Matchnode

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of a company that does marketing consulting. We help people build marketing funnels, do conversion optimization, and we also partner with people to build our own brands. Generally, we partner with an expert who is the head of the product, and we develop the business and operations in the background.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchnode?

We were working on a brand for the back pain relief market, and we needed a company to manage our Facebook advertising.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Matchnode’s main role was executing Facebook media buys, but they also helped develop strategies and manage targeting and bidding. They took care of the technical aspects while contributing to the overall campaign and branding process.

We just recently paused their work because we’re shifting strategy. We’re satisfied with them, but we need to build up our cash flow and then hopefully we can start working with them again.

What is the team dynamic?

We mainly worked with Chris [Co-Founder] and Mitch [Digital Marketing Manager]. Mitch was our day-to-day contact who was more closely involved in our project.

How did you come to work with Matchnode?

They were a referral. I met Matchnode a few years before we formally engaged, and when we decided to execute on Facebook, Matchnode put a proposal together and we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid a base fee and now do revenue sharing, which I don’t think is typical for them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from August 2015 to October 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We spent around $500,000 on Facebook, and it was all profitable. I don’t have specific, though.

How did Matchnode perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was effective and accessible. They addressed issues in a timely manner and never missed a deadline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Matchnode has a wide range of experience, which brings fresh and new perspectives to your work. They’re not afraid to express their opinion in a respectful manner, and they’re true team player who want to contribute to the success of the project and campaign. Unlike other providers, they’re flexible and willing to adjust as needs and requirements change.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, it was a great relationship.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in consumer marketing for Phonak LLC, a hearing device developer that sells to third party audiology providers in the US. I work specifically with a product called Lyric.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchnode?

We were about to embark on an initiative with select providers in 3 U.S. markets, which focused on training the providers’ teams on the Lyric product and also on marketing. The objective was to develop a marketing plan that could be sustained after the test was completed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They focused solely on digital marketing. They worked on social media, primarily Facebook. We wanted to find the most efficient way to spread the word on the Lyric brand in order to drive prospects through lead generation to the third-party offices in the test. We didn’t have the infrastructure or a heavy digital knowledge base to accomplish this, so Matchnode had to provide a lot of guidance. Fortunately, they were very patient.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked primarily with 3 people at Matchnode: the principal and two project managers/account executives. I most frequently communicated with the project managers, but all 3 were very accessible and provided great insight and advice.

How did you come to work with Matchnode?

I received recommendations from people I really respect, so I trusted Matchnode. We had a few other companies, but we felt it was best to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

About $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

January through April of this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We got a good cost per lead, which was our main goal.

How did Matchnode perform from a project management standpoint?

I can’t stress how great of a partner they were. They hit every deadline I gave them and never had any issues. They provided things on time and under budget, and they were always willing to collaborate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They clearly know their stuff, and they're able to translate that for laypeople. They don't get so tied up with digital jargon that you lose what the bottom line is. They explain things in very simple and easy-to-understand terms. If something is confusing, they'll continue to work it down until their audience understands.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is a web-based marketplace for investors. We bring together professional and retail investors. I’m the co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchnode?

We needed to gain an understanding of our visitor and customer behavior. When someone came to the site, we wanted to know what they were doing, how long they spend there, if they’re getting the information that they came for, and if they understand what we do. We also wanted to look at high-frequency visitors so we could take incoming visitors and direct them along those paths of user behavior.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used Google Analytics for traffic analysis and Kissmetrics for exploring into user behavior. We knew who the users were and could then find out exactly what they were doing in the application. 

We also ran some Google AdWords, Facebook, and LinkedIn campaigns. We were trying to increase traffic back to the application. They drove that process and managed all aspects of it. 

What is the team dynamic? 

I worked with Brian and Chris [Co-founders, Matchnode] and there was one other associate working with us on our account. 

Early on, we were a pretty lean team. They worked with our business development side and with me and my co-founder. When we hired a CTO, they worked with them on our side.

How did you come to work with Matchnode?

We found them through a referral. Once I learned about Matchnode, Chris and I worked on another project together. It was a good match. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2013 and finished in July 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our problem had always been understanding our customers and by teaming with Matchnode, we found exactly what our customers were using our application for, which allowed us to focus on that. We found that users who signed up to follow three or four investors were much more likely to be return visitors and continue with the app. With that knowledge, we guided users to follow more investors early in the onboarding process. That was a direct result of their data analytics. 

We also experienced an increase in sign-ups and in traffic. That was due to the new marketing that Matchnode suggested on our public-facing pages. 

How did Matchnode perform from a project management standpoint?

They were hands on. You’d expect that once they secure the client they might step back, but that wasn’t the case. They were excellent. 

We had a standing weekly call with them and they were well prepared for every call. At the time, we were fully remote and they fit well with us. We sometimes connected in person, but we would mainly join in Google Hangouts and go over the past week’s analysis and data to get their perspective. It’s great to have the numbers, but unless you have some sort of context, they’re useless. So, we’d discuss and they would provide insight to what the numbers meant.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were well prepared. They were particularly skilled in Google Analytics, as well as Google AdWords. They are above and beyond in that respect.

Are there any areas they could improve?

For what we used them for, they were excellent.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CEO of New Balance Chicago. It was a 5 store licensee of New Balance Athletics in Chicago and the suburbs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchnode?

We were challenged with converting online or digital leads into brick and mortar customers. We are a brick and mortar only business. Our challenge was to actually get people to come in through the doors through leads we developed digitally.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Matchnode helped us develop some landing pages, do a lot of Facebook advertising, and really just start capturing more and more people through look alike groups that we use our own database to create. Essentially to take a lot of old traditional advertising dollars we have and use it digitally to be much more efficient. The goal was to drive people into our stores. They took over all of our email marketing and developed an email marketing campaign alongside of our traditional direct mail and other means to kind of bring it all together and create more of a holistic approach to our marketing. Prior to Matchnode, we used mostly direct mail, coupon books, and radio. We had a very limited online presence.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked primarily with Chris [Co-Founder, Matchnode] and Mitch [Digital Marketing Manager, Matchnode]. What was great about the team is that they were extremely responsive and also allowed me to continue running my business. Once they had what they needed, they really ran with it. The attention to detail was great. Whenever I needed something or we needed to push something in particular, it was very quick. They got to know our business and to understand our needs enough to really not need as much guidance as time went in on terms of all of our marketing and campaigns that we did.

How did you come to work with Matchnode?

It was a reference from a colleague of ours, a professor. She knew an employee at Matchnode and referred us to Chris [Co-Founder, Matchnode]. Once I had my first sit down with him, I was pretty much sold. They really wanted to understand our business and not necessarily just what they could for us from a marketing standpoint. They really wanted to understand who our customers were, what kind of work we were doing, and the overall direction of our business. Being a small boutique agency, I felt they were really invested in our success. We started working with them shortly thereafter.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together October 2014 until December 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our goal was to have a positive ROI. We did accomplish that, but we were also able to grow our database very significantly in a fairly short amount of time in terms of lead generation. We noticed that a lot of those new customers we were getting were very much ideal customers and were spending good amounts of money with us. Between generating revenue, but also just generating new customers, they did a great job. What they did in terms of driving in new traffic, but also increasing average ticket and growing a lot of the different campaigns that we did, they were able to impact both. They created more customers, but also driving in our current database and getting them to shop more frequently and to buy more stuff.

How did Matchnode perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed wonderfully. They were almost quicker than I was in terms of who needed things from each party. They always beat my expectations with timelines. In terms of responsiveness, they were always on the ball and had everything we needed either on time or faster than promised.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What was great about working with them is they really came alongside us to understand our business and inserted themselves into our overall business and marketing plan in order to help us change with the times and get up to speed digitally. Being a brick and mortar business only, they took that as a unique challenge and therefore, understood our business and really helped us brainstorm on other ways we could drive traffic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no real criticisms.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an apparel and home goods design company. I am the CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchnode?

Matchnode was hired to drive new customer acquisition in our affiliate and Facebook ad programs. They were tasked with meeting strict ROI goals and have consistently delivered. We wanted them to help us with our overall growth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Matchnode worke closely with our engineering and marketing teams to construct a data driven approach to customer acquisition. Matchnode has successfully leveraged new Facebook programs to cost effectively drive new customers.

They also run our affiliate marketing program.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked with a team of three. It included the head of the company, a senior account managers, and a junior manager.

How did you come to work with Matchnode?

They were working with our company when I joined, and I took over managing the relationship afterwards.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent in the range of $50,000- $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The programs have consistently exceeded ROI goals. We deal with customer acquisition on a cost basis, and they have been able to help us hit our goals within budget. They're excellent at what they do.

How did Matchnode perform from a project management standpoint?

They also respond promptly and they're very transparent with everything that they do. They have been responsive with any request we have had.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very smart and committed to helping their clients. They know the programs that they work on very well. We've had other agencies that did not perform as well on the same types of ad programs. Matchnode is proactive about trying to refresh the program, and they work hard to understand the business that we are in. They do a good job of working with folks on the team internally. Across the board, it is has been a positive relationship.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not particulalry. They have been doing a great job managing us.