Silverback Strategies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the senior marketing director of Intelligize, Inc. We provide compliance professionals with SEC content, analytical tools, and benchmarking capabilities to ensure their compliance, build stronger deals, and deliver value for their shareholders and clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

A few months after being acquired by LexisNexis, we decided to improve our lacking digital presence. We needed to make ourselves known within our industry and ensure that people knew we were operating in the same way with the same great product after the acquisition. Specifically, we were looking for content marketing, SEO, and PPC services to help both with brand awareness and lead generation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engage them in two main capacities: SEO and paid media. Regarding SEO, they’ve made several changes to our site itself to improve our Google rankings including keyword optimization, eliminating duplicate copy, increasing the site speed, indexing the site to be more easily read by web crawlers, and optimizing our meta descriptions.

Silverback also develops our paid media strategy and budgets regarding LinkedIn, AdWords, and the Google Display Network. The overall goal of the effort is to expand our reach within the corporate and legal industries. They work directly with our account managers at LinkedIn to help us optimize our digital ads on that platform. They've also gotten us involved with different LinkedIn tools that have performed better than our standard sponsored content.

They’ve done tremendous work helping with verbiage for landing pages and ads. Finally, they’ve helped us tweak our WordPress site’s backend and create AMP versions of our web pages for mobile devices.

They’ve also set up Google Analytics and marketing automation tools that we use to track custom data. UTM codes they supplied for LinkedIn allow us to understand how people are reaching our content. They’ve also gotten us listed on Google My Business for New York City and Washington D.C.; our two different locations.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Jacob (Paid Media Account Manager, Silverback Strategies) and Shannon (SEO Account Manager, Silverback Strategies). 

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

I saw that Silverback was working with a company I’d previously worked for, which was a great sign. We liked Silverback Strategies' work and loved what they had to say when we met with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s been a great decision on our part to hire Silverback. We’re a small marketing team with lots of responsibilities, so being able to rely on them to manage a significant portion of our digital strategy has been amazing.

They’ve increased our keyword rankings so that we’re in the Top 10 for many of the keywords we’re aiming for. Lead generation has also improved, as have downloads, total conversions, spending, and cost-per-lead. Our WoW and MoM cost-per-click (CPC) and conversion rates consistently exceed LinkedIn’s standards, which we attribute to Silverback helping us hone our audience.

How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a phenomenal job. We meet on a regular basis to go through all our current and upcoming projects and any metrics they have. Email, phone, and Basecamp help us communicate, and they always have someone to step in if the person we're trying to reach is out of the office. This way, nothing gets dropped, and our campaigns and projects stay on track. Regarding progress, they provide weekly and monthly performance reports, in addition to a MoM report.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s hard to pinpoint one specific item because both the SEO and paid search teams have been fantastic. They’re involved, responsive, and incredible, and their expertise is invaluable, which is why I’m such a huge advocate for them. 

They’ve helped us create an online presence and grow our brand by taking advantage of the changes we made to our website before we brought them on. Anecdotally, the team at LinkedIn hasn’t had much to say regarding optimization at our last two meetings because Silverback is already doing it.

I can see and prove their results week to week and month to month, and I can prove it to my organization. We always feel like we’re getting what we pay for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t. They always ask if there’s anything more we want to see or tweaks we want to be made to their reports, and if there are, they make them right away. They’re helpful at explaining things and don’t hesitate to get involved with our developers if it's needed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you are looking for and what your weaknesses are. Having a solid understanding of these things allows Silverback to come in and offer services tailored to your circumstance.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Long Fence and Home, more commonly known as Long Roofing. We’re a home improvement company that serves Maryland, Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

Over the years, we’ve invested aggressively in traditional marketing campaigns such as TV, radio, and print. However, we wanted to develop a robust digital presence as well. We had done some PPC, blogging, and email newsletters before, but we hired Silverback Strategies to enhance our efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Silverback Strategies implemented SEO and PPC to help prospective customers find us organically after they encounter our traditional ads. The team also did content marketing for us, specifically writing blog posts on our behalf. They first researched what topics were relevant and important to our customers; then they talked to our vendors and our employees to learn specific information about those topics. As a result, they could write in-depth posts that successfully attract prospective customers. In addition, they rebuilt our website in WordPress. Our most recent project with Silverback Strategies—which is ongoing—is digital video production. Silverback Strategies starts with a script and a storyboard, pitches ideas to us, and then takes care of the entire production process.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with seven or eight people who each specialize in a different aspect of our digital marketing strategy. One person handles SEO, another person deals with PPC, and so on for content marketing, site upkeep, video productions, and some one-off services. An account manager oversees the entire project.

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

I knew one of their representatives peripherally and when she cold-called me, I decided to call back.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2016 and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There’s a clear return on our investment. I look for a certain marketing percentage to sales, and we’re meeting that mark regularly. Silverback Strategies also looks at those numbers and helps us decide whether to expand our efforts or pull back. They want us to get the best return possible, even if they make fewer sales as a result. Silverback Strategies operates more like a partner than a vendor, and I’m very happy with how they treat us.

How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project manager has been excellent. The team pushes us to have meetings every quarter, and they genuinely want us to critique their work. Also, as I said before, Silverback Strategies assigns one person to handle each aspect of our project, rather than having a single person report on SEO, PPC, and content marketing all at once. That specialization reassures me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve successfully increased our exposure and sales with their services. We’ve also entrusted the team to take over all our digital and online needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I hope they continue to stay on top of the current trends of digital marketing and to come up with new ways and areas for us to expand brand awareness.

Any advice for potential customers?

Go slow. Take the time to let Silverback Strategies understand your business and to undergo one project at a time. Silverback Strategies will likely tell future clients the same thing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company provides technology and online courses and services to school districts. My responsibilities as the director of marketing include lead generation activities, events, email marketing, webinars, and work on our website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

When we first started working with them, our initial challenge was to improve our SEO. We had a website, but we hadn’t optimized it. Over four years of collaboration, their involvement has grown.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve always done our SEO and Google Analytics through them, and our initial engagement was fairly technical. We needed clear benchmarks to show that working with them brought more visitors to the site and generated leads. Once we had the metrics in place, we found keywords to optimize and they eventually started helping us with content and site redesign.

They really operate as a partner to make sure all our content is optimized, and they’ve expanded into writing and filming new content for us. Since they know our business so well at this point, they lead a lot of our content creation and we take an editing role.

We’re in the process of a small website redesign that they’re a part of. Our website used to be hosted in Drupal, but is now in Adobe Experience Manager. They have access to our backend, but their principal role is design. We haven’t done any major development with them.

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

A colleague that was using them recommended them to us.

How much have you invested with them?

The SEO work started around $36,000 and our current contract is around $130,000. We've expanded over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together and the partnership is ongoing. We have a variety of projects planned for next year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our organic results increased 63% over the last year. We've seen at least a 50% increase in organic sessions for each month of 2018 over those same months in 2017. Demo requests increased 86% year over year, and all sectors have seen growth.

How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is awesome. I don’t have to think about it, and they go so far as to manage me. We have weekly calls, and they track all our activities. They follow up constantly and help us with plans and timelines for all the projects we’ve worked on together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our business has changed a lot over time, and they’ve been a good partner throughout our collaboration. I don’t think they’ve ever said no to a request. They help us fill gaps in SEO, analytics, or content creation. Working with them is almost like having another person on our team. They understand our business, and it’s hard to pinpoint just one thing they do best.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they should change; they’re a natural fit for us. As we’ve grown, they’ve added services and expanded into fields we need.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Establishing baseline metrics and analytics is important. Also, make sure you can work well with the project manager they assign. We worked with one manager that wasn’t a perfect fit, so we brought that up to them and they made sure we had someone we were comfortable with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the managing partner of a small personal injury law firm based in Richmond, Virginia. It's a boutique firm that specializes in catastrophic injury cases.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

We were looking to convert more qualified leads from out internet marketing. We also wanted to increase our market share in automobile cases.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Silverback Strategies conducted a SEO compliance audit of our website. They did some restructuring of the site and added backlinks. They also helped us with PPC marketing, primarily through Google AdWords. They helped us craft our messages and they also helped us strategize on bids. We explained what our goals were and then they responded with an appropriate turnkey solution.

What is the team composition?

Neil (CEO, Silverback Strategies) was our main point of contact. We worked with different account managers over the years, and there were five people on the team.

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

They were recommended to us. I was introduced to Neil and we hit it off right away.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we spent around $200,000. At our peak, we spent $10,000 per month on PPC. We spent around $3,500–$4,500 per month on PPC on our last project.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our most recent engagement was from October 2017–August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They really improved our SEO performance during our initial engagement. The only reason we left them was we wanted a partner that had more legal marketing experience. We came back to them because we needed help when a vendor left us in the lurch. Before returning to work with Silverback Strategies, our inbound calls slipped from 35–40 per month down to only 8–9. They were able to get the calls back to an acceptable level. They did a great job of righting the sinking ship.

How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their service was phenomenal. I really enjoyed working with them. Everybody was responsive, knowledgeable, and dedicated. If I had an issue or a question, it was fully explained. They never missed a deadline. My new vendor is great, but they miss deadlines.

Silverback Strategies’ communication was outstanding. They would hound me to set up calls, which I thought was great. We had a weekly phone calls and they used Basecamp to manage the project. They sent me regular reports and they'd walk me through every one. They were great about answering my questions and explaining things.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a very cohesive team approach. They're proactive in their work rather than us having to prod them to move things along. They deliver what they promise. They're an excellent company. I can see why everybody that works there is happy and well-adjusted.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I would have loved if they’d stayed small. They grew and morphed into something that no longer fit our needs. However, I admire their growth and I'm impressed by what they've done.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be involved with their staff. The more involved and the more interactive that you are, the better experience you’ll have. It's only as much as you make of it because they'll do anything you want. They were willing to work with us as often as we wanted.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Ocean Conservancy is a science- and advocacy-based nonprofit. We work on developing progressive policies that have an impact on protecting the ocean and its wildlife. I’m the director of digital fundraising, and my mission is to develop the online membership program and increase the revenue coming through it.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

We had been working with another vendor for the past six years on PPC, but they had a precise way of working that didn’t suit what I was looking for. I needed a vendor that was more responsive, open to trying new things, and closer to us geographically.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Silverback Strategies handles the entire paid advertising element of our digital fundraising. They built the backbone for our paid social advertising activity, creating a new and more granular way to segment our audiences. This allows us to gather more data and get a better idea of which audiences to potentially target.

The team did great work on paid social and optimized our AdWords account for conversion. They cleaned an account that had not been cleaned for a while, aligning it with new guidelines from Google to make sure that we’re compliant. In addition, they work on our grant account on Yahoo and oversee paid social advertising on Facebook and Instagram, creating new paid ad content.

What is the team composition?

We have one senior paid account manager who has two account coordinators helping with operational work. We’re also in touch with the director of analytics and strategy.

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

I searched for agencies in the Washington DC area and discussed with my contacts in the nonprofit world to find good recommendations. I came across Silverback Strategies’ profile that way.

How much have you invested with them?

The spend varies from month to month. Their fee has been around $14,000 so far. We’ve been averaging $7,000 in management fees per month, and that figure will increase according to the season.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking with Silverback Strategies in April 2018, but the work only started at the beginning of June. The collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re seeing better engagement and more revenue for less spend. We don’t always look at the ROI in order to justify the efficiency of a marketing campaign; we look at other key performance indicators (KPIs) that improve efficiency in the long-term.

We try to perform new things, some of which prove to be efficient, and some less so. We’re building an ongoing testing approach that will help us find the rare diamonds, which can make all the difference.

How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

So far, they’re very good in this regard. They’re reactive and always reachable when we need them, even outside of office hours. They’re also proactive in giving us recommendations. It’s all very positive; we have a pleasant and constructive working relationship that’s ongoing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their account management and the ability to fit within the internal model of the client is impressive. Our association has a specific accounting structure, so we have to be careful when it comes to ad spend. They’ve adapted to our model so that when it comes to putting each expense in our system, it’s easy and straightforward. They’re also reactive when something is wrong or not working. They reach out, ask us questions, and try to find where the problem sits.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One of the reasons for choosing them is that they’re looking to acquire a video production company. Google, Facebook, and other platforms are becoming video platforms, so that direct inside expertise will be welcome.

Another thing I was happy to note is that they are SEO experts, which is complementary to paid search. It’s an area I would like to explore with them in the future.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Don’t be shy to ask for anything that would facilitate the work. They’ve been able to meet all my needs so far. It’s a matter of working to maintain a healthy and constructive collaboration.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

WTOP is a local news organization based in Washington DC. We cover the news for people who live in both DC and the nearby Maryland and Virginia suburbs. As the digital news director, I oversee all of the content that goes on our website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

In today’s world, we can’t assume people will automatically know about and visit our website. We have to distribute news across many networks, especially Google search, which is one of the largest. As our medium-sized company continued to grow, particularly on the digital side, we didn’t have the necessary skills in-house to ensure we were optimized on all the right platforms.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Working with Silverback Strategies keeps our focus on creating the news. They give us tools our news team can employ and keep us up to date with Google algorithm changes. Someone from their side is continuously assessing our website. We rely on their expertise to optimize our news content so Google’s crawlers can pick it up faster. 

Every year since I’ve been here, we reset our strategy together. Looking over the previous year’s efforts, we consider what worked well and what to continue. Just recently, we went through an audit to go over all the services they’d provided. 

Silverback Strategies has extensive knowledge of Google Analytics, an in-depth platform we often use as a news organization. They pull out data that’s not visible on a surface level and have built a dashboard for us to view it. They’ve run data-driven reports to solve many issues we’ve seen. Even for simple 404 Errors on our site, they show us the specific links that are causing the problem.

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

I came into my position after Silverback Strategies was already a part of the team. They were a client of ours, and we worked with them from an advertising perspective. We decided to use their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since October 2015. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Silverback Strategies has been a lifesaver for us in the SEO space. The data speaks for itself. Our search traffic is up 43% year over year, which I attributed to their work. We’re amazed by the ROI. Over the past year, Facebook was a huge driver of traffic to news organizations. When it changed its algorithm, traffic dropped significantly for most news outlets. Silverback Strategies helped us make up for this loss and then some. More and more people are visiting our site as we appear higher in Google’s search results. 
 
Rather than just a contract, we have a valuable partnership. We trust them and sign off on their recommendations. They have access to our analytics platforms and website. Having them implement strategies is helpful when my time is limited. They’re a great resource and sounding board for our ideas. When we were searching for different kinds of vendors, they used their industry knowledge to help us find potential companies. We’ve met and built strong relationships with all their teammates. I could go to any of them with a question, and they’d give me an answer I’d trust. They run their organization well and have a great company culture. 
 
How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management is excellent and very focused. Each year, we conduct thorough deep dives with the team. We have touchpoint meetings every two weeks with Carly (Senior SEO Account Manager, Silverback Strategies). She sends a set agenda the day before all our phone calls, and we talk through any issues we’re having. After every single call, she sends a follow-up email detailing everything we discussed, action items, and our respective tasks. I love having them hold me to this level of accountability because we often get busy and wrapped up in our days. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Silverback Strategies has a level of knowledge that makes them stand out. They’re very smart and open-minded. I’m a big believer in workplace culture and wasn’t surprised to see them ranked as one of DC’s top workplaces in a local magazine. Their employees believe in what they’re doing, which translates into the work they perform.

Silverback Strategies is very proactive, which is one of the things I love about them the most. There have been numerous times that Carly has reached out to us unprompted about an issue. After taking a look at it, she finds out what’s going on. They’re continually looking at different ways they can help us, even outside the scope of our contract. They think outside the box, which speaks to their overall philosophy as a company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Silverback Strategies always has new ideas to bring to the table. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to Silverback Strategies’ ideas. They know what they’re talking about. Their advice will help, and you will see results. Spending good money with them will be 100% worth it. Look at it as a partnership that keeps going for years and years rather than a short-term investment. They can help you navigate changes before you even see them happening for years to come.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a trade association that represents real estate investment trusts (REITs). We do various things on their behalf, including education, publicity, advocacy. As the senior director of content strategy, I run the website and social media. Since our company owns the reit.com domain, we’re considered an authority on REITs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

Our previous web vendor offered both web development and SEO. While we were quite happy with their SEO offering, we decided to hire another vendor for web development earlier this year. Because we would no longer be employing our previous vendor for web development, we thought it best to change our SEO provider.

Our site has two distinct audiences. We have people searching for “What is an REIT?” or “How do REITs work?”—these are people who don’t know anything about the REIT industry, so we seek to educate them. We also have people in the REIT industry who use jargon that would be unfamiliar to outsiders. Our goal is to achieve a balance so that our content is not too dense for newbies but also doesn’t talk down to the people who know what’s going on.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We use Silverback Strategies for SEO and PPC campaigns. Our SEO was in pretty good shape, so they’ve mostly focused on refining things. Initially, Silverback took a look into the backend, including meta descriptions, page titles, and headers for Google. They’ve helped us identify ranking opportunities that we hadn’t thought about previously.

One of the things Silverback recommended was doing work with web personas and goals. We’ve identified the different audiences that come to the site, including subgroups within the two I’ve mentioned. We’re tracking web goals in those different groups, including people who come to look at an advocacy page, download a research report, and so on. This data is two months old, so we’re starting to get our baselines.

We’ve just started a project for all of our third- and fourth-page Google results, with the goal of pushing them onto the first page. Silverback has helped us identify the phrases to add on our webpages that had good rankings but could rank better. On the PPC side, they’re helping us promote events and content in addition to monitoring searches, queries, and keywords. We also identify competitors and monitor what they’re doing.

What is the team composition?

We have two account managers, one for PPC and one for SEO.

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

Our new web vendor has a business agreement with Silverback Strategies. They brought the Silverback Strategies team in as part of their pitch, and we liked what they had to say.

How much have you invested in them?

Their monthly management fee is $7,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Silverback in April 2018, and the collaboration is ongoing. They only started SEO implementation and tracking in June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have specific numbers because we haven’t been working with them that long. Also, our traffic depends on how the market’s doing and whether or not people are investing money. That’s why it’s hard for me to point to one thing and attribute it to Silverback Strategies' efforts. However, we’re pleased with the job they’ve done so far.

At the moment, we’re up by double digits from 2017, which is good in terms of web traffic. We had an uncharacteristic dip in traffic in September 2017, so I’m interested to see if they can help us avoid a similar fate this year.

How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

Things are progressing quite nicely. They use Basecamp for project management tracking, including a list of tasks. They always deliver on time, and they’re good at reminding us about outstanding items.

We met them during the pitch phase, but, since then, we mostly communicate over conference calls. We have meetings every two weeks so that everything stays front of mind. They’re always prepared and highly responsive.

They present data to us in spreadsheet or chart form. Generally, when I bring a tool to them, they’ll either tell us that they’re using it already or that they prefer another one. They’re attuned to current solutions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re thorough, knowledgeable, and professional. Not only do they offer good ideas, but they’re also quite receptive to our suggestions. We’ll throw things at them, and they’ll research it and come back to us. They had no idea what REITs were before this project, but they’ve done a good job of understanding our industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly can’t think of any improvements off the top of my head. Not to say that they’re perfect, but we haven’t had any issues so far.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

New clients should have set goals. They need to identify their issues and trust Silverback Strategies’ recommendations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager of a regional mattress retailer with around 250 locations. I started as a graphic designer and moved up into my more central position over the years. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

We began our relationship when I was still a designer. Our website had been broken for months, so I conducted a complete overhaul one evening and switched to a new platform. A month or two later, we teamed up with Silverback Strategies. One of our main goals going in was to improve our SEO. We also needed their help to strategize and clean up our paid media.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We work heavily with Silverback Strategies’ SEO, content, and paid media departments. They’ve also supported us with video, photography, and press. In every regard, they answer our questions and find the best strategies. For paid media, they handle most aspects of our digital spend for Google AdWords and social media advertising. Their content team manages our social media platforms, creates blogs, and works with our in-house content lead to develop new material for our website. 
 
The SEO team dove in to assess multiple aspects of our site, including the markup and overall usability for customers. By adding new features and removing ones that didn’t make sense, they positioned us for maximum visibility on Google. We’ve been making replacements and modifications to enhance our SEO ever since.

Our on-site resource handles most of the graphic design internally, but Silverback Strategies has shown us ways to improve our ROI for Google Display Network and social media. They’ve also supported some of our one-off projects. For example, they came to the rescue and created digital videos for us right when we needed them.

What is the team composition? 

We’ve worked with everyone on their team within the SEO and paid media umbrella.

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

After we vetted multiple agencies, Silverback Strategies ended up at the top of the list. Their service offerings made them stand out, and their communication was superb.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $200,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with Silverback Strategies since January 2015. After slowing down for a brief period, we’ve picked back up the pace and have maintained it since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Year over year, our overall SEO is up by 22% for site traffic since we started working with Silverback Strategies. We’ve also seen an increase in traffic from AdWords and other paid media. Most of the time, these metrics increase on a monthly basis, as well. The mattress industry often fluctuates based on its seasonal nature, but we’ve seen a steady increase in both advertising areas. 

How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

During our weekly meetings, we assess progress. Maintaining hands-on communication ensures everyone is on the same page and keeps the project running smoothly. Despite my busy schedule, Silverback keeps me on track with my responsibilities. Their reminders are definitely helpful on days I can’t manage things myself.

Silverback Strategies uses several tools for reporting depending on the medium. They send us Wave Analytics reports and use Google AdWords and Analytics to track rankings for target SEO keywords. Using multiple platforms for social listening, they gather information on how our social media is performing. 

The time-oriented SEO team is amazing at setting a timeline and making sure we stick to it as closely as possible. They outline our projects in detail and indicate when they’ll be done. Their time management skills are excellent. I never have to keep tabs on them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Silverback Strategies pays close attention to detail. They’re always asking questions about how we’re doing as a company and ways they can further assist us. At the end of the day, their main focus is on making sure we succeed in accomplishing our goals. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t say that I have any at this time. Silverback Strategies provides so many services that they’ve become an extension of our team. Since our marketing department is very small, we rely significantly on their support to complete everything we need to accomplish.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The digital world is continuously changing and moves at a pace we can’t keep up with on our own. Keeping an open mind is important. We hired Silverback Strategies to support us in areas we can’t necessarily address ourselves, so we should be open to their suggestions, rather than closed-minded. They brought in ideas and plans that I might never have thought of, and they worked out very well. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the assistant VP for marketing at American University. I'm responsible for branding, brand advertising, website, social media, video, as well as graduate enrollment advertising.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Silverback Strategies?

They worked with us on graduate enrollment advertising campaigns. The goal was to drive leads and to increase enrollment for a number of our master's degree programs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started by conducting a discovery phase to understand the graduate programs’ requirements and needs for each degree. In terms of the type of prospects, each graduate program was looking for different qualities. Our team got Silverback Strategies up to speed, and then they made marketing recommendations.

The campaigns included display, social media, and search for a number of master's degree programs. We provided the creative, and Silverback Strategies did all of the negotiation, planning, strategy, and reporting. The latter was particularly critical for the campaigns. They provided dashboards to review campaign performance in our weekly calls. They also used Google AdWords and Google Analytics. In terms of social media, they focused on Facebook paid posts and lead generation.

What is the team composition?

Jonny (Paid Media and Analytics Account Manager, Silverback Strategies) was our lead contact.

How did you come to work with Silverback Strategies?

We first heard about them because they invited us to a number of Google events over the past few years. At the time, we were in the midst of an RFP process for a new long-term relationship with a media agency. We also knew that we needed a short-term partner to get things going for our spring enrollment campaigns. We talked with them along with another agency, and Silverback Strategies impressed us with the way they challenged our thinking.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work lasted from December 2017–July 2018. We've just finished our campaigns recently.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They really hit the ground running for us. The strength of their relationship as a preferred vendor with Google was also a benefit. They brought us data and analytics information from a new insight that Google was offering. There was great information about education levels from search, and they were on top of it.

With this feature, they're able to determine the education levels of the people who are actually clicking on our ads, which allowed us to optimize our paid digital spend. For example, if they only have a high school diploma, we know that they're not eligible for grad school and should be excluded. We'd never seen that ability before with search. They really worked to understand our needs, and brought us insights and opportunities that would work best for us.

How did Silverback Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

Jonny was great, and got up to speed really quickly. He was always available to us and embraced challenges. We also appreciated how quickly they dove into the project. They jumped in at the end of December with campaigns launching in January. Silverback Strategies came to the table with new ways of thinking that we hadn't employed before.

We primarily used phone and email, and they held a few in-person meetings, too. We came together for the initial kickoff meeting. We also had an in-person meeting with all of the key contacts from each school and college around the University. For me, putting a face to a voice was important to the relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Jonny was exceptionally responsive, and the team recognized our areas of expertise. They respected that we know more about the degree programs and supported us with digital knowledge. It was interesting how we complemented one another.

Furthermore, their access and insight into Google were excellent. Search is increasingly important, no matter where you are in the prospect funnel, so we definitely benefited from that aspect of the relationship.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. Our decision to not engage with them further isn’t a reflection on the quality of their work. Rather, it’s that our future needs pushed us in a different direction.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront with them about your needs. Jonny was hungry for information from us so that he could understand our needs and form an appropriate response. They want to hear if you need a dashboard tweaked or if you need additional insights in the analytics. If you keep open lines of communication and treat them with respect, you'll have a good partnership.