1o8

Please describe your company and your position there.

FLI Charge is a consumer electronics startup based in Chicago. I am the Head of Product and E-Commerce, overseeing the product portfolio and roadmap from Concept to Mass Production. I led the company's pivot from B2B to Direct-to-Consumer E-Commerce and oversaw the launch of our brand online.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8?

1. Digital marketing and end-to-end strategy
2. Creation of E-Commerce storefronts on Amazon, Shopify, and multiple online marketplaces
3. Execution of social media ad campaigns (Facebook, Instagram, Reddit) to acquire customers and increase brand awareness (top of funnel).
4. Creation of Shogun landing pages to optimize conversion and conduct email marketing campaigns to drive traffic to these offers (bottom of funnel).

What were your goals for this project?

To jumpstart online sales across multiple channels and increase brand awareness.

How did you select 1o8?

We were previously using a local marketing firm and their contractor to run social media ad campaigns, with no success. We searched for marketing agencies in Chicago with expertise in building Amazon storefronts, and came across 1o8 as the top result.

We were impressed with 1o8's broad expertise in SEO, creative, web design, and e-commerce.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The 1o8 team quickly developed a proposal and plan tailored to our short-term objectives, and assigned experts to help us design our Amazon storefront, optimize our product listings with A+ content, and identify backend keywords to help improve our search rankings.

The 1o8 team also helped us launch a Walmart storefront and create Shogun landing pages, as well as develop creative content for social media ad and email marketing campaigns.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with the 1o8 Founder, Aalap Shah, and a diverse team of designers, web developers, and experts who specialized in Shopify, Amazon, SEO, and social media advertising.

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

Our work with 1o8 resulted in significant online sales during the Black Friday and Christmas holidays. Their ad creative resulted in high engagement and low CPMs on our social media ad campaigns, and the 1o8 helped us to quickly A/B test various creative concepts, and optimize these campaigns using analytics.

Their SEO expertise resulted in a quick boost for our keyword rankings. Overall, we were extremely impressed with 1o8's results and process. Our timeline was short and our goals were ambitious, and 1o8 stepped up to the challenge.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

1o8 assigned Stacy as the Project Manager to interface with us, and manage all Client communications. Staci was outstanding and helped us coordinate with all the members of the 1o8 team, and manage action items and deadlines.

We used biweekly team calls plus frequent communication via Slack and Email to coordinate our efforts, and ensure flawless execution.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

1o8 is a gem in the rough – a true partner with full service digital marketing capabilities in-house, plus an array of best-in-class partners to deliver cutting edge digital marketing results. The in-house talent was impressive, and the 1o8 team is laser-focused on client service and delivering measurable results.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were extremely fast-moving, so it was imperative to keep track of all open action items, owners, and due dates.

Ensuring that we stayed on track and closing the loop on all items was one area where we started off slowly, but the 1o8 team quickly stepped up and drove items to completion, while allowing us flexibility to pivot and make changes to our plan on the fly.

On larger client projects, more formal and structured project management might help with client communication and execution. Overall, I was pleased with the 1o8 team and their performance was exceptional, especially under the circumstances of a global pandemic – not being able to meet in person, etc..

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Coordinator for a small, clean-label frozen baked goods company. We are a growing start-up that is expanding rapidly across the US.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8?

We were looking for an agency that could not only help us begin our digital advertising journey but help us comprehend exactly what we needed to be successful in the digital atmosphere. We were looking for an agency that wouldn't be "yes man"s and could help provide advice for what was best for our brand. We wanted an outside perspective from true digital experts.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to continue to increase our brand awareness as well as push more consumers to our website. We wanted to point consumers to our store locator and then to their closest retailer. We also wanted to advertise our brand new E-Commerce site.

How did you select 1o8?

Our CEO had connected with a mutual colleague of Aalap, at 1o8 and recommended his agency for what we were looking for. We then had a virtual meeting with Aalap to explain our company and our goals. From that initial meeting, we truly felt like Aalap and the 1o8 team understood not only our tactical goals but overarching company goals and our long-term ambitions.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The scope began by creating and implementing Facebook ads. I assisted in providing 1o8 with all of the creative assets they needed to pull together the creative. I also assisted in providing the background on our brand and our consumer. They were initially responsible for creating and setting up Facebook ads in Ads Manager. They continued to monitor the ads and tweaked them as needed.

What was the team composition?

The team has been an absolute joy to work with. I feel like I know each member intimately and touch base with them reguarly. I know I can count on every one of them to respond quickly and efficiently to me. They are always responsive and it feels like they always have the answer!

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

Since beginning our work with 1o8, we have seen an increase in web traffic, store finder searches and general social media engagement. They were also an integral part in making sure our E-Commerce site was set up for success and helped us manage the influx of web traffic that came after we were featured on the TODAY Show.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The 1o8 team, as mentioned, is always quick to respond and help with any questions or issues we have. Our weekly touch base meetings are run smoothly and allow for both parties to speak to what's new. They provide an organized and custom dashboard that allows us to track all metrics seamlessly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I have worked with numerous agencies and 1o8 has impressed me by not only their responsiveness but their passion for our brand as well. Many agencies just complete the work based on numbers and requests.

1o8 truly took to heart our brand mission and story and figured out how to best convey that to consumers and make them interested in the brand. Every time we speak with them I feel that our relationship grows stronger and stronger.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think 1o8 is doing a great job and truly goes above and beyond what other agencies normally do.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an advisor to David Webb, which is a heritage jeweler that was founded in 1948. It has offices in New York and Beverly Hills. Our jewelry’s distributed around the country and the world through boutiques.  

What challenge were you trying to address with 1o8?

We had a couple of challenges that we wanted to address with 1o8. The company’s too small to have dedicated digital employees. They started as our go-to resource for anything digital, but their role expanded.

What was the scope of their involvement?

1o8’s our primary digital partner, so their team works on digital strategy, digital marketing, and web development. We built our platform on Shopify Plus, and 1o8 helps us improve it. Their team optimizes the site to improve load time, which can be a real issue because we have extremely high-quality images that are important to our business. Most recently, they relaunched the skin of the website. Their team increasingly takes on an agency buying role for us too.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 5–6 people from their team, but Aalap (Founder) is our primary contact.

How did you come to work with 1o8?

One of their investors introduced me to them. Few companies are deeply experienced in the high-luxury jewelry digital industry. When engaging 1o8, we didn’t look for direct experience in this space. We wanted to know what they wanted to try to accomplish and if they had the ability to build a working relationship with us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$50,000 on their services. We have a minimal retainer, but it’s important because it allows us to pick up the phone and call them when needed.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing relationship started around November 2019.

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

What I love about 1o8 is that their team may not have exactly the right experience, but they’re game to give anything a crack and learn. Their team’s scrappy, which is one of their biggest assets.

Our most important metrics are improving load times and rankings in search engines. They also improved the quality of the traffic and that directly improved revenue. That’s secondary because our e-commerce business isn’t our company’s focus, but it doesn’t hurt.

We’re satisfied with the quality of their work. When we aren’t satisfied, 1o8's open to feedback and willing to learn. That’s almost more important than having the work be perfect right out of the gate. We have a good relationship.

How did 1o8 perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management’s good. It took a bit to get the right cadence for communication. They didn’t come in with a standard project management process. The upside was that we were able to create a process that works nicely for us. Rather than force us to use project management software, we have valuable weekly check-ins when we talk through our ideas and projects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re hungry and honest. Lots of agencies will say they can accomplish a project. I prefer when an agency says they’re confident in their abilities to achieve our goals but aren't certain how. I want a partner that's willing to learn and work on the project together. That degree of honesty in the agency world is uncommon. It represents a degree of self-confidence that’s important.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the early days, it was hard to have great communication. When you’re in a high-luxury business, details are incredibly important. When you’re in the web world, the mentality’s more about hurrying up and breaking things. It took them a while to align with our philosophy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure there isn’t a bottleneck. Push Aalap to create a team up front, identify your different specialists, and then develop relationships with them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Kid Made Modern is on a mission to create the next generation of creative thinkers. Since 2012 we’ve been making exclusive products designed to inspire children to push the boundaries of their imaginations while expressing themselves through creativity. Our collection of arts and crafts products are available at kidmademodern.com as well as at retailers around the world.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8, and what were your goals?

We hired 1o8 to improve our SEO marketing efforts and Google Analytics dashboard.

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

We searched for an SEO vendor and looked to find someone who had previously supported education and children's products. We were also looking to hire a local agency.

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

We met biweekly to go over goals and project progress. We communicated regularly via Slack and maintained Google Documents to track our items.

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

We had a project manager and SEO expert on our regular calls.

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

We saw a significant increased in Organic Traffic YOY and we increased our rankings on relevant keywords for our business.

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

We had biweekly meetings with the team and used Slack for day-to-day management. The team is quick to respond to our questions whenever we have them.

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

The team had lots of knowledge to share and I think of all of our vendors, had the most knowledge of what was going on with our company. They came to meetings with ideas of how to improve our SEO visibility and keywords we should focus on.

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

I think clearer communication on goals and deadlines would have improved the project. None of the stuff we were working on were extremely urgent, but I think getting all of us on the same page with deadlines would have made the project more smooth.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Operations at Academic Approach. Academic Approach is an education company with a focus on ACT/SAT prep and academic tutoring.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8, and what were your goals?

Our project is focused on website development and digital marketing. Our goals are to create a new website and improve client engagement and conversion via email marketing and social media.

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

We wanted to work with an established partner, and 1o8 came highly recommended. We evaluated 5 companies. We wanted to work with a partner that was creative, understood the education sector, and could engage immediately.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

The initial phase focused on sharing all of our current marketing collateral and providing access to the various tools we use. Based on what we shared, 1o8 created a comprehensive plan to develop a new website and improve client engagement. The plan focused on improving the technical elements of our website, developing an SEO strategy, integrating Klavio to improve email marketing and tracking, and introducing Gain to expedite our content approval process.

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

6, founder, account manager, email marketer, social media marketer, creative writer, and web developer.

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

We have seen a drastic increase in traffic to our website and email open rates are up 3x.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have weekly check-ins that have clearly defined agendas and outcomes. The workflow is simple but very effective.

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

1o8's ability to engage immediately was impressive. They didn't miss a beat - they were able to take the lead on existing campaigns, make recommendations to improve our ROI, and meet with our team on short notice.

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

1o8 has a done a great job!

Please describe your company and your position there.

UpEquity is a non-traditional mortgage lender that allows homebuyers to submit cash offers and close with a mortgage in 21 days. I am the Director of Marketing and am responsible for all things marketing.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8?

We use a third party POS system and were running into a handful of bugs when setting up GTM. 1o8 did all the testing and syncing to ensure GTM was firing correctly and then worked with me to build out a series of goals to track conversions.

We built out a prospect that outlined Leads -> MQL-> SQL->Clients. We've been able to use the data they are providing us to not just track leakage in the sales funnel but also monitor inbound lead sources by helping us clean up our channels.

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

Reached out to several agencies and was blown away by 1o8 industry expertise of marketing and it became clear they were more then a vendor but a partner that we could rely on.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We use a third party POS system and were running into a handful of bugs when setting up GTM. 1o8 did all the testing and syncing to ensure GTM was firing correctly and then worked with me to build out a series of goals to track conversions. We built out a prospect that outlined Leads -> MQL-> SQL->Clients.

We've been able to use the data they are providing us to not just track leakage in the sales funnel but also monitor inbound lead sources by helping us clean up our channels.

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

Aalap, CEO Sagar, Developer

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

Within weeks Aalap and Sagar took over the project from another vendor and completed it.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are the most reliable vendor I have worked with. If there is a fire they can step in, other than that they hit the agreed-upon deadlines.

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

Understanding of how the marketing mix fluctuates and being able to understand our needs to suggest programs in the future that could generate huge success in the months to come.

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

Not off the top of my head.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the business development manager at an advanced materials startup in Minnesota that makes nanotechnology equipped functional textiles.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8, and what were your goals?

We had seen incredible organic sales with PR attention, but it dropped off within a week and we knew we needed to do something more advanced to stay competitive. With all the changes and technicalities in digital marketing, we knew it would be wise to hire an agency for support. 1o8 came highly recommended to us to drive sales with clearly trackable metrics and analytics.

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

1o8 came highly recommended to us from our PR firm, and after a few initial conversations, we understood they had proficiency and experience in our particular market.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

Scope of work included SEO, website refresh, paid search and paid social - after initial on-boarding, I was connected to each person in charge of their specialty and they all utilized a wide range of tools.

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

We worked with the agency founder, an account manager and a specialist from each group.

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

The first deliverables saw above industry standard result, and were done thoughtfully with creative inspiration and deep knowledge and understanding of our product.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective workflow through email and video chats.

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

Aalap and his team all bring an incredible amount of experience and leverage that thoughtfully and creatively for every aspect of our campaign.

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

The on-boarding process took a while, but that was as much our fault as theirs, it is just an involved process. But we believe it was all very much worthwhile!

Please describe your company and your position there.

Produce and sell Goo Goo Clusters, America's First Combination Candy Bar. Vice President of Operations and Brand Development

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8, and what were your goals?

Transition our website to Shopify with a redesign aspect too. Multiple app components to have website function as needed. Major wholesale component and warehouse inventory as well as manufacturing. It was a BIG undertaking.

How did you select 1o8 and what were the deciding factors?

He was referred to us but a local shipping consultant. We liked his understanding of Shopify, our needs, and his work ethic so we hired him right away.

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

Transition from old system to Shopify ecommerce, POS, and wholesale with a website redesign too. Multiple apps to have the website work properly and to integrate our manufacturing and inventory management systems.

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

Just one but two others were on a few emails and calls.

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

increased conversion rate 131% 1o8 was always available to answer emails or pop on a quick video chat.

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

We only worked together during COVID-19 so it was a lot of video calls but we also shared multiple google docs so we were constantly in the loop and understood what tasks were being tackled.

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

Small team with a BIG impact

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

Nothing I can think of

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of the Tahoe Trail Bar. I oversee finance, operations, logistics, procurement, and marketing.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8?

I hired 1o8 to put together a comprehensive digital strategy for our company. This included integrating a new Shopify website, starting digital ads on various platforms, and building out a comprehensive email strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

My goals for this project were to build new customers through digital advertising, maximize the value of both our internal website as well as our Amazon storefront, and build out an email ecosystem to create a raving fan customer base.

How did you select 1o8?

I selected 1o8 through referral from my web designer. We were introduced on Slack, and I interviewed Aalap. I was impressed with his knowledge base, his experience in my field, and his friendly but focused demeanor.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We began with an audit of what was and wasn't working at time of onboarding, developed test ads and launched campaigns, overhauled our keywords, SEO and email copy, and launched a new Klaviyo email platform.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of Aalap overseeing strategy, and 5 members of his firm executing in the various categories.

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

I have seen tangible results through improved website conversion, improved organic traffic from the SEO work, improved revenue on Amazon, and I am excited to see a full email strategy coming to fruition.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent workflow, the meeting cadence is consistent and efficient and they deliver on their commitments.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I find their resources, their knowledge base, their professionalism, and their follow through impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We are still trying to find increased efficiencies in our digital ad spend and conversion, but part of this is attributable to the competitive nature of the space.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of two, soon to be three, gyms in Chicago. We purchased both gyms as existing businesses. For a few years we kept them as separate brands and have recently merged and completely rebranded before opening our third location.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1o8?

We have been working with Aalap (founder of 1o8) since the end of 2017. Initially he just helped with a redesign of our website and eventually ended up doing all our SEO and PPC. 1o8 has helped up with our most recent project- a complete rebrand and merge of our two businesses. They also still oversee all our advertising, SEO, and PPC, as well as maintenance and website upkeep.

What were your goals for this project?

1. To create brand unity and identity, to merge the brands, without losing the SEO we have built up over the years.
2. To create a new sleek website with new brand.

Both of our gyms were CrossFit gyms but we decided to drop the CrossFit affiliation due to some insensitive remarks made by the CEO. Nothing about what we do at the gym has changed- we have always done all our own programming so we still do CrossFit style programming, we just are not affiliated.

So a main challenge is how do we continue to capture the CrossFit crowd and people looking for that type of workout experience, while dropping the CrossFit name in our branding.

How did you select 1o8?

I have worked with Aalap for many years and I have always been impressed with his and his team's work.

Describe the project in detail.

I met with Aalap to discuss the rebrand, he recommended some logo designers. I ended up going with one of his recommendations and could not be happier with how it turned out. Once we decided on the new name and the new logo, we talked about strategies for the website redesign.

I was then put in touch with his designer and was able to work directly with her on design and layout. The team then went to work on all the back end changes in terms of SEO. Once the website was launched we continue to make little changes here and there to better communicate our new brand. We are now preparing to open our third location and as starting to do some advertising.

What was the team composition?

Initially I just spoke with Aalap, who acted as the project manager. Once the design process was underway, I was able to work directly with the designer, I have a design background so I really preferred this set-up. Aalap remains my main singular contact, but I have the contact information for other team members and am able to reach out to them directly fo issues that pertain to their individual departments.

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

The website very recently launched but we are receiving a lot of new inquires, more than ever before. People are still finding us for CrossFit.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

COVID-19 and everyone being remote definitely through a wrench in the process, but overall I think everyone collaborated well and we were able to complete tasks in a relatively timely manner. We were not able to have any in person meeting so that was an adjustment but Google Hangouts worked just fine!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They take an incredible amount of pride in their work. They genuinely care about me and the success of my business. They don't over charge, are always upfront about costs, and respectful of budgets.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everyone could improve in some aspects. I think this is more of a result of COVID but things can take a little bit long to get done in terms of website updates and changes.