did The Mezzanine Group perform from a project management standpoint?

It was almost as if they worked for us internally. They made sure they followed up, and they helped us complete everything we needed to do. When we had our first conversation, they told us to dedicate the time to teach them about the project. We threw everything we could at them, and they did exactly what they said they would do. We have regular calls, and they always have materials prepared. They always talk about the next steps, and our experience with them is very refreshing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to detail is wonderful. They take the effort to research and get to grips with our needs and our business. They developed a deep understanding very quickly, and they absolutely got us. The Mezzanine Group is far better than any other agency we've worked with, even large companies. I don't hold back any praise for them, and we're very pleased with their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I struggle to come up with anything negative to say about them. They execute on everything we ask them to do, and I can't think of anything they could do better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be committed to the project, and give them the data and resources they need. In your first month of interactions with them, be prepared to give them as much information about your company or your project as you can. Their understanding of our business was critical to our success.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a partner and director at a consulting firm in Toronto. We specialize in digital transformation and insurance risk services focused on Microsoft ecosystems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Mezzanine Group?

We were looking for a vendor to help us with various marketing services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Mezzanine Group manages SEO, Google Ads, and PPC campaigns for us and takes care of our collateral. In terms of our blog and social media, they create and post the content. We just review it and provide them with any business acumen that they might not have. In addition, they do graphic design and run our webinars.

What is the team composition? 

We work with an account executive, a dedicated project manager, and a marketing director. There is also a team of about five people behind the scenes. 

How did you come to work with The Mezzanine Group?

They're a HubSpot partner, so we found them through HubSpot.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with them in January 2019 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen an 80% increase in our cold leads conversions and a 100% increase in the user engagement on our blog. The user participation in our webinars has also more than doubled. The Mezzanine Group has helped us increase our brand awareness, so our customer base has grown.

How did The Mezzanine Group perform from a project management standpoint? 

They're very detail-oriented. We have weekly meetings and they give us regular reports with the updates. Compared to the other companies we've worked with, The Mezzanine Group's project management skills are unparalleled.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They integrate seamlessly not only with our team, but also with our customers. There are three dimensions to every relationship–capability, competency, and culture. The Mezzanine Group has a perfect balance of all three aspects. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have someone in your company dedicated to managing a relationship with them. You need to bridge the gap between their team and your team, bringing them up to speed in terms of the business acumen of your organization and your customers. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO at an organization in the privacy compliance space. We help and support the privacy compliance offices of multinational organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Mezzanine Group?

We work in a market that was exploding in its size and scope (due to GDPR) and wanted to get external marketing to address that. Additionally, one of our directors was going on maternity leave and we decided to replace them with an agency rather than hire someone for a year.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we contracted a single individual to be work in-office with us 2–3 days a week and lead our internal marketing team. They provided recommendations for us to move forward, and then that became them developing project and executing them.

They also helped on our content side and going to market. We’d been using NetSuite (our financial CRM) but they introduced us to Hubspot and marketing automation. Sales consulting was also a small part of their contributions.

What is the team composition?

The main person was Gale, and she acted as our main point of contact. We also worked Nikki and Kim.  

How did you come to work with The Mezzanine Group?

I wasn’t involved in that process, but I know our CEO and marketing director looked at different agencies. I think Mezzanine came in through a referral.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $250,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May 2017 until February 2019. The original contract was a year, but we extended it on a monthly basis. Eventually, we hired an VP of marketing to grow our in-house team and transition us away from Mezzanine.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first thing is that bringing in Hubspot made us much more agile. We’re now up to speed with current marketing trends and can break down campaigns with metrics and results. Their web design has also brought us up to compete in the market at a 2019 level.  

How did The Mezzanine Group perform from a project management standpoint?

I wouldn’t have extended contract if there was any concern about project management or performance. We had weekly updates in-person to ensure everything was on track. They’re really good at time and cost estimates, too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their personnel were great. All three brought expertise and acted as leaders. Their experience and passion were a great help. They took ownership, so it wasn’t just a job to them.

They were Nymity when they were with us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. They did what they needed to do. If anything, they went above and beyond.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Scope out the work and have actionable timelines with weekly updates. Make sure they’re aligned in the beginning and let them do their thing.