Black Propeller

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Partner of Law Firm

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a law firm that handles arbitration & litigation matters for clients across the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

• Increase qualified lead volume
• Improve my website's SEO
• Increase brand awareness for my business

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

Referral

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from Black Propeller were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Black Propeller built and managed my PPC campaigns, social media & SEO campaigns.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My qualified lead volume went up by 250% in the first four months of our partnership. My team at Black Propeller showed me how much money I wasted due to a poor strategy and execution in my campaigns previously.

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

Black Propeller genuinely took the time to understand my business. My team was fantastic to work with, especially Hannah from the design team, who worked with me through multiple landing page iterations to find one that resonated with me.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their genuine care towards my business and their strong knowledge of PPC. The care really stood out to me. All the way from the sales process through to working with the team, they went above and beyond by taking time to learn my business, research ALL of my competitors, and create a truly thoughtful and unique strategy.

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

Not that I think think of. Working with them was far and away better than past agency experiences.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Growth Officer of Energy Fitness

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provide a reimagined fitness experience based on every person getting a personal fitness coach and never paying for a gym membership, amenities, classes, etc. Only paying for the time with their coach

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

• Increase our ranking position for google ads
• increase leads
• explore ad sources we are not using but should

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

Online Search

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

Annie dropped everything to talk with me initially and impressed me

How many teammates from Black Propeller were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The work was to optimize our Google and Meta advertising efforts. In Google we wanted to rank higher than anyone else when being searched for and wanted to be there when someone searches out key competitors. Meta we wanted to increase our leads and find the threshold between quantity and quality.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We ranked higher in google and they were able to optimize some existing ads and create new ones. Meta we got more leads at the same or lower cost than prior.. now we are having to find the perfect blend of quality and quantity and they are working on that now.

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

They're very responsive and deliver items on time.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are open to your feedback and ideas and thoughts but also don't mind standing firm on something they know is best for the results. They also helped on other things we needed in Google like pixels and other needs as they popped up.

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

If there is something it might be trying to be more creative or thinking outside of the box to try and get different results. Sometimes our catch ups become more about the stats of what has happened versus them digging in to find different or new ways to get better results or making suggestions on how to do it differently what creative we should try or wording or sources etc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at Tint My Ride

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Tint My Ride specializes in window tinting, vinyl wrap, PPF (Paint Protection Film, taillight and headlight tinting, ceramic coating, detailing and other automotive restyling services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

• More Leads
• Branding
• Content

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Black Propeller were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We were looking for a company to take control of our PPC marketing. We needed to generate more leads with a cost efficient strategy. We also needed to build our brand name and get it known in Colorado. We also started a new company which Black Propeller helped us transition into easily.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have gained many leads with an efficient budget. The team at Black Propeller specifically Bill and Dalton have been amazing to work with, they were patient with me during the hard times and always kind. They understood my business and my business goals. They created many different landing pages for our ads to ensure as many leads as possible at a great cost while also ensuring high quality leads.

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

Bill and Dalton from Black Propeller delivered everything on time and even before the deadlines. This is the only team I trust to run my PPC. They have earned my trust through their hard work and understanding of my company and also completing tasks very quickly and efficiently.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What I found most impressive was the fact that they are able to understand so quickly and unlike other companies they actually care, even if they are busy with larger clients. They are also very good at keeping up to date with all the algorithms and making sure that I am aware of the ever evolving world of technology.

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

In my opinion the only issue I have is just a little more meeting time with them, other than this, I am extremely happy with the results I have gotten from this company and I plan on continuing my business with them. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the former Digital Advertising Manager of Aston Carter

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Aston Carter provides global staffing and workforce solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

We hired Black Propeller to:

• Acquire and retain clients
• Acquire and retain job seekers
• Help us increase brand awareness

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

We found Black Propeller by searching online

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Black Propeller were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• They provided management of paid search and display channels including strategy, campaign management, budget pacing, and reporting 
• Ad copy, display ad creative concepting and creation

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We tracked the following metrics when judging the success of our engagement with Black Propeller:

• client leads
• client reqs
• job seeker applications
• job seeker starts
• spread
• ROI

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

The BP team delivered the items in a timely manner. We scheduled weekly review calls to discuss action items and review performance and campaign recommendations. They were also available via email.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

Virtual Meeting

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

We had great collaboration and synergy with our account team. The company worked well with our stringent company policies and processes and helped us pioneer a B2B advertising program for the first time. In-person QBRs and a friendly account team helped establish and grow our working relationships.

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

Bring more account/campaign ideas/platform optimizations to the table

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Director of Mavericks Wrestling

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're mixed martial arts training center and apparel company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

• Help us increase our membership.
• Help us expand our advertising strategy to social media channels.

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

• Referral
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Black Propeller were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We hired Black Propeller to optimize our campaigns on Google Ads and to helps us launch new advertising campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. In addition to the technical optimization on the campaigns, Black Propeller also assisted with the creative side of things by designing new ads and landing pages for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched our gym in mid-2019, not an ideal time for a business like ours. We were able to get some traction early on with Google Ads but we quickly hit a wall with what we were able to do on our own. That's when we decided to bring in the help of an agency and we found Black Propeller. 

They helped us build on what we already had in place, and then eventually helped us expand to Facebook and Instagram. These campaigns definitely had an impact on our growth. We increased our membership by 65% in 2022 and and were on pace to grow almost 80% in 2023. We ended up having to move to a new location to accommodate the increased membership, which was an awesome milestone for us as a young business.

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

We meet with out account team once every two weeks to discuss current projects/initiatives, and results. Deadlines have generally been met along the way, and if they are not going to meet a deadline they will let us know.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

Virtual Meeting

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

I feel like they genuinely care about my business.

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

We've been very happy with the service and results we have received, but it come at a bit higher cost that what I've paid in the past. However they've proven to be worth the additional cost so no complaints here.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the partner of flora templeton stuart accident injury lawyers

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a personal injury law firm representing clients primarily in vehicle accidents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

• ppc
• new car accident clients
• meet budget
• little wasted spend

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

Clutch Site

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

Company values aligned

How many teammates from Black Propeller were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Black Propeller promised services to include the creation of a landing page, PPC on Google/Bing and a fixed rate that would be a reduced cost with experienced managers in PPC for PI Lawyers.This was to result in more success in obtaining new car accident clients with consults weekly to start while establishing the campaigns.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My PPC campaigns were basically an experiment with inexperienced managers.The one assigned to me took off after the first month for a two week leave and another briefly managed the account fixing some of the mistakes with campiagn set up.My first manager returned and could never meet my budget of 16,000 mth met so the fixed price resulted a a 35 % charge.
The landing page was not created for months and when it was it was an automated page that could not function well with no custom ability or matching the location shown.The first manager created automated ads that repeated the same words in ads ..when he;left my account the last one realized this was a mistake and tried to create new ads. 
They were incapable of using call ads,could never get my ads to be successful,and added locations without my knowledge outside my client base resulting in my loss of thousands with clients calling me from out of state or hours away. This company hires managers with little or no experience and education in PPC ads.

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

The landing page promised the fist 60 days was created four months laterusing a "Smart automated Builder" that according to Black Propeller "saved them hours " but sacrificed a custom look...in aother words an automated page that took them a short time to throw together that looked like a hodgepodge mess with teh wrong locations of my practice. 
Bing as promisec was never set up not anything in four minths except search ads that were first set up automated to save them time and after custom but not effective. Very little if anything was delivered as promised.They wasted thousands in "conversions' that cost me close to.2,000.00 a call from clients too far away to represent or unrealted cases. 
In the entire last month with BP I got one viable soft tissue case after paying them 3,500.00 plus about 12,000 in Google charges.so.15,500.00 for one small case.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

nothing

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

They need to hire PPC managers who have a background in working on PPC and if personal injury lawyers managers not only with an education in the field but at least two years working on PI campaigns with lawyers. The best companies have an experienced team working accounts..not one lone manager.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Manager of Base Camp Leasing

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Base Camp Leasing is the nations leading hunting lease broker for the last 25 years. We broker the hunting lease rights between landowners and hunters across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

• Increase leads
• Lower CPL
• Increase ROI
• Strengthen tracking

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

Online Search

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Black Propeller were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Black Propeller has managed our search (Google and Bing) and social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn) advertising and has done nothing but proven results. They have also helped with the correction of our Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics set-ups and tracking.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Black Propeller has substantially increased generated leads through search and social while keeping, if not increasing the quality of the leads as well. They have also decreased our cost per lead to the range we have always hoped to work towards. Our ROI has also increased because of their efforts as well.

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

Black Propeller's punctuality is on par with the best. They are excellent at responding to emails no matter which team member it is to while answering the questions we might have no matter how small or big they are. Their bi-weekly meetings are always important and efficient. I have no complaints at all.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They provide the attention and personalization of a small company that is always there for you but create outcomes of a large state-of-the-art corporation. They have the best of both worlds — we are not just a number to them.

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

I have no areas of improvement. If there is anything I think of, it is where can I improve to better help them help us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Paid Media Manager of Embrace Pet Insurance

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Pet Insurance

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

• Paid Search performance management
• Paid Social performance management

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

I personally was not at the company yet when they started

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Black Propeller were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Our Black Propeller team was responsible for all day to day account management across Paid Search & Paid Social.

• Daily monitoring to reach company KPIs
• Took the lead in short to long term marketing strategy Paid Search
• Worked to improve CPAs and CPCs when taking over the account from our previous agency.
• Constructed a detailed plan consisting of ad copy refreshes, bid strategy updates and implementing lead scoring data
• Created a Google data studio dashboard that displayed consolidated real time data across all platforms.

Paid Social

• New account needed to be activated/expanded by BP
• Produced creative assets to launch the initial retargeting campaign and monitored performance
• Assisted in working through a full creative refresh
• Launched prospecting audience campaign
• Worked through tight timelines on ad hoc campaign launches

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• QoQ Nonbrand campaigns were ramped up efficiently (+32% spend, -11% CPA) while also increasing policy purchase scale (+47% purchases)
• 310% increase in Brand CTR in May to June due to optimizations in Microsoft
• CPL and CPAs managed to remain efficient in June after pausing California activity (internal decision) which was our leading driver of traffic
• Brand Impression Share has increased by 4% YoY and we are seeing Search demand for the term "Embrace Pet Insurance" the highest this month than it has been in the last 5 years

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

The entire BP team was very professional, timely and educated in their strategic recommendations. Even with ad hoc requests and short turnaround times, they responded to emails quickly and made sure the work was completed when needed. They are always ready to assist with anything requested from my senior leadership and delivered high quality material. If one person was unavailable, someone else was always there to help when needed.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I found BP was very transparent and easy to communicate with throughout the partnership. We never felt that work was slacking or they were pulled heavily to other clients. We always felt like a priority and that they truly cared about the work they were producing for Embrace. That definitely showed in the results that were delivered as well.

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

I really don't have any negative feedback. We did not decide to end the partnership due to any type of relationship or performance issues. It was strictly a financial decision to bring the majority of media management in house. If we feel that we have the resources to use them again at some point in the future, I would be happy to bring the team on again.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Director of Little Switzerland, Nordic Mountain, and The Rock Snowpark

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We own and operate ski hills across Wisconsin.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Black Propeller to accomplish?

• Increase Skier Visits (Especially Introducing New Skiers)
• Fix our Revenue Tracking Issue

SOLUTION

How did you find Black Propeller?

Online Search

Why did you select Black Propeller over others?

High ratings

What was the size of Black Propeller’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

Our team prioritized Facebook and Google ads. We had a number of different campaigns running for special promos, general branding, and general tickets and sales. The bulk of our special promos was run through Facebook ads while we utilized for search ads for general branding. Overall, we saw a great ROAS through the Black Propeller team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Google ROAS of 12.76 and Facebook ROAS of 23.52.

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

All of the deadlines were reached on time. There were numerous deadlines that were all met and even last minute changes we needed that were finished in a timely manner. Communication was always strong throughout our projects.

What was your primary form of communication with Black Propeller?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We found their willingness to help to be the most impressive part. We've worked with other companies in the past where we felt they weren't putting everything they could into our company, but Black Propeller worked with us to fix every issue or need that we had.

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

Honestly, no.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner/founder of an escape room business with two verticals - team building (B2B) and an escape room board game (ecommerce).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Black Propeller?

We were in the midst of a really bad experience with our previous advertising agency. They were wasting a lot of money, not approaching our problems with data, and overall not able to discuss our account intelligently. We were looking for a new agency that would take an analytical look at our campaigns, set up multiple types of tracking, and right the ship.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I interviewed probably about six agencies and it came down to this agency and one other. They pointed out some interesting changes they would make in our ad accounts (some of them mentioned by other agencies, but also some fresh ideas) and I liked the fact that they rely on AB testing, data, and have a very analytical approach to campaign optimization.

Ultimately, between the final two agencies, it came down to the fact that they do the creative in house rather than outsourcing (and I was able to see examples of the creative work in advance).

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

On the team building side, they manage our paid search and social. They dug into keyword research and were able to set up our campaigns in a way that made more sense (we saw results immediately!). They set up tracking so that we know as much as possible about the customer journey AND have revenue tracking in place so that we know exactly which campaigns are profitable.

On an ongoing basis we are constantly analyzing the data and adjusting the strategy. They design landing pages for us and creative for social. We have AB tested elements on the page as well as an entirely new landing page. We also recently launched a direct to consumer product that is advertising heavily on social and requires a lot of creativity to find the right approach.

What was the team composition?

We have an account manager, a paid search specialist, a paid social specialist, and a graphic designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The improvement has been tremendous. The truth is that I didn't fully realize how poor of a job the previous agency had been doing until this team got to work (and that is saying a lot!). They got tracking set up quickly so that for the first time we were able to attribute revenue to each campaign and make strategic decisions. They built out new campaigns that were far more successful than any of the campaigns we had been running previously.

Within a few months were able to eliminate the campaigns and keywords that were wasting spend. With them we have been able to scale our advertising up profitably. They also go above and beyond to investigate and find solutions to items outside of just the "paid ads" scope (since it all works together) and have even found and fixed organic issues by SEO team didn't notice.

Most important, they approach problems thoughtfully and make decisions with data. They are consistently optimizing. The graphic designer also won some awards with our landing page! We have the highest google quality rating amongst our competitors, which we all believe is due to the strength of our landing page.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It has been working well. We have weekly touch-base calls and bi-weekly calls with the broader team. Our project manager consistently updates me regarding how the accounts and campaigns are performing, what changes she recommends, and present creative ideas for the future. At my last agency, I had to do the heavy lifting to come up with ideas.

With BP it is a true synergy - they come up with the ideas and optimizations from a marketing perspective while I contribute what we are seeing internally and from our customers. The graphic design team is efficient and very good.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

With BP (and I truly mean this), I feel like I'm not just another account for them. The team legitimately cares about doing the best they can for my company and with our spend. Of course it's good business for them if they are able to grow our ad spend profitably, but they are truly invested in our growth.

When we launched our new product line, our account manager even went to a game store to do some market research (all her own idea). And this type of investment shows in what they have been able to do for our ad accounts.

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

This is an ongoing relationship and we are constantly learning and growing and optimizing. I can honestly say for now that the synergy is tremendous and I am excited to see how my accounts continue to grow with their help.