Passion Digital Ltd.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Media Content Planner for EIT Urban Mobility. EIT Urban Mobility is an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), funded by the European Commission. Since January 2019, we have been working to encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities in order to make them more liveable places.

As a Media Content Planner, I am working on the EIT Urban Mobility Academy WebTV, producing short educative videos showcasing cutting-edge practices in urban mobility in Europe. The aim of our videos is to highlight the key competencies needed for the successful delivery of urban mobility solutions.

This WebTV is hosted on the YouTube channel of EIT Urban Mobility and is only one of the products the Competence Hub (lifelong learning initiative part of the Academy. To close the urban mobility knowledge gap, the Competence Hub uses a variety of formats such as online and face to face courses, and the WebTV I was mentioning before, all targeting urban mobility professionals.

The aim with this free short videos/learning pills is to build a community of learners to will then go to the online and face to face courses (free or not) if they want to know more about a certain urban mobility topic. We want to turn WebTV viewers into courses learners. This funnel model is the basis of our work. I am also helping the EIT Urban Mobility's Communication Department to promote the contents, from the WebTV videos to the online and face to face courses.

For what projects/services did your company hire Passion Digital Ltd.?

EIT Urban Mobility, as well as the Academy and the Competence Hub, were created in 2019 and, as a young structure, we were facing different challenges regarding our content and the funnel model:

• User Journeys from WebTV videos to online courses are disrupted and inconsistent (the WebTV was hosted in a playlist on YouTube, "hidden" in the rest of EIT Urban Mobility content, while the courses are hosted on different platforms: Coursera, Moodle, Future Learn, WordPress)
• Lack of reporting and visibility on performance (we were not tracking anything before, just sharing our content from time to time via EIT Urban Mobility social media (LinkedIn and Twitter mostly)
• At the moment there is no specific platform to host all videos. The videos are "hidden" in a playlist in the EIT Urban Mobility YouTube Channel, but there might be in the future, as this is an option that we had mentioned when we stared our conversation with the potential marketing agencies. We were open to that open if the digital marketing agency we would work with would recommend it to reach our objectives in terms of viewers and learners (make the funnel model work).

Passion Digital worked on different tasks:

• Understanding the market (where the search volume is, what conversations are happening (and where) around the topic of urban mobility
• Establishing a Marketing Strategy (Organic and Paid) on the basis of this research, focusing on the WebTV videos
• Optimising the Competence Hub webpage and video content (YouTube) for SEO and UX
• Growing our reach by organic social media (LinkedIn and Twitter) and paid media (YouTube)

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

We were looking for a digital marketing agency that could help us with these challenges: After reviewing 4 different agencies, we decided to go for Passion Digital, because:

• - their proposal was very realistic
• - their understood quickly the complexity of our organisation and its challenges - they seemed to be flexible and willing to help
• - they seemed really passionate about what they do

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

1. Research and Strategy: Keyword research, social listening, channel strategy (until August)

2. Establish our brand: content optimisation and YouTube optimisation (Summer 2021)

3. Growing our reach: organic social media strategy (from September 2021 to December 2021) and paid media strategy (from end of October 2021, delayed because of some EIT Urban Mobility internal difficulties)

4. UX Testing and Proposal (Passion Digital worked in October on the UX of the Competence Hub Webpage, to try to simplify the user journey from the videos to the courses. We had a workshop with Passion Digital, as well as a call where Passion Digital presented the results of the User Testing work they have been doing.

5. Measurement: we had a weekly meeting with Freddie and Rosie (usually) to discuss the latest news regarding the Paid and Organic Campaign, sharing ideas, feedbacks or trying to solve any issue linked to the complexity of our organisation (permission of access, etc.),

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

In total, the Academy Competence Hub team worked with 6 people from Passion Digital, including:

• Joint Managing Director
• Managing Partner, Insight and Strategy
• Content Marketing Manager
• PPC Executive
• UX/UI Designer
• Head of PPC

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

We definitely upgraded our WebTV in terms of visual coherence and promotion. In terms of visual coherence, our WebTV was not visually attractive. Passion Digital allowed us to understand the kind of title, thumbnail, description and tags we should put on our videos for them to better perform organically. From the moment we implemented Passion Digital's suggestions in terms of SEO, we directly saw a difference in terms of views in our videos.

The UX Testing and Design work of Passion Digital, allowed us to have a good overview of what needed to be done for the user journey via our website to the courses to be more simple. The fact that several candidates had the opportunity to test the two designs proposed by Passion Digital also gave us a good overview of what the user/potential likes and what could be implemented in the future to make the funnel model work.

The work of Passion Digital allowed us to propose more efficient and catchy LinkedIn and Twitter post copies for our content to the Communication Department of EIT Urban Mobility. As this department is usually overwhelmed with work, we decided to facilitate their work and to directly send them suggestions of texts to share our content. Passion Digital successfully helped us with this, and we saw an increase in likes and comments in these posts (impossible to measure though, as I do not have access to the LinkedIn and Twitter accounts of EIT Urban Mobility). 

Finally, we were very impressed by the results of the paid YouTube campaign of Passion Digital, running several of our WebTV videos and linking each video to a course, to try to make the funnel model work. We started with the paid campaign at the end of October and by the 19th of December 2021 we had for our WebTV videos :

• 13 videos promoted (In-Stream Ads and Video Discovery Ads)
• + more than 3 million impressions
• + almost 676,000 views (video rate of 22.03%)
• + 6,525 clicks to course pages, though we have not noted any increase in of registration and completion to our online courses. Does that mean that the funnel is not the right approach to promote our content (paid and free)? This is something we will have to discuss with Passion Digital.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I liked the weekly meetings we had every week with Passion Digital. They were usually very short, but something necessary to keep in touch and know how things are going. They made us feel reassured during the whole work we did together. 

We can not talk about our workflow with Passion Digital without mentioning the several challenges they had to face while setting up the whole Paid Campaign Strategy. Having access to Google Analytics, having Google Tag Manager settled up, etc. these processes took months because of our own internal restrictions and definitely disrupted Passion Digital's workflow.

They also had to run organic and paid media campaigns without being allowed to have access to our social media accounts. They run these campaigns blindfold the entire time but tried to continuously help us in a very constructive and comprehensive way. Regarding the circumstances, they did an amazing job. 

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

Passion Digital was a group of very passionate professionals, and we felt their dedication at any stage of their work. I really appreciated their patience, their flexibility and, above all, their pedagogical skills; they were always ready to have extraordinary meetings to explain anything remaining unclear to me or the rest of the Competence Hub team in complete transparency.

This way of working was very much appreciated. They were also very responsive and always happy to help.

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

The only thing I am thinking about is that it would have been nice to have an overview of all the people from Passion Digital that will work with us before the beginning of the project (presentation and role in the project for each person). I think it would have helped us to understand even better the work they were planning to do and the process itself. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and director of an online property directory based in the UK. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Passion Digital Ltd.?

We hired Passion Digital Ltd. to improve our online image and presence.  

What was the scope of their involvement?

Passion Digital Ltd. offered us digital marketing services. They started with a fact-finding mission — they did some research on our competitors and user analysis for our product. They then developed a digital marketing strategy for our company to lay out how we’d move forward once our platform launched. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with 3–5 teammates throughout the project, including Cecilia (Joint Managing Director, New Business and Marketing) and Rosie (Managing Partner, Insight and Strategy). 

How did you come to work with Passion Digital Ltd.?

We didn’t have much background knowledge in marketing, so we reached out to a few companies for assistance. Eventually, we hired Passion Digital Ltd. because they shared our vision, understood our needs, and communicated well. Their team had a very positive attitude. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested £5,000–£10,000 (approximately $6,600–$13,200 USD) with Passion Digital Ltd.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Passion Digital Ltd. in June 2021 and our partnership is ongoing. 

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

The work Passion Digital Ltd. completed has fundamentally changed how we approach our businesses. We now have clear, direct research and information to guide us through the next step of business growth. 

Had we not gotten this information or had it explained as clearly as it was, our business wouldn’t be improving as much as it is. We plan to work with Passion Digital Ltd. for a long time. 

How did Passion Digital Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

Passion Digital Ltd.’s team was very experienced and communicated well. I’m not very technologically savvy, but they could translate technical jargon into something I could understand. Passion Digital Ltd. met deadlines and followed through on their promises. They found the perfect balance between providing us with as much information as needed while still staying within our budget. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Passion Digital Ltd. was very approachable; in every meeting, each teammate from Passion Digital Ltd. brought their skill to the table and contributed to a quality final result. They took us seriously and made us feel very important. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything for them to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Customers need to be open and honest with Passion Digital Ltd. about what they want. It can be difficult going into the digital marketing world without any experience, but Passion Digital Ltd. is understanding and will guide customers through the process. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director for a manufacturer and retailer of high-end luxury kitchen cabinets and bedroom cabinets.

What challenge were you trying to address with Passion Digital Ltd.?

Our company worked with other SEO providers before, and we were very dissatisfied with our results. As a result, we were interested to work with a firm that could elevate our rankings on Google. We then reached out to Passion Digital to help us with our digital presence, specifically on driving our SEO efforts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a new website that had gone live at the end of 2019. However, the amount of visitors we were getting decreased just as the new website was launched. It was clear that something in the migration didn’t go according to plan, so we were looking to try and recover our visitors per month. Along with that, we were looking forward to increasing our conversions through effectively raising the number of our inquiries and driving visits to our showrooms.

Passion Digital started with an audit of our site. After that, they presented our issues and challenges as well as suggestions on what they could do. Then, their work centered around keyword strategy. We had a fairly lax keyword strategy before, so the team had a lot of keywords to use as a starting point in improving our rankings on Google. They also concentrated on our blog and journal activities so that we could put out good content, which would be an additional key driver of our traffic. Their work has expanded, and they’ve started to manage our outreach and PPC programs.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with 4–5 people from Passion Digital, including their global account director who oversees the whole project. 

How did you come to work with Passion Digital Ltd.?

We came across Passion Digital through various marketing channels. Our content marketing executive researched 2–3 providers aside from Passion Digital, and they all did a pitch effectively. What we liked about Passion Digital was the fact that they weren’t prescriptive in the way that everybody else was. We wanted a bespoke solution — we didn’t want standard SEO work. 

The team took the time to understand our business competitive landscape, and they examined our rankings in various areas to come up with keyword opportunities that weren’t random longtail derivatives. They came up with genuine proper keywords that were relevant and something that perfectly fit into our brand. On top of that, they showed examples of how they would operate.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent £80,000 (approximately $110,000 USD). In the first year of our partnership, we've spent £60,000 (approximately $83,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in July 2020, and we continue to work with them.

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

We’ve been looking at our visibility versus our competition, and we’ve done very well compared to other companies. In fact, we’re only chasing one company at the moment. Their excellent site traffic and SEO support as well as their understanding of how those metrics complement what we’re doing on our social media have helped us achieve our goals.

Overall, we’ve been truly impressed with the improvements they’ve made as well as the results of their work. As a result, we’ve recommended them to another company.

How did Passion Digital Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

They report to us every month and that coincides with our management meetings. Outside of that, we have weekly calls, and they’re mostly in touch with our head of marketing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like the fact that their global account director joins us for meetings, and she makes herself available all the time. Having contact with a senior person like her has secured our engagement’s continuity, especially when there are frequent staff changes. Their global account director has also helped us in our transition and has been instrumental in developing our plan and understanding our brand.

With other companies, that position just tends to be involved in pitching and planning while the firm is left with account managers, hoping that people are executing the project well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As a company, we want them to start acting on deliverables fairly quickly. However, we know that it’s difficult to write good content without fully understanding our brand. As a result, Passion Digital has taken some time to adapt to our tone and content because they’ve been implementing while learning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be completely honest about your challenges because if Passion Digital is aware of your strength and weaknesses, they’d be able to help you more. In addition, be as open as possible during the discovery phase so that things can quickly happen after that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the digital marketing manager at The Thinking Traveller. We're a luxury villa travel company, specializing in high-end luxury villas in the Mediterranean. My role there is to look after all of our digital marketing channels, and take users from discovery through to the website to try and convert as many of them as possible. 

That's broadly my role at The Thinking Traveller. At the moment, we are in most of the Greek islands, Trulia, Sicily, and Italy, Corsica, which is a French island on the South Coast, and Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands in Spain.

What challenge were you trying to address with Passion Digital?

I think we've always valued the opportunity that organic search offers, and we were also acutely aware that there's only so much that technical optimization can do when you're trying to target search volume. Passion Digital Ltd. offers a really great mix of technical SEO and content creation, and some of the team members have a great background in travel content creation.

Our real target and the original brief when we spoke to Passion, was around trying to make sure that we can create as much quality content that can target high search volume keywords, and drive as much qualified traffic as we possibly could — that's what we've been working towards over the last eight months with Passion.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The way that we work together is that essentially, search volume dictates the content plan throughout the year. Passion would then map out when and in what countries specific keywords are driving the highest volumes. For example, if luxury villa Sicily trends in July in particular, and in some of our key markets, Passion would then look to create content that targets those keywords. Some of my favorite pieces of content that they've created so far are looking at multi-destination travels. 

We’re obviously in multiple locations or destinations, and creating content that targets two or more destinations means that we can capture search volume for both when it comes to search. I think Greek versus Italian food, the battle of the banquets, is really already a very good performing piece of content for us. 

More recently, there's maybe more topical content, like how The Thinking Traveller is simplifying international travel during COVID-19, which, obviously, is probably the thing that people are searching for the most at the moment. They’re also asking questions such as; can I travel to the country that I want to go on holiday or will my country allow me back in when I return? 

We’re really trying to capture the most at the moment, but also sort of make sure that we're best placed with really interesting and thoughtful content.

What is the team composition?

On the technical side, we work specifically with one SEO manager, but she works alongside the SEO director. I'd say, off the top of my head, it's either two or three team members working on the technical SEO — on the content side of things, we have three team members who help us there as well.

How did you come to work with Passion Digital?

I think I discovered Passion initially through an agency comparison site while looking at the best SEO and content agencies in London. It's always a good sign when an SEO agency is top ranking when you search for that term. Clearly, they know how to optimize for a term that helps them — I also found them then through a specific sort of comparison site.

After that, I went and did a little bit of research through LinkedIn, spoke to some contacts who have used Passion in the past, and found that they had nothing but good things to say.

How much have you invested with them?

It would be in the region of about £50,000 GBP (approximately $69,300 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together right at the end of November 2020. We didn't actually start working together until December, but I think the contract was signed in November 2020 — the partnership is still ongoing.

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

I think to be able to share uplift and performance would be a little bit unfair on them, because they've done quite a lot of work to help us create the platform that enables us to post and share new content. Passion spent a lot of time helping us when we didn't really have much creative content. 

Having said that, I was just looking at the organic traffic this morning. This month is about 75% higher than it was this time last year. Obviously, it's a bit of a difficult time to compare year on year given last year's situation, but we have steadily seen organic traffic. Over the course of the year, we've seen the gap between the 2019 search volume, and traffic to the website as well as current performance shrink. By that, I mean that we started the year quite significantly behind 2019’s organic traffic. 

The month-on-month performance data is showing that we're in a place now where we're much closer to 2019 performance than we were. I'd say, as a rough guide, we started the year at 70% down in 2019, and we've gotten to the point now where we're around 25% behind — much of that I would attribute to Passion.

How did Passion Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

No complaints on that side. I think their style is very much to feel like an extended part of the team. By choice, we have fortnightly catch-ups with them on the phone, but they're open to having weekly or monthly calls to catch up on project status. In terms of communication, at the end of an email, they're always available for a phone call — they really do feel like an extension of the internal team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really spent the time to understand the company when we first began working together. I've worked with a couple of SEO agencies over the last sort of eight or nine years, and a lot of the time, they're very numbers-focused, which you would expect — the numbers dictate the content. 

I think because Passion spent so long and put so much time and effort into understanding the business, the tone of voice, and our position in the market, they've provided a unique ability to marry a numbers-focused strategy with a content plan. It’s very much in tune with what we want, and it’s the kind of flavor we would expect — I personally haven't experienced that with another organic search agency.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be honest, I think it's probably too early to give an answer to that one. I've been pretty impressed with them so far, so I'm sure at some point, something will pop up — but 8–9 months in, I'm struggling to think of something that I would push hard to improve at this point.

Any advice for potential customers?

Treat them as part of your team. It's kind of gut instinct when you're working with an agency. When you're typically working with an agency, you're always trying to get the best bang for your buck. I think with Passion, what I've experienced is that treating them like team members have really resulted in this great sort of cross-pollination of ideas. 

I might be misinterpreting, but as far as I'm concerned, I feel like they're willing to go the extra mile, and I think that's a result of the relationship that we have with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business operations manager of a biotech company; I take care of all the outsourcing relations of our business.

What challenge were you trying to address with Passion Digital Ltd.?

We were about to launch a product, but we didn’t have a marketing team to advertise it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Passion Digital Ltd. offered us a six-month launch package. That involves all the setup, research about target users, and marketing persona. Additionally, they do all the social media paid advertising with a paid blog that we’ll post on our website.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with around five people, including a project manager. Most of them come in and out depending on the project requirements at any given time.

How did you come to work with Passion Digital Ltd.?

I found them on Google. We talked to different agencies, but we chose them because we noticed that they were used to working with small teams — not everyone can understand startups. They looked flexible, open, and willing to work on a tight budget.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around £30,000 (approximately $41,300 USD) with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since April 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We’re starting to notice a lot of sales and brand awareness responses, even with a small budget — the project is definitely going well. 

How did Passion Digital Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager is good and responds on time whenever we need technical assistance. We have constant update and report calls, and they also helped us set up a marketing dashboard to check social media expenditures and sales and download numbers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re flexible and understanding of our needs. They agreed on doing extra work for us that wasn’t in the project’s scope, but they’re willing to help us just for cooperation’s sake. We don’t feel the barrier of an agency — they feel like an extended team of our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a minor setback with a delayed response time from them, but we talked about it, and they were able to take the feedback.

Any advice for potential customers?

Get them involved in the project and consider them part of your team — they provide information and are willing to commit.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing lead at Stashbee, a storage and parking space provider.

What challenge were you trying to address with Passion Digital Ltd.?

We needed their team to support our lead generation efforts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When I first started in our company, one of the main issues that I identified was our lack of attempts at driving organic site traffic. I’ve then thought of contacting an agency that can handle our digital marketing pipeline to help us flesh out better results. Passion Digital Ltd.’s team initially helped us optimize our website structure — we had to make sure that we had the right metadata and our database was clean, so they could proceed with supporting our digital marketing needs.

At present, Passion Digital Ltd. generates SEO-friendly site content and structures our product descriptions and pages to optimize our brand message. They also manage our Google Analytics, so we’re updated regularly with our site traffic and customer statistics. On top of those marketing efforts, Passion Digital Ltd. is currently building a backlink to help us optimize our overall domain authority.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Alex (Head of SEO, Content Marketing & Tech Operations).

How did you come to work with Passion Digital Ltd.?

When we pitched this project to our company, we already reached out to four potential agencies to hire, including Passion Digital Ltd. After the vetting process, we realized that they were the right fit for us because of their thorough and collaborative approach. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have a monthly contract that amounts to £7,425 (approximately $10,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off the engagement in September 2020, and it’s ongoing.

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

Our main success metrics for Passion Digital Ltd.’s work include site traffic and engagement and the monthly deliverables they meet. While our partnership is ongoing and there are no quantifiable results yet, I can guarantee that their team strives to meet both our needs and their promises. We have a list of our monthly requirements for their team, and they’ve provided all of those so far.

How did Passion Digital Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly meetings with Passion Digital Ltd. to discuss the flow of the project and take a look at where we’re at in terms of our projections. They’re definitely on top of their project management game. We appreciate their team’s thorough and collaborative approach in tackling the entire project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Passion Digital Ltd. is evidently passionate about our product and being able to accomplish each deliverable they have. Additionally, they’re always prepared to bring innovative ideas to the table — this level of proactiveness assures us that their team truly cares about our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We can benefit from a more transparent and dynamic brainstorming process. They’re doing well on their own, but we’ll definitely appreciate it if we’re more involved in this phase as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear in identifying the problems and needs of your business, and their team will reward you with the right solutions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of social media at a real estate consultancy. We handle sales and rentals of residential and commercial properties.

What challenge were you trying to address with Passion Digital Ltd.?

We needed help with managing paid ads on social media.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Passion is helping us improve our brand awareness across different global markets and within the UK. The goal is to boost inquiries and convert them into sales so we could generate more income. To do this, they manage our paid advertising across various social media platforms. Recently they’ve started using technology that allows us to automate our ads.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with three teammates, including Alex (Head of Paid Social), Helen (Finance & Operations Director), and an account manager. We’ve also worked with Katie (Head of Experience) at some point.

How did you come to work with Passion Digital Ltd.?

Our company was already working with Passion when I started, so that was how I was introduced to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $130,000–$140,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in November 2016, and it’s ongoing.

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

Thanks to Passion, we’ve definitely made considerable improvements to the technology we’re using. As a result, we’ve automated our ad efforts and saved a lot of time.

How did Passion Digital Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

There’s definitely room for improvement. Passion offers a good amount of reports and analytics, but they could be more proactive and find new ways of communicating with us. For example, whenever there’s a new teammate on board, they have trouble with presenting because we’re essentially new clients to them, and they don’t necessarily understand our business. However, I believe that they’ll improve over time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Passion is very transparent and honest. Additionally, the team is very agile and cost-efficient — they provide a significant amount of value for the price.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could think outside the box more and make bold suggestions while also understanding our limitations. However, we have a pretty solid relationship overall.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask lots of questions and trust their expertise. I recommend them.