The Smarketers

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the technology manager of a cloud solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Smarketers?

My expectation was simple. I wanted people to find all positive results when they search for my company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The scope of work was to clear up the negative content and clutter on the web. For the past 6-8 months, they have created a content management system to add content. The content is related to our company. They’ve been adding how our product works, what the features are, what the advantages are, why the users should have our product, and how they can use it through content creation, through video promotions, and through infographics. They’ve done a lot of work to meet my needs.

What is the team composition?

I work with two digital marketers.

How did you come to work with The Smarketers?

I worked with them in a previous company and I reached out to them. They came back to me with a plan on how to tackle the negative content on the web.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2018—June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Initially, we had a lot of negative activity, and that’s been actively pushed down thanks to The Smarketers. The domain they created for us made the first page of Google search results.

I needed to see the results as soon as possible, but The Smarketers were sure to stick with only white-hat model and not black-hat. We wanted 60% of the links to be positive and they were able to do at least 70%. We have no complaints.

How did The Smarketers perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is good. We communicated via email and Skype calls and any delays were negligible. They ensure that their client is informed and they get approval before doing anything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I liked best were their regular communication and reports.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have an in-house video content team because I believe they rely on a third-party to get the video content done. They delivered a couple of videos for us and they waited a long time for my approval. They could have sent me a follow-up reminder email because it ended up being delayed for two or three days.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of Acuvate Software, a company that builds chatbots for various industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Smarketers?

We had our internal team doing marketing, but we wanted to get experts involved to enhance our efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Smarketers built our core marketing strategy, mainly focusing on inbound and outbound marketing. They continue to manage our SEO and create content for our website, blog, and e-book. We do the development and design in-house, but they write the copy for whatever topics we tell them.

What is the team composition?

We mainly talk with their CEO.

How did you come to work with The Smarketers?

They were a reference from a mutual contact.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together since August 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Smarketers have been critical to our progress and helped us market the company better. We’re happy with their work and would gladly refer them.

How did The Smarketers perform from a project management standpoint?

They have good project management, and we mainly communicate via Google Docs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive and take time to understand our needs and what we do. Unlike other companies, they don’t just do generic SEO but really tailor the work to best fit our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d appreciate if they continually adopted the latest techniques for digital marketing.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They’re a great team that’s growing quickly. Give them enough direction, and they’ll accomplish exactly what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an independent CMO. Companies that can’t afford a CMO on staff and have an unmet need for marketing or building their brands hire me as a consultant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Smarketers?

A common client of ours needed someone to handle end-to-end digital marketing including website building and social media.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team worked on personal tagging, which means defining customer behavior and the customer buying journey, from search to the transaction. They also do a lot of SEO and PPC.

What is the team composition?

I usually work with Enoch, the CEO, but I’ve also worked with their content manager.

How did you come to work with The Smarketers?

Our paths crossed when we were consulting for the same company. We collaborated together since I was crafting the brand’s position and messaging.

How much have you invested with them?

I don’t deal with them financially because we both converge on a common customer.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The customer is moderately satisfied with their work surrounding SEO, search engine marketing (SEM), and social media flagging.

How did The Smarketers perform from a project management standpoint?

Every project begins with a neatly drawn schedule, which, unfortunately, starts changing every day, and then every hour. They’ve kept us on cadence and helped us stick to the original plan while still providing enough flexibility to adapt to changes constantly. They were fantastic and extremely professional.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The advantage their CEO brings to the table is that he became an entrepreneur early in life. He’s extremely passionate about technology, and entrepreneurs who love technology are the future of marketing. I’ve worked with similar companies before and Smarketers strengths are tilted to the build side. They love building websites and I rank them very highly at it. I was very impressed with their work and have referred them to other companies that I consult for. We’ve become an organic, symbiotic group.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

At the end of the day, the human touch and talent Smarketers has and their keen understanding of their medium and craft are worth investing in. They’re a young, passionate, flexible team that isn’t afraid of taking risks.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO for an SAP consulting company. We provide IT staffing solutions for the ERP, CRM, analytics, and mobility spaces. Our three broad verticals are retail, manufacturing, and hospitality and entertainment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Smarketers?

We wanted to increase brand awareness through various outreach mechanisms on social. In addition, we aimed to do inbound marketing to spur demand and lead generation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the start of the project, we had multiple microsites and were focusing on a monthly submissions pace. We rebranded during January–February 2018. We then did brand engagement for U.S-based markets that included inbound and outbound activities. For inbound, we engaged a variety of channels and did SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing. For content marketing, they helped us with strategy, execution, and assessing results.

What is the team composition?

I interface with the account manager on a daily or weekly basis. I’ve also interacted directly with Enoch (CEO, The Smarketers) daily or as needed.

How did you come to work with The Smarketers?

A mutual friend and colleague referred them. We got in touch with The Smarketers and took it from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $60,000–$70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2017 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We positioned ourselves as thought leaders in the solutions space, relative to our verticals and service offerings. Our brand recognition is higher as well. In the last three months, we’ve generated nearly 400 qualified leads.

How did The Smarketers perform from a project management standpoint?

I sleep well at night, and I can depend on them. I just give Smarketers a weekly or biweekly plan, and then relax. From a responsibility and ownership standpoint, I give them a “perfect 10”; they’re very good with execution as well.

The teams use Google Docs and a project management tool. We communicate via email and phone as well. We have weekly reviews and a monthly report that covers all metrics—month-over-month increases for marketing outreach and channels with the highest engagement levels.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is flexible and accommodates any additional requirements without charging us more. They’re versed in a variety of skills and are always exploring new methods for B2B digital marketing and research.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The team could improve its marketing communications,

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

We have already referred The Smarketers to another company that hired them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of U.S. operations for a multinational IT services company specializing in the mobile space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Smarketers?

Although we’ve been in business for over 12 years, we really had nothing to show for inbound marketing. Our goal was to increase our inbound efforts to gain more business leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve largely focused on improving our website to attract clients but have also provided a gamut of marketing services to further our outreach. This includes social media campaigns, content creation, e-books, blogs, and email campaigns. They’ve also recommended software to better manage our email marketing and set up HubSpot to funnel our inbound leads.

What is the team composition?

In general, I work with their CEO, but my team works directly with their other resources.

How did you come to work with The Smarketers?

I found them on LinkedIn and thought that they had good reviews. At the time, they were also working with some of our competitors. One thing led to another, and we decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work began in August 2016 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve increased our number of inbound leads every quarter and are making money. In fact, we’ve even gotten leads from large companies, which we consider a critical achievement.

How did The Smarketersperform from a project management standpoint?

They’re responsive and use Asana to manage tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The CEO is responsive and knowledgeable about the business, but his team has room to grow. It’s typical for smaller companies to be run by smart people while the guys who do the legwork don’t really compare. However, they’re able to get the job done and provide invaluable insights.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should onboard resources who are just as capable as their senior leaders.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When working with any company, collaborate with the person you actually worked with when signing the contract. They’re more important and have a better sense of your needs than the person who closed the deal.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company I currently work for is a center for special needs children in Dubai, U.A.E [United Arab Emirates]. We provide services for children aged 2 years old and up, as well as adults. Our services include Behavior Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy. We carry out multiple assessments which include Psychological, Developmental, Behavioral, Educational, Speech and Occupational assessments. In addition to that, we also provide learning support, school shadowing services, and educational aids to support children in the classroom setting.

I am a part of the Marketing and Business Development team. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Smarketers?

We wanted somebody who could do online marketing for us. Since everything is online these days, we needed someone to help us be out there and gain more online visibility. We also have a limited marketing team.

Our first challenge was that we were not active on social media and we were not appearing in Google search results at all. We did not have proper SEO or anyone in-house who could create great content or write blogs for healthcare marketing. Those were the main challenges that we were looking to solve.

Our second challenge was that we needed an explainer video to help us stand out in the market by clearly stating our services.

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with The Smarketers?

The Smarketers approached us and offered their services. When their CEO, Enoch, first came to meet me, it was for an IT company they’re partnered with.

Instead, we were interested in online marketing. We discussed that with Enoch and he said his company could help us. We went back and forth over what exactly we were looking for. The Smarketers explained to me exactly what they were including in the agreement. I was completely satisfied with all the work they offered. I discussed it with my team and they were happy about the agreement.

How much have you invested with The Smarketers?

Compared with other companies, The Smarketers gave me a very reasonable price for a 3-month engagement. It was less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started discussing terms in June 2016 via multiple emails and conference calls. We officially started working with them in July 2016.

We wanted to see the results based on the 3 months agreement. After the completion of 3 months, we witnessed outstanding results, thanks to the amazing work by The Smarketers.

Based on results achieved over the past 3 months, we are continuing working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

In the first week, we had 513 website sessions. The second week that number was at 963 and 1,397 in the third week. By the fourth week, we had 1,477, and the fourth week is not over yet. Over a 4-week period in September, there has been an increase of 82% in website traffic through organic search. That shows that when people search for autism-related services on Google, they are able to find us.

For social media, we now have more comments and messages. We had 1,154 likes when we started working with The Smarketers in July. In August, we had 1,157 and in September, we had 1,207. It’s all organic. Clients tell us that they really like the content we’re sharing on Facebook and Instagram. From our franchise we received really positive feedback from that branch. We’ve been asked to refer the company who’s doing our content because they said our posts were really interesting and happy, which easily attracted people. We don’t have any paid campaigns because I wanted to measure how much we can do organically. For LinkedIn, we started off in July with 1,229 followers. We then had 1,234 in August and 1,271 in September. Since we have launched our website, the numbers have increased. For Instagram, we had 467 likes in July, 472 in August, and 526 in September.

To be straightforward, we didn’t have much idea about inbound marketing. We were new to this field. I must have asked Enoch, their CEO, thousands of questions and he was more than happy to answer all of them. They have a great team. I used to send them a lot of emails and we used to have multiple Skype meetings. They wanted to make sure that we get the highest quality content. The Smarketers was really helpful with the process.

How did The Smarketers perform from a project management standpoint?

The Smarketers created the complete project on Asana and different tasks were assigned to team members. I was able to track and see which team member from the Smarketers was responsible for which task. If I had any questions, I could directly contact their CEO and partner. Sometimes, I would be delayed in reviewing content, but they always sent me content before the week started. They really did a great job with the project management.

What did you find most impressive about The Smarketers?

In the beginning, the blog translations had a few errors. It was not wrong; it was just that people that speak Arabic have different dialects and different ways of expressing themselves. I asked an Arabic speaker to review the content they sent to me. She changed a few words and I sent it back to them. The Smarketers immediately changed their translator, which was remarkable. Now, their Arabic translations are 99.9% error-free. I really appreciate that.

Are there any areas The Smarketers could improve?

If they want to work with other healthcare organizations in the future, The Smarketers would want to learn more about those companies, the same way they did for us. Since there are always new things in healthcare, they have to keep themselves updated. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is Codefyne Software Technologies Pvt Ltd.

What is your position?

I am the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with The Smarketers?

The Smarketers helped me a lot in with sales and marketing my company. They initiated every single thing we were trying in those departments.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They started by creating content for us. Moving forward, they helped us with email marketing to expand our clientele and have done a considerable amount of blog writing. Overall, they provided us with a lot of help in digital marketing.

How did you come to work with The Smarketers?

I had heard of The Smarketers from a friend of mine. He liked what they were doing and thought they would be able to help me with my business.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The relationship is costing me between $10,000 and $50,000

What is the status of this engagement?

I'm still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did The Smarketers perform from a project management standpoint?

They have done a wonderful job with project management. They are careful about what content is published and where it is published.

What distinguishes The Smarketers from other providers?

The Smarketers made it clear they want to know what sort of problems we were facing and only then will they come up with a solution. They took time to understand us and the direction we are hoping to go.

Is there anything The Smarketers could have improved or done differently?

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Everything is going well and they are doing great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for an Indian-based product services company.

What is your position?

I am the vice president of business development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with The SMarketers?

We were looking to develop a new marketing strategy. We wanted to grow our business because at the time, most of it coming via word of mouth. We decided we wanted to build a sales team of our own to reach out to a wider network, different regions. We thought that using email campaigns and cold calling people would help us achieve that goal.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They helped us with email marketing and content creation. The content they curated was primarily for our blog. They helped a lot with improving our customers experience engaging with us. They targeted businesses that they thought would be interested in giving us business.

How did you come to work with The SMarketers?

We knew the CEO of The SMarketers [Enoch Pakanati] previously and after getting to know the company a bit, decided they would be a good choice to help us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Altogether, we spent $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Before we started working with them, we were struggling to get responses from businesses. Before we were getting about one or two responses per month. Since we began working with The SMarketers, that number has jumped to about 12 responses per month.

How did The SMarketers perform from a project management standpoint?

The SMarketers did a good job with project management. They did a great job at training our team to meet the goals we had set for outreach.

What distinguishes The SMarketers from other providers?

One thing was that they knew what they were doing. They changed the way we were sending emails, which turned out to be very productive. Initially, we were sending potential clients very long emails, and they helped us see that no one was reading them. There was a lot of change in the content that they wrote. It was very clear they knew what they were doing.

Is there anything The SMarketers could have improved or done differently?

We hoped that they would spend more time at our office because much of it was remote. They were much more effective when they were in our office than when they worked remotely.