Solutions 8

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Director of Acrobits

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Acrobits sells white label softphone software to telecom businesses. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solutions 8 to accomplish?

• Improve our google ads campaigns
• Increase qualified leads

SOLUTION

How did you find Solutions 8?

Youtube

Why did you select Solutions 8 over others?

Good value for cost

How many teammates from Solutions 8 were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

• Audit our google ads account
• Present findings, highlight key areas of improvement, give us a plan to implement changes
• Ongoing support to optimize ROI on our google ads investment
• Ongoing support to increase qualified leads for our business

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Audit report
• Qualified lead rate, measured via Hubspot CRM
• CPC and conversion rate improvements

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

Overall communication with Sol8 has been easy. They have provided us with ongoing support in order to meet our google ads goals. We had been having issues with our account, basically any time we made any changes to the account our conversions would stop, Sol8 helped us solve this painful issue with a creative solution (shoutout Colby).  Not even our google ads rep had been able to help us solve the issue, just because of that, the initial audit was worth it for us. 

What was your primary form of communication with Solutions 8?

Virtual Meeting

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

We had been having issues with our account, basically any time we made any changes to the account our conversions would stop, Sol8 helped us solve this painful issue with a creative solution. Not even our google ads rep had been able to help us solve the issue, just because of that, the initial audit was worth it for us. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Solutions 8 could have done differently?

Nothing I can think of right now. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director for an adventure travel gear company. We make performance apparel that works on mountain peaks and city streets. What makes us different is that our gear performs amazingly outdoors but looks stylish enough for everyday life, so people can go from the office to the trail or hiking, traveling, or having an adventure somewhere. They don’t have to pack two pairs of pants or shirts, just one kit, so we say they can pack lighter, adventure more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solutions 8?

As a primarily e-commerce brand, we rely on different sources of traffic from various channels, whether it’s social media, paid advertising, PR, or affiliate marketing solutions. We needed to drive our primary demographic to our website and acquire new customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solutions 8 manages our Google and YouTube advertising. We’ve been with them for a couple of years, so we’ve gotten to know each other better year after year. They’ve grown to know and understand our customers better over time.

With any agency, we usually do a three-month assessment period. The first month is trial and error. The second month is optimization, and the last third, from day 61 to day 90, is to understand the results they’ve brought to the table and how we’d work together. We went through that process with Solutions 8.

Currently, we’re using Solutions 8 for our Google and YouTube paid strategies. They’ve opened up to offer other social media platforms, and we’ve looked into TV ads. We haven’t gone forward with any of that with them, but we know they offer other paid media services.

What is the team composition?

Our team is small right now; we have less than five teammates. We work with a primary account manager who knows our brand and account and a strategist. Additionally, we’ve had 2–3 calls with one of the founders and owners to assess what we do.

How did you come to work with Solutions 8?

Somebody else referred them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in December 2021, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the past three years, we’ve seen a steady increase in our overall media efficiency rate, which is all the ad money spent compared to our revenue.

How did Solutions 8 perform from a project management standpoint?

Solutions 8 is always able to maintain deadlines and stay within budget. We’ve never gone out of budget. We meet every other week through Google Meet and email in between to communicate, but there’s never a time when I can’t get a hold of them. They’re always available.

Moreover, they have great intentions. When we need it, they go higher up to give us time with John (Co-Founder).

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Caden (Lead Strategist) was our account manager before he moved up to strategy, and we got somebody else. We had a really positive experience with Caden; he thought outside the box and worked hard to help our marketing efforts, even if it wasn’t his role.

Moreover, he made suggestions, which isn’t something we typically see from an account management role. Caden managed our account effectively and efficiently and helped us with strategy and bigger ideas.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The account manager does more than push buttons; they think at a high level and are the number one to lean on. Overall, Solutions 8 is good at what they do. They improve as we continue to partner with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we have no comments on how they can improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re trying to make a decision for your business but aren’t sure it’s the right one, assess if you can afford to hire Solutions 8 for three months. If you can go for it, try it. 

Let them figure it out in the first 30 days and learn about you. The second 30 days are for the optimization period. Finally, the next 30 days are when you’ll see the results perspective for the following months. If Solutions 8 meets your benchmarks after those first 90 days, you can feel safe to keep going. After years of working with them, we’ve seen performance increase year over year.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner/practitioner of Beaverton Neurofeedback

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We use drug-free non-invasive brain training technology to gently and effortlessly exercise your brain for better balance and functioning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solutions 8 to accomplish?

• set up google campaigns
• set up google analytics
• capture leads and improve ad reach to my ideal customer

SOLUTION

How did you find Solutions 8?

Online Search

Why did you select Solutions 8 over others?

• High ratings
• Company values aligned
• experts at google ads

How many teammates from Solutions 8 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Solutions 8 has created Google ads campaign with my geographical and ideal audience in mind. They understood the unique services I offer and created various options of reaching seeking the support I offer. They use Google Analytics and detailed weekly reporting and analysis to show how these campaigns are performing asking for feedback and making appropriate tweak and changes as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My website is easily found not only specifically looking for neurofeedback services but anyone who is looking for the mental health solutions they need

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

A timeline and delivers were clearly explained by the coordinator at the beginning of the project. In the beginning as we were getting things set up I was getting weekly reports from the assigned project manager. Now these reports come once every two weeks which is a good pace. Any time I have a follow-up question or concern, Melissa responds within a day if not the same day.

What was your primary form of communication with Solutions 8?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I was immediately impressed by how knowledgeable they are and how much free technical content they offer through their newsletters and their youtube channel. They also teach other marketing agents on google ads. I tried one of the self-paced courses and was able to follow along just fine but later realized taking care of google ads takes a lot of time and attention than I am willing to spend so I chose this company to outsource this project to. They are doing a great job!

Are there any areas for improvement or something Solutions 8 could have done differently?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Box02

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Ecommerce

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solutions 8 to accomplish?

• Increase ROAS
• Increase Adspend

SOLUTION

How did you find Solutions 8?

Online Search

Why did you select Solutions 8 over others?

High ratings

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

Sol8 was able to increase our ad spend while increasing the ROAS. I am very happy with the results, the Google ads campaign is very low maintenance on my end and running very smoothly. I've worked with quite a few media buying agencies before, and this is by far the best experience I've had.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sol8 was able to increase our ad spend while increasing the ROAS. I am very happy with the results, the Google ads campaign is very low maintenance on my end and running very smoothly. I've worked with quite a few media buying agencies before, and this is by far the best experience I've had.

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

Sol8 was able to increase our ad spend while increasing the ROAS. I am very happy with the results, the Google ads campaign is very low maintenance on my end and running very smoothly. I've worked with quite a few media buying agencies before, and this is by far the best experience I've had.

What was your primary form of communication with Solutions 8?

Virtual Meeting

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

Sol8 was able to increase our ad spend while increasing the ROAS. I am very happy with the results, the Google ads campaign is very low maintenance on my end and running very smoothly. I've worked with quite a few media buying agencies before, and this is by far the best experience I've had.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Solutions 8 could have done differently?

Sol8 was able to increase our ad spend while increasing the ROAS. I am very happy with the results, the Google ads campaign is very low maintenance on my end and running very smoothly. I've worked with quite a few media buying agencies before, and this is by far the best experience I've had.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a jewelry and high-end merchandise buying company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solutions 8?

We needed their expertise in PPC marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solutions 8 currently helps optimize our marketing pipeline by reducing our ad spend and increasing our revenue through PPC ads. They’ve previously handled other marketing-related work for us, including our SEO efforts.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with John (Senior Project Manager) and Kasim (Founder).

How did you come to work with Solutions 8?

I found Solutions 8 on Google while looking for potential companies to onboard for this project. Apart from their high ratings, I was convinced that they’re the right team for us because of the way they present themselves in our interview.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $150,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our ongoing engagement with Solutions 8 in May 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Solutions 8 has met our success metrics by lowering our cost per click and increasing our clickthrough rates. More importantly, our buying volume has evidently improved. We’re overall pleased with their fantastic job.

How did Solutions 8 perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via phone calls and emails. Solutions 8 is on top of their project management game — they’re a proactive team that’s always ahead of schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with their thorough understanding of the ins and outs of PPC marketing. They’re a Google-certified PPC partner, and that achievement speaks for itself.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that needs to be improved at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust Solutions 8 to be the marketing partner you need. They have a flawless process, and you’ll be in good hands with their accommodating team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Section 119 creates high-end licensed apparel and merchandise for music fans - currently servicing the fans of Grateful Dead, Phish, David Bowie, and Pink Floyd I am currently the Head of Marketing for Section 119

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solutions 8, and what were your goals?

We hired Solutions 8 to help structure and execute on our paid google strategy with the goal of scaling our advertising dollars profitably on the platform while earning our company new customers and revenue.

SOLUTION

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

We were referred to Soltions 8 through a reputable Youtube Marketing agency. Our choice was based on knowledge of the platform, an understanding of our industry, clear communication of goals, and cost to perform the service.

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

1. Review our sites offerings, customers, and sales data

2. Review the potential paths forward within the Google platform to understand what opportunities our brand had

3. Develop MVP strategy with the initial budget to set baseline goals

4. Meet bi-weekly with co-founder of Solutions 8 to build upon weekly learnings and data

5. Provide Sec. 119 with monthly ad account report with updates and proposed changes for continued success

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

We met with both co-founders prior to making our decision to move forward with Solutions 8. On a rolling basis, we meet with both the co-founder and primary strategist as well as Collin, our account manager, and media buyer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Solutions 8 has helped us double our budget within the platform while maintaining a 3+ Return on Ad Spend during the course of our partnership

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

We stay engaged with Solutions 8 through a mix of email, google data studio, on-platform reporting and bi-weekly recorded google meetings

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

Their level of expertise within the platform. Their constant drive to learn more about this industry is impressive. 

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

n/a

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Northbeam, an e-commerce analytics software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solutions 8?

We needed help with marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solutions 8 helps us with our paid ads on Google and YouTube. First, they conducted an onboarding process to identify our needs and objectives. The team then outlined a plan to improve our Google and YouTube ads, which they now manage.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–4 teammates, including the CEO, a head strategist, and an account manager. 

How did you come to work with Solutions 8?

I found them through one of our clients. When I got to know them, I saw that they brought great results, so I hired them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in May 2021 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Solutions 8 has definitely helped us grow. As a result, our revenue has increased.

How did Solutions 8 perform from a project management standpoint?

The team does a fantastic job of managing the project. We typically communicated through Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their onboarding process has allowed them to be keenly aware of our needs. Furthermore, Solutions 8’s in-depth knowledge of Google and YouTube ads is extremely valuable to us. The team is very thorough and knows what they’re doing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any complaints — we’re happy with the team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be involved in the onboarding process and dedicate time to it. It’ll definitely pay off.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Veatch Ophthalmic Instruments, a medical optical device distributor. We focus on equipment used in clinics for eye exams, and our products range from exam chairs to the instrument they put in front of your face.

Despite being a small company, we sell our products nationwide — which is fairly unique in our space. We don’t actually go out and install our products often, since we’re able to do a lot of our work remotely — we just support it through technology and other methods through the phone.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solutions 8?

We needed help with all aspects of our website, as one of our goals was to increase internet sales. This could be challenging considering the type of equipment we sell, especially since an individual piece of equipment would cost around $70,000. It’s not the type of product doctors will see on the website and willingly use their credit card for. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our website was preexisting, so they just help us with the different aspects of the design to revamp it. We use AmeriCommers for the development because Shopify wasn’t a good fit for our business model. Solutions 8 is in charge of the landing pages, product descriptions, images, and SEO, as well as refreshing our logo design.

Prior to the ongoing development and design work, they also helped us coordinate any kind of digital marketing for the website, as well as our efforts into print marketing — their work had a very comprehensive theme and look. They also helped us automate quite a few functions in the business, including drip email campaigns. We set up our HubSpot with an automatic tracking aspect to track and manage our leads.

Right now, they’re currently focusing on Google Ads. We’re quite aggressive, so we started ramping our marketing spend on Google Ads in January 2020, and with the COVID-19 pandemic still prevalent, we’ve ceased going to any face-to-face conventions and stopped advertising in the trade journals.

What is the team composition?

I don’t know how many are behind the scenes, but there are about four people that we interact with. Our main point of contact was the owner, but now we connect with their Google Ads technical specialist.

How did you come to work with Solutions 8?

We found them through online research. I wanted a local company that my daughter could meet face-to-face with, so she can accomplish what she wanted to.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent under $500,000. They charge us a flat fee for literally anything they do for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They exceed our expectations in all areas and we’re very impressed with their work. We probably gain more revenue through their marketing than we do through the website, but it still helps bring in the leads. The vast majority of our sales require an individual to be involved with the prospect to help them understand all the detailed aspects of the product.

We spent $75,000 in Google Ads, and we back $275,000 in revenue — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, we’ve brought a lot more than that. YOY, our revenue Increases up to 80% for people that haven’t engaged with a human, but placed an order directly on our website. We get about a 300% return on ad spend. 

Our off-internet sales are very difficult to gauge, so we don’t know how much of that is the direct result of what we’re doing with Solutions 8. Google Ads is our only method of advertising and our sales are growing nicely.

How did Solutions 8 perform from a project management standpoint?

If we give them a project, it’s as good as done, and we don’t have to follow up on it. They engage with us when they have questions and need more input, and they’ve never let us down on any kind of project timeframe that we’ve ever had. We use Zoom and the phone to communicate, as I don’t think my daughter physically meets with them very often anymore. We used to have a weekly meeting, now we meet monthly to see how our Google Ads are doing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that they listen, and the fact that there’s a breadth of talent that we’re able to tap into. I’ve never been able to experience that kind of accommodation with any ad agency in the past, as most ad agencies I’ve engaged with never delivered for us — Solution 8 cares about our company. It’s complicated to learn the language in our space, so if you can’t talk the talk, the doctors won’t respect you.

However, their staff has mastered our industry with virtually no background at all — I’d put the writers of Solutions 8 right up there against any of the writers in our space. They really learned about our industry and they do an extremely good job of writing content for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been some times when they may miss the mark of what we’re trying to convey. We already know what we want and sometimes, it’d take 2–3 times for them to get what we want to convey. Other than that, I don’t have anything critical to say about them at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should know what your objectives are and have a preliminary meeting to discuss them. They didn’t ask for a huge engagement upfront, so we don’t have a long-term contract with them — our risk was very little. This is exactly what I love about working with Solutions 8. We’re not making a huge capital investment, but we’ve grown together quite well. We crawled before we learned how to walk and eventually, run.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Marketing at Briden Solutions. We work with the emergency and outdoor markets providing delicious freeze dried food products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solutions 8?

We hired Solutions 8 to help us break out of the small business rut in Google Adwords. We had been advertising with Google Adwords for many years previously, but with the myriad of options and checkboxes and this and that inside of the Google Adwords system we knew we were missing a massive amount of our own market.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Solutions 8 was referred to us by another trusted vendor. We did compare them to several others we were looking at, but after speaking with them, we felt they truly knew their stuff, and would be able to help our situation.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We started with some discovery meetings, where Solutions 8 learned about our business, goals, and future needs. From there they set up several new Google Ad campaigns, ad sets, and applicable creatives for those ads. Then launched those campaigns and continued to monitor and adjust over time.

What was the team composition?

We work closely with our account manager at Solutions 8.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen constant, steady and controlled growth across the board with ripple effects across all our channels, not just Google. In terms of statistics, I don't have numbers in front of me, but we have had several goals from the beginning it terms of ROI, spend, etc that Solutions 8 has helped us to continually met or exceed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We get weekly reports in video format, that are amazingly helpful. We can watch the reports whenever we have time - usually at midnight! - and we are able to follow along in our account and see exactly what is happening along the way. Questions, improvements or suggestions go back and forth very quickly, and are acted on quickly and efficiently.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

That they are truly human and care. We have dealt with several ad firms in the past where we were just a number on a paper. We were handed to offshore managers who didn't communicate, didn't extend themselves, didn't care. We feel that Solutions 8 cares about our progress as a company, and truly works in our best interests. If an update takes a few minutes longer than was expected, there is no paperwork to write up, no extension of scope to renegotiate, the work just gets done and done quick.

We operate on honesty and trust and caring, and Solutions 8 shows those qualities and we love that.

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

If anything, we'd love to see a longer term plan set up. The 6 month or 1 year "this is where we are going to be" plan.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an independent technical SEO consultant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solutions 8, and what were your goals?

I have partnered with Solutions 8 on about a dozen client projects over the past 5 years, where I provided the organic SEO services, and Solutions 8 provided paid search marketing services. Often we'd work together on keyword research. For many clients, Solutions 8 would implement my technical recommendations on the client's websites.

SOLUTION

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

Kasim originally found me--he was looking for technical organic SEO help for one of his clients. My experience working with him and his team on that project has led me to partner up with him with some of my other clients as well.

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

Solutions 8 was responsible for anything to do with paid search and online marketing. In many cases, they also took care of the implementation of my SEO recommendations on the client's website as well. We've also done some webinars and training sessions together for some of our mutual clients.

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

Chiefly I've worked directly with Kasim Aslam (CEO) and John Moran (Senior Client Strategist).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Without exception, my clients have been very happy with the advice and results from the paid search campaigns run by Solutions 8.

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

First class all around, whether it's responses to emails or phone calls. They simply never drop the ball.

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

Very smart people, and very experienced. I appreciate how they've communicated realistic expectations to our clients--sometimes, it's in the best interest of the client to NOT put money towards a particular keyword or campaign.

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

Nope.