SCUBE Marketing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of Secret Saunas

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Ecommerce store selling home spa and fitness products

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Sales
• Google Ads

SOLUTION

How did you find SCUBE Marketing?

• Online Search
• Referral
• Clutch Site

Why did you select SCUBE Marketing over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from SCUBE Marketing were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We signed with Scube in May of 2024 to run Google ads to our ecommerce business. After seeing lots of good reviews for them we thought we were in safe hands but unfortantely were unable to generate a single sale in the entire time we worked with them.

After signing with them it took over 3 weeks for them to do the analysis on our account and in the meantime they ran an 'interim campaign' that was unmonitored and mostly showing our ads irrelevent search terms. This required us to frequently check and manage the negative keywords.

Prior to the official campaigns being launched our ads manager resigned and we were assigned their project manager who was based in Lithuania. They projected that we would generate approximately $46,000 in sales on the first month which aligned with what we had previously achieved self managing the account. We continued with their service for another month after which spent $4.8k on ads and then received $5,000 in invoices management fees. All while achieving zero sales.

After we raised that we could not afford to keep moving forward with no sales we were immediately presented with legal threats and they proceeded to bill our credit card without our authorisation.

I really had high hopes of Scube as owner Tom seemed like a really nice and genuine guy. Unfortuantely it didn't turn out that way.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Generating sales - we achieved zero sales in six weeks of their management.

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

Project was delayed and ur ads manager resigned during the 6 weeks we worked with them

What was your primary form of communication with SCUBE Marketing?

Virtual Meeting

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

Tom the owner seemed like a really nice guy, knowedable on ads and keen to help. Unfortunately after the initial sales call we didn't have any further contact with him.

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

Understand that if they are unable to deliver any sales that a business cannot afford to continue workign with them.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on October 23, 2024.

 We appreciate all feedback as it helps us improve our services. We would like to address your points:

1. Context: As a startup with less than $50K in lifetime sales, entering a competitive luxury market with a new website and limited social proof presents significant challenges.
2. Expectations: Before signing the agreement, we discussed concerns regarding the lack of sales data, low website conversion rates, and demand for the products you sell. We agreed that you would work on improving your product offerings and competitiveness while we focused on driving traffic to your site. Your stated expectation was to "collect data" during the low season.
3. Goals: We set monthly targets as a break-even point based on your profit margins. These goals were mapped to specific KPIs based on available data. Unfortunately, the actual conversion rate was below expectations.
4. Results: Campaign did not achieve sales during the first six weeks, nor the business itself. We provided diagnostics of your purchase funnel. Despite multiple adjustments, the desired results were not achieved. In addition, you did not implement the agreed-upon actions to enhance your market competitiveness.
5. Team: When a new team member left for personal reasons, we promptly assigned a team manager with over 10 years of experience to oversee your account and address your questions.
6. Agreement: We entered a three-month agreement, but you terminated it after 6 weeks, and invoices for work completed remained unpaid.
7. Legal Process: We tried to resolve differences through discussion and accommodated your situation by breaking down payments into smaller installments. After charging your card as per the agreed schedule, you posted a negative review that misrepresented the facts. Additionally, the cancellation of your credit card led to unpaid balances. Consequently, we had to involve our legal team to address these issues formally.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the president of Dental Lab Direct

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We make dental products

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Grow our business with paid ads

SOLUTION

How did you find SCUBE Marketing?

Clutch Site

Why did you select SCUBE Marketing over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location

How many teammates from SCUBE Marketing were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

I gave Scube a $15000 Ad amount to advertise my business with Google Ads. They had an interview with my team to learn all about how our business runs. Once ready, Scube began the paid ads. We have a monthly meeting just to keep on top of all current issues. Our business has grown over 50% since Scube has taken over and we are very satisfied with the outcome.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a detailed monthly meeting to go over analytics. Scube breaks down all the analytics to show were we aere progressing and were we need work.

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

Scube always delivers on time. They usually respond within a day so I am satisfied with this.

What was your primary form of communication with SCUBE Marketing?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are very knowledgable in Google Ads. I had issues before hiring them with my progress as it was stagnent. SCUBE Marketing finds ways to get the most out of my budget.

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

I do not think so, they are very knowledgeable so i really depend on their expertise.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Marketing Officer of My Two Brows

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We restore confidence and identity to people who've lost their eyebrows, by providing the world's most realistic and convenient temporary eyebrow tattoos.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Reduce our Google Ads PPC customer acquisition costs
• Reorganize our Google Ads campaigns for better performance tracking
• Develop a more strategic approach to our Google Ads

SOLUTION

How did you find SCUBE Marketing?

• Upwork

Why did you select SCUBE Marketing over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SCUBE Marketing were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We decided to work with Tom & the team at Scube Marketing to improve our metrics with Google Ads, so we could profitably scale our advertising budget there, and accelerate the growth of our ecommerce business. Specifically we wanted to reduce our new customer acquisition cost, and improve the ad targeting so we could reach more of the search market without making our efforts with Google Ads inneficient.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Tom and Remy have been great communicators throughout our engagement, keeping us in the loop on what changes were needed in the Google Ads account, why, and what sort of results we should expect. We have a fairly niche product and some unique elements to our business model that require more than a "one size fits all" approach to PPC ads, and it's felt like a good collaboration with Scube when setting up a strategy and next steps.

We've been able to scale our budget while staying within our acquisition cost targets, which is exactly what we set out to do when starting with Scube. Also we had to do a transition to a fresh google ads account for some technical reasons, and they've been successfully made that transition for us.

Lastly our understanding of what is happening in our Google Ads account has been greatly improved, as the Scube team reorganized our ad campaigns in a very intutitive manner which makes tracking performance much easier.

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

Communication with Tom and Remy and the Scube team has been great. They've been very responsive and quickly answered any outstanding questions and concerns. The turnaround time for work has been good.

What was your primary form of communication with SCUBE Marketing?

• Virtual Meeting

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

Tom's willingness to listen and to make the effort to understand the unique needs of our business, instead of giving us a generic Google Ads strategy.

Are there any areas for improvement or something {provider_name} could have done differently?

Working with Scube has been a big improvement from our last Google Ads agency partner, so it's difficult for me to think of much that could be improved!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the general manager of FINDPIGTAILS.COM

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We sell electrical connectors for automobiles that are damaged in auto accidents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• optimize our paid SEO at our current level
• grow our paid SEO while keeping our ROAS high
• ensure we are doing everything on our end to maximize our SEO

SOLUTION

How did you find SCUBE Marketing?

Online Search

Why did you select SCUBE Marketing over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• felt the most Honest

How many teammates from SCUBE Marketing were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We wanted help to clean up all of our paid adds side for SEO. Scube identified a lot of areas we needed improvement and they communicated all of that info even before we were a customer. They were the most thorough on details then the 4 other companies we talked with. They didn't do a fancy presentation but instead had a ton of real info to share that we needed to improve on so it was an easy choice to go with Scube.

We were paying a lot per month but wanted to try to maximize our potential on the SEO side so what we were paying was not wasted. We then wanted to see how far we can go with our revenue while keeping our ROAS high. Scube has been able to assist with this and even making big changes that only effected us negatively for a month.

Scube had to start over with almost a clean slate but they have us back on track and spending less for the same revenue. Now they are working to increase our spend while keeping the ROAS and revenue high.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

our ROAS and Revenue are improving and we don't have wasted spend on adds that dont have a return.

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

Scube told us from the start all the things to watch out for and timeline of when to expect the good and the bad. They were right on all things.

What was your primary form of communication with SCUBE Marketing?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Tom, the owner and how he got into the business. When someone ends up in business because they were so good at doing something for themselves and then friends as a hobby you know its a passion for them. It was obvious from day 1 that Tom and his team would do what they said and more.

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

I'm happy with everything they've done for us so far.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Ultravision LED Solutions

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sells LED Digital Displays

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Increase incoming sales leads through PPC
• Increase the quality of the incoming sales leads to maximize PPC spend
• Increase conversion from incoming sales lead to a sale

SOLUTION

How did you find SCUBE Marketing?

Online Search

Why did you select SCUBE Marketing over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SCUBE Marketing were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Scube managed our monthly PPC online advertising campaign and PPC budget for the online advertising campaign.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Scube increased our online Return on Advertising from 4 to 15. They did a great job increasing our response rate, conversion rate and sales closing rate to increase our return on advertising.

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

Yes they delivered everything on time and had great project managers. We enjoyed working with them because we had direct access to their PPC analyst completing the daily tasks and their senior management to help us with the overall PPC strategy.

What was your primary form of communication with SCUBE Marketing?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Everything. We worked with several PPC companies before we found SCUBE. The other PPC companies placed PPC advertising for us but did not truly understand the importance of conversion rate or return on advertising (ROA). 

SCUBE Marketing was very refreshing to work with on a daily basis and produced great results for us. They looked at our PPC spend, our target customers, how to increase our conversion rates and ROA. They provided an overall strategic look at maximizing the return on our PPC spend. We would highly recommend SCUBE.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner and CEO of AutoTempest.com, a used vehicle listings aggregator and buyer's resource.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SCUBE Marketing, and what were your goals?

We hired SCUBE to run our PPC marketing, particularly using Google Ads. The goal was to maximize our user acquisition on this channel while maintaining an expectation of positive ROI.

SOLUTION

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

The selection process was run by our head of marketing at the time, who is no longer with the company. However, the primary factors were a perception of competence—understanding of our industry and needs, and best practices in PPC marketing—as well as cost.

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

They began by reviewing the state of our ads account. Next they planned several test campaigns, including keywords to target and ad content. We started with a budget of a few thousand a month, and have gradually scaled up to about 10k as performance is demonstrated and targeting + copy is refined. We receive twice-monthly written updates, as well as a performance dashboard, and have an account manager available for questions.

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

I primarily work with our account manager directly, but I understand there are others working on the account behind the scenes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have tried other PPC management firms in the past, but were unable to sustain significant ad spend at the CPC and CPL levels we needed. SCUBE has managed to sustainably grow our account to about $8k per month so far based on better keyword targeting and ad copy.

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

It's been great; no complaints. I prefer to communicate by email, so they've matched that, and they are capable of answering complex questions in detail.

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

Their level of understanding of our needs and of complex details such as the differentiation between branded and unbranded ads, and the importance of keeping the two separate, stood out from competitors.

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

They're not the cheapest option out there, but understandably so.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was president of Hard Core Waterfowl. When we started, the company was a retail wholesale business. Then, we re-platformed it to Shopify to sell direct-to-consumer and sold the company two years later.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SCUBE Marketing?

We’d never sold direct-to-consumer, so we were trying to build an audience and drive revenue through paid advertising and social media, primarily through Google and Facebook Ads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SCUBE Marketing helped us with every aspect of our paid media. They ran our Google Ads and paid social media. Also, they were experts in the e-commerce ecosystem, so they guided us as we moved through the transition. They’d worked with other companies in similar situations, so they took a consultative approach. If we needed anything in terms of expertise or experience, they lent their support.

Initially, we had an onboarding process that spanned two weeks to help them understand our business. Once they understood our company, we set some goals and a budget. Them, we had weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly reporting.

What is the team composition?

We initially worked with Tom (Principal); he had three people working on our account. We also worked with Diana (Managing Partner) as our program manager and primary point of contact.

How did you come to work with SCUBE Marketing?

We got the referral from the agency that built our Shopify site. We wanted someone local, so we asked if they knew a good paid media firm; they mentioned Tom and SCUBE Marketing. We went through a selection process and ended up going with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent at least $200,000 in paid media spend.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our engagement in September 2019 and ended it in February 2021 due to the business’ change of ownership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our brand had never sold direct-to-consumer before or worked in paid media, so SCUBE Marketing had to come in and build it from scratch. We had equity and an audience, but by October 2019, our ROI was probably ten times higher when the typical ROI in ads is 400%–500%. We got to a point where we even had to slow our ad spend because the ads were so effective — it was an overwhelming operation.

How did SCUBE Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They did really well. They helped us get organized because we were brand new at it. Also, Tom was available any time we needed him. It was nice because they were a boutique shop; we probably met only 1–2 times in person, but they were very responsive and patient with us.

We used Basecamp, Slack, and Google Meets to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Not only were they focused on their clients, but they had expertise beyond paid media. SCUBE Marketing guided us, connected us to the right people, and gave us good suggestions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It wasn’t in the project scope, but they could’ve stepped up or invested more in the design. We provided the design and copy, but it could be an opportunity for them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You have to give direction to your partner. First, organize internally to have a clear strategy, and SCUBE Marketing can edit that. It’s always easier to edit things than create them, mainly if you’re working with an outside firm that doesn’t have firsthand knowledge of your business. Therefore, do your work, and then let them apply their best practices.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a charitable online business for travel lovers. We help people commemorate all their travels with a collectable and handcrafted keepsake. For every order placed, we provide a meal to a child in need.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SCUBE Marketing?

We hired SCUBE for Google Advertising.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were a recommendation of Kurt. I spoke with Tom from SCUBE and he did a great job explaining their value proposition.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

SCUBE Marketing manages all of our Google Ads. They adjust budgets, find the best keywords, and stay on top of the latest updates to maximize our profit.

What was the team composition?

I work directly with my account manager. Shout-out to Hallie (prior Account Manager) and now Luke (current Account Manager). They do a great job of working with me and helping me to execute any ideas I may have on top of the ones they recommend.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For the year of 2021, we are seeing a 500% ROAS on our Google Advertising.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is very seamless. SCUBE is very communicative, professional, and timely. 5-stars here!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

What I found most impressive about SCUBE is how they have been willing to test new ideas, even if it means their results may not look as good. They have also done their due diligence in making sure that only a small portion of our spend goes to branded keywords while the rest is spent on bringing in new traffic.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

SCUBE Marketing is the real deal, and I've loved being a client of theirs for over a year now. It's not easy to find great agencies but I lucked out here. The only area of improvement is that I wish they used Slack for communication as I personally dislike emails. But other than that, I can't recommend them enough!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing manager for a company that manufactures thermal covers for cold chain logistics use. I am also part of our parent company's corporate marketing team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SCUBE Marketing, and what were your goals?

We were getting heavier into digital marketing and as adoption from ownership and management grew, we were able to take our SEO in-house and outsource SCUBE to manage grow our PPC campaigns on google as well as a little on the microsoft side.

SOLUTION

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

We followed a referral and after introductions and an audit of our SEO, PPC and homepage, their recommendations, service capability and value add matched our criteria for a partner to help move us forward. We were looking for an agile, flexible and tight knit team to work with us as we were growing our digital footprint, and that's exactly what we found.

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

Our market is a niche corner of the cold chain logistics world, providing a challenging market to work in. Our colleagues at SCUBE were excited to take on a new industry and took what we had and ran with it.

They learned quickly and were able to come back with great strategy for campaign development, ad angles, and bidding on keywords and search terms after conducting powerful research and audits of our product types, competition and learning the industry language across the huge markets we serve, i.e., Pharma, Food and Beverage, and Chemical manufacturing and supply chain logistics.

Key deliverables include target conversions per month as well as a very challenging cost per click that they worked diligently to obtain and surpass.

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

One of the major deciding factors for us bringing SCUBE on board was the criteria of open communication not just with our account manager, but with the team members actually implementing the changes and tweaks to our campaigns. We got that and more from SCUBE and have open dialogue with top level management down to our everyday contact who is knowledgeable and knows our campaigns inside and out.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We regularly rank in the top for many of our high-volume search terms across our different campaigns sometimes playing second or third fiddle to only amazon, uline and the like. When we do our own keyword/search term research against competitors using SEM Rush, we often see huge gaps between us and our main competition.

SCUBE hit our cost per click goal of $75, which we honestly were shooting way low and last month our CPC was right around $60! Every month this year has gotten more conversions than the last and September 2021 was not only the best performing month to date but also came in under budget and was the lowest CPC we've had. We have tracked revenue back to digital leads and have a strong ROI leading into 2022.

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

They have been very proactive in identifying opportunities to improve our overall campaign and aggressively push to drive better performance through each month. They are on point with their deliverables with great email communication or a quick call if needed. We feel like response and communication is as if they are an internal part of our team across all the business units they work on under the Lanco umbrella.

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

Willingness to tackle our account and excitement in taking on a challenging niche industry was a great signal to me upfront that SCUBE was the right group to get us some wins and grow our online presence. Also, the great character of the team members and ease of collaboration has been 5 star and a great balance of kindness, understanding and professionalism.

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

Nothing comes to mind. There's always room for improvement, and constructive criticism, but in this case I do feel that any concerns or immediate needs/changes have been received quickly and met with reasonable sense of urgency. The SCUBE team embraces learning and growing and we've done so as well with great collaboration.