upGrowth Commerce

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a women's apparel designer. We manufacture our designs under several labels, and we sell through wholesale channels, and in 2020 kicked off an initiative to increase eCom as a percentage of revenue.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mindful Marketing Co?

We hired Mindful Marketing to run our digital advertising strategy. They were to design ads, write copy and run those ads on Facebook, Instagram and Google.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to grow sales from our eCommerce website, which was recently relaunched. Increasing DTC sales and growing it as a percentage of company revenue was a key goal, especially in the pandemic. We also wanted to increase brand awareness social engagement.

SOLUTION

How did you select Mindful Marketing Co?

We conducted an exhaustive sales research process, interviewing approx 10 different marketing firms and evaluating their capabilities, experience, and track record. We selected Mindful because of their extensive presentation assuring us that they could use our existing digital assets to create compelling ads.

We also had extensive discussions about their ability to emulate and improve our brand voice, and connect with women with whom our designs would resonate. This was a key theme, and we had long discussions about the ability of men vs. women marketing people to connect with women customers.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After we selected Mindful, we completed detailed questionnaires and held kickoff meetings to discuss strategy. We shared photographs, previous ads, and successful email campaigns for background.

Their task was to take all this information and transform it into beautiful ads that would connect with relevant audiences on Facebook, Instagram and Google. After creating the ads, determining the correct audiences and targeting would be critical, along with A/B testing and other methods to ensure ad dollars were spent wisely.

What was the team composition?

As best as we could ever tell, there was only one guy and there was no "team." There was a relationship manager that participated on some weekly calls, but pretty much everything was left in the hands of this single account manager. We never met or heard from any other creative resources or team members.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Results with this vendor were extraordinary disappointing. From the very beginning, after long discussions about the creative team and support we could expect, it quickly became apparent that there was just one guy working on the account. He designed the ads and wrote the copy himself.

We had some early glimmers of light, as the copy was pretty good, but it quickly became obvious that taking the assets we provided and creating attractive, effective ads was beyond his capability. We had to, in effect, design the ads ourselves, tell them exactly which photos to use, in what order, etc.

In many cases, we even had to write the copy. The results were a complete failure. ROAS never rose above 1.0 and our ROI on this project was sharply negative. They were effective in getting traffic to the site, but it simply didn't convert. Then, when we got into detailed discussions about what the problems might be, they had no solutions.

They tried some different targeting strategies, but that didn't change much. They openly admitted they had no idea why it wasn't working, they assured us they didn't see any problems with the website or email marketing or other eCom components. They did have a few good ideas along the way, but overall displayed little ability to diagnose a problem and figure out a solution.

It became obvious to us that they had a defined method that worked with other customers, and if you stepped outside that box, their ability to perform simply wasn't there. We tried for months, which in hindsight we think were wasted, to fix the problem.

We asked them for a detailed remediation plan, but didn't get anything significant. Many weeks later, they provided a plan with some suggestions on geographic targeting, but it was really their inability to understand the problem or fix it that was so frustrating. We wasted well over $30,000 on this project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was OK, we held weekly meetings, and discussed the problems in great detail. They needed a lot of guidance and instruction in order to turn our photos into good ads, but as long as we provided that, the results were pretty good. However, we constantly wondered what we were paying for if we, in effect, had to create the ads ourselves.

Advance planning wasn't nearly as robust as it should have been, and we were very disappointed at their lack of interest in coordinating tightly with our email marketing team. The themes and assets overlap quite a bit, and sync between these elements is important.

We even arranged a group meeting to try to facilitate this, but they simply didn't embrace it. Finally, toward the end, they would check out our email campaigns on Klaviyo and borrow from the concepts to create new ads, as we had suggested all along, but it fell far short from the level of coordination we thought there should be.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

To be fair, their technical ability to create audiences and target them with ads seemed OK. Once we were dissatisfied and began shopping around with other firms, two of them did an audit and told us their strategy was weak, but since the new firm was pitching us, we took that with a grain of salt.

Overall, we simply were not impressed. They talked a very good game about creating great ads, how their team would work with us, and seemed to understand our need to get the brand voice right, possibly be ensuring women were assigned to the account.

But, once we signed the contract, it quickly became apparent that there was no "creative team" and that the extend of the support we were getting came from one guy. He seemed good, but results speak for themselves - and there weren't any. I hate to say it, but we feel we were misled by this company about their resources and capabilities.

The whole experience was a disaster for us, and we spent way too many months, and too much money trying to get them to fix it. In hindsight, we should have pulled the ripcord months earlier, when it became apparent that they simply were not as capable a company as they held themselves out to be.

I hesitate strongly to say this about any company, but since moving on to a new agency, my opinion has only grown stronger. The new agency is fantastic, has a team of 5 people on our account and we are on Slack constantly.

We can barely keep up! It really was this experience that confirmed our negative impressions and caused me to write this review, to hopefully help other companies realize they better dig deep if they're considering doing business.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It was the nagging feeling that they weren't quite being straight with us that bother both my partner and me throughout this relationship. When we finally terminated, after too many months of trying to fix it, I asked if they would refund our last month, just as a gesture of goodwill.

It wasn't much money, and felt like a reasonable request after we stuck with it through months of failure and lack of ROI. But ultimately, they said no to that request, too. To me, that was indicative of the character of their business.

It really wasn't about the money, but the gesture would have said a lot. The whole experience was a real shame. I simply cannot recommend doing business with this company.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Owner, Creative Director and Designer of Wylde Brigade, a lifestyle brand on the Sunshine Coast of BC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mindful Marketing Co?

Mainly ads and marketing. They also helped with my rebrand and web design

What were your goals for this project?

Increase sales, increase social outreach, increase brand recognition with a new rebrand.

SOLUTION

How did you select Mindful Marketing Co?

Word of mouth referral! A very successful brand let me know about the work they were doing with Mindful and I was more than curious to find out more!

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The reason why we chose Mindful was their knowledge of online advertising in consumer goods. They helped our rebrand come to life with a website refresh, and have catapulted the brand forward with great ads that are exceeding all expectations.

What was the team composition?

Mainly working with a ad coordinator, not sure how much the principals know about the ongoing business happening with me on the weekly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Insane response to ads - we can barely keep any stock on hand! ROAS has almost always been above 10. Very very happy with how we have worked together to find the right target markets and to have found so many happy customers!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Weekly meeting and updates with the team makes everything flow seamlessly. I always know what is going on...even when I don't understand all the numbers and figures :)

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They keep me on the ball and working towards the higher goals!

Are there any areas for improvement?

Very happy working with the team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CMO for an online music lessons company near Vancouver, Canada. We have about 50 employees and I oversee our digital marketing including paid advertising.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mindful Marketing Co?

We were seeing good results with our paid ads, but were facing the age old uncertainty around WHICH ads were working, how to increase our ad spend confidently, and what ad campaigns would help 'fill in the blanks' to help us engage and nurture our prospects into becoming customers.

What were your goals for this project?

So when our CEO had the opportunity to connect with Mindful Marketing for dinner -- it turned into the perfect opportunity to brainstorm ideas, and they offered to audit our paid advertising and share their feedback.

SOLUTION

How did you select Mindful Marketing Co?

But here's the thing, I usually like to keep things in-house. We have a creative team in-house, a marketing team in-house, a video production team in-house. You get the point. So I was hesitant about what type of advice we'd get from Mindful Marketing, but when they presented their feedback about our paid advertising it was clear that there we significant opportunities to increase our paid advertising across the board -- our reach, our positioning, and our offers. This wasn't 'head-in-the-clouds' advice where we'd need to do all the work, these were actionable takeaways that were ready to implement right away -- and a plan to make them happen.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Working with Mindful Marketing was easy. We'd have weekly strategy meetings and then we'd follow their lead -- essentially gathering creative to put into their hands so they could manage the paid ad campaigns effectively. And while the plans changed from month to month, one thing was consistent: we continued to increase our ad spend, along with our return on every dollar -- reaching more prospects and converting them into customers for less.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with Jordan and Sean at Mindful Marketing on the strategy side of things -- and they worked with our marketing managers and creative team, collaborating on each campaign.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since working with Mindful Marketing, our leads have increased by 200% and our revenue has increased by more than 150%. It was amazing to pick their brains about potential campaigns and then see them come to life, time and time again.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was consistent -- with clear and easy communication through Slack and organized project boards through Monday.com. Any hiccups along the way were ironed out quickly, and they always treated our brand as though it was their own.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

My favourite thing about Mindful Marketing was their passion for all-things marketing. Our discussions were never limited to paid ads, and they were always willing to share ideas for growth that had nothing to do with the specific campaigns or arrangements we had with them. They're geniuses that have had success in several industries and always offer unique ideas and thoughts that keep my hamster-wheel spinning for weeks on end.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only difficulties we had with Mindful Marketing was the specific, detailed understanding for each of our products and brands -- so while the strategies and campaigns made sense, sometimes the implementation on copy with creative didn't quite line-up perfectly (and understandably so, with multiple SKUs for multiple brands). But while it was hectic at times, they always put in the work to make things right -- and ultimately cared about each campaign as though it was theirs to own, and that's really all you can ask for with any partner!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager at Tiger Tool. We develop, manufacture, and sell driveline tools for the trucking industry. Our main market is in the US and Canada, but we do sell worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mindful Marketing Co?

We were originally handling our PPC in-house but felt that we’d reached the limit of our capabilities. A lot was changing within the PPC ecosystem, and we didn’t have the expertise nor bandwidth to keep up with the constantly evolving techniques. That’s when we decided to bring in another agency to optimize our PPC results. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Mindful Marketing helps us capitalize on some of the PPC opportunities that we might be missing, keeping us current with promotions and programs. They primarily handle our Facebook and Google Ads as well as Amazon advertising.

Each week, I touch base with their team to go over different operatives within the account. We look at our campaign results to identify areas for potential improvement, and they present ideas to move forward. Our goal is to achieve steady growth over time to achieve the results we’re looking for.

What is the team composition? 

My daily point of contact is Ben (Account Manager), but I also have connections with their leadership. If I have any questions or concerns, I can reach out to Jordan (Founder & CEO) to talk about how things are going. 

Jordan will also jump on the call with Ben if there’s a change in our marketing strategy. We’ll discuss any opportunities or new tactics in detail to develop a plan of attack.

How did you come to work with Mindful Marketing Co?

We’d actually worked with an agency years ago that did end-to-end marketing strategy. Ultimately, we went through a massive rebrand and got to the point where we took a lot of those marketing services in-house. So, when we were looking for a new partner, we wanted to find an agency that only did PPC. 

While talking to the owner of another company that works in our building, I learned that one of his clients had used Mindful Marketing to good results. I contacted them, and Jordan reached out to me.

The team spent a month researching all of the different campaigns that we were running so that they could develop an overall strategy for us. They proposed a way of slowly transitioning from our programs to their ideas based on where they say the most opportunities. The relationship evolved from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $175,000 so far, including ad spend.

What is the status of this engagement?

We officially started working with them in January 2020, but we’ve been talking since November 2019. Their work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their PPC expertise has been critical in navigating COVID-19. There were a lot of things that they did that went counter to our instincts, but we could see that they took the time to weigh the numbers. They felt that if we could afford to push through and target certain demographics that we might not normally reach, then we should do it.

Mindful Marketing put together a strategy, adapting fairly quickly to several unpredictable scenarios. This resulted in us clawing back more of our sales sooner than if we’d just stopped our campaigns to preserve costs. As we went into May, we noticed that we bounced faster than other companies that had paused their marketing efforts.

How did Mindful Marketing Co perform from a project management standpoint?

Mindful Marketing’s response time is substantially better than our previous agency. We mostly use email to communicate. Once a week, they send an outline of all the items in our account for the past week, two weeks, and month. 

Ben will also record a screen-share where he walks me through the account and identifies opportunities for growth. That allows me to follow along with what they’ve done while also responding to specific areas.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have a lot of peace of mind knowing that they’re just down the road from us. Even though we’re all working digitally, it’s nice to be able to pick up the phone and know that someone will answer if I need it. 

On top of that, they have expertise in areas that are beyond our scope of work and are willing to share their experiences to help us. If they see that we’re transitioning from one website to another, they’ll find others in their organization who might have valuable knowledge to talk to us. It’s a level of proactiveness that we really appreciate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It helps to understand what your limitations are and push beyond them. What are your biggest challenges? What do you think you can’t do well? Answering those questions will help Mindful Marketing focus on solving those issues. You’ll be able to better prioritize your efforts so that you’re not going down a list of tangent improvements.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO and founder of Little & Lively

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mindful Marketing Co?

We hired Mindful Marketing to increase our sales. We hired them for ecommerce marketing strategy, for paid ads support (PPC) and for social media marketing and social media strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals overall were to increase our revue year over year by at least 50% while staying profitable.

SOLUTION

How did you select Mindful Marketing Co?

They were the obvious choice as they were a smaller agency at the time that had the experience with eCommerce brands and growing brands.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They helped and continue to help craft a yearly marketing strategy including benchmarking goals - new digital marketing channels as well as consulting on creative direction. They also continue to manage our paid social media advertising including creative direction as well as manage our google and bing PPC. They advise us on how to scale and where to spend our dollars wisely. They have also helped us develop a VIP group and SMS list which is a thriving part of our business.

What was the team composition?

There are 3 account managers who I deal with directly including a customer ssuccess individual. At times though, the whole team (around 10) will jump in to help!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have grown our brand substantially from when we were a small at-home operation to now a mid-7 figure online store. Our return on ad spend has been above 6 the entire engagement and continues to climb even when we put more money into ads! We couldn't be happier.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effictive. the communication is great both ways and we have a great working relationship.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed with their dedication to getting results. I am constantly surprised by the amount that they go above and beyond even as they've grown.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I wish that they could also help with email marketing - but that is not a service that they offer.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an owner/operator for a Tree Service in the Greater Vancouver Area

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Mindful Marketing Co?

Facebook Ad Campaign, Market Research, Brand Consulting, Online Marketing Education, Lead Generation

What were your goals for this project?

To generate 1 lead per day, converting 25% to sales above $1200.00 and a ROAS of 3 or greater.

SOLUTION

How did you select Mindful Marketing Co?

Recommendation from a past client of theirs

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

What goes on behind the e-commerce curtain is vast and these guys walked us through every step from Customer Personas to Customer Relationship Management to daily intel on our ads performance and content.

What was the team composition?

3-5 total members, 1 attending our account

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

These guys hit every mark we gave them if not immediately than on the first tweak of the mechanisms. They were cordial and considerate in their advice and always open to ours.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

100% effective. No unclosed loops, no missed opportunities.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Jordan + Sean (and the rest of the office) brought us into the e-commerce world where we had never stepped foot and we will always use e-commerce as a revenue stream for our business now.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would have taken them up on their education resources sooner and more often. They had offered to teach us to fish instead of selling us the net-full but as an owner/operator my time on the tools didn't allow me to take advantage at full potential.