SmartBug Media

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the franchise owner of College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving in Orlando, Florida. It’s a hauling and moving company with over a hundred franchises across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chair 10 Marketing?

Over a decade-long partnership with our brand, Chair 10 has worked with our online campaigns through Google and Bing. We needed to maximize our online presence and manage our competition within the Orlando market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Through PPC and keyword strategy, Chair 10 continues to target online prospects who use keywords for specific services. Along with conducting marketing campaigns, they also track our online performance to ensure that we have maximum web exposure.

They closely monitor our metrics to take note of the weekly peaks and valleys of our search visibility. They share our backend metrics with our in-house IT department so that we can track it more closely ourselves.

What is the team composition?

I’ve probably worked with around five different people. This includes Mark (Founder & CEO, Chair 10 Marketing).

How did you come to work with Chair 10 Marketing?

They had a long-standing relationship with the brand through their engagement with our other locations. Chair 10 was recommended to me by the performance team at College Hunks’ headquarters in Tampa. I was provided with a few options of vendors that they had worked with, and I chose Chair 10 Marketing because they seemed to have the best offering.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in April of 2016 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve maintained good metrics regarding our impression share of the marketplace. We’ve also experienced indications of improving conversion rate—instead of just clicks, we now receive calls and have prospective customers engaging on our online forms.

They’ve also managed our budget in an efficient and effective way by understanding that people don’t always search during the same hours of the day.

How did Chair 10 Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform well, because they approach projects as a team. Whenever I have a question or concern, I can always talk to the right people in their organization.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very hands-on, and are willing to talk with you whenever you have a question. They’re also extremely accommodating of any desired adjustments. They provide respectful guidance as they’re able to explain their specialized procedure in a non-condescending way. They marry your goals to the metrics and have a keen understanding of industry standards.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although it’s not a bad thing, they hesitate to aggressively pursue you to expand your budget. Sometimes that’s necessary to ramp up leads and generate more conversions, but I understand that not everybody has a vigorous business model. They do wonderfully within the scope of basic brand measures.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Not really, I think they’ll have an easy time working with them. There haven’t been any issues at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

As part of a university, our program for professional and continuing education expands the educational impact of the university, breaking down barriers so learners of all types can access quality opportunities that fit their lives. We offer nearly 100 certificate programs and more than 80 degrees. I am a marketing manager working specifically on degree marketing strategy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Chair 10 Marketing?

We hired Chair 10 as our exclusive digital marketing partner to execute all of our digital advertising strategies on Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

What were your goals for this project?

Our overall goals with digital marketing are to reach qualified prospective students and convert them to program applicants. Specific program goals can vary.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched online and used word of mouth referrals to create a pool of potential agency partners. We interviewed three agencies and ultimately chose to work with Chair 10. We found their pitch genuine and authentic and felt that they had the expertise to take our digital marketing to the next level.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Chair 10 builds, maintains, and optimizes all of our Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn advertising. They bring new campaign ideas to our team and give regular updates on new features or changes across any of the platforms we use.

What was the team composition?

We work closely with a team of digital marketing specialists and a senior digital marketing manager. I am also in regular contact with the president and CEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen an overall increase in the number of applicants to our programs, which we can partly attribute to Chair 10’s work. We’ve also seen an increase in conversion rates across many of our programs and improved click-through rates on our ads compared to previous years.

We also feel that Chair 10 has helped attract more qualified applicants for our programs. Ultimately we care more about quality than we do quantity, and we appreciate that Chair 10 understands that.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We meet monthly over the phone for campaign check-ins and once per quarter in person to talk higher-level strategy. The digital marketing specialists are quick to respond to questions via email and phone. I also know that the senior digital marketing manager and the CEO are always available to us. Overall I’m very impressed with the timeliness of the whole team and would describe our workflow as very effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We appreciate that Chair 10 dove in headfirst with our large and somewhat complicated account. The entire team quickly learned our business model and our large (and growing) portfolio of programs. They understand our brand and the value it has in our region and globally. They truly feel like an extension of our team.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We love working with Chair 10 and can’t currently identify any areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a program specialist at a construction company that provides extensive services in the plumbing industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chair 10 Marketing?

Because we offer so many services related to plumbing, we have quite a few different types of customers to reach. We needed a partner to manage our digital marketing and help us optimize our presence in various different channels.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chair 10 Marketing has redesigned our website, manages our SEO, and runs our PPC campaigns. They’ve also worked on a bit of video advertising as well. We underwent a process of overhauling the website and brought Chair 10 Marketing on near the end to put the finishing touches on the site and start building out the metadata. They’ve continued working on that to deliver more localized pages to drive traffic for specific keywords and geo-targeted searches.

For SEO, they’ve worked on blog posts, along with a video and photo content developer to improve our YouTube and Instagram presence. They track all of our reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, and the Better Business Bureau, responding to positive reviews and working with customers who post negative reviews to improve their experience.

What is the team composition?

We mainly interact with three people: the owner, an account manager, and another account person.

How did you come to work with Chair 10 Marketing?

They were a referral.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent between $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered in May 2015, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The plumbing landscape is competitive in our area, so Chair 10 Marketing helped us aggressively challenge our competitors and get more market share. Our website was underperforming in SEO and not ranking well on Google, but Chair 10 Marketing fixed that. They’ve done a stellar job of increasing our leads, which has impressed internal stakeholders. We recently launched one of their new campaigns at the beginning of July, and we already see good results.

How did Chair 10 Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve never had a communication issue with Chair 10 Marketing. They typically respond to our concerns within a few hours. They were a few days late with a large project we asked them to do, but we were highly pleased with the final deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They implement a data-driven approach that creates effective solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They aren’t yet big enough to cover all of our digital marketing needs, like videography. However, if they offered those services, we’d definitely use them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I don’t have any advice.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Closet and Storage Concept and The More Space Place. All of our locations offer the same services, but we operate under two different brand identities depending on what part of the country we’re in.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chair 10 Marketing?

We felt that our prior digital marketing provider was not keeping up with new trends and technologies. Our goal was to update our marketing for the digital world, as well as to find a partner who would be able to support us as we grow into a national company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chair 10 Marketing manages both our advertising campaigns and SEO and SEM efforts. They make posts across our social media profiles, run our blog, and manage all of the various directory listings that make sure our franchise locations are accurately represented on different search platforms.

What is the team composition?

We work with about 7–8 people at Chair 10 Marketing. I work primarily with Mark (President & CEO, Chair 10 Marketing), but our franchised locations, as well as our company-owned stores, work with any number of their team members. Each location has its own account representative.

How did you come to work with Chair 10 Marketing?

A smaller digital marketing company recognized that they didn’t have the resources for a project of our size, but recommended Chair 10 Marketing as an option with the ability to support all of our national locations.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Chair 10 Marketing in January 2013 and continue to work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a positive change in all of the analytics we track since beginning to work with Chair 10 Marketing. We see those improvements through our own CRM system as well as from Google Analytics. Month to month, we have seen growth in all of our inbound leads as well as time-on-site and originating URLs, click-through rates, and conversion rates from our advertisements.

How did Chair 10 Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Chair 10 Marketing has been excellent to work with. They’re extremely thorough in laying out the scope of work all the way from the proposal to creating the campaigns, launching them, and then tracking their performance. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Although Chair 10 Marketing has a national presence, they’re small enough to deliver a personal, intimate feel. It is very important to me that they pay attention to our project with the level of detail that we require, and they completely deliver that ability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to my mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say that you really want to avail yourself of their ideas and trust Chair 10 Marketing’s recommendations over your own instincts. It’s important to bring a fresh perspective when listening to a digital marketing partner like them because their ideas are uniquely tailored to the digital space.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m an online store manager for an e-commerce business that sells high-end phone cases and accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GobySavvy?

We engaged GobySavvy to upgrade our email marketing service and improve our e-commerce site.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to maximize our sales. We also were looking to achieve an email open rate over 40% and over 10% click-throughs.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were skeptical about working with agencies due to a few bad experiences. We initially worked with another firm, but their products didn’t meet their promised results. However, when we spoke to Ryan (Founder, GobySavvy) about improving our revenue through email marketing, he convinced us to give their team a shot.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

GobySavvy switched our email marketing manager from Mailchimp to Klaviyo. They created automated email series and newsletters for us as well. The team also have helped implement CRO (conversion rate optimization) strategies in our Shopify site. The team focused their efforts on our product page, checkout process, and post-purchase process with Carthook.

What was the team composition?

Ryan was our initial point of contact, but we now work with a project manager, a copywriter, and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our email list grew from 2,000 subscribers every month to around 15,000 per month. One series that GobySavvy set up generates $30,000 monthly. Our profit margins overall have increased around 5%–7%. We cut back on our remarketing ads due to our email marketing’s ROI.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

GobySavvy explains every detail of their plan to help our internal team understand their processes and progress. For example, they create flowcharts to illustrate their email automations. Their team provide clear explanations and responds quickly via email to any inquiries of mine. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team cares about our business and its success. Passionate and diligent, they’re quick to find solutions to any problems we may have. GobySavvy is truly an asset for us. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

Their prices are on the high side, but we’ve received a fivefold return on our investment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO at TSD Global. We are a large contact center outsourcing company with over 1,000 agents worldwide. We streamline sales and customer care for many influential companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GobySavvy?

We hired GobySavy to optimize the conversion rates on our web properties by refining the UX. They also provided management consultation on how to structure service-based businesses. 

What were your goals for this project? 

My goals were to learn how we could improve our website conversion rates and streamline our firm’s management structure.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found them online and was very impressed with the number of 5-star reviews and testimonials they had. They seemed like a go-to company when it came to contract research organizations (CROs) and user experience. 

Describe the project in detail. 

Ryan (CEO, GobySavvy) initially took a look at our existing web properties to assess any pain points. He and his team then developed a tailored strategy on how we could increase our sites’ conversion rates and improve the UX to boost sales. After implementing the changes, they worked with me to understand how we structured our company, suggesting new ways to optimize our management structure.

What was the team composition?

Ryan was our original point person but remained heavily involved after bringing on his team. They helped him analyze where we were making mistakes and offered suggestions on how we could remedy them quickly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since working with GobySavvy, our company has grown tremendously. Conversion rates have increased by over 10%, which adds up to a significant revenue bump.  

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs? 

Their workflow was great. What I really liked about collaborating with them was how fast they would respond to us when questions came up. They were always on the ball the entire time we worked with them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was extremely impressed by their quality of work. They had a deep, specialized knowledge when it came to conversion rate optimization and maintained strong communication between our companies.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, there isn’t anything that they didn’t do well on. GobySavvy overdelivered, and I plan to work with them again in the future.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the operations manager at an emerging e-commerce company. Our online store specializes in affordable luxury goods such as watches, sunglasses, and cell phone accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GobySavvy?

We hired GobySavvy to set up a sophisticated email campaign strategy and system to funnel more signups and increase our revenue.

What were your goals for this project? 

Originally, we just wanted a few emails to welcome people, address abandoned carts, and send newsletters. However, once we saw their early results, we decided to expand their role to fully develop an automated system and take over most of our email marketing.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them on Upwork where they were highly recommended and rated. 

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail. 

To begin, GobySavy organized a video conference to meet our staff and learn about our company. We discussed our strengths and weaknesses compared to our competitors and highlighted our marketing efforts for the next three months. Their team used this information to build out an automated email system and strategy.

Once the system and first campaign launched, we worked with them to improve our email pop-ups and Instagram ads. They constantly A/B tested subjects, optimal send times, and content to better engage our subscribers. For each campaign, their team would typically present me with a list of relevant topics to go over with their copywriter. They’d then deliver a first draft, and we’d go through a round of edits before emailing it.

After about six weeks, we trusted Goby Savy to fully take over the A/B testing and most of our email campaigns. They now send out campaigns twice a week along with a dozen flows. Lastly, they’ve helped with a few of our website efforts such as a referral program and customer reviews.

What was the team composition?

The team consists of 3–4 people, including Ryan (Founder, GobySavvy), a project manager, a copywriter, and a designer. At some point, Ryan switched our copywriter with another team member who was interested in our company, and campaign performance jumped.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Never in my wildest dreams did I think we could achieve such dramatic results. Within two days of the first email campaign, we had about $1,500 in sales, a 35% open rate, and 25 positive responses. The response rate exceeded our expectations because we didn’t think we would get any feedback or questions. The welcome series and browse abandonment emails performed at the next level, bringing in about 18% of our total revenue alone.

After 2–3 weeks, we had increased sales, ranging from 2,000–3,000 sales per campaign. Email pop-ups were responsible for signing up 20% of our visitors and brought in 40% of our revenue. We also started to see more repeat purchases and customer loyalty after a few months. With all of the generated revenue, we were able to increase our ad spend. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it? 

GobySavvy has been efficient and thorough throughout the entire process. The team is always on time and have come through on all deadlines. We also have open lines of communication with each team member.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re experts in everything we ask them to do. I’m impressed with how well their campaigns reflect our companies and delight our subscribers. The team knows what will or won’t be successful, backing up their suggestions with sound reasoning. Having Ryan involved during strategy sessions and getting his input have been paramount to our success. 

Are there any areas for improvement? 

No, there’s nothing I can think of. GobySavvy consists of real professionals, and I can’t speak highly enough of them. While the initial costs were a bit high, they more than made up for it with the ROI.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a pet supply company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Instant Email Copy?

We wanted to grow our revenue. We don’t have a subscription model so wanted to increase our emotional connection to our customers to ensure repeat buyers. I had decided on an email marketing system called Klaviyo but needed copywriters and other people to put the system in place.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Instant Email Copy established our email marketing system. They manage our different email messages including our welcome series, our abandonment series, our daily emails, and newsletters that were originally weekly and are now twice a week.

We work on a bimonthly schedule. We give then the topics we’d like to push and information about what’s new at the company. They create the sales copy to land on those pages. They do a lot of testing as well as segmentation of our audience.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with two or three team members.

How did you come to work with Instant Email Copy?

It was hard to find someone that was partnered with Klaviyo that was in an agency. We wanted a smaller boutique feel without the agency price. We were very fortunate to find them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2016 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the first month, we increased our revenue from $50,000 to $100,000. Klaviyo’s analytics show that between 25–35% of our sales come from email marketing. For example, last month we made 35% of our revenue through email and this month it was 25%.

We’ve now grown from a $100,000 company to a more than $3 million company. Our growth is at 1,400% over the last two years. There are many contributing factors—email marketing, social media, other marketing efforts—but their work has been a huge part of it. They voice our work in friendly tones that bring people back to our websites.

How did Instant Email Copy perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate mostly through email it's a lot easier to get things done. If things are a little confusing or unclear, we have a phone meeting. They’ve been excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They don't need too much direction and they're able to work on their own. That’s been phenomenal. For example, I'm working with an agency right now to develop a new website that's been nothing but a nightmare. I appreciate that Instant Email Copy can take directions and go ahead with the work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I can think of at this point. We couldn’t ask for more than 25–35% of our business from email marketing and they’re constantly testing to make improvements. I’m pretty excited.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Email marketing is absolutely necessary to create an emotional connection with your brand. Having a series of emails for when someone purchases from you or abandons from you is the first step to sales. Once you have a sale or a brand that resonates, send weekly newsletters. All of that is critical to email marketing for any business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a director with Biomedical Research Laboratories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Instant Email Copy?

We wanted help utilizing email in order to improve our bottom line.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We met with them to impart our tribal knowledge of the brand and what it represents. Instant Email Copy put together an email strategy and campaign, using content from our website to write the emails. They set up each email flow using the Klaviyo and Shopify platforms, as well as integrating with Justuno. They also do AB split tests of each campaign in order to make sure that they’re hitting our income goals.

What is the team composition?

Our main contact is the owner.

How did you come to work with Instant Email Copy?

I was specifically looking for an email marketing specialist that was a Klaviyo expert. We thought it's important to work with somebody who has experience using our platforms. We spoke to several large companies, but we like that they’re a smaller boutique agency.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen tremendous results from the first month of working together. The email marketing campaigns are generating revenue well above 25% on one of our Shopify websites. That’s quite significant to our company. We’ve made a profit above what we pay Instant Email Copy, which we consider to be a really good return on investment.

How did Instant Email Copy perform from a project management standpoint?

Part of why I love them so much is that they don't require a lot of work from me. They’re excellent at what they do, so I've been pretty much hands off. If there’s a month where I don't have time to sit down and strategize, they pretty much self-manage the project.

We use Asana for project management and to communicate back and forth. They're good at reporting and putting everything together for us. We do go in and review all emails before they go out.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The return on investment is absolutely huge. They do superior work all the way through.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no complaints.

Any advice for potential customers?

Go out and compare what other companies promise. Unlike some of the large agencies, Instant Email Copy really under promises and over delivers. I don't think you can find any better partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the marketing and business development manager at Luxe Fitness, an e-commerce company that provides supplements, protein powder, and apparel.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Instant Email Copy?

When we first started the business, we didn’t do any email marketing; I simply would send out weekly campaigns. There also wasn’t any SEO at all.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They reset the website’s entire traffic and also took on email campaigns. We use Klaviyo, which is an email marketing platform. Instant Email Copy was able to identify the segments, group them out, and target them.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was Dean (Founder, Instant Email Copy).

How did you come to work with Instant Email Copy?

We found them through Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $15,000-$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017 and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we didn’t do anything at all at the beginning, we were shocked at how much revenue was reported within the first few weeks of using Instant Email Copy. Only in the first two weeks, our email revenue increased by 20–30% and our customer retention went up as well, which helps us in the long run.

They came up with many creative suggestions for us from the start, such as a spin-the-wheel popup, which was later integrated. They also do a lot of content strategy, which is something we didn’t think of, updating the site constantly every month or so. Furthermore, their experience with nutritional companies was very useful. They also did a lot of AB testing as well as SEO. Overall, we’re extremely happy with the results.

How did Instant Email Copy perform from a project management standpoint?

They took over project management and have done a great job. They know exactly what we were after, what will work, and deliver on time. We communicate directly with Dean through Slack, though we discuss campaigns over email and Skype. He’s always able to jump on a call immediately.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re efficient and creative in coming up with different content strategies for us. They performed a lot of AB testing and went the extra mile with their suggestions and design ideas. They take the time to optimize our email flows every month, which are our main source of revenue.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They do a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I definitely recommend them.