1UP Digital Marketing

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Naomi and I am the Director of Marketing & Communication for Tourism Sun Peaks.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1UP Digital Marketing, and what were your goals?

Our job is to inspire people to travel to Sun Peaks, and to promote Sun Peaks as a year-round destination. We need campaigns that are dynamic and nimble to face the fluid travel landscape.

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

We wanted to achieve above average tracking on digital campaigns with results exceeding the industry average.

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

We work with 1UP to create us a digital media plan for google search, display & discovery, YouTube, Facebook & Instagram and TikTok.

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

We work most closely with Samantha who is fabulous. There are more members of the 1UP team who work on our account though.

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

Overall we achieve above average results than the industry standards on a whole, and Samantha continues to work closely to get our MoM and YoY results better than the previous season, month etc

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are always on top of execution, reporting, and planning.

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

They are kind. They seem to genuinely care about our results.

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

Ads that are doing well giving more concrete suggestions and examples for how we can duplicate those and reduce any creative fatigue.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the growth marketing manager at Dyspatch.io. We are a SaaS platform that enables organizations to build successful email templates in a fraction of the time, using a drag-and-drop, no-code editor.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1UP Digital Marketing, and what were your goals?

We've found success through organic traffic and inbound marketing overall. We engaged 1UP Digital in order to optimize an area of our business that was known to perform for us. Our goals were to turn up the tap on our inbound traffic, and leads, while getting insight into our marketing attribution.

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

We interviewed three agencies and had them present their services, talk about previous campaigns. And some of them presented some preliminary review of our site with some initial thoughts on where we could optimize. Deciding factors were the scope of work that the agency could take on, and the ability to work independently so we could relieve some pressure on the internal team. This vendor was also a referral as our growth marketer had previously worked for them, and highly recommended 1up.

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

Linkbuilding strategy, keyword review and meta tag reviews, sitespeed review and recommendations. Helping us in researching and identifying underserved keyword niches that we can capitalize on.

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

There are a total of 3 people working with us from the 1UP Digital team. Including Samantha (Digital Marketing Team Lead), Julien (Co-Founder), and David (Senior Digital Marketing Account Manager).

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

We are consistently finding that 1UP Digital's scientific and detailed approach to SEO/SEM is helping improve our search rank. Not only do we bring them questions that they answer quickly, resulting in near-immediate improvements. They also recommend ideas constantly which, upon implementation, prove that they were the right moves to make. The deliverables, apart from being measurably effective, are quite fast and well organized.

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

1UP Digital has a bi-weekly sync call with our marketing team, where to bring us up to speed with our ongoing SEO metrics, as well as share the progress of any ongoing tasks. During these calls we are encouraged to ask questions, share any current initiatives we're working on, and request feedback or assistance with any of our tasks. Between our bi-weekly calls, 1UP is in constant contact with us regarding ongoing progress of initiatives. 1UP uses tools like Data Studio to provide us with an analytics dashboard, and they have been invited to all of our SEO channels (including our blog/website) so they are able to implement changes directly, rather than simply providing recommendations.

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

I have always been skeptical about SEO agencies to tell you the truth. I've been sold snake oil many times. But 1UP Digital is the real deal. What is the most impressive to me is that they truly all understand how search engines work, and what levers need to be pulled to impact real change (and quickly.) Another thing that's highly impressive is the level of detail we receive in our recommendations. For instance, when I ask for feedback and optimization tips on a blog post I wrote, I receive a full 5-10 page document containing notes and detailed instructions with screenshots and annotations. It's absolutely amazing... I also receive it usually within 24 hours.

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

Not as far as I'm concerned. I am thrilled with 1UP Digital and look forward to expanding our services with them in the future.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of a company that markets waterproof bedwetting mats to children and elderlies. 

What challenge were you trying to address with 1UP Digital Marketing?

We needed more brand visibility. Our team wanted to promote our brand and get a bit more market share in the US. On top of that, we wanted to increase our digital marketing platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Google. As a result, our group hired 1UP Digital.

What was the scope of their involvement?

After learning about and going through our main focuses, 1UP Digital has taken care of our Facebook and Instagram ads. Apart from that, we’ve worked with them on some video production campaigns. The team handles our Google Ad campaigns, and we’re getting started with TikTok ads. 

Moreover, their resources work on our website for our blog content and newsletters. They also help us with SEO, making sure that the website is optimized and our target search terms are compatible with our Google Ads. Our teams also do Amazon advertisements for both Canada and the US. Overall, we have a full-meal deal with 1UP Digital. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with two people from 1UP Digital, namely Mackenzie (Digital Marketing Account Manager) and Samantha (Digital Marketing Team Lead). We’re periodically in touch with their CEO, but our primary point of contact is Mackenzie. 

How did you come to work with 1UP Digital Marketing?

I searched 1UP Digital on Google and did an interview process with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$100,000 CAD (approximately $39,000–$78,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We’ve seen an increase in traffic, brand awareness, and sales. Our community engagement — we’re building a network of parent groups with our blogs — has also improved.

How did 1UP Digital Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

1UP Digital has managed the project well. Their communication is great; they keep us in the loop with everything that we’re doing. The team’s follow-ups are excellent, and they’re truly good in terms of collaboration. We meet with them often to discuss our goals. My business partner and I are open to anything, so 1UP Digital can bring anything to the table. To communicate, we use Google Meet and emails. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their collaboration skills are great. They keep us informed about nearly everything.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get in touch with 1UP Digital and discuss your needs with them. Go through their interview process and see what they have to offer that fits your needs. Then, go on board. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provide bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable services to over 200 organizations Canada-wide. I am the marketing campaign manager working closely with 1Up.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1UP Digital Marketing?

We have a small internal marketing team and we were looking for external support to help with paid advertising, conversion rate optimization, search engine optimization and email marketing.

How did you select this vendor?

1Up was referred to us by a business associate and during our initial call with them, they provided us with the most reasonable pricing for the services we required. They were also very prompt to respond and left a good impression on our team.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

At the start, they did an audit on Google Analytics, website performance, and other marketing systems. Then they restructure our google ads campaigns and kept improving it, which has contributed to a significant lift in qualified leads for our business. They also created new experiments to test forms and other elements on our website.

What was the team composition?

I've worked closely with 1 account manager and the co-founder.

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

We're seeing significant improvements in the number of advertising leads and the quality of those leads.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have weekly meetings with the team and we communicate regularly on Google Chat. During the weekend, we get updates on what we've discussed from the previous week.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are always willing to help us with anything marketing related, even if the activity is slightly out of scope.

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

Nope

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Manager at a B2B financial technology company. Our real-time payment fraud detection, transaction monitoring software and channel analytics solutions are used by some of the world's largest organizations spanning the banking, payment processing, and retail industries.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1UP Digital Marketing, and what were your goals?

We initially hired 1Up Digital to help update and maintain our SEO efforts. Our goal was to drive more traffic while staying focused on our target market. We then designed and developed a new website utilizing their expertise in keyword optimization. We continue to use their services and are currently running Google PPC and LinkedIn Ads with their support.

How did you select 1UP Digital Marketing and what were the deciding factors?

We found that 1Up Digital Marketing was extremely professional and knowledgeable while providing a personal experience. They are a great local company with deep expertise within various technology industries. As B2B financial technology can often be overwhelming to understand and optimize for, 1Up's experience was very important to us.

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

When we first started our SEO project, 1Up had to review all our current keywords and rankings. Our solutions are extremely technical and can be overwhelming to understand in a short period of time. 1Up spent time learning about the solutions before they provided new keyword suggestions.

Once up to speed, they helped update all keywords that had previously provided irrelevant traffic. After each month, they review all keywords - existing and newly implement ones, and provide a detailed report outlining the results.

From there, we determine how we can improve for the next month and beyond. This report is created and reviewed on both a monthly and annual basis.

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

We work with both the CEO, Julien Simon, and our Account Manager, Roson Viyavong.

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

We recently reviewed our annual report compared to the previous year and it was clear that their services made a positive impact on our SEO efforts.

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

We are in constant communication with 1Up. They consistently meet deadlines and provide monthly reports. We review the reports and performance results once a month. From these reports, they provide suggestions on updating keywords across our website on an on-going basis.

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

While they have great expertise in SEO and PPC, they also provide a personal experience that is not to be overlooked. They are a delight to work with and are always available for last minute calls and questions.

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

Nope, we are happy. They constantly improve based on our feedback with no push back.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am advisor to the CEO of Back on Track Canada. We offer a hitech clothing solution for pain management in dogs, horses, and people. We have approximately 200 wholesale customers across Canada and run a retail ecommerce platform as well.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1UP Digital Marketing, and what were your goals?

We hired them initially to develop an SEO program for us and google ad strategy for us. In addition to these services 1Up has morphed into assisting us with the design of a new web site running on WooCommerce and MyWorks.

How did you select 1UP Digital Marketing and what were the deciding factors?

Local, extremely nice people, they listen to our needs and act on them. Very cost competitive.

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

We started discussing our needs and current state of our ecommerce platform. The project then moved into a full SEO audit followed by recommendations. One of the early issues discovered was the need to move from our ecommerce platform Magento 1.8 as it was scheduled to close in June 2020.

1Up's immediate response was to find a better platform that would facilitate increased ease of back end SEO functionality. We also asked them to design a new website and to locate a middle ware that would link the ecommerce platform to our accounting and inventory software.

All of this was accomplished within six months all while driving sales growth. Over this past year our ecommerce sales growth is slightly more than 100% with higher margins to boot.

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

3 people worked with us SEO Manager Google Ad Manager Web developer

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

Our web sales year on year have increased slightly more than 100%

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

Always available online. Very quick to address and deal with issues. They offer training so that we can learn how best to deal with operating a more consumer-friendly e-commerce site.

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

Professionalism, speed, they listen to our needs and respond

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

Started using them earlier.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing associate for a preventative healthcare company. We have clinics across the country and focus on the B2B sector.

What challenge were you trying to address with 1Up Digital?

We utilize them for SEO and SEM support.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They manage all of our paid promotions on social media. They also manage our SEO and SEM campaigns on Google and Bing. They provide monthly reports and frequent updates on the efficiency of those efforts.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one primary teammate. Their owner also provided some support.

How did you come to work with 1Up Digital?

They were an internal referral by our sister company, who had used them previously.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2019, and it’s an ongoing relationship.

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

Their quality of service was excellent. They were able to communicate with us properly and in a timely manner. In addition to providing insightful reports, they’re also patient in explaining the processes that were unfamiliar to me.

How did 1Up Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve excelled at meeting deadlines. We hold meetings and monthly calls to go over their performance, and their communication has been great. We admired how accommodating they were in joining our preferred communication platforms (Slack, Google, and email).

What did you find most impressive about them?

The performance of each of our campaigns has been excellent. It’s been an open relationship with clear, transparent communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear in your directives. They’ll appreciate that, and they’ll do really well with a clarified goal in mind.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of brand and marketing at Tourism Kamloops. We’re a destination management organization. We want to make our city an attractive place for visitors and residents. 

What challenge were you trying to address with 1UP Digital Marketing?

1UP Digital Marketing helped us with digital marketing. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially hired Google Ads and paid search advertising. They helped on the technical side of search and setting our website up for success with event tracking and our Google Ads console. Now their services have moved from just paid search marketing to include YouTube Advertising and Google Display ads.

1UP Digital Marketing also built two new WordPress websites — one for golf and one for a wine trail. The sites had modern themes and were best-in-class in technology for design and hosting options. They were fully responsive, mobile-friendly, and quick to load. 

We’re not a typical client; we have a lot of experience implementing and building the ads that we’re contracting them to help us with. We have some of our own ad tracking sheets and write our own ad copy in-house. 1UP Digital Marketing builds the targeting and campaign structure and plays an oversight role, flagging for revision anything that won’t work.

What is the team composition?

Julien (Co-Founder) is the primary account manager, but other people oversee our marketing. Some junior staff specialists have access to our accounts and may work on our ads. We also work with another person who’s helped with the website build and design wok.

How did you come to work with 1UP Digital Marketing?

We’re in a small city, so we have limited options; we can either use a big digital agency out of a nearby city or a contractor not located in the same area. I moved to this city three years ago and met Julien around that time. I discovered that he’d previously worked with one of the largest and first search marketing agencies in Vancouver that I’d worked with in the past as well. That experience gave me confidence in his know-how. The team is located in Vancouver, but Julien is based here, which makes us very lucky.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in January 2018. The partnership is paused because our budget has been cut due to COVID-19. We hope to restart in September. 

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

We get monthly reports on Google Ads, Google Displays, and YouTube. We used to have meetings, but now we have access to a reporting dashboard. It goes through month-over-month comparisons and year-to-date for our metrics, so we always have a pulse on our performance. Since we’ve been working with them, we’ve had progressive increases in traffic and engagement.

From 2017 to 2018, we saw a 1000% increase in traffic to our site as well as engagement and clicks on our ads. We weren’t doing a lot of digital marketing in 2017, but we still saw significant growth from 2018 to 2019. Our website sessions have lengthened by 55%, and our external links conversions increased by 121%. Our YouTube views grew by 22%, and our blogs views by 99% as well. There was never any question about whether 1UP Digital Marketing’s tactics are working. They’ve positioned us for growth. 

How did 1UP Digital Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

When it came to working with them, they’re great communicators. They kept our projects on scope, on budget, and on time. Their proposals provide clear work schedules with timelines which we constantly meet.

We always work with them because their knowledge of digital marketing is pretty cutting-edge. They also know the technical side of how to build a website and how the latest Google algorithms work. That’s even more important than the design portion. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a small boutique that can provide dedicated attention to us and be responsive if we have quick questions. The cost compared to the services they provide is competitive. They also provide a wide range of services now; any of our digital needs are covered.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Any advice for potential customers?

If you choose 1UP Digital Marketing, you’re in good hands. Expect your marketing performance metrics to improve. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the senior brand manager for a group of primary care clinics in Western Canada. We focus on prevention and early detection. Our services include on-going care from family physician, family health nurse, registered dietitian and kinesiologist. We are a small marketing team supporting all centers.

For what projects/services did your company hire 1UP Digital Marketing?

Provide expertise in the area of digital marketing to supplement a small marketing team. They manage our PPC campaigns, continue to look for ways to optimize our SEO and then lead small digital marketing projects such as a recent CRO project to help boost lead generation from our homepage.

What were your goals for this project?

Increase web traffic and drive more leads from web forms.

How did you select this vendor?

They are a small nimble firm, much like our own team, and they are faster to respond to urgent requests and do require change orders or additional fees when we are looking for support on newly arising issues.

Describe the project in detail.

We have 1Up on a monthly retainer, so the project (ie. our goals) changes from year to year.

However the utmost importance is increasing our leads, which comes from driving more traffic through a variety of SEM tactics. 1Up keeps us up to date on industry best practices and will often bring new ideas to the table to try to exceed our established targets

What was the team composition?

1Up has an account manager dedicated to Copeman and one of the company owners touches base regularly to provide additional support.

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

Our web traffic officially hit a corporate long term goal of growing 10x based on a 2010. We reached this target one year ahead of schedule.

They have continued to exceed the conversion goals and web traffic goals we set them each year, and each year sales has hit their targets, suggesting that the marketing team is effectively filling their funnel with quality leads.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Due to the small size of each of our teams, we find 1UP to be extremely receptive and quick to follow up on requests. They provide monthly reports and establish project goals whenever there is an additional ad-hoc request.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Value - the quality of work is like a big agency, but from a boutique firm.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Continue to take feedback well, address concerns head on. We have not had any major problems in the five full years working with 1UP Digital Marketing.

I am the Marketing Coordinator, Tour Company of Discover Canada Tours

Tour operator

• Digital Marketing & SEO

Referral

Referred to me

2-5 Employees

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

SEO Monthly Roadmap / PPC Strategy / Content Recommendations / Weekly Touch-Base Calls

• Success of campaigns
• Website optimization
• Bookings

My company has been working with Julien and James from 1UP for the past few months and we couldn't be happier. They combine great knowledge and years of experience with the utmost professionalism, efficiency and great, fast communication. They helped us with the transition of one of our brands and we will move forward to do many more with them.

Their fast, clear and efficient communication.

No.