Acadia

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Global & North American Digital Marketing of Exotec

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide premium automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) and robotic picking solutions that help large-scale retailers and food/beverage distributors improve accuracy, reduce costs, and scale operations efficiently.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Acadia to accomplish?

• Organic/SEO growth

SOLUTION

How did you find Acadia?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select Acadia over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Acadia were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Organic Search (SEO): Acadia sees an opportunity to significantly increase branded and non-branded search traffic for target
keywords via Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that builds a new and stronger foundation around keywords, technical, onsite,
content, and offsite signals. In establishing on-site SEO fundamentals in the US, Exotec will be positioned to then build a strong and
consistently growing SEO initiative outside of the US in the company’s international markets.
Phase 1:
Ongoing Organic SEO Strategy:
● Development of comprehensive keyword strategy, prioritizing US-related keywords based on keyword research and
opportunity
● Competitor analysis (strengths and opportunities) to assess and defend against gains achieved for target keywords, while
also identifying onsite, technical and off site signals to determine competitive inflection points for SEO strategy
● Keyword analysis and all relevant keyword variations include core high search volume terms, long-tail / content, and
question / answer related terms
● On-page SEO management and optimization of metadata, content, tagging, and keyword implementation
● Incorporation of target keywords into on-page optimization for all US-based pages
● Offsite SEO strategy for procurement of net-new backlinking with relative prioritization to onsite and technical factors,
which will be prioritized first
● Audit and recommendations for internal linking
● Technical auditing and maintenance: site health, page speed, and structured data audit and implementation
Content:
● Acadia will work with Exotec to spec and optimize ongoing content production to support overall organic growth by adding
onsite authority in the methods described below
● Creation of content calendar for Exotec to support category, pillar pages, onsite blog posts, infographics, and related assets
as needed for SEO gains for target keywords
● Optimization of content for core pillar pages including category pages and long-tail content pages related to target
keywords
Document
Content suggestions will vary based on competitive analysis of our targeted topics, with the length congruent with rankings
assessment and SEO specification.
● 1,500 words / m budget used according to monthly SEO strategy needs. Additional content available at $0.40 / word.
Reporting:
● Acadia will provide a baseline level of reporting, measurement and tools to ensure success and accountability of the SEO
program.
● Acadia will utilize measurement tools of Google Analytics, Semrush, Google Search Console, and a number of internal
website crawl tools to measure performance increase
● Performance increases will be measured across rankings, traffic, and website conversion.
○ Additional customization of reporting will need to be scoped out during onboarding to determine feasibility and
any necessary incremental costs and effort.
Technical SEO (affects entire site / all keywords):
● Prioritization of short-term implementable tactics, such as Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, sitemaps, and internal linking, as
well as all crawl ranking signals.
● Technical audits seeking to identify and provide solutions to larger, longer-term issues such as optimizing crawl budget,
indexation priorities, and user experience (ex. pagespeed, core web vitals)
● Assist Exotec where appropriate for support of Google Amp Page consultation and technical advice.
● Metadata and HTML structure analysis, recommendations, and management
● Audit of site speed / page speed with recommendations for improvement
● Audit and recommendations of optimization for mobile
● Audit of URL structures for readability and crawlability

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

increased brand and organic traffic and leads

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

Each interaction with our Acadia team leaves me more and more impressed each time. Not only does Acadia talk the talk (humbly at that) but they also walk the entire walk. I've been in the digital marketing industry for 11-12 years, in various industries and worked with many agencies.

What was your primary form of communication with Acadia?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Working with Acadia has been the first time in my entire career that I have been able to truly reference an agency as a partner, or more accurately, an extension of our internal team. Both Hayden and Adam are experts in not only their service offering, which is reflected in some pretty amazing organic growth, but also in meeting, and many times, exceeding client needs and expectations. They consistently go above and beyond and we are truly grateful for the hard work they put in to deliverables and sometimes tight deadlines. If you have the opportunity to do so, choose Acadia :)

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

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of eCommerce of VKTRY

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

VKTRY sells the world's first carbon fiber insoles that increase performance and help protect & recover from injury

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Acadia to accomplish?

• Increase Amazon sales and conversion rates
• Expand into Amazon Canada

SOLUTION

How did you find Acadia?

Referral

Why did you select Acadia over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Acadia were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Acadia was tasked with increasing our Amazon sales and conversion rate, while helping maintain and expand our store, listings, and expanding into Amazon Canada. They were also tasked with managing our paid Amazon ads and maintaining a healthy ACOS

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We wanted to increase our sales on Amazon to over 1 million USD, which I'm happy to say we completed in only 10 months and are looking at close to 2 million this year! We also wanted to expand into Amazon Canada which they helped us get into quickly and easily. In addition to this we wanted to maintain a healthy ACOS in Amazon which they have been great at getting and maintaining over the year.

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

Acadia has been great at managing our projects in a timely manner and delivering items on time. They are always in touch with updates and respond quickly to any changes we may have

What was your primary form of communication with Acadia?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We love how excited they get about our success. They truly treat it as their success too. It's refreshing to have an agency get as excited as we do

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

Nothing comes to mind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr. Manager, Digital & Experience of Nature's Way Canada

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Manufacturer of natural health products (vitamins, minerals, supplements) across Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Acadia to accomplish?

• Support operational needs on our Amazon customer relationship
• Accelerate growth for us on Amazon
• Provide strategic guidance for both short and long-term growth

SOLUTION

How did you find Acadia?

Online Search

Why did you select Acadia over others?

• Pricing fits our budget
• Company values aligned
• Felt confident they understood our business problem we were trying to solve

How many teammates from Acadia were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We brought on Acadia because we needed a full-service partner on our Amazon business to help us stabilize and grow our business - essentially we needed help on all facets of our business, and they delivered. We needed support in particular on management of our advertising budget both on PPC and DSP tactics. 

The goal was to step-change our demand-generation on Amazon to take us to a new level of growth. We onboarded the Acadia team in Q4 which is one of our busiest periods and tasked them with near-immediate results asking for double digit growth in sales and share all while keeping profitability stable. Once established, we saw near immediate results and their impact on our business. 

Our metrics on traffic, glance views, content, YOY sales growth, and overall profitability went up significantly. In the first year of partnership with Acadia, we had a banner year with Amazon and exceeded all but one metric we set within 8 months of the partnership. All of this done with a team that is down-to-earth, focused on our business goals, and responsive. 

With every interaction we have with the team, they demonstrate to us that their guidance and advice is focused on our objectives and growth and not based on some internal targets they are trying to reach for themselves. They have been consistently delivering for us and we hope to continue this partnership with them for a long time coming.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For confidentiality, I will not share the specific numbers but we outlined a sales growth rate we needed to reach each month of the first 12 months, a share metric, a profit metric, and quantified the amount we wanted to accomplish for content development outcomes. All but the share metric were exceeded within the first 8 months and the share metric was reached by the end of the 12 month period.

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

The team is very responsive and delivers items on time generally. Some timelines were missed but we were always collaborative and dialogued to reiterate expectations and reach the ultimate goals.

What was your primary form of communication with Acadia?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are so practical in how they approach strategy and growth. They are not flashy or make grand gestures or promises about what they will do for our business. The team immediately focused on achievable and measurable actions in their onboarding and methodically worked on almost 'back to basics' business strategy. 

They looked at obvious metrics of success and aimed to make simple changes over time with each action layering on the next to ultimately see us reaching our goals.

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

No feedback on this at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Ocha & Co.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We sell Japanese green tea online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Acadia to accomplish?

• Manage all aspects of the company's presence on Amazon

SOLUTION

How did you find Acadia?

Online Search

Why did you select Acadia over others?

• Great culture fit
• Other

How many teammates from Acadia were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

I would like to say that I did a great deal of research into agencies offering support for Amazon sellers before I decided on Acadia. I have been extremely impressed by the caliber of staff working at the agency: professional, efficient, and empathetic. 

What they do for the Ocha & Co Amazon account: 

• Advise on account strategy (Subscriptions, Prime Day, Black Friday, 4th Quarter) 
• Advise on listing creatives (A+ Content, Brand story) 
• Keep Ocha & Co. informed on any new Amazon directives Run PPC advertising (Product, Brand campaigns) 
• Take care of any Amazon account issues (Lost Inventory, Listing Management, Inbound Shipments) 
• Provide regular updates on account performance (Reports and monthly Team Meeting)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We initially started selling on Amazon FBA without any outside help but exited the marketplace after about 6 months. Dealing with the Amazon help desk became too time-consuming and stressful. We tried a second time but with the help of Acadia, employed to take the load off of us. The account is going extremely well with nearly a 60% increase in sales year to date (2023)

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

There are three people on my account. The person in charge of dealing with immediate account issues is on hand during my working hours - we communicate via Slack. Issues are dealt with promptly.

What was your primary form of communication with Acadia?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

You have confidence that the personnel working on your account are working tirelessly on your behalf. They all exude positivity about their work, which is a good sign of a healthy company.

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

No. We are based in Japan so our concern is that the people working on our account had time zones that overlapped ours. This was understood and taken care of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Project Manager of a software company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're a technology company leading the movement for intelligent, coordinated care worldwide. Our next-level software, analytics, and services power better outcomes and lower costs for stakeholders across the health and community care continuum.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Acadia to accomplish?

• Establish our SEO strategy
• Optimize our website to grow organic traffic across our verticals
• Create and execute on paid media campaigns

SOLUTION

How did you find Acadia?

Referral

Why did you select Acadia over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Acadia were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We engaged with Acadia to develop and execute our SEO strategy when we first launched our brand five years ago. Our traffic,keyword rankings and conversions continue to grow. We partner with them to review trends and make adjustments where needed to continue on this trajectory. We added in paid media services with them two years ago. They manage our ad words campaigns and partner to ensure we are meeting our KPIs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Continued growth in keyword rankings, increased traffic and continued growth in conversions. 
• On the paid media side, we measure impressions and conversions.

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

Acadia is extremely responsive to all requests that we make. They are happy to conduct additional analysis when needed. They continue to partner with us on our continued path forward.

What was your primary form of communication with Acadia?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Our continued growth exemplifies their expertise. We also appreciate their partnership and willingness to provide their experience and support wherever needed.

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

We found that we were not a good fit for their web development team, but we have been very happy with the SEO and paid media services that they provide.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a landscape services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imagine Media Consulting?

We couldn’t do our own social media, so I hired Imagine Media Consulting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided the content. Sometimes, I gave them some of our pictures, other times they would find them. They also did photoshoots and created videos. Then they would place them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. They’re also buying ad spots.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about six people.

How did you come to work with Imagine Media Consulting?

It was a referral. The owner of Imagine Media Consulting came and met with me and they gave a good pitch. They were able to provide the services I was looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $2,250 per month, and the videos and photoshoots are extra.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017 and we’re still looking together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re happy with the impressions we’ve received. They’ve helps us position ourselves in the marketplace. I’m very satisfied. If I wasn’t happy, I wouldn’t stay with them.

How did Imagine Media Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well. My account manager does a fabulous job as well. She oversees the work done on my account and clearly knows what I want. We email and meet weekly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their service has been very good, and they’re consistent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. they take good care of my business.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They need to know who they want their customer to be so Imagine Media Consulting can target the right market segment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are wholesale jewelry company that designs and manufactures bridal and fashion jewelry. I work there as a marketing coordinator.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Imagine Media Consulting?

Ad and Social Media Management, Production of Creative Images

What were your goals for this project?

* Produce creative visual assets for social media pages and branding * Grow social media presence across all accounts * Increase engagement rate

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Imagine Media has been Uneek's partner for 4 years. I joined the company last year and am not familiar how they were selected.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Imagine Media is our partner in managing our social media pages and creating thematic visual content for the brand. The lifestyle images they produce are also used by the brand for other marketing efforts. (email blast, in-store marketing, etc)

What was the team composition?

We are managed by an assigned Account Manager, Paid Social Manager, Creative Manager and Creative Stylist and a Photographer during campaign shoots.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We receive great reviews from our partner retailers about how beautiful our creative lifestyle images are. Some images are strong that they best represent the brand and we could use as our signature, evergreen images. Social media posts generate increase in page likes, number of followers, etc.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Slack is a good venue to collaborate and communicate. The IM team are responsive and on time in submitting reports and updates. They have a good understanding of our brand strategy and they're able to interpret and translate the strategy into our social media calendar.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're highly creative. Flexible based on our requests and feedback Gives good insights of the brand's social media metrics and gives good recommendations for next steps

Are there any areas for improvement?

We've requested them to be more specific if they have ideas about special posting executions in our pages.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I serve as Marketing and Communications Director for Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, the 501(c)(3) that supports the Atlanta BeltLine through private and corporate philanthropy, programming and resident empowerment work in BeltLine neighborhoods, and advocacy for the project and vision.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Imagine Media Consulting?

Imagine Media is our partner for social media strategy development and execution, along with social content production and management — posts, videos and photography for @AtlantaBeltLine Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a more cohesive visual feel across social media channels — with a clear voice and seamless look across different departments, initiatives, partners and beyond. We also wanted to create a formal strategy across our three E's — engage the public, enable the project, empower the residents — and across our three key engagement points — participate in our programs, advocate for the project and partnership, donate to support our work and realize the BeltLine vision. We wanted to increase audience size and engagement to ultimately drive clear action — more folks participating, advocating, and donating.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I'd met with Shantel a couple of times to talk about engagement opportunities with social media. After that, I met with a few other Atlanta social media agencies, created an outline of FY20 needs for social media, and floated it by several companies for quotes and thoughts. Everything clicked with Shantel and her team, and our senior team was very impressed with the proposal and our outcomes so far.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We began with a discovery meeting and detailed questionnaire to establish our needs, ideas, groundwork to date and goals. Then we expanded to key stakeholders in both organizations, and began onboarding and auditing accounts in tandem with developing a cohesive strategy for social media management and content production. In the span of just a month or so, we kicked it into top gear — editorial calendar, deck of messaging/KPIs/goals/metrics, monthly reporting, content approval queues and more were all ready to go within just a few weeks of our first meeting.

What was the team composition?

We've worked with almost everyone on the Imagine team! Even the folks we haven't worked directly with, we've enjoyed getting to know through BeltLine and Imagine events — from a few staff deciding to become dedicated BeltLine volunteers, to Imagine inviting us to their get togethers, we feel great about the relationships we're building across both organizations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although it's only been a few months since we started working together, at our most recent board meeting, several board members commented how impressed they are with the strategy and implementation so far. Our registration numbers for key events are up, and we're thrilled to get started on a campaign for year-end giving.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

From presentation decks, to onboarding, to Slack setup, weekly check-ins, quarterly shoots — Imagine has a way of communicating that feels effortless and so effective with our staff — we are constantly commenting how lucky we are to get to work with the Imagine crew, and we love their workflow and approach.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Imagine Media is highly organized, motivated, and productive. They're a woman-owned small business that packs a major punch! We were very impressed with the compressed timeline from our first meeting to beginning to execute on a fully developed social strategy.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None — Imagine asks for feedback often and is very open to any and all thoughts from clients. We love this setup and really enjoy working with a team that's so professional, collaborative and creative!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing and events of a residential development in Fayetteville, Georgia called Pinewood Forest. We are building a small town of around 700 homes completely from the ground up.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imagine Media?

We were looking for someone to run social media and marketing services on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Knowing that in 2019, most people are engaging with social media, we decided we really wanted to ramp up our social media engagement.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had all of our infrastructure established and were starting to sell homes and bring this community to life, so in January 2019 we engaged with Imagine Media to tell that story. They took over our social media marketing strategy completely, not only managing posts but also helping develop that strategy and create content. They do analysis on all of our pages and provide monthly reports on where we’d increased in following and where we could still improve.

They’re really a turnkey service for us. They come on-site once a month and take images and videos from all different angles of what we are doing at Pinewood Forest. They turn the visual content they create into posts, and we approve everything for voice and little things, but they monitor the page, respond to comments, and handle almost everything without us needing to worry about it at all. Their team also recently took over our YouTube landing page to run a video series on that platform as well.

What is the team composition?

I interact with about five people from their team. I have one project manager named Cat (Digital Manager, Imagine Media) who is awesome. Any issue that I have I can take directly to her and she will handle the dissemination of that information to the various members of her team. I do coordinate with other members for photo or video shoots, and I get regular communication from the founder who acts in a sort of oversight role, but having one main point of contact is incredibly helpful.

How did you come to work with Imagine Media?

They were actually recommended to me from another contractor that was helping me with our geo-tracking. We reached out to them and really connected with their team from the start, which made the process much easier.

How much have you invested with them?

Our budget is $4000 a month, so we have spent around $32,000 overall.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership with Imagine Media started in January 2019 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, Imagine Media has helped us acquire more followers and drive engagement. Every month, we’ve been incredibly happy with the progress that has been made. There hasn’t been a month where we have decreased in any measure since they started working with us.

How did Imagine Media perform from a project management standpoint?

Cat is phenomenal. She really helps keep things going, and she is great about reaching out to make sure that the ball is always rolling. They use Slack as a means of communication, which is great because it keeps all of the back and forth on one platform.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re all so incredibly upbeat. Even when I’ve had to cancel or move meetings, or things have gone a little haywire and everyone is running around, they’re all happy and ready to go with the flow. Their attitude makes them really great to work with. For us, that is incredibly helpful because our environment changes constantly, so their communication is a huge asset.

They’re also very open, so they let us know where we need to improve or where things have gone well. They’re very welcoming of constructive criticism. There is never combat over feedback that we give them, which we really appreciate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can really only say fantastic things about their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would just suggest that you dive in. They’re a great group right in the heart of Atlanta. Check out the work they’ve done for us and other people in a variety of aspects. We’ve been nothing but impressed.