Headstartt Marketing Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner and CEO of Accents@Home, a retail furniture store based in Vancouver. We are primarily in the furniture retail business, and we sell anything related to home furnishings or accents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Headstartt Marketing Inc.?

We have physical locations and an e-commerce website, but we used to be just retail-focused. However, with malls shutting down due to the pandemic, we began seeing fewer and fewer clients coming through our doors. That’s when we realized we should start looking more towards the online marketplace.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Headstartt first migrated our Magento-based website over to Shopify. We were having a bit of a challenge with our constant price changes, so their team provided us with a software where we can copy and paste the link to the product to create an updated price tag. The tag also contains a QR code that customers can scan to be able to collect their pieces.

They then guided us on how to shoot and take pictures of our products, how we should post or upload our media, and what words we should use. Someone from their team communicated the ideas and concepts to the photographer we hired, and we converted one of our showrooms into a studio to take pictures and videos ourselves.

They initially created about 15–20 short videos ranging from 20 seconds to a minute in length. When we had sufficient media, their team proceeded to put up a full catalog of our products on our YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook pages. We still send any media their way for uploading. 

What is the team composition?

There are different individuals who handle different things. They have someone located overseas who I reach out to whenever we want some changes on the website. They’ve also assigned a copywriter and someone who manages our ads on different social media platforms. There is one other member who works on our keywords and does filtering on our website so that products can easily be found.

I mostly deal with one person. He holds a meeting with my online team once a week. 

How did you come to work with Headstartt Marketing Inc.?

One of my friends recommended them to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent over $50,000 CAD (approximately $39,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Hedstartt since October 2019, and we have them on retainer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our independent business now has a strong social media presence thanks to Headstartt. They’ve done more than what a typical agency would do, and we know this because we’ve worked with another agency that didn’t get us this far in terms of results. 

How did Headstartt Marketing Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They have stuck to the budget but we still have some challenges in terms of the timeline. There’s a bit of back and forth because part of their team is located overseas. We communicate and exchange feedback via our WhatsApp chat group. We initially planned to do weekly meetings, but we’re now meeting only twice a month. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Headstartt has great programmers and designers on their team. They know how to create messages that engage our audience and are proactive when it comes to helping our business operate and grow. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we feel that we’re getting good service from Headstartt even though we are not knowledgeable when it comes to e-commerce and don’t always know what to expect. We are happy and we don’t feel there is an area where they are lagging. We can rely on them for anything e-commerce-related. We trust them to guide us to get the most out of it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Write out your expectations and stay in constant contact with their team. They’re great at sticking to timelines, keeping you updated, and providing alternatives when a certain solution isn’t possible.