Leverage Marketing

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing manager of a vacation rental business on the gulf coast of Alabama. I handle all of the digital advertising, SEM, and SEO for our company, which manages about 1,700 rental units (condos, hotels, and beach houses). 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Leverage Marketing?

We used Leverage Marketing for multiple services. They do our SEM and SEO, and they manage our social ad spending. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our business has gotten a lot tougher; there’s a lot more competition than there was when I started. We hired Leverage Marketing for their SEO expertise in helping us secure our organic traffic and maximize the return on our pay-per-click and social ads.

How did you come to work with Leverage Marketing?

I don't remember where we found Leverage Marketing originally. We first hired them about six or seven years ago. Frankly, we were about to leave them at one point, but then they hired new management, and we’ve had a much better relationship with them since then.

How much have you invested with Leverage Marketing?

I’d say we spend about $50,000–$200,000 a year with Leverage Marketing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We continue to work together, and we have no plans to end our relationship. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

We’re very satisfied with Leverage Marketing’s services. We’ve worked with a few other SEO-type firms before, and their results were disappointing, to say the least. We were a little late to the SEO game, and then we picked a couple of bad firms to help us, so Leverage Marketing has had a little catch-up to do, and they’ve done a lot for us. They’ve provided us with a tremendous lift in organic traffic, and we continue to gain more of the market share every year. Our cost per acquisition is down, and the ROI on our paid services is greater than it’s probably ever been. We’re an old, Southern, family-owned company. We have a very open and close relationship with all our vendors. Leverage Marketing is an integral part of our business. We have a full nondisclosure with them, and we seek their input on all of our online marketing efforts. I’ve been pleased with them.

How did Leverage Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

We deal chiefly with three individuals at Leverage Marketing, and they’re all bright and energetic. Leverage Marketing is a Google partner, so they assist us with Google-type issues, and we’re always well-versed in and prepared for Google’s upcoming changes. They deliver on time and on budget. In contrast with some of the other SEM firms we’ve used, they have our best interest at heart. Sometimes they haven't spent all the money we’ve given them, but it’s because it wouldn’t have been spent effectively. I know I sound like I'm piling on, but they’ve been great for us, and they’ve made my life a lot easier just in the way that they handle their business.

Are there any areas Leverage Marketing could improve?

Nothing comes to mind—unless I could get them to come down here and buy a condo from us. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a full-service media production company. We have recording studios and focus on corporate-level web development.

What is your position?

I am the president and technical director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Leverage Marketing?

We wanted to increase the conversion rate for our website. I was connected with Leverage Marketing initially for work benefitting one of our own clients. They needed help with SEO [search engine optimization] and pay-per-click services. I researched them, and we had a few talks. They were brought on board and expanded the client's engagement and online involvement greatly. They produced great results, and I started using them for a number of other clients.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

They worked primarily on SEO and the management of a large Google pay-per-click campaign. They also did content writing for our site. We built sections on the site based on what they generated. They used tracking and monitoring software that enabled us to implement necessary code changes to the website.

Leverage Marketing has expanded the content development for the site greatly. After the first year, we optimized the SEO of the site and began to target more long-tail searches. They developed a multiyear strategy for implementing content for getting additional traffic.

Our client also worked with a company that was doing social management for them, which was floundering. We discovered that Leverage Marketing had expertise in the social arena. They helped improve the social planning and deployment, also providing consulting for their approach.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Our annual spend with them is in the six-figure range.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They implemented a much more optimized pay-per-click campaign, which allowed us to spend less while, at the same time, increasing the effectiveness of the conversions we obtained.

How did Leverage Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide monthly budget estimates and have always been able to stick to them. They never miss deadlines. We have weekly conference calls for assessing progress.

We use an online virtual meeting system called Sococo, which helps us collaborate. We also have an elaborate document sharing system set up. They share spreadsheets of upcoming work and details of how to implement it.

What distinguishes Leverage Marketing from other providers?

I have dealt with many shady companies through the years in this market. Leverage Marketing seemed truly interested in delivering results, which is what I found so appealing in the first place. They're not a huge company, but they employ experts in each of their areas, from social media to SEO and pay per click. They're not just brilliant; they can translate information into something that their clients can understand without getting too stuck in the technical weeds.

Is there anything Leverage Marketing could have improved or done differently?

There were a few instances when the results were limited, but that was due to the client's budget. As the client got more comfortable with what they were doing, they increased the budget and received better results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a full-service media production company. We have recording studios and focus on corporate-level web development.

What is your position?

I am the president and technical director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Leverage Marketing?

We wanted to increase the conversion rate for our website.

I was initially connected with Leverage Marketing for work benefitting one of our own clients. They needed help with SEO and pay per click services. I researched them and we had a few conversations. They were brought on board and greatly expanded the client's engagement and online involvement. They produced great results, and I started using them for a number of other clients.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

They worked primarily on SEO and the management of a large Google pay per click campaign. They also did content writing for our site. We built sections on the site based on what they generated.

They used tracking and monitoring software that enabled us to implement necessary code changes to the website.

Leverage Marketing has greatly expanded the content development for the site. After the first year, we optimized the SEO of the site and began to target more long-tail searches. They developed a multi-year strategy for implementing content for getting additional traffic.

Our client also worked with a company that was doing social management for them, which was floundering. We discovered that Leverage Marketing had expertise in the social arena. They helped improve the social planning and deployment, also providing consulting for their approach.

How did you come to work with Leverage Marketing?

We were introduced to them through our own client.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Our annual spend with them is in the six figure range.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They implemented a much more optimized pay per click campaign that allowed us to spend less while, at the same time, increasing the effectiveness of the conversions we obtained. Unique referral traffic has increased steadily while average page views and time spent per page has also risen fairly considerably. Improvements have occurred across the board but we're still on the upswing so things are very promising. 

How did Leverage Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They provide monthly budget estimates and have always been able to stick to them. They never miss deadlines. We have weekly conference calls for assessing their progress as well.

We use an online virtual meeting system called Sococo, which helps us collaborate more easily. We also have an elaborate document sharing system set up. They share spreadsheets of upcoming work and details of how to implement it.

What distinguishes Leverage Marketing from other providers?

I have dealt with many shady companies over the years in this market. Leverage Marketing seemed truly interested in delivering results, which was what I found so appealing about them in the first place. They're not a huge company, but they employ experts in each of their areas, from social media to SEO and pay per click. They're not difficult to work with because they can translate information into something that their clients can easily grasp.

Is there anything Leverage Marketing could have improved or done differently?

There were a few instances when the results were limited, but that was due to the client's budget. As the client got more comfortable with what they were doing, they increased the budget, and received better results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a distributor of high-end tackle gear designed for law enforcement.

What is your position?

I am the owner and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Leverage Marketing?

We needed a better marketing team, one that would know what we needed, and which would have a definitive plan for increasing our sales. We needed an A-to-Z company to help us with website maintenance, social media, marketing, increasing sales, and so on.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Leverage Marketing first took over the search engine optimization work for our website, doing keyword marketing. Within literally 30 days, my sales doubled. From that point, they took complete control of the website in terms of hosting, maintenance, updates, and marketing. They fix any glitches we might have.

They have a four to five person team which we interact with regularly. They have other members that we don't see in the monthly meetings. Stan, our account manager, is the point of contact for any issue. He stays in contact with me and suggests new directions for our monthly meetings, based on what we've done in previous months, and what we are currently doing. Once they have my approval, they'll set them in motion. They didn't work on the design of the site through all of this. We took care of that internally.

How did you come to work with Leverage Marketing?

They were referred by a friend who used them for social media.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total so far is around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since May of 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've had an increase in dealers through their marketing. We have a better web presence in general now.

We're working through glitches left behind by our previous collaborators. Leverage Marketing was handed a big mess by the other company, but they were phenomenal in cleaning up what they were handed. We're waiting for the holidays to pass in order to start work on these issues. There were no problems caused by Leverage Marketing’s work, just the other company.

How did Leverage Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They use Sococo for video conferencing. We've set up emails for their maintenance team, but we're not monitoring them.

What distinguishes Leverage Marketing from other providers?

When I call or email someone, I will usually hear from them within five minutes, instead of having to hound them for days.

Is there anything Leverage Marketing could have improved or done differently?

No, they're phenomenal. I can't imagine using another company.

My recommendation for future customers is to not be turned away by their pricing. With Leverage Marketing, you are going to pay a higher price, but that gives you the best possible service in this industry.