Megaphone Marketing

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and director of CORE FOUNDATIONS PERSONAL TRAINING. We’re an appointment-only personal training business in Melbourne, Australia.

What challenge were you trying to address with Megaphone Marketing?

We wanted to increase our advertising and reach to grow our business. We’d been using another service provider, but they let us down with their service during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hit a roadblock because we were closed for 5–7 months.

After several months off from doing advertising, our goal was to double the business in the next two years. Therefore, we were looking for a local marketing team that could help us cultivate our message and be our long-term partner.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Megaphone Marketing manages our advertising on Facebook and Instagram. We have full-time marketing programs and a monthly marketing spend guaranteed for different types of ads about the various services we offer. They've also worked on SEO and helped us build 1–2 emails that go out to our regular client base each month.

What is the team composition?

We typically deal with an account manager; he’s our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Megaphone Marketing?

When we wanted to get back to advertising, we sat down and looked online at major agencies that popped up on the most significant Google rankings and reviews in Melbourne. We sent a pitch deck to all of them with what we were trying to do and where we were going. We got 3–4 service providers to pitch us why they were the best.

Our initial contact with Megaphone Marketing was with one of their sales executives. They presented the structure of how they’d help our business, but we mainly liked the enthusiasm and general excitement they had for our project. They were interested in working with us even though we were a smaller client for them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $70,000 annually.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

We’ve gotten good results and seen about a 184% increase in lead generation per month since we’ve run the program. The quality of leads is higher than anything else we’ve ever used, and we have a greater conversion rate based on the leads. Overall, the leads have contributed to our business, which has grown by 50% this year alone.

How did Megaphone Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Megaphone Marketing’s team has been incredibly helpful and diligent; they’ve even come to our facility to visit us and go through our process to understand why we’re different. We’ve pushed them pretty hard to meet deadlines, but they’ve been accommodating and transparent. The team is honest if there’s something that will take longer or they can’t do.

We have internal management software to track leads, inquiries, conversions, and so on. They also provide basic metrics about lead generation, and everything is fed into our customized system.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism, honesty, and follow-up are excellent. We get results quickly and are never left waiting. Overall, nothing seems to be difficult, so our experience has been great so far.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind; I don’t think there’s an actual shortfall.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t rely on them to do all the work. You must know your business and understand your metrics' meaning and why they’re important. In summary, you should have all the tools to manage your business.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of NPA Events Australia

For what projects/services did your company hire Megaphone Marketing?

We hired Megaphone for

1. Google ads
2. Social Media Ads

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

We used Clutch, Google reviews and free audit to choose megaphone against other agencies

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Our aim was simple - we were looking to increase our sales to a certain monthly target with an overall 3-1 minimum ROI We delved into both google ads and social media ads to achieve this

This included:

• Audit of our current advertising
• Strategy to imrpove
• Ad creative implementation, design and testing on social media
• Google adword analysis to yield the best results
• International expansion

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

We worked solely with our Account manager Steven who would be our liason to all the specialist in the megaphone team

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

We signed up in Jan 2022

Results were as follows

• February: Intro month, doubled sales from January but didnt hit a great ROI
• March: Sales almost doubled again. Google improved but social media ads lagging our ROI
• April: Sales were basically the same as March, ROI still wasnt great. We had a few meetings with my fantastic account manager Steven and decided to change up some more creatives and sent some products to the megaphone team to shoot new contact
• May: Things began to pick up achieving another close to double sales month and ROI dramatically improving on both google and facebook
• June: Consolidated the results from the previous month with a similar turnover but hitting our target ROI
• July: Sales began increasing even more as did our overall ROI
• August: Broke most of our sales records in this month, scaled our adpsend and still kept our target ROI by quite alot
• September: 2 weeks in and already on track to keep the highly effective results and have also signed up to continue further scaling

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow was easy enough. Steven actually chased me for communication faster than I could go to him. Small business owners are busy so its great when you Marketing company has your back when your not able to be on top of everything at all times

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

Quite frankly, we are impressed by their willingness to think outside the box to improve results when they were down. Its easy to give a company good reviews when they have provided good services but its even better when a company doesnt meet expectations at first but instead of giving excuses frequent to many other agencies actually came with solutions (At their expense) to improve results. Specifically shooting and creating new content for us to make it happen!

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

So far I give credit where its due - we have met all our expectations and exceeded them in our 9 months so far we dont see it slowing down anytime soon!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of D&S Fine Foods which is a Brand Owner of a beef snack and has been supplying the P&C route trade for over 11 years nationally under the Doctor Proctor's brand name. My company also acquired licenses to produce a beef snack for larger brands such as Bundaberg Rum & Men's Health Fuel. We oversee the production and are responsible in marketing those brands in the trade.

For what projects/services did your company hire Megaphone Marketing?

Mainly for a new website creation and digital marketing to grow my business and to increase brand awareness & to drive sales by building a loyal customer base.

What were your goals for this project?

To make people aware of my company & my new website and to achieve a volume of sales over a given timeframe.

How did you select this vendor?

I was seeking a company that was trustworthy and had a proven strategy that was successful. I had considered other companies however Megaphone Marketing came highly recommended by a trusted source.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The scope was to provide a digital strategy to drive sales by way of funnel marketing. The channels used were traditional methods such as an online competition to capture as many email addresses as possible as well as social advertising and also the use of organic content. I provided what media I had for Megaphone to use, however Megaphone created the e-commerce website and employed professional photographers for images that could be used for both social advertising on FB and Insta as well as on the website. Megaphone also worked very closely with my customer - Bundaberg Rum and attended meetings with me to understand and to achieve their goals. Megaphone created an online campaign to engage with people and to capture their data for future targeting and re-targeting.

What was the team composition?

When I first engaged with Megaphone I met with several staff members including the CEO, web designer, senior account manager and my account manager. Since then I haven't returned to Megaphone's site as it hasn't been necessary as my account manager Andrew has kept me up to date and sends monthly reports to me via email. I now deal directly with Andrew on a weekly bases.

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

Although it's still early days, the outcome has been positive. There has been a slow but steady growth in sales & new customers and overall I'm happy with the progress. The website looks fantastic and the e-commerce platform is a breeze to work with. I believe the full potential of the campaign has not yet been realised so it's a bit too early to comment on my expectations or how the marketing campaign has been received by my target market. I do believe however that I won't be let down by Megaphone Industries as this is an ongoing project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been great! My account manager has kept me up to date at all times and has been very professional. When I requested tasks, they were handled in a timely fashion and when I had any concerns, they were put to rest very quickly. There hasn't been any occasion when I've been left 'hanging' for a response.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism, focus and sticking to their methods and strategies. Communication & response times have been fantastic! The understanding of my needs have been solid and you feel you can just let them take the reins and get on with the job.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I'm sure there's always areas for improvement however as a client of there's I can't point any out. I feel this has been a passive project for me which is great as it allowed me to focus on my day to day tasks and can't wait to see the results a little further down the track! It feels though you have your very own marketing department.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is Subo Products Australia, we have an innovative product that we sell in the baby early feeding market. I am the owner and director of the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Megaphone Marketing?

The challenge was for us to try to explain our new product to as many people as we could in the target market. It’s different than the current offerings within the market, so we knew it was going to be relatively difficult to break into the public awareness about the space.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked with us to create social advertisements for use across Instagram and Facebook. Our goal was to target people who would be looking for this kind of product, and then to explain enough about the product so as to direct as much traffic to our website as possible and hopefully drive conversions from there.

Their team was in charge of putting the content together, including the copy, videos, and images, as well as managing the posting schedule and details for our campaign. They also provided some web development and internal optimization, and we handle all of the interactions with customers in-house from there.

What was the team composition?

We work directly with two different people from their team. Our main contact is Kirstie (Senior Development Manager), and we often deal with Lauren (CEO) as well. They often bring in other personnel like videographers for specific tasks that we are working on.

How did you come to work with Megaphone Marketing?

We had spoken to a lot of different teams and had proposals from about eight different marketing companies but didn’t quite feel like we had found the right one. Our team happened to be at an expo one weekend where Lauren was as well, and she reached out to us afterward to see if we needed any assistance with digital marketing. We liked what they had to say and went with a three-month trial period and have worked together ever since.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of the project in terms of agency fees has been around $20,000 AUD (Approximately $14,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2019 and are continuing the partnership.

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

One of the goals that we had in mind when we started working with them was to set a certain amount of sales conversions each month that we could measure our performance against. When we started back in November, we wanted to increase the visits to our website by 20,000, and they were able to deliver that completely and continue increasing from there as well.

In terms of conversion, we wanted to keep our online sales conversion rate over 4, and they helped us to do that in the first few months. Since then, the rates have gone even higher, up to around 7. Our return on ad spend has also increased significantly, nearly doubling in the relatively short time that we’ve worked with them.

How did Megaphone Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They have done a fantastic job of managing their work with us. They’ve gone above and beyond our expectations, which is why we’ve increased their work with us and the overall budget of the project. We trust that they’re going to be able to get us the results that we’re looking for, so we’re very happy with the collaboration and their performance.

We deal with them primarily over email, but when there are more important strategic decisions to make or urgent questions, we have we will go over the phone, in person, or through a video chat to make sure we can address everything right away.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What really impressed us the most when we initially met with them was their excitement about our product. We could tell that they believed in the product, which makes a huge difference in achieving the results that we’re looking for down the line.

A lot of agencies I’ve spoken to make bold claims but then leave things pretty vague on the ROI on their proposal, whereas Megaphone gave us the confidence that they’d be able to achieve those specific goals within the budget that we wanted. On top of that, they followed through completely and more.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really think there’s anything I would change, to be honest. We’ve been really happy with everything they’ve delivered to date.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The first step is to talk with them openly about what your goals are and make sure that everyone is on the same page with regard to those. Once year clear on that, the monthly review of results and future plans will be a much easier process of tweaking efforts rather than having to fully forge a new path all the time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a nail wrap company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Megaphone Marketing?

I needed help with growing my brand.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided consultative services and advised me on how I should go about growing from the ground up. We focused on digital marketing, and they had a great idea of how to use data to inform decisions. It was very strategic.

What is the team composition?

I worked with two people from their team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2020, and our work is ongoing.

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

They’re very helpful and forthcoming with information. When I asked questions, they explained the thought process behind the answers they provided. They even sent me some videos I can watch to get informed on digital marketing strategy. They were very willing to give information as long as I asked for it.

How did Megaphone Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a really good process. The team does a great job of communicating ahead of time and always making sure there’s a next step.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be nice to know the pricing beforehand.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No, they’re very good at getting the conversation going and asking the right questions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a pet products company, mainly focused on cat products. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Megaphone Marketing?

I’m in charge of Google Shopping for my company, which we’ve been very successful at, but after a year, we found we were able to ask for help to increase our revenue. We found Megaphone Marketing because we wanted someone to run our social media accounts for us. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Megaphone Marketing provides us with strategies to increase the company’s social media marketing. Usually, they walk us through what they’ll do and what they’ll mainly focus on. They offer us different investment options and explain to us the return investment we can get from it. That way, it’s up to us how we decide to work with them. 

What is the team composition?

Currently, I only work with the account manager, which is my main point of contact that organizes everything for me, but I believe there are other people involved.

How did you come to work with Megaphone Marketing?

The Megaphone Marketing team sent me an email. After researching their profile, I found they looked like a reliable partner to work with, so I decided to give it a try.

How much have you invested with them?

For the general service, we’ve spent $5,000 AUD (approximately $3,900 USD). For the current project, which involves Instagram, Facebook, and Google Ads, we’ve spent about $10,000–$15,000 AUD (approximately $8,000–$12,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in January 2021, and it’s still ongoing.

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

They promised me they’d optimize Facebook and Instagram for my company, and we’ve seen a straightaway outcome of their collaboration. On the same weekend that we started, we got 20 orders from Instagram and Facebook, which was beyond my expectations. Now, every month, we’ll have 200 as the average of orders from our accounts. 

They send me reports monthly. We can see how sales went from both ends. The results we’re reaching –compared to January– February did a 30% increase. From February, March had a 15% increase, and compared to March, April has done another 15% increase in sales. 

How did Megaphone Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They're doing very well. They have an account manager who communicates with me daily. We will discuss what they’ll do on our account and what the advertising group is going to do or if they have a delay. That way, I can know what ad works better, what product works better, and what product is not performing that well.  

Normally, we communicate through email and Team Viewer, which is where we’re holding meetings. I normally tell them what I need to get done, and they tell me if it’s doable or not or if they need to charge some extra. For example, if I need to do an extra EDM (email directing marketing) campaign, they’d probably charge another $100 AUD (approximately $80 USD)  if that’s not included in our contract, which I find reasonable.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive characteristic about them is their account manager, who works very closely with us. She looks at our social media accounts in a backend, and she’s very detailed about the aesthetics of the work. 

Megaphone Marketing always knows what goes on and how to improve the ad performance. This is very impressive because we need people to look after and look closely at the account. Sometimes, some ads are not performing well and need to be deleted, but sometimes people who work in the marketing business will charge for the service, set up their account, and leave without a follow-up. Because of this, having a company like Megaphone Marketing is much better because they take responsibility for it.

 Are there any areas they could improve?

We are going to spend more on advertising every month, but I need them to optimize my return on investment. I am expecting higher ROI rates, so I think they can do better. 

Any advice for potential customers?

If your product has a brand name or you have a high ticket product, you can work with a marketing agency because they can generate more sales for you. But if your product is at a lower price, it’s better to do it for yourself and save some money.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Niika is a bespoke creative digital agency. I am the Founder and Direector.

For what projects/services did your company hire Megaphone Marketing?

We used Megaphone Marketing to help us launch a marketing campaign targeting other agencies.

What were your goals for this project?

To connect with multiple agencies to spark of genuine conversations.

How did you select this vendor?

We had been referred to Megaphone Marketing by a precious client.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They helped us define strategy, create a list of agencies to approach and implement an email sequence as well as Facebook advertising. They also helped vet email responses and advise us on how to act. F

What was the team composition?

Once a team leader had got us started we worked directly with an account manager.

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

We met with several agencies whom we still have working relationships with. One of them actually went on to become an investor facilitating a merger...this was a very happy accident.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Seamless. If there were any requests or adjustments on our end they would respond quickly and courteously.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I found their transparency, process, ease of use, communication, price, and the results impressive. It was just easy.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Some of their copywriting wasn't aligned with our brand at first but after making some adjustments they quickly adapted. This is normal, and given our brand is so 'particular' to be expected.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a co-founder of Coclo, a first Australia based peer to peer clothing rental platform with a logistics solution for both lenders and renters.

For what projects/services did your company hire Megaphone Marketing?

We were looking to validate the concept of people lending garments out to each other. First, we need to verify that people will rent secondhand clothes, along with lenders are happy to be apart from their well-loved items for at least 6 months.

What were your goals for this project?

We want to build up our database on both renters and lenders ends using advertising on social media. We want to create a campaign where we can express our personality and branding to set the standard for the items that our community can expect to rent and to send in. Also to get people excited about the circular economy, learn about sustainability and can actually participate in it.

How did you select this vendor?

We were introduced to Megaphone through our mentors who have been working with them prior and achieve an amazing result. I researched the company and found that they specialise in targeting the same group of our target market, so we have absolute trust in them leading the project. However, as a young start-up, we didn't have a huge budget to cover all the cost but because they believe in our project, they were able to make it work and help us out as part of the female founder charity project.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After we decided to partner up, we have had a couple of meeting to establish our goals and timeline. Megaphone really focused on the target market then we want to reach out to, they have done the research and gone beyond expectation to understanding our company and concept.  From there, they have developed a 3 months plan of how to execute the 2 campaigns for both renter and lender using digital media. They have worked closely with us to set up social media which are Facebook and Instagram to connect with our email database. They have worked with our branding director on creative concepts and paid online advertising. They also provided a monthly report on how the campaign is doing while touch base on a weekly basis to check on the ad performance.

What was the team composition?

I have worked closely with both Lauren who is the CEO and Rebekha who was appointed as our account manager. 

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

We have reached 80% of the result within the first 2-3 weeks of the campaign which was amazing for us to be able to validate our idea so quickly.     

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication between us and Megaphone was a dream, Rebekha was very much on top of everything with the weekly check-in.  The revision on the creatives was always done promptly. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They definitely know what they are doing, and will communicate and educate you on the things that you could learn. They were passionate about helping a young startup that they believe in, I was blown away with the support I received from them. We definitely would choose them to run our future project and very much like to grow with them. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only thing was that I wish we could've worked together for longer but the project was done with an amazing result.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of BrüMate, a lifestyle brand that specializes in making insulated drinkware to keep your favorite adult beverages at the perfect temperature.

For what projects/services did your company hire Megaphone Marketing?

We hired Megaphone to oversee our influencer / advertising strategy to the Australian market.

What were your goals for this project?

To work with an agency that can help dial in our brand voice and look to resonate better with the Australian market.

How did you select this vendor?

I vetted a variety of marketing agencies, and they were the best fit.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We brought Megaphone on to review our current marketing assets and help build out new assets and copy that would be more fitting for the Australian market.

What was the team composition?

We have an account manager working with our creative / marketing teams in house as a consultant esentially.

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

We have seen much better sentiment towards our ads so far.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been very effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were able to quickly understand what we were looking for and bring the project to life.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they are great to work with.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the director of a hair care brand present in Australia and New Zealand.

For what projects/services did your company hire Megaphone Marketing, and what were your goals?

Our brand has been in the marketing for over 3 years and marketing was always a struggle for us, acquiring new customers and promoting our products to its right audience. We hire Megaphone to increase our presence thus sales in the Australian and NZ markets.

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

I've searched for top marketing agencies in Australia and decided to go with Megaphone after having a meeting with them and hearing their ideas and proposals to add value to my business.

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

I first had a call with their business development who took the time to understand my business, its values and what it is about. After couple days we had a zoom meeting where she presented their proposal, with goals, and steps to be taken to achieve my objectives.

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

I first work with their business development manager and once the proposal was approved I was introduced to my account manager.

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

As soon as we started following the outlined plan I've noticed an increase in sales. The first month, was a bit slow as we were finding the right audience that fit my demographics, but could definitely see and improvement from the second month and now in the third month I'm nearly breaking my sales record of all times operating the business.

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

I love working with my account manager. She's a bright online marketer who works hard and has a lot of great ideas. We keep very casual which creates a great bond and energy to work together in achieving our objectives. We normally meet on zoom once a week to catch up on the campaigns, results, bounce ideas and plan what's next. She's also available anytime I have questions or whatever business-related needs I may have. I would say that makes all the difference for me, as I can build that trust in someone promoting my business.

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

Their attention to detail, meaning, truly understanding the core of your business and finding exactly who are your dream customers and where they are congregating, then bringing them into your store and converting into sales.

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

I suppose there is always room for improvements in any business but If I was to suggest something it would probably be set the expectations right for their customers. By that I mean, explain that in the beginning sales may start slow, but as the months goes by, and they have a better understanding of your audience demographics it will increase. In my case, the first month was slow (and I was worried), but in the following months it quickly picked up and is now only going upwards.