Firebelly Marketing

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of a financial wellness company. We’ve created an app that helps people with various tasks and provides insights to help them control their finances and financial health. Launched in early 2021, the app is available on the App Store. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

We hired Firebelly to help us establish awareness for our mobile app and gain social proof on various social media channels, including Facebook and Instagram. Our company also wanted to grow a community on those platforms. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Firebelly helped us with paid marketing and advertising on Facebook and Instagram. On top of that, we did organic posts. The overarching goal was to generate awareness and expand our reach; the organic social media posts were there to engage people and grow a community around the app. 

What is the team composition?

I interfaced with two people; one of them handled the paid media side, while the other handled our organic postings. 

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

I researched online for companies that specialized in digital marketing with a focus on social media. Then, I narrowed down my search to a number of companies and interviewed each of them. After interviewing Duncan (Founder & CEO), I decided to go with Firebelly. He had a great appreciation of our needs, and his proposal sounded truly compelling. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested over $20,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership lasted from August 2020–March 2021. 

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

To measure success, we checked how many app installs we gained from the campaign. We also checked the cost per install. With that in mind, we were truly pleased with the number of app downloads we achieved; those downloads mainly came from our advertising efforts. Our company also checked how we were growing our social media following. We achieved that in a cost-effective manner. 

Overall, the Firebelly team exceeded our expectations on those fronts. We were truly happy with the metrics we were seeing out of our campaigns. 

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Firebelly was excellent. I was happy with the way they managed the project. To communicate, we mainly used Zoom conference calls and emails. They sent me regular and easy-to-understand reports showing me the results of our campaigns. The team also analyzed those results for me and made recommendations on how we could optimize things.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The people I was dealing with from Firebelly were extremely knowledgeable. Thanks to them, we achieved excellent results. More than that, the company’s overall service was great. The team was highly responsive; they were available every time I sent an email or wanted to discuss things over a call. 

On top of that, they had a full understanding of my needs. It wasn’t too much trouble for them to spend time and explain things to me. They ensured that I was kept informed about our campaigns every step of the way. 

Finally, their customer service approach was impressive. Their communication was great, and they made sure I was happy throughout the entire process. Overall, they were an incredible team with great customer service ethics. They were easy to deal with, and I could approach them on anything I wanted to discuss. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. I was 100% satisfied with their work; in fact, I’d work with them again in a heartbeat — they were all excellent. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear objectives of what you want to achieve, and have a kickoff call to ensure everyone is on the same page. This way, you can let Firebelly understand your expectations of how things will roll out.  

Moreover, Firebelly has a great understanding of what works on social media platforms. Given that, trust their guidance; this is their area of expertise. In addition, if you like being kept in the loop, the team is open to that. Don’t shy away from communicating with them and asking for explanations of how things are working and how they’re going to improve. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Top Flight, a manufacturer and marketer of school, home, and office paper products. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

We wanted to address our perceived lack of brand awareness. Even though we were a 100-year-old company, there wasn’t huge recognition for our brand in the marketplace. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Firebelly serves as our social media management firm, so they do all of our social media posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. They post multiple times per week under our name. In most cases, we provide the images to them, and then they provide written content. Their team manages that process by putting it on a content calendar and making sure the calendar gets populated. Moreover, their resources respond to any comments we get on the platforms as Top Flight. When they can’t answer certain questions, they’ll direct them to us. 

This year, we’ve done some outbound Instagram engagement with Firebelly. The team has also helped us through an influencer program, where they research and give us a list of influencers who can work with us for our campaigns during the back-to-school period. They research these influencers and negotiate with them on our behalf. 

The Firebelly team has also done some creative work for us, such as photography. They’ve offered video production services, but we haven’t taken advantage of those yet. Overall, they work to give us what we need, providing ideas and proposals to expand our engagement. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Duncan (Founder & CEO), with whom I negotiated during the kickoff process. We’ve also worked with their internal creative staff, including social media managers. 

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

When our company decided we wanted to be more active on social media, we started searching through a number of social media firms. Our team then went through a number of proposals addressing our concerns. 

Out of all those companies, I chose Firebelly. I felt that they had the best understanding of my business and our needs. The other vendors had a canned approach and didn’t take the time to understand what we needed. By contrast, Firebelly seemed more flexible, responsive, and tailored to our needs than other firms. From there, we negotiated the contract and started working together. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$60,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. At present, we’re negotiating additional services from them, and our teams are in the process of re-upping the engagement for another year. 

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

Since we started working with Firebelly, we’ve gained many new followers per month; we’re now approaching about 9,000–10,000 new social media followers. We also have over 700,000 consumer impressions on their work, and our posts’ average engagement rate is over 16%, which is high compared to the market average of 1%.  

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Firebelly’s project management is great. They’re always on top of things and consistent with their communication. The team is always accessible and responsible for their work, so I’ve been pleased with them. 

To communicate, we use emails and calls. I have two standup calls with them per month. I’ve also met with the team for an introduction meeting. I’ve gone out and visited stores with Duncan and his staff to give them a better understanding of our business. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Firebelly tailors their program for my company’s needs — they don’t sell me a stock service. On top of that, the team has been flexible in giving me new ideas. They’re proactive in adjusting with us as opposed to making us follow along with their program. Overall, they’re willing to make changes for us to get the results that we want. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Build a relationship with Firebelly, and have an open dialogue with them. Apart from that, maintain a set schedule of contacts so you can remain focused on your objectives. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and director of an e-commerce company that sells high-end health and beauty products.

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

We’ve grown significantly and our workload became more than we could handle. We needed to step up our game and to do that, we needed to bring in a professional marketing agency.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked with us to create a social media strategy. They did all of the planning, posting, and engagement for our Facebook and Instagram accounts. This involved creating a content calendar for our posts.

They also brought in a professional photographer who specialized in lifestyle photography to create content. We had a photoshoot every other month to showcase our products. They also expanded our influencer program by recruiting influencers.

What is the team composition?

I work with Duncan (Founder & President) to discuss account management things, but our day-to-day interactions were with the people who managed our influencer program. Our main point of contact also led our social media planning. They also brought on a Facebook Ad consultant.

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

I was familiar with Sprout, the social media management platform, so I reached out to them. They referred me to several different partner agencies that they thought would be a good fit for us. We set up a couple of different interviews with each company, and at the end of it all, we decided Firebelly Marketing would be the best partner for us. Their portfolio impressed us and they were incredibly professional.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $60,000 in total, but we spent between $7,000–$9,000 per month depending on the services we used.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2020 and we’re wrapping up the project now.

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

Our audience on Facebook and Instagram grew by 23%. We were able to post more frequently as well. Before working with them, we were only able to post five times a month, but now we’re able to post 19 times a month. As a result, our engagement rate increased from 4% to 11%.

They also made our posts more professional by hiring a photographer. I’d love to keep working with them, but because of our business needs, we need to pause our efforts. I hope we can continue working with them in the future.

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

I don’t think they could have done any better. They’re very professional and well-versed in their trade. Overall, they were a pleasure to work with. We had a content calendar and a Google Calendar, so we had to coordinate across different calendars. We also used Sprout to manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were extremely professional. They’re good at what they do and they’re nice to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask for customization. We certainly changed the scope of the work over the course of the project. For example, we initially wanted to hold photoshoots every month, but after talking to them about what we needed, we ended up doing it every other month.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Magical Order of Brave Knights. We have a product for children with separation anxiety and sleep issues.

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

We hired them for marketing services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Firebelly Marketing did social media marketing. They did four social posts each month. My team provided any images of products that they needed. Firebelly also did paid social media ads, and they tracked the reach of those ads.

They posted to both Facebook and Instagram, and then the paid social was just on Facebook. They also managed two blog posts each month; I created the post itself, and then they uploaded it to our website and made sure they were optimized.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people in the first month of our engagement. Then, we just worked directly with two people for the remaining five months. That included an account manager who did all of the social media, and then another person who did the blog posts. 

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

Someone who does Google Ads for us recommended them. We met with Duncan (Founder & CEO), and we really liked him and felt like it was a great fit.

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent $5,500–$6,000 directly on their services. On top of that was the cost of paid social. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe we signed the contract in June 2020. We were supposed to start in July but didn’t start posting until August. The contract ended in December 2020, and we decided not to renew; the cost of how much we were getting was more than we could sustain, especially with COVID.

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

We gained about 100 new followers on our social media platform. We went from only selling on our website to selling on Amazon during the holiday season, so that was a little bit harder for them to track. However, we did see an increase in sales. They did a good job; we didn’t end our contract because we were disappointed in their work or anything like that.

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They did really well. Tatiana (Social Media Manager) was our lead, and she was on it — she never missed anything. Tiffany (Content Creator) did our blogging, and she was also fantastic. 

We had Zoom meetings to plan our monthly posting schedule and discuss the themes we were going with. We communicated via email and phone calls. I live in California, and a few times, my power was shut off due to wind. They were great on those days — they texted with me as needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re a really small company, and I felt like they gave us the attention that they would give to a larger company. They didn’t make us feel small or insignificant. Tatiana really paid attention to everything and worked hard for us. Despite being small, we felt valued.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No — I was really happy with them.

Any advice for potential customers?

They were on top of it. We didn’t get as much out of the paid social, but I’m not sure if that was because of what ads we were running or how we were doing it — it’s hard to know where the lack of return came from. However, I felt like their social posting was good, and their blog work was really solid.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager of a gifting company. Typically, I assist our CEO in managing day-to-day marketing tasks.  

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

They’ve been running and managing social engagement and audience growth for our next-generation gift card and a consumer website that allows users to buy and sell major gift cards. We also just launched a solution that allows users to put their own photo on a gift card, which they’re supporting through their services as well.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re responsible for audience growth and social media through Facebook and Instagram. During our mid-month calls, we collaborate and review upcoming product launches. There, we also determine our priorities for social media content. 

For instance, we just launched a new gift card option just in time for the holidays. We asked them to pivot their social media strategy to focus on our new card option. Since then, they’ve made sure that our new product is being prominently featured on the site. They also make sure the content is relevant to the holidays. 

What is the team composition?

I generally work with Tatiana (Social Media Manager) and Duncan (Founder & President). 

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

We found them on Clutch while looking through listings pages for top social media providers. After making a shortlist, we interviewed all of the providers. We were impressed with the fact that we could get ahold of the CEO easily. While he wasn’t managing the day-to-day work, it was comforting and reassuring that we could connect with him. Their structure emulated our internal team structure.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000–$40,000 at this point. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since June 2020.  

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

Our engagement rates are high and have noted that their audience growth strategies are working. We receive a snapshot report from them on a monthly basis that details their performance. We weren’t doing much social media work at all before this, it’s hard to clearly benchmark how successful their work is so far. 

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Tatiana has been very accommodating, understanding, and patient with us as we’ve launched many different products in the past few months. She’s always been willing to adjust her content publication calendar when needed.

Additionally, she does a great job of keeping all of our tasks organized. We have several products that we’re actively promoting, and she created awesome content calendars to keep everyone up to speed on our promotions. She does a fantastic job.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a small, offensive agency with a helpful, involved CEO. It’s still a little too early to tell what our ROI is going to be, but we’ll reevaluate about a year down the road.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we present new ideas and initiatives that we want from them, sometimes it’s not 100% clear what we should expect from them. Some of the administrative activities could probably be managed a bit better. They’re still growing and taking on more clients, so maybe it’s time they add a teammate into that role.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you’re crystal clear with your needs. We’ve thrown last-minute changes their way, and they’ve made them happen. Make sure you’re asking for what you want because they’re committed to serving you and your product.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of sales and marketing at Contract Industrial Tooling (CIT). We’re a contract metal manufacturing company, creating products for other customers to fulfill their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) needs.

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

We’ve worked with Firebelly Marketing for over 13 years, now. Since initially developing our site, they’ve expanded their role into various marketing areas. These past few years, they’ve helped us address our coverage issues and are recently supporting our digital through COVID-19.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Firebelly Marketing oversees our digital marketing efforts to promote our company. Our most recent projects have involved growing our presence during the global pandemic. 

We had the opportunity to support medial professionals by developing a rapid-response bed for patient overflow. As we went through the manufacturing and distributing process, we realized that we didn’t have a way of getting the story out to the public. Firebelly Marketing’s team developed a social media campaign and video that not only resonated with our current customers but also spread our message to potential leads. They landed us on a TV spot out of Indianapolis on the news.

At the time, we were simultaneously facing a standstill with our employment rate. We needed to recruit different levels of engineers and manufacturers but weren’t seeing the right interest. Their team jumped in and helped us develop social ads on Facebook, LinkedIn, and more to attract more candidates. That’s been extremely helpful for our recruitment efforts.

Finally, they’re consistently working to drive our social media marketing strategy. We’ve always had Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts — just like everyone else in the world. But we didn’t have the time nor the expertise to maintain a consistent social presence. 

Firebelly Marketing has put together monthly programs that outline the messaging we want to convey. The posts might be an interview with one of our internal employees, a blog, or even a video. Once they compiled all of the content, they would schedule the posts on our calendar and check to see if we were expanding in areas that made sense. They’ve been working with us for so long that they know exactly what we do, so I don’t have to go into in-depth explanations.

What is the team composition? 

Duncan (Founder) works with us on strategy before passing on the execution to Laura (Senior Social Media Manager). I work with Laura the most when tackling social media. Then, there’s Tiffany (Content Creator) who writes the blogs for us.

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

Years ago, Firebelly Marketing was working with a partner of ours on their website and marketing materials. We mentioned to our partner that we needed to create a site to generate a web presence, and they recommended Duncan to us. That’s how things got started.

How much have you invested with them?

In the last couple of years, we’ve gone up to the $30,000–$40,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve known and worked with them since 2006, but the real ramp-up was in March 2015. At the time, they were working on tradeshow items and our website before getting into the more complex social media things more recently. 

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

We’ve had a much bigger social media presence in 2020 than ever before. Compared to 2019, our engagement alone rose by over 4,600%. The video that they did for our rapid-response beds has earned over 64,000 views in a month, which is unbelievably large, especially for us. And, we’ve had over 96,000 clicks to our website from the Facebook ads on recruitment. 

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Because I’m involved in so many things, I can sometimes be pressed for time when returning phone/Zoom calls or responding over email. Firebelly Marketing recognizes that and works to keep me on track so that we can drive our projects forward. The team does so much legwork upfront, too, that it’s easy for me to just answer questions as they come up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve really taken the time to understand who we are, which is no easy task. We’re a contract manufacturer that handles a broad spectrum of product lines. It’s soup to nuts. By digging into our business, they’ve been able to craft a great working relationship.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t come up with anything they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get Firebelly Marketing involved early. Even if it’s just an idea, they can help you figure out which direction you need to go and how to best do it. If you try to get halfway down the road with an idea you think you may want to do, you’ll just force them to play catch-up, and the idea might not be the most effective course of action.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for the marketing organization within a public university.

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

I am relatively new to my position and was still trying to build out my team. When I started, I needed help with a social media strategy.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Firebelly Marketing helped us with some content strategy and longterm content planning for our social media strategy. They also helped us with some ad campaigns through Facebook and Instagram. 

We also worked on supporting the admissions office in terms of reaching potential students and connecting with them on social media. We provided the artwork for all of the ads, and then the team put together the plan and helped with ad placement. 

What is the team composition?

We had one main point of contact who was a social media strategist. Occasionally, the owner would work with us. 

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

They were recommended by one of our leadership team members who had worked with Firebelly Marketing in a different position at another organization. 

He had had a great experience with them, and he knew that I needed some assistance with social media while building out my team, so he recommended them. We also liked that they were local to Indiana, where we’re based.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $5,000 per month. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from February–September 2020. We didn’t end the partnership because we weren’t happy with it; it was because we were finally at a place where we could hire a full-time social media manager.

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

We saw an increase in followers, particularly because of the ad campaigns that we ran. We did a kick-off campaign for the start of the school year, which performed really well. 

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

It was always really clear what we were working on with them. Because they weren’t working in our office, everything was done digitally, so we had a clear path in terms of Google Sheets to stay organized. 

They gave us a report at the end of each month with a recap of the ad and social media performance. We had a meeting each month to do a check-in. We did have to pivot quite a bit when the pandemic hit because we had to change our content strategy. 

Firebelly Marketing was really good at going along on the ride with us because we had to reinvent a lot of university initiatives. I really appreciated their help and flexibility, as well as their ability to pivot as our content needs changed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What’s really nice about Firebelly Marketing is that they’re a smaller boutique agency. In a larger agency, I don’t think the owner would’ve been a part of the process or worked with us in any way. 

I also really liked the fact that the social media strategist who I worked with was a graduate of the university, so she knew our organization and understood where we were coming from with content. They were a really great fit for us and felt like an extension of us because they understood our brand and audience. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

When the pandemic hit, we had to figure out how long students would be off-campus and how we’d communicate with them.  The challenge was that our messaging sometimes changed daily, and we were trying to figure out how to navigate the crazy environment. 

Firebelly Marketing wasn’t in our office and they weren’t officially a part of our team, so it was hard to engage with them sometimes, which definitely wasn’t their fault. I also know that this situation wasn’t unique to our organization.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think through things in terms of campaigns to make sure that you’re getting the most out of the content that you get out of them. Firebelly Marketing is great at helping to think in terms of a full content package, which was helpful when working with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Forte Marketing; we’re a full-service advertising and marketing agency. We work more on the digital and social side, but also do traditional marketing.

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

When it comes to digital and social, we have to be really on top of things to stay up to speed. As a small boutique agency, we don’t have the time to run our business while staying up to speed.

I do a lot of white-label relationships, so I was looking for a partner who would represent my agency and we could collaborate to bring our client the most comprehensive plan in the space. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to provide enough attention and expertise for our clients.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We collaborated with the client, and then we would collaborate with Firebelly Marketing. In each meeting, we would review what the client was trying to achieve and come up with solutions. Then we worked together on social media solutions and how we would push them out.

It was a nice back and forth; we built off each other. They came up with creative ideas to implement the solutions, whether it was through my team or theirs. So it worked out really well.

We were working with a private prep school. We wanted to target kids on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, so when they were deciding where to go for high school, this school would be top of mind for parents as well.

The school is a hidden gem, so we wanted to present the main components of what they offered, which was sport, art, and academics. We also wanted to encourage kids to sign up and attend an open house. We would then follow up with them afterward. Firebelly Marketing also created ads for their summer program.

What is the team composition?

We worked primarily with Lauren (Senior Social Media Marketing), but there were times when other team members were brought in for brainstorming or review sessions. Lauren was always involved and was just awesome.

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

I talked to one of their team members and they gave us a proposal. He was just wonderful in providing a full idea of who they are and what they could do. The proposal included the budget for what we were looking for. We talked to 3–4 different companies, but we wanted a long-term partnership. Firebelly Marketing had progressive ideas, and the client we were working with was looking for a partner to carry them forward.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $20,000–$23,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from October 2016—June 2019.

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

Our biggest goal was building up their social media presence, creating engagement, and improving brand awareness. At the beginning of the project, the high school wasn’t on social media, while other schools already were doing this.

We got some great results from this project, and we increased the number of people that showed up for the open house.

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job and actually helped keep us on track. They always send calendar invites, ask what kind of content we want, and clarify their responsibilities. If we were throwing around ideas, they would also so more investigation to come back with a way to get it done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The creativity and energy that they bring to the table. A lot of people can execute, but Firebelly Marketing got fired up about ideas. When we talked, ideas would just roll and we’d figure out a way to make it better. We worked very well together. They were always open to what we suggested as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would have been nice to be in the same place because when talking about different channels, like Snapchat, it can be challenging to discuss logistics regarding content remotely.

It would also be nice if the reporting was online so we could look at the information in real-time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very open with them and throw out whatever ideas you have because they’re very open and are willing to investigate how it could work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is a destination marketing organization supporting tourism and hospitality in our local community. I serve as the director of marketing and media relations.

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

We were in the process of expanding our paid marketing efforts and realized that there was a gap in some of the knowledge and experience within our core marketing team. We were looking to grow our presence in the social sphere. So, we knew that required some additional expertise, more than what we had available to us directly. 

We decided to partner with Firebelly Marketing. We had been doing some of this work ourselves, but we wanted to get the cost per click down so that the marketing dollars we were using could be stretched as far as possible while providing maximum exposure and ROI.

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was a true team effort. We provided the general concepts, the ideas, and the messaging that we wanted to put out there. The greatest value that Firebelly Marketing provided to us was to firm up what we provided by identifying target audiences and geographic locations from the Facebook platform specifically. 

We knew who we wanted to target; we just needed a little assistance with doing it correctly and cost-effectively. So, Firebelly Marketing helped us to do this. The brainstorming was a two-way street. 

What is the team composition?

Chad (Vice President) and Taylor (Social Media & Influencer Manager) were our primary points of contact. We also worked with Duncan (President). 

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

A former employee who had worked with them before she came to work with us recommended Firebelly Marketing. We went through a vetting process, but form the beginning we knew that the services that they provided were exactly aligned with the goals we wanted to achieve. 

One of the elements that drew us to them was that they had a small but mighty team working with the same number of people that we work with. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $50,000–$55,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2018, and it’s ongoing.

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

Thanks to their work, we were able to significantly lower our cost per click and increase our reach in every campaign with which they assisted.

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management process is seamless. The team gives us regular weekly updates and timely reports sent via email. We also have several in-person meetings and phone calls as needed. They are very responsive, so I have no complaints. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a personal connection with them. Our teams gel very well. There are a lot of companies across the country that provide similar services to those that Firebelly Marketing provides. But one of the things that’s most important to our organization, since we’re funded through tax dollars, is to keep our money as local as possible. 

Firebelly Marketing is in Indianapolis, which is perfect for us. From the first meeting, they seemed to have a solid understanding of what our needs were and how they could help us fulfill them. That’s what separates them from another service provider who can execute the same types of projects.  

When I contract out work, honesty is very important. Open dialogue and honesty are some aspects we’ve always had with Firebelly Marketing, which I truly appreciate. It was a very collaborative experience. They learned a lot about us and we learned a lot about the services that they provide, making us a better destination.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes straight to mind. If anything, in the feedback section of the weekly reports, there seems to be a lot of cutting a pasting of the same information week after week. Something that could be valuable for us and other clients would be to have more of a customized update section in those reports. It’s not something we’ve ever asked them for, so I’m sure they’d be glad to provide that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Honesty is important. Your organization should be fully transparent about the goals that your're looking to achieve.

Before you engage with a paid relationship with an agency like Firebelly Marketing, you have to have a firm understanding of what you’re looking to get out of the partnership. This will help Firebelly Marketing to know where they need to be for the relationship to be successful.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of operations and communications for Waters Edge Church. We’re a multi-site non-denominational Christian church in coastal Virginia.

What challenge were you trying to address with Firebelly Marketing?

We saw social media as an important tool for engaging with our communities but weren’t fully utilizing the tools. Our goals were to appeal to our target audience, grow our presence in the marketplace, and make our locations more easily found in the digital realm.

What was the scope of their involvement?

One of the problems that we had was that our website wasn’t a viable tool for us to grow our audience and meet our business objectives. Firebelly Marketing introduced us to a third-party vendor who renovated our website. I respected their willingness to focus on their strengths and to tell us no during our relationship’s early stages.

For over a month, Firebelly Marketing assessed our social media presence. They looked into what success and failure mean to our organization. Their team came back with that assessment and provided recommendations for improved performance. They focused on our social media efforts, taking over our voice through our Instagram and Facebook accounts. Their team controls the images and videos that are posted, tuning them to meet our goals. They work alongside internal team members on the engagement side so that our comments are strategic. As we saw great results, we then engaged them for ad work on Google, YouTube, and Facebook. They own our marketing campaigns through social media efforts.

What is the team composition?

We interact with Taylor (Social Media and Influencer Manager), who focuses on social media, and Lauren (Senior Social Media Manager), who works on ads, primarily.

How did you come to work with Firebelly Marketing?

Through a mixture of conversations with a bunch of different partners, we identified Firebelly Marketing as the best partner for us. Our initial interactions with Taylor were a big piece of our decision because she understood the value of our work. She had a deeper connection to our purpose than other service providers.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $4,000 per month with Firebelly Marketing.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began around September 2019, and it’s ongoing.

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

Firebelly Marketing provides us with social media marketing recaps on a monthly basis. On a weekly basis, they give us an ad snapshot of key statistics that we receive from Google, YouTube, and Facebook advertising. Most months, we grow our audience in terms of brand uplift. Our average brand uplift is between 10%–30%. On Facebook, we focus aggressively on our target audience. They helped us tune our language to use in our desired audience and continue to engage more deeply with our actual audience. We’ve grown our desired audience and cater our content to our existing audience better, which leads to deeper engagement and stronger attendance at our events.

How did Firebelly Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re tenacious in making sure that they can achieve their purpose and help us to achieve ours. On an average day, we receive at least one or two emails or texts from Taylor reminding us about the content that she needs from us, which ensures that she keeps us on track and on schedule. As well, they provide us with a monthly content calendar. They’re organized and push us to follow through on our commitments.

What did you find most impressive about them?

No matter the time, I’ve never felt that there was a competition of priorities. Firebelly Marketing is always willing to execute projects and meet our needs. We’ve communicated last minute but their team’s never been unable to help us. I’m certain that we’re not their only client but I’ve never felt that we were one of many. That’s huge.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Success in social media can be seen as subjective but Firebelly Marketing provides us with objectivity well. My team is the sole advocate for the social media strategy that’s in place within our organization. I wish, as experts, that their team could have prepared us more for the resistance that we faced internally.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Relinquish some control because Firebelly Marketing does their job well. As the most competitive marketplace, trust their expertise to remain competitive in the digital space.