Mad Fish Digital

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Marketing Manager at a financial services provided (credit union).

For what projects/services did your company hire Mad Fish Digital, and what were your goals?

Set up our digital marketing

• Technical Site Audit and Recommendation Completion
• Local Search Listing Optimization
• Content & SEO Strategy Development Ongoing digital marketing services
• Content & SEO Strategy Execution
• Content Promotion and Link Building Execution
• SEO / Technical SEO Consulting
• Weekly / Monthly Reporting and Strategy Meetings

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected this vendor after a thorough selection process. We selected Madfish because they were very knowledgeable and references had great things to say about their work.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Set up our digital marketing

• Technical Site Audit and Recommendation Completion
• Local Search Listing Optimization
• Content & SEO Strategy Development Ongoing digital marketing services
• Content & SEO Strategy Execution
• Content Promotion and Link Building Execution
• SEO / Technical SEO Consulting
• Weekly / Monthly Reporting and Strategy Meetings

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Anna was our account rep, then Autumn, then Alexandra.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

After implementing their digital marketing strategies, we were able to set up goal completions and measurable tracking. We saw an increase in site traffic and Google rankings.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Anna and Alexandra managed our expectations and provided great service. They were very knowledgeable and professional and responded to emails in a timely manner. We had monthly report meetings.

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

Their flexibility. There were some instances when we needed them to conduct an ADA website audit or make some changes to our SOW in order to meet our evolving needs - and they were happy to do so.

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

The transition with our Acct Rep was not very smooth for us. We were handed off to Autumn who was not a good fit for us and did not deliver the same level of service we had come to expect with Anna. Thankfully, we didn't have to work with Autumn for long before Alexandra became our new rep. We loved Alex.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior manager of digital marketing at a financial services organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with Mad Fish Digital?

We needed their team’s help in our paid search advertising efforts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve tasked Mad Fish Digital with handling our Google Ads account in pursuit of our plans to optimize our paid search advertisements. Prior to our launch, their team also helped us design our logo. They’re currently working on the management of our display network.

What is the team composition?

We work with one account manager and a paid search specialist from Mad Fish Digital’s team.

How did you come to work with Mad Fish Digital?

We launched an RFP process, and Mad Fish Digital was one of the participating companies. We chose them because they came prepared with a sound proposal and reasonable questions, and they understood our requirements.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off the engagement in April 2019, and it’s ongoing.

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

We’ve seen a 10% increase in organic engagement since Mad Fish Digital has stepped in to help us launch our Google advertising campaigns. They’ve delivered credible results that have enabled us to reach milestones we couldn’t achieve in the past due to our lack of resources.

How did Mad Fish Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate via email and conduct weekly meetings with their team. Mad Fish Digital is consistent in terms of communication and delivery. Overall, they have impressive project management skills.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Mad Fish Digital understands the complexities of the industry we’re part of. The eagerness they’ve exhibited during our RFP process and their commitment to understanding our needs fully have helped us develop a concrete plan that we can use to move forward with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’ve been instances wherein we’ve misunderstood the capacity of Mad Fish Digital’s resources and the auxiliary services they offer after speaking with their account manager. They can work on improving their communication skills to avoid such occurrences in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Remain in contact with Mad Fish Digital’s team to ensure that they’re on track to meet your business goals.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re Rick's Custom Fencing and Decking, a residential construction company based in the Portland, Oregon area, along with southern Washington; we’ve got five locations. We mostly do installations of exterior construction products, fencing, decking, and patio covers. We supply retail materials to homeowners, as well.

I’m the director of marketing for the company, so I run all of the marketing and advertising.

What challenge were you trying to address with Mad Fish Digital?

We were looking for somebody to help us with PPC advertising, back when it was just becoming a thing. Basically, we needed help with digital marketing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve used Mad Fish Digital’s (Mad Fish) services consistently for 10–15 years. We’ve gotten them to do lots of different projects for us within the digital marketing space.

Currently, they manage about $3,000 of PPC advertising for us. We work with them to figure out keywords, and they help us with the five locations correctly.

We also use them for social media and SEO consulting, as well as general website fixes. They work on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google My Business.

For keywords research, we initially provided a large spreadsheet with the words we thought matched our customers the best. Mad Fish oversees all the day-to-day management, and we do yearly audits of our keywords. We see which ones are performing well and which ones are performing on a conversion basis.

What is the team composition?

Right now, I probably work with five people. Ben (President & Co-Founder) is the owner and CEO. Tyler (Paid Media Strategist) is our personal PPC consultant. We have two people on the social media team: Mairi (Content Strategist) and Giselle (Associate Director of Content Strategy & Social Impact), who leads their social media marketing team.

Throughout my time as marketing director, I’ve worked with several other people, but I don’t think they’re still with the company or they’re not in my current team.

How did you come to work with Mad Fish Digital?

It’s been almost 15 years, so it might have been that they were one of the only people doing this at the time. However, if I were looking for them now, it would be the personability of their team. Everybody that I’ve interacted with at Mad Fish is incredibly invested in the success of their clients. It’s easy to feel like you’re a priority, and that’s a big deal for us. I also feel that their expertise matches their enthusiasm for their job.

How much have you invested with them?

We probably spend between $35,000–$50,000 directly with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in December 2019, but the relationship started about 15 years ago. We still have an ongoing partnership with Mad Fish.

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

We’re receiving a lot of conversions and quality leads. Metrics are looking really good. Especially over the last couple of years, we’ve been paying a little more attention to the keywords and successes, and they’ve been working really well.

How did Mad Fish Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very organized, and they’re good at getting the right people into the right teams. Working with their team is very easy and reliable. When they say they're going to deliver something, it’s always done in a timely manner.

Communication is very open and constant. If we have any issues, we can reach out to them and they’re quickly resolved. We use emails and Zoom video conferencing. For project management, we’ve interacted through Google Sheets.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Mad Fish is definitely a company that goes above and beyond. Their overall interest in client success and experience is impressive. Whenever we need something, they're more than happy to provide it, and they’re willing to ask if we ever need more. I feel that my business matters to them and we’re being taken care of.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s been a bit of employee turnover, but we can’t complain about that. Whenever a new rep is being assigned, they’re always on top of it. Also, everybody we’ve had on our team has been great. I’m sure it’s more of a frustration for them than it is for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just go for it. Mad Fish is great.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Solmate Socks is an e-commerce company that makes eco-friendly socks. I’m the marketing manager and handle anything that has to do with our print, email, and customer communication as well as our website.

What challenge were you trying to address with Mad Fish Digital?

Our company worked with wholesale customers and also sold directly to consumers, the latter of which had great margins. However, we just weren’t able to scale our online side as much as we wanted to. As a result, we reached out to Mad Fish Digital to help us scale our business.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Mad Fish Digital has helped us grow our online business through paid ads. Every year, we give them our budget, goals, and focus, and they come back with a recommended plan. They aren’t responsible for our content; rather, they handle all of the setup and execution. The team conceptualizes the ads and copy while using our visual assets to get their point across. Then, they decide where to run those ads (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google) and monitor the campaigns.

In the beginning, we originally met with them for a kick-off meeting to explain our challenges and give them some background about our business. They gained access to our site and analytics, which allowed them to see what they were getting into. From there, we just discussed our goals — what we wanted to see in terms of our ROI and what our targets were for certain campaigns.

Their team gave us recommendations as to what they thought we should do. They optimized some of the advertising that we were already doing and built out a three-month plan to see how we could improve. That ended up working out so well that we’ve continued working with them for a little over two years, now. 

What is the team composition? 

I’ve only worked with two of them on a weekly basis: there’s the main account manager and then another middle person who relays whatever information or questions I might have to the larger team.

How did you come to work with Mad Fish Digital?

A former employee had worked with them before and recommended them to us. At the time, we’d just severed ties with another agency because the work wasn’t very good, so we decided to try Mad Fish Digital out.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $200,000 with them. They keep the ad spend relatively low-cost.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement started in February 2019 and is still ongoing.

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

The team consistently delivers on efficient spending to ensure we get great returns on sales and engagement. In general, our ROI has been over 150% — often coming in a lot higher at 300% or even 700% depending on the campaign. Beyond sales, if our campaign is to drive sign-ups for a list or to get people to fill out an application, they’ll hit those goals. 

How did Mad Fish Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Mad Fish Digital has been great right off the bat. We initially wanted to be involved in almost everything they did because we wanted to make sure that they understood our goals. After a certain amount of time, we found that they were just so great at what they were doing that we didn’t have to monitor them on the day-to-day tasks.

Now, we have the kind of relationship where we just handle the top-level items like the brief, budget, and assets, while they optimize the campaigns. Their team has the freedom to shift the budget or change anything because they’re really good at their work and know our brand well. They’ve proven that they understand what we are or aren’t fine with. I don’t have to sit there and hold their hand along the way.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Mad Fish Digital has knocked it out of the park on every campaign we’ve given them. They’re so on top of everything that’s happening in the industry and always come to us first with things they’ve noticed that might affect us. Even now, they’re still very proactive and are open to whatever we want to do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. We’ve gone through a few account managers, which can always be hard. Thankfully, it’s been really easy with them. I have nothing but good things to say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

This isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but you have to give them the creative freedom to do what they think is best. Of course, they’re more than happy to accommodate if I say that we need to do something, but they’ll also say why they would or wouldn’t recommend a certain course of action.

We have a great working relationship because I’ve been able to step out and trust them. They’re going to deliver if you let them do their jobs.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO and Co-Founder of an all-natural nut and seed butter company.

For what projects/services did your company hire Mad Fish Digital?

We hired Mad Fish Digital to help optimize our website and do SEO, help us create great content marketing, and lead our digital advertising.

What were your goals for this project?

We were seeking to drive awareness for our brand, as well as drive online sales.

How did you select this vendor?

Mad Fish came recommended by a friend in the digital marketing landscape, and we decided to work with them based on great reviews and a really positive impression of their team and work ethic.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Mad Fish worked across almost all aspects of our web experience and function. They completed an audit of our site and also held on onboarding meeting with us to understand our advertising and content goals. Then, they sent over a proposal, including weekly budget and activities. The scope of the work changed over time—for example, we took over content creation as our team got up to speed, and passed content over to Madfish to optimize for SEO.

What was the team composition?

We worked most closely with one account manager, but other members of the team checked in from time to time on their activities as needed.

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

We saw traffic increase to our site through Facebook, Google, and Instagram ads, resulting in increased online sales.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow between our team and Madfish was very smooth. We had a weekly check-in call and frequently corresponded on our Slack channel.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We have been most impressed with the quality of the team. They're upbeat, knowledgable, and flexible.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a communications specialist for the Health Engagement and Wellness Services Department of Kaiser Permanente’s Northwest Region, which covers Oregon and Southwest Washington. We focus on patient engagement and education.

For what projects/services did your company hire Mad Fish Digital?

Mad Fish designed and developed a public website for our department.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to provide easily accessible and understandable information and resources to help people take charge of their health.

How did you select this vendor?

Mad Fish was recommended to us. We chose them because they’re a creative company that knew and understood our brand.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed, developed, and launched the website. They also provided training so that we could manage and edit the site as needed.

What was the team composition?

There were about seven people on the team—four from Mad Fish and three from our end.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We've received great feedback on the site, both from colleagues and, more importantly, our members. Traffic to the website has increased every month since it launched.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their project management was effective. We had regular check-ins through in-person meetings, conference calls, and emails. The site went live a month or two after we thought it would, but that was fine.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Mad Fish team was responsive and easy to work with. They were also interested in understanding our business and brand in order to meet our objectives. Since the site launched, they've been quick to respond to questions and to help us make tweaks in the design.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I know of.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of 360 Enterprises, a software company that provides a cloud-based workflow management solution for the contracting industry. Our product, 360e, is an all-in-one quoting, scheduling, tracking, and billing software designed specifically for small to medium-sized contracting companies.

For what projects/services did your company hire Mad Fish Digital?

We target small- to medium-sized contracting businesses. It’s a challenging niche where we are up against bigger companies with huge marketing budgets. We hired Mad Fish Digital to help us develop our marketing strategy and to execute the initiatives related to SEO, PPC, and content development.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to expand our sales territory from Oregon and Washington to the greater US and eventually worldwide. We also wanted to reach our first-year targets for new customer acquisitions.

How did you select this vendor?

I knew about Mad Fish Digital through the Portland chapter of an international entrepreneur’s organization. I participated in group forums and learning events with their owner and CEO, Ben.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Mad Fish scheduled a series of discovery sessions with us and then developed an action plan with one-year goals. They also conducted keyword research and integration, web development for some small projects, PPC campaigns through Google, and ad retargeting through Facebook, YouTube, and more. Furthermore, they handled blogging, promotional content development and video production, and analytics.

What was the team composition?

Mad Fish's CEO oversaw and participated directly in our meetings along with 2–3 other key staff members.

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

Mad Fish Digital was instrumental in putting 360e on the map. We were a startup with a small handful of customers. They took the lead and developed an effective marketing strategy that helped us realize our first-year goals.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team was well-organized, set clear targets, communicated plainly, and scheduled regular progress meetings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was extremely impressed with how on point their team was with the strategy, deliverables, and the exchange of information required for progress. Their knowledge of their own industry and level of expertise is compelling.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Precision is key in Mad Fish Digital's industry, so I can't really call this a shortcoming. Sometimes, the amount of back and forth required to revise the content and deliverables seemed a little much. In the end, it was well worth it.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Modulus is a hosting, scaling, and data solution for Node.js developers. As a platform as a service (PaaS), Modulus eliminates the server and database administration challenges typically associated with deploying and growing an internet-based application. As Product Marketing Manager, I managed growth for the newly-acquired startup and created the go-to-market launch plan for multi-language support, which included adding support for Python, Java, and PHP to our platform.

For what projects/services did your company hire Mad Fish Digital?

I was responsible for social media, SEO, PPC, public relations, analyst relations, events, marketing automation, and lead generation campaigns. It was my first big market launch and I wanted everything to go off without a hitch. I knew I couldn't pull it off alone so it was critical that I chose the right partners who shared my vision.

What were your goals for this project?

Due to competition in the Java, Python, and PHP developer markets, it was going to take a lot more than organic growth to get in front of those customers. My goal was to break into these markets by delivering with an integrated marketing approach, using PPC and SEO as a major tactic.

In order to give SEO and PPC the level of focus it needed without it getting buried in my ever-growing list of priorities, I needed help from an expert.

How did you select this vendor?

I hadn’t worked with an SEO provider before and didn’t have a lot of PPC experience. I was referred to them by a colleague.

Describe the project in detail.

I was involved in the campaign’s planning and strategy development as much or as little as I wanted to be. In the beginning stages, we worked together very closely on selecting the right keywords and personas to target and the structure campaigns.

Once I felt they had a good handle on our value proposition, messaging, and personas we dropped down a once a month call. Prior to every call, I was emailed a very detailed report of conversions on each campaign for that month and campaign highlights. They never executed on anything unless we both believed it was a good idea. Any new ideas were always backed up by data, which made me feel more confident.

What was the team composition?

The team composition was just me and my MadFish representative, Kylie.

Can you share any statistics or metrics that speak to the quality of their work and impact of the engagement?

In our first month working with them, our conversions doubled and the cost per conversion was reduced by over 40%. Our overall cost per conversion is down by 12%, with a 23% increase in conversions.

A few months into the project, they paused some low-performing campaigns and re-allocated funds to campaigns with higher conversions. With that, we managed to triple the number of conversions compared to the previous month. Additionally, the cost per conversion for that campaign dropped by over 60%.

After a year, the campaign experienced several more campaign improvements, mostly due to the implementation of new landing pages that are more language-specific and speak to developers. As a result, we had nearly 150% increase in conversions and the cost-per-conversion decreased by half.

How did the Mad Fish Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Even though we were 2,000 miles away and 3 hours time zone difference, the communication was phenomenal. I never worried about getting timely responses.

Their reports were always very clear, concise, and suitable to our upper management. My rep talked through the report with me every month and answered all of my questions. Aside from our main engagement, they were also always there to provide extra technical bandwidth for me if I needed something quickly.

What impresses you about the Mad Fish Digital?

Aside from producing results, which I would expect out of any SEO company, what sets them apart is their true consultative nature. They really understood my business and I felt like we were on the same team. The nature of the project was very technical, but it did not take them long at all to become well-versed in it. It felt like their rep worked for us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They should keep on doing what they're doing.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the U.S. director of marketing for Polygon U.S. Corporation, a company that specializes in temporary climate solutions using commercial equipment.

What challenge were you trying to address with Mad Fish Digital?

We changed the name of our company in 2011 and we needed to gain back brand recognition.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mad Fish utilized SEO best practices and marketing strategies to help us develop our keywords and gain exposure. They pushed our social media efforts extensively through blogs, white papers, and posts. The team started monthly newsletters with other industries and designed ads for social media and Google AdWords. 

What is the team composition?

They have provided various account managers throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Mad Fish Digital?

Mad Fish Digital was working with a company we acquired who referred the service to us. They were already knowledgeable about some aspects of our company which made it easier to choose them.

How much have you invested with them?

I have invested $300,000 in total for the engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them early 2013 through March 2018.

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

The blogs and social media post lead to a dramatic increase in traffic to the website. Consumers and business owners engaged in our blogs and this engagement lead to increased business opportunities. The content they provided was catered to our business, interesting, and creative. I accredit them to a lot of our marketing success. 

How did Mad Fish Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Mad Fish’s response time was rapid, and they always provided an answer within the hour. They were never late with assignments and communicated well through phone, email, and Google Drive. They felt like an extension of our current marketing team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management was on-point and they always delivered high-quality content. Their people developed a close relationship with our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish they did not change out our account managers so often, but all the ones they've provided were great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would tell them to participate with their account managers and to teach them about the business. It would speed up the results.