Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?
We didn't set targets in the first year. We simply worked with them and saw improvement. After that point, we considered it to be more sensible to manage those targets and set goals. Novi Digital has more than exceeded all of our organic traffic and PPC targets. One of the goals for the previous year was growing the organic traffic by 10% each month, they easily exceeded this target and removed our Google penalty quickly.
We did this because, when we first approached Novi Digital, we were under a Google penalty which was causing all kinds of problems. They put all of their efforts into initially cleaning up our profile. Comparing to previous statistics wouldn't have been meaningful at that point. They just got the penalty lifted. From the lifting, it took a full year to start seeing any benefits from our work. Google wouldn't recognize the traffic for almost 12 months.
After we started measurements, Novi Digital exceeded the 10% target every month, by a good number. The social media side is a bit smaller in terms of activity. They're trying to build up a profile of likes and followers. I don't target that too much, because there's not as much financial benefit to it. For pay per click, we mainly target the conversion rates brought from the added traffic, and the cost per acquisition. Novi Digital have always exceeded those targets.
At this point, we're trying to maintain the traffic to the current level. It's high enough that it can't be improved much more. It's now a matter of expanding on what we've obtained, and trying to grow the paid traffic, without exceeding the limits we've achieved.
How did Novi Digital perform from a project management standpoint?
They were organized and have been great at meeting our goals after we set them properly.
What distinguishes Novi Digital from other providers?
As much as we look at the results, I prefer to invest in people. I've dealt with many persons that I wouldn't give the time of day to. With Novi Digital, we find that they are nice people, who do what they promise. You can be straight with them and they will listen and act on it. As much as they've stuck to their targets, ultimately, they are simply the people that we want to work with.
They have a breadth of knowledge in this business, and are not afraid to admit if there's ever a gap in that knowledge, and employ someone specifically for the purpose. We were trying to rewrite a lot of our descriptions in order to stand out from the competition. At the time, they were struggling with the writing, and we pointed that out. In a matter of two weeks, they employed someone from a big online retailer of kitchen appliances. It was clear that the person had been specifically chosen because they fit what we wanted. They found a gap and filled it.
They've learned a lot about our business. They take interest in what we do, and why we do it. It's not simply a question of numbers. Novi Digital looks at the surrounding marketplace. If I was to choose someone else now, and move away from them, that could cause an issue. I might find someone bigger and more experienced, but they would never get the depth of understanding that Novi Digital have built over a long time.
For what we pay them, we could employ one marketing person full time. I am not going to get anyone with all the skills that Novi Digital gives me. I'd rather employ each person in the group for a few hours, rather than having full-time person in-house.
Is there anything Novi Digital could have improved or done differently?
The relationship has been really good. I can't complain.
Novi Digital’s marketing efforts have yielded significant results, including halving the AdWords spend, optimizing pay-per-click campaigns, and boosting organic listings and visit durations.