Northpeak

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive of Briefing.com

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Briefing.com provides independent, live market analysis of the U.S. and international equity markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Northpeak to accomplish?

• increase subscription revenue
• increase pool to market to

SOLUTION

How did you find Northpeak?

Online Search

Why did you select Northpeak over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Northpeak were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We've worked with NorthPeak for several years on several projects all aimed at increasing our subscription base. They've helped us improve our website, our email marketing series, SEO, for both a desktop as well as a mobile site. They helped us set up an affiliate program which has been very successful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Improvement in customer engagement, improved SEO, successful affiliate program, improved website engagement, increased subscription clients

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

NorthPeak was very responsive to our needs and took the time to understand our business and goals. They presented multiple options, and lead us through the process of improving our marketing emails, our homepage, our registration process as well as our checkout process. They are always on time.

What was your primary form of communication with Northpeak?

Virtual Meeting

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

They have a variety of personnel specializing in different areas that seem to be a perfect fit for our needs. We find a high level of competence with NorthPeak. We can rely on them to do and deliver what they say.

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

We are completely satisfied with their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive for an online tutoring company. We offer 1:1 tutoring sessions to college students who need help with engineering, mathematics, and science.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Northpeak?

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, we experienced a spike in traffic as students started working remotely. Over time, we noticed a slight decrease in our organic visibility on Google, so we engaged Northpeak to correct it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Northpeak has conducted SEO audits and analyzed our page speed, meta descriptions, and content using Google Index. They’ve also provided keyword research and keyword analysis services, which they’ve used to determine 60 target keywords. 

Additionally, they’ve shared technical insights and suggestions to improve our SEO. The team has also orchestrated PPC campaigns and Google Ads for us. Northpeak has also created new designs for our web page, and we plan to expand their responsibilities to help with conversion rate optimization (CRO) campaigns.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with four team members from Northpeak. 

How did you come to work with Northpeak?

We found Northpeak online while searching online for CRO websites. We reached out to 20–30 agencies, and when we interviewed them, we noticed that they offered a diverse portfolio of services apart from CRO. 

We admired their research-driven approach. They wanted to know which keywords were driving our revenue and expressed how they could help us make technical changes to boost our SEO and improve our rankings. They seemed set on perfecting our existing SEO efforts before moving forward with anything else. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend roughly $100,000 each year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in November 2021, and we’re still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Northpeak has done a great job handling our SEO process from A–Z. We’ve seen more traffic and conversions since partnering with them, and we’ve also seen more success with our keywords. Since partnering with them, we’ve seen a significant increase in traffic generated from PPC campaigns. 

Before engaging Northpeak, our organic search visibility decreased by 25% year-over-year (YoY). Google indexing showed that a lot of our pages were being skipped, and they've done an excellent job at correcting that; our indexation has increased steadily throughout the year. We initially had 8,000 pages indexed, and they’ve gotten us up to 30,000 pages indexed. This has led to more impressions, clicks, and visitors. For example, in the last 28 days, we’ve seen 1,000 more clicks than in years prior.

According to Google Search Console, we’ve seen a 30–40% increase in impressions within one year of working together. They’ve also been responsible for increasing our daily site visitors from 20 to 100. We’re also starting to see improvements in our organic visibility, whereas last year, we saw a decrease. 

How did Northpeak perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had no issues concerning project management. Northpeak is very hands-on, and they’ve taken an analytical, data-driven approach to our project. They underpromise and overdeliver, and they’re very consistent. 

Northpeak is also very flexible and receptive to feedback. We meet for weekly check-ins, and they typically submit deliverables ahead of schedule. We use Google Workspace and Asana to manage tasks and Slack and email to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been most impressed by Northpeak’s analytical approach. They’re data-driven and go above and beyond to find and correct problems. For example, they noticed an indexing issue, so they took the time to analyze it top-to-bottom and identified a solution. 

We’ve worked with other agencies with whom we’ve had an initial spark, but they’ve gotten stagnant and reverted to autopilot instead of continuously improving. Northpeak is different because they focus on generating results. They’ve explored every avenue to determine what methods bring us the most value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing Northpeak could improve on. We actually need more development resources on our end to keep up with them and implement their ideas. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend allowing Northpeak to conduct an audit and being open to their suggestions. Teach them about your business, so they can identify opportunities to find value for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We sell security products like doors and windows for homes. I’m the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Northpeak?

Our product is in a higher price range, so we wanted to make sure that the whole experience was good for prospective clients. We wanted everyone to be able to find us and be motivated by what they see on the site, as well as reach out to us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They didn’t execute a full redesign, but they went through various key pages to focus on. They then did some design work and testing. They went through how we should write things, including titles, what changes we should make to optimize conversions and SEO. Specifically, with SEO, they’ve chosen keywords for us to target.

What is the team composition?

We had a primary point of contact, but our weekly calls would have multiple people on them.

How did you come to work with Northpeak?

I posted the job on UpWork — well, a more narrow requirement list than the full job had — and Northpeak sent in a proposal. I appreciated both their website and their stated approach to marketing, which explains why our project expanded.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost is around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s hard to quantify, but the mentions they landed us in news articles and blog posts they wrote for other websites have helped our SEO a lot. Our revenue has definitely grown over the past year, as well as our leads.  

How did Northpeak perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a general plan, but I pushed them to put in specific goals and categories, so we had something to aim for rather than being left to try disparate tactics. Northpeak is quite thorough; it sometimes took longer than I would have liked to make a quick change, but they rely heavily on testing, and I can understand that.

They definitely stay on top of their goals, and they were responsive when I asked if things could move a little faster.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When they would go through a page and show specifically how they suggest switching the design to have better conversions and make it more attractive. They always had a concrete visual change that they were presenting.

As far as themselves, I would highlight how easygoing and open to ideas they are. They’re very collaborative and create a positive atmosphere. They were also very diligent about trying to close the doors for calls to action across the website.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes things take longer than necessary, like perfecting the wording and the design when I wanted the “great” version a bit faster.

Regarding the team dynamic, sometimes different people on their team had different ideas, and the owner could have pulled those ideas together more and provided more direction.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have defined goals rather than just wanting to improve your marketing in general. Stick to a specific roadmap.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a safety management SaaS company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Northpeak?

We needed help with web development and digital marketing to gain more traction after the COVID-19 pandemic affected our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Northpeak has initially rebuilt our website to improve our online presence. We’ve then engaged them to handle our digital marketing efforts to further our business goals. We’ve provided most of the content they’ve worked with, and they’ve generated SEO-friendly materials to boost our rankings.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with 3–4 resources from Northpeak, with Navi (Founder) being my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Northpeak?

An investment group referred Northpeak’s team to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing collaboration with Northpeak commenced in November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Northpeak has taken the lead in modernizing our platform by making it more appealing to our audience, allowing us to secure more leads. Additionally, they’ve helped us understand and determine the most efficient marketing approach we can utilize to leverage our presence.

How did Northpeak perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via weekly meetings. Northpeak is a team of productive communicators — they lead an orderly approach that guarantees positive results.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with their spot-on marketing tactics that lead to traffic boosts and the overall optimization of our pipelines.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It can be an unreasonable expectation given our length of engagement, but we’ve looked forward to higher traffic rates.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to approach them for your marketing needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a Shopify app development store. We’re not a service provider. We develop our own apps for the Shopify app store, and Shopify merchants can go in to download and install them in their own shops.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Northpeak?

We were trying to reduce our churn rate and increase customer lifetime value.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started working with Northpeak in Upwork. They spent 1–2 weeks going through the apps that we wanted to optimize, trying all the features, doing some market research, trying the competitor out, looking at how we were marketing ourselves in the Shopify app store, and looking at our Google Analytics and Mixpanel analytics.

Based on all that data, Northpeak came up with some experiments that they thought would be good to run. They wanted to see if the experiments reduced our churn rate while increasing our customer lifetime value and revenue.

Northpeak presented the experiments to me and prepared some materials on their own to run them. For example, they prepared new content for our Shopify app store listing page and implemented email campaigns. Their designer created new graphics for some of the features in our apps and came up with an improved layout for the page.

For other experiments, they required our developers to make some changes to the apps and we implemented all the changes they suggested. Northpeak gave me weekly updates on the results without me having to be constantly checking the experiments’ numbers.

How did you come to work with Northpeak?

I posted this job on Upwork. Initially, I hired another agency, but I wasn’t totally happy with their work. Northpeak also applied to the job opening, but they were a little bit more expensive than this other agency, so I tried the more economic option first. This other agency wasn’t getting me results, so I tried Northpeak. I was blown away by how comprehensive their service was. I was looking for a partner that allowed me to be as hands-off of the project as possible, and Northpeak really took care of that.

How much have you invested with them?

Northpeak charged us around $1,000 per week. We spent close to $23,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I hired Northpeak in February 2020, and they finished the first app conversion optimization in June 2020. I brought them in again in August 2020 to help us with another optimization that finished in October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 3–4 months of working with Northpeak and implementing their changes, the entire revenue for one of our apps was up by 25%–26%, which was very substantial — we were happy with it. The most effective changes they made centered around our pricing plans and the different features included in them — they experimented and iterated on those aspects the most.

Northpeak made the app better for both our customers and for us — we had a better app after the process. I ended up selling part of my business that Northpeak was working on. Their work helped us bump up our revenue and helped us in the sales, too. 

The results for one of our apps weren't as spectacular, but the app was in a much more difficult category. Northpeak definitely did everything they could. However, there were problems with the app, and it didn't have the required features that customers needed. Basically, it wasn't something that conversion optimization could have really helped without us first investing in some serious developer time to bump up its feature specs.  Based on customer feedback, we really needed to build the app out more. Northpeak did make a lot of improvements to it, and their work was still fantastic, but the app wasn't as competitive as it needed to be.

How did Northpeak perform from a project management standpoint?

Northpeak really took care of the project management. The only time that we needed to do work on our end was when the experiments involved modifications to our apps’ codes. When there were changes required on our side, they constantly followed up with us — it was a very hands-off project for me.

Most of our communication took place in the Upwork chat. We also had calls via a VoIP that they used, and I believe they used Asana for their project management, but I never had access to it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Aside from the coding, Northpeak was able to do everything else — I was happy with all their work. Their copywriting for the Shopify app store, the graphics, and the design changes they implemented were all good. They showed abilities in all these different areas, and they were good in all of them, which was very surprising.

They also did side work that wasn’t even required, which was fantastic. For example, one of our apps had a pop-up feature, and I was struggling with it. I had paid another Upwork designer to do the pop-up design, but I wasn’t satisfied with their work. Northpeak redesigned the pop-up without being asked to do it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could have done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There isn’t a lot of work required from the client’s end. We had weekly meetings with Northpeak and implemented the changes that they requested, but other than that, they were in charge of everything. 

On that note, Customers should be prepared to do the changes needed on a timely basis. They also need to have their Google Analytics ready and be prepared to install tracking analytics systems. For example, Northpeak suggested that we installed Hotjar for doing user feedback surveys.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a new enterprise productivity company. We focus on automating workflows for different working professionals in their roles in their industry. We try to automate scheduling, contact outreach, and task management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Northpeak?

We needed help with our product design in addition to getting advice and guidance, finding users to interview, and conducting the actual interviews for those users. We also needed assistance with product testing and development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After our first development, we worked out the deliverables that should be completed at the end of the project in terms of the feature set for the product. Next, we made a plan and divided the work between what we would get done and what their team developers would do on their end; we did that throughout a couple of months. 

Later on, we had the product and some users for it, so we wanted to do structured user testing and Northpeak developed a user interview guide. They did interviews with that guide and then analyzed the feedback from the users, which we subsequently brainstormed onto what the future development and user testing should look like; we’ve done that several times. 

Following that, one of our designers would put together a proposal for a new feature set, showing how it would look like and how it would work; sometimes there are several proposals, and we collaborate with Northpeak to figure that out.

Additionally, Northpeak has been also helping me with our go-to-market strategy in terms of how to launch products, where to launch it, our social media strategy across these platforms, and how to optimize SEO. They also pulled up our website with new designs and backend involvement on WordPress, along with a focus on our front page with features and design.

What is the team composition?

I’ve talked to at least five other people, but we mainly work with Navi (Founder). 

How did you come to work with Northpeak?

I found them on Upwork and we reached out to them. Later on, I had a conversation with Navi and I enjoyed it; I thought they’d be a great fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $50,000 so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020 and the engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have metrics to back up right now, but I think that the designs of the product and the new website are great. 

How did Northpeak perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re amazing, Northpeak is communicative at all times and I’m always in the loop of the process, so I know exactly what’s happening at any point. It’s always clear whether something is getting done or not. We’re in touch through Slack, Trello, Figma, and sometimes through email as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like their vision and they’re also very knowledgeable about product design and competitors. They’re also very familiar with the enterprise productivity space, which is nice. Everyone that I've worked with at Northpeak has been amazing. I enjoyed working with them. Every time we need help with something, they’re able to help and provide a multitude of services for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they deliver an exceptional service.

Any advice for potential customers?

Always make sure who’s going to be working on the project, what deliverables are expected, and in what timeline. Also, do frequent check-ins with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner at RPY Innovations, a payments consulting firm, and I’ve been there for seven years. We assist financial technology companies in their effort to increase profitability through payments. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Northpeak?

We needed Northpeak to help us with the redesign of our website to improve its language and visual appearance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There have been two engagements with them. On the first one, they migrated our website to a new CMS, from Squarespace to WordPress. They also revamped it for clarity and purpose. There was no logo work, but they did introduce new visual elements onto the website. 

On our second engagement, which is ongoing, we’re working on website marketing efforts to improve the quality of our customer funnel. They do this through LinkedIn, Google Ads, and written articles that push a specific message to our target demographic. For this collaboration, I believe they also worked with SEO and PPC. 

What is the team composition?

Navi (CEO & Founder) was our main point of contact. He has three people on his team that we’ve also met with.

How did you come to work with Northpeak?

They were a referral from our writer.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $40,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

It started in January 2020, and it's been ongoing since. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It has been positive overall. Our engagement has gone well, the website is what we were looking for, and the marketing efforts are producing good results.

How did Northpeal perform from a project management standpoint?

Northpeak has done very well. They’ve managed the project correctly and within the timeframe. For the website, they used a Gantt-style project management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to respond to different and developing issues was most impressive. Moreover, Northpeak meets expectations and comes in on budget. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything at this time.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared with what you need to bring to the conversation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of various things, and one of them is Hair to Chair. My organization as a whole sort of balances and creates various setups, projects, and contracts. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Northpeak?

Northpeak assisted our company with our UI/UX design needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At first, Northpeak performed UI/UX design services for a website, and the objective was to make it responsive. The team used Figma to complete their work, and the main purpose to create a user- and feedback-driven output. 

Typically, regardless of what we were working on, Northpeak was involved in requirement gathering where they look for what we needed. Then, as our engagement went on, their services grew into a couple of other things.

What is the team composition?

Navi (Founder) was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Northpeak?

We found them through Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $30,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with the Northpeak team from February–December 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They had a positive impact on our business, and the project came to fruition when they got involved. When they joined, we were only 10%–25% done, and because of them, we ramped up to 200% — in that sense, they increased our efficiency. 

As I saw more value in Northpeak's services, I engaged them in more projects. Overall, I was happy that I paid them.

How did Northpeak perform from a project management standpoint?

We checked in regularly with Northpeak, and it was a very tight engagement because they were always focused. They refined what we needed based on our feedback. Furthermore, in all of our projects, I always knew what was going on, and as far as timelines and deliverables were concerned, everything was great. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were involved almost to a fault — they took ownership even though they didn’t have to, and they went above and beyond to provide excellently.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they didn’t have any areas to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have an open mind. I don’t think the relationship will work if you'll just tell them what to do. A lot of the value that you’ll get from Northpeak comes from their feedback. If that’s not something you’re willing to do, you’re going to sell yourself short. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO at a health and wellness company in the CBD space with over 40 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Northpeak?

We hired Northpeak to help us with KPI audits on a monthly basis.

What were your goals for this project?

To better understand what was driving our business from an analytics perspective.

SOLUTION

How did you select Northpeak?

I reviewed a dozen candidates and settled on Northpeak because of their extensive Google Analytics experience.

Describe the project in detail.

Northpeak delivers monthly reports that help us with our marketing efforts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been able to continually improve our marketing efforts month over month because of Northpeak's audits.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are responsive and detail-oriented.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None!