Wise Counsel & Practitioners on All-Things-Digital
OUR SERVICES
Digital Marketing Strategy, Paid Search on Google/Yahoo/Bing, Social Advertising (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.), Retargeting Marketing, Ad Creative (text, image, motion, video), Websites (Design, Testing and Development, Web Analytics and Conversion Tracking
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We take an analytics-based approach to digital execution and are known for producing relevant brand experiences while also delivering the evidence to back up our successes. Our results-proven mix of cross-channel marketing, audience-centric creative, and data-backed strategies focused on engagement will present new opportunities well beyond the traditional days of impressions-driven programmatic and mass media buys.
HOW WE WORK
Most firms are virtual factories, where managers juggle dozens of accounts every day. This is a lose-lose situation. You're not happy in the end, and we don't have a relationship we're proud to stand by.
Each strategist is assigned a small handful of our account load, becoming an expert in every aspect of your business, and market movements. The work we do is labor-intensive, communication-intensive, and incredibly dynamic. Overloading our teams would make success impossible.
Preserving this service model requires us to be pragmatic in choosing client partners. We will objectively analyze your business, goals, and budget well before we negotiate terms. If we determine we can’t bring value to your or our methodology isn’t a good fit, we'll be honest. Consequently, should you choose us as your digital partner, you can be confident in our ability to deliver the results we promise.
1 Language
- English
1 Timezone
- EST

headquarters
other locations
PPC & Ad Management Services for Plastic Molding Company
the project
"The entire team is educated on what's new in terms of search platforms."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the marketing manager of a local plastic molding company
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing, and what were your goals?
We hired the PBJ team to help manage our PPC campaigns for Google, bing and LinkedIn as well.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
We hired them directly. Also, referral by a previous client who worked with them was a deciding factor.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
They managed all of the strategy, execution and reporting on our Google, Microsoft and LinkedIn ads as well.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
I have worked with an account manager and 2 PPC consultants.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
Since launching the campaigns a few months ago, we have seen great success so far. For some weird reason, LinkedIn ads are outperforming other platforms and we are getting way more genuine enquiries from LinkedIn campaigns. Honestly, I don’t know the reason. Anyways, I'm looking forward to the future success we see as a result of this transition.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
Skye and zoom used for communication. We also use to have a bi-weekly group calls as well.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Their customer service and attention to details is top notch. They will reply back to you within a few hours if you have any enquiries. The entire team is educated on what's new in terms of search platforms like Google's algorithm changes, privacy updates changing data capture, etc… and they inform you on how to be the best you can be.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
I have not found any downsides. You have to be ready to make the investment in your business and know the results may take some time, but you will see the payoff.
Focus
Portfolio
Bayer, Chegg, Yale Medicine, Zappos, W Hotel, CallTrackingMetrics, University of Maryland, Volkswagen, Foremost Medical Equipment, National Education Association, Urban Libraries Council, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Arcus Foundation, American Security Project, and many more.

E-commerce Marketing for Online Store
Background:
FactoryPure is an e-commerce retailer brand providing home improvement and power equipment tools. They realized their previous agency wasn’t utilizing their budget efficiently and they were losing out on sales. Our focus has been to optimize their top sellers, Generators, which account for more than half of their revenue. While continuing to improve sales of other product types as well.
Our Tactics:
Google Shopping
We gave a major overhaul to their shopping campaign structure. In their older campaigns, products were segmented by profit margin which made it difficult to identify which products are tucked under each campaign. We segmented all their products by Product Type, assigning dedicated daily budget depending on seasonality and demand. This also allowed for better reporting data and more efficient access to products for bid adjustments.
Google Search
Introduced campaigns that bid on high intent keywords such as brand + model # combinations of top sellers such as generators. We also introduced automated campaigns such as Dynamic Search Ads to automatically run ads for Generators depending on the search term.

PPC Management for Professional Services Firm
KANTOLA TRAINING SOLUTIONS
Background
Kantola specializes in workplace harassment training that can be delivered to customers quickly and affordable in a format that helps them easily meet their training needs. They were managing their digital marketing channels internally but realized they needed experts to take their efforts to the next level
Key Performance Indicators
The biggest challenge Kantola faced was receiving very few leads as a whole from previous PPC efforts, with a high percentage of leads coming from smaller organizations. We were tasked with increasing overall lead volume and increasing leads from larger organizations while driving that volume at an effective rate
Paid Media Strategy
- We restructured the paid search campaigns to allow us to bid at the search term level and identify the best performing themes for the business.
- We then created automated rules to ensure the best keywords and search terms gained the most possible exposure, allowing them to generate as many leads as possible without exceeding the target CPL.
- These efforts resulted in 6 consecutive months of increased leads while staying within their target CPL threshold
Brand Awareness Strategy
- Before partnering with PBJ, Kantola did not utilize any brand awareness tactics. We helped Kantola increase their reach by utilizing Google display, Facebook, and LinkedIn advertising.
- These channels allowed us to reach their target audience on multiple platforms. By increasing quality site traffic, we saw a 12% increase in sessions and a 13% increase

PPC & SEO for a FinTech Company
Background:
- MPOWER Financing is a leading provider of student loans for international and DACA students without cosigners or credit history.
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Challenges:
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Increase brand awareness amongst non-US born students.
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Increase application volume for international students who are currently studying in the United States
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Our Strategy:
- Google
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Leverage custom intent audiences and google in-marketing audiences to increase brand awareness using Gmail and display campaigns
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Geocentric campaigns to speak to their global audience in ways that are unique to each segment.
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Facebook
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Implemented radius targeting for all of the universities MPOWER partners with to serve targeted messages to students who are currently enrolled in universities.
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Created lookalike audiences based on past converters to target prospects with similar qualities and behavioral patterns.
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Introduced Gmail Sponsored promotions to effectively reengage with prospects who have not progressed through the marketing funnel
Results:
- Exceeded 2019 digital marketing goals by 344%, spearheading an overall increase of 146% in revenue
- Decreased FB cost per application by 60% YoY
- Increased leads for remarketing campaigns by 750% YoY

PPC & SEO for Healthcare Organization
YALE MEDICINE
https://pbjmarketing.com/our-clients/success-stories/yalemedicine-com/
BACKGROUND
Yale Medicine is the clinical practice of the Yale School of Medicine. They are the largest academic multi-specialty practice in New England. For our first engagement with Yale Med, we focused on their Fertility Clinic which was no where to be found in Search results and was seeing a steady decline in website traffic.
OUR TACTICS
Facebook Targeting
People with interest in parental magazine, reproductive health, reproductive medicine, pregnancy, fertility, adoption, LGBTQ adoption, LGBTQ couples, and other similar options.
Google Search Targeting
High volume as well as relevant keywords such as ivf, male fertility, fertility centers, AMH test, female fertility, Yale fertility, egg donation, fertility doctors etc.
OUR STRATEGY
Facebook: Brand Awareness Campaign
Facebook offers a variety of granular targeting which enables to get to individuals from different interest groups, communities, backgrounds etc. We wanted to utilize different images for different audience groups that way the ads are all the more relevant to the target audience. This also ensures we are maximizing the impact of our ads.
Google Search: Brand Awareness Campaign
Here we are relying on our target audience to search for keywords that most pertain to our content which will trigger our ads on Google’s search result page. So key strategy is to think like our audience would think when searching for a Fertility center and bid on those keywords to target them.

PPC & SEO for Enterprise Industrial B2B Supplier
Our Strategy Approach:
Top of the funnel: Enhanced targeting paired with optimized bid strategy to maximize reach, improve conversions, while controlling costs.
Bottom of the funnel: Set-up call tracking to gauge the lead quality and identify potential opportunities in the top of the funnel strategy that can be improved to pass on better leads down the funnel.
Recent Achievements
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Improved and accurate conversion tracking
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Previous agency was using page views as conversions, we updated conversion tracking to count form submissions and implemented a call tracking service so we can best account for our contributions to the business.
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Comparing our first year to the most recent year (2016 vs 2018)
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Conversions grew 4.2x from 226 to 1,125 (Google Ads only, not including bing)
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Reduced CPA by 40% from $123.75 to $73.29
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Cost up 2.5x from $33k to $83.6k
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2017 was the best year for business ever and 2018 went on to top that.
How We Did It:
Google Ads: Search & Display
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Analyzed search terms to identify new targeting as well as refine existing which helped filter quality leads. Optimized bid strategy to secure high-ranking ad position along with a target CPA. Together, resulted in increased conversions by 4.2 times.
Bing: Search & Display
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Perfected Google Ads strategy first to eventually mimic the same in Bing and tap into similar audiences.

Digital Marketing for Major University
When Programmatic Becomes Problematic
A leader in entrepreneurship graduate studies, the University of Maryland hired two well-known programmatic marketing agencies to promote its Master’s of Technology Entrepreneurship degree program through a programmatic advertising campaign based on target demographics. Their campaign spent $25,000 over the course of 3-months and generated 21 leads at Cost Per Lead of $1,190. This, UMD was told, was good. UMD engaged PBJ Marketing for a second opinion.
After an extensive account audit, we were surprised by what we uncovered. Programmatic, while potentially very effective, was over-sold, mismanaged, and became problematic. The biggest culprit to blowing the client’s budget? Improper lead tracking installed and a mobile apps ad campaign resulted in a 98% bounce rate and an average session duration of 5 seconds. We reported our findings and were given 30 days to prove we could do better.
PBJ’s Strategy
Right out the gate, we paused all previous efforts and began building new campaigns from scratch. In just 15-days, our assumptions were proved correct PBJ’s digital marketing team spent just $4,999 on Facebook alone driving 91 leads at a Cost Per Lead of just $54.00. With one impressed client and a new 12-month contract in hand, we laid out a new plan of attack.
Our custom strategy, supported by proper research and analytics, focused on running Web Conversion and Lead Generations Campaigns. We isolated each by various, well-thought-out targeting methods. In addition, we optimized post conversions by syncing all Facebook leads and website conversions into Active Campaign, a newly implemented email automation and CRM platform much more powerful than what the client was previously using. This allowed us to back into true ROI metrics and focus on the best Facebook targeting methods and creativity that drive the most enrolled, paying students at a more efficient CPA.

Digital Marketing for Elite Hospital Chain
BACKGROUND
Yale Medicine is the clinical practice of the Yale School of Medicine. They are the largest academic multi-specialty practice in New England. For our first engagement with Yale Med, we focused on their Fertility Clinic which was no where to be found in Search results and was seeing a steady decline in website traffic.
OUR TACTICS
Facebook Targeting
People with interest in parental magazine, reproductive health, reproductive medicine, pregnancy, fertility, adoption, LGBTQ adoption, LGBTQ couples, and other similar options.
Google Search Targeting
High volume as well as relevant keywords such as ivf, male fertility, fertility centers, AMH test, female fertility, Yale fertility, egg donation, fertility doctors etc.
OUR STRATEGY
Facebook: Brand Awareness Campaign
Facebook offers a variety of granular targeting which enables to get to individuals from different interest groups, communities, backgrounds etc. We wanted to utilize different images for different audience groups that way the ads are all the more relevant to the target audience. This also ensures we are maximizing the impact of our ads.
Google Search: Brand Awareness Campaign
Here we are relying on our target audience to search for keywords that most pertain to our content which will trigger our ads on Google’s search result page. So key strategy is to think like our audience would think when searching for a Fertility center and bid on those keywords to target them.

Social Media Marketing for Major Hospital Chain
BACKGROUND
MedStar Health hosts one of the world’s leading interventional cardiology conferences, CRT, which is attended by more than 3,000 interventional and endovascular specialists yearly. They came to us looking to set up a strong social presence to inform their audience about the upcoming CRT conference, as well as provide our audience with the latest news in interventional cardiology.
OUR STRATEGY
We first took a deep dive into their current social media accounts to investigate their low engagement. We discovered that an old agency had run non-targeted ad campaigns to help pad their follower statistics month over month. This led to CRT having a social following made up of an audience uninterested in their topic matter. Thus, we began working to help improve this audience problem by creating brand awareness campaigns that targeted our exact market and informed them about CRT. We also used a highly targeted boosting campaign for organic posts to ensure our social posts were seen by our intended audience, which is very niche.
Additionally, we set up a well-rounded content calendar to make sure social content was being shared regularly. Our social content played two main roles. One, inform our audience about all CRT announcements, create excitement around the event, and drive registration. Two, share the most recent interventional cardiology news and videos of key thought leaders in the field with our audience.
BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT
We saw a dramatic increase in social activity that pinnacled at the conference as people talked about and shared their experiences while they were there. We had been able to transform our social channels from largely inactive, to a hub of engagement and conversation. See examples below.
Reviews
the project
Digital Marketing Services for Branding & Design Agency
"Everyone we've worked with has been highly knowledgeable, friendly, and effective in their role."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am a co-founder and the CEO of a branding and design agency called Suits & Sandals. We work primarily with mid-market to large businesses in a variety of industries across both B2C and B2B sectors, with a strong focus on supporting tech companies (including well-funded tech startups) and businesses in life sciences.
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing, and what were your goals?
As an agency that primarily focuses on communications consulting, brand creative, and UX/UI design, we had a hard time supporting clients for digital marketing services like SEO and pay per click advertising. It was a service we offer, but not a main focus for us as we don't have the capacity to manage multiple digital marketing relationships on top of our primary lines of business.
We were looking for an agency partner that can provide complementary services in digital marketing to helps us extend our service offerings to our clients while allowing us the internal capacity to focus on our creative projects.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
After connecting with PBJ, we immediately felt like they were a good fit for a long term relationship with our company. This was due largely to their methodologies sharing a lot of commonality with our own workflow. They take the time to do research and have a very data-driven, strategic approach–which is exactly how we work as well. They are very collaborative and easy to work with, and are super responsive in communication. All of these factors are extremely important, especially when it comes to sharing their reporting with our clients.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.
Scope of work depends on the client, their budget, and their goals. Most of the time, PBJ manages multiple PPC campaigns across search and social channels and provide monthly reporting on budget allocation and conversion metrics as well as details on strategic shifts and experimentation they are implementing based on the data.
In other cases, PBJ also manages both on-site and off-site SEO as well as organic social community development. For SEO work, they will optimize website content as well as provide us with recommendations for SEO improvements we can make while designing and building a website.
How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
We work directly with agency leadership at PBJ to coordinate on business development, co-pitches, etc. We will also work with a project manager, as well as directly with team members on the SEO and PPC management teams.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
PBJ's deliverables are typically reporting on campaign management. We've found that, in pretty much all cases, their digital marketing strategies result in incredibly efficient return on ad spend. As an example, for one of our longest standing PPC client relationships, PBJ was able to improve conversion rate from a monthly avg of under 2% to over 5% while simultaneously reducing cost per conversion from over $150 to under $80.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
Extremely effective. Their processes are very complementary to ours. Everyone we've worked with has been highly knowledgeable, friendly, and effective in their role.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Their results. They tailor their approach to each client, and continuously monitor and adjust their strategies over time. The longer they are involved in managing a client's digital marketing campaigns on our behalf, the better the results seem to get.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Nothing I can think of. We've always been super pleased with their work and are always looking for further opportunities to work together again.
the project
Website Dev & Digital Marketing for Antique Retail Store
"They moved fast but efficiently and effectively."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the owner of an antique, vintage, and consignment retail store that also has an e-commerce website called Cottage + Crane
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing, and what were your goals?
Our brand has been around for a couple of years, but only as vendor booths in other stores. It was time for us to take our business to the next level and establish our own, independent brand and retail store.
We did not have a website, social media presence, or a marketing plan. We only had our local brand awareness and past customers. We hired PBJ to create us a website, build our social media brand/presence, and launch a local/regional digital marketing campaign upon our store launch.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
PBJ was referred to us by a friend and fellow business owner. They have done their marketing for the past 3 years and had nothing but good things to say. Having spoken to two other agencies, they immediately impressed us in the first conversation.
We spoke with the owner of the company, not a sales person. He was very pleasant to speak with, very knowledgable, and answered all our questions (which were a lot!). We did not feel like we were being "sold" on anything. In fact, I was surprised with how candid and honest he was... telling us what he thinks we should do, how best to invest our budget out the gate, and what services not to invest in with any agency at this time. We asked for a proposal and that was the biggest deciding factor for us.
After taking a few days to do some research, they put together what was clearly a custom and very thoughtful proposal with a real strategy. It was as if they were already hired! No other agency provide so much actual insights and next steps/action items that were clearly specific to just our business and not some templated response.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.
First, we had a kickoff and discovery call. We met the team that would be our dedicated project and marketing managers. They walked through what to expect in onboarding and set goals/expectations and all the logistical stuff. Then we had a deep dive Q&A where they asked us a lot of questions about our business, our competitors, who want to be.
They shared with us design samples and other websites and "mood boards" to get a sense of what type of website design we were after. It was very thorough. They were able to get a very good website up and running very quickly, with the expectation that it woudl grow and evolve and that we just needed something quick to start with.
They then took some time to come back with some recommendations on a starting budget and some ad samples and messaging samples. Once those were approved, they immediately began setting up and building out our social media profiles and posting and boosting, ads too. I was surprised at how fast they moved, but it was not a chaotic or sloppy quickness. It was very efficient and the end result was a very successful launch.
How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
The team is rather big considering I know our budget isn't their biggest. We have a dedicated account/project manager, a social media manager, a website developer, an SEO manager, and a PPC manager. We mostly speak with the account manager, and the others join meetings when we need to discuss things relevant to their role.
The owner of the company that we originally spoke with was also with us the whole time up, even during kickoff/onboarding, up until the first status meeting. So that was impressive. It really helped create a smooth transition and we didn't waste time repeating what we had already talked about.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
The website was up and running in less than a month, which was our goal because we had a grand opening of the store. Its a great site and is an ongoing work in progress as we grow. We'll soon start offering online sales.
Our social media following immediately started growing and we have a lot of followers and great engagement considering we are a local brick and mortar store only. The grand opening of the store was a huge success. People kept coming into the store saying they saw us on social media and had to check us out!
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
The onboarding was smoother than expected. They moved fast but efficient and effectively. We met a lot in the beginning, as much as we needed to. Once we felt like we were in a good spot and fully kicked off, we switched to biweekly meetings and end of week emails.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
I'm very impressed with how quickly they got integrated with our industry and our company and just really took the time to know us. They're not a typical service vendor trying to upsell us. They're honest, conservative in what they recommend, very data orientated, very research orientated. All of that really shows in their recommendations and the success of their marketing. Most importantly, we trust them!
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Not really. The impressed and over delivered really on all fronts. There's a lot we didn't and still don't understand about digital marketing but they're good at breaking it all down for us.
the project
Digital Marketing Services for Digital Agency
"They really know what they're doing."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Digital Marketing- CEO
For what projects/services did your company hire ?
Needed digital marketing help to get the word out about my business
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
PBJ listened to my marketing goals and created a personalized strategy to help my business achieve it's marketing goals. They also were very helpful with any questions that I asked, and were completely transparent which helped me build trust in them fast.
Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.
I work with multiple clients who all need digital marketing services. PBJ helps me handle all of them. From SEO, Paid Media, Organic Social, Website Development, and more. They've been able to help me in so many areas.
How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
I have worked with 5 people on their team. Each with different specialties. I love that if I have a specific question in one area, they always have an expert there I can talk to!
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
They exceeded my expectations. Business took off once I started working with them. My clients received a noticeable amount more in bound leads now.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
They are incredible at this. They keep me updated through the whole process and take the work off my plate
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
They really know what they're doing. I've had bad experiences with other agencies in the past, and I can honesty say that it doesn't get any better than PBJ.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
None!
the project
Various Online Marketing Services for Manufacturing Company
"I’m quite satisfied with the service with the results."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the marketing manager of a custom B2B manufacturing firm.
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing?
PBJ marketing was asked to create a local listings campaign and paid ad campaings for us and they came up with some very innovative ideas which were easy to execute.
We monitored the results of the campaign closely for over two weeks on a daily basis and were very impressed with the results.
What were your goals for this project?
We badly wanted to improve our online presence. Since our's is a special B2B niche, we wanted to target special audience and implement our ad campaigns.Plus, we wanted to improve our social media presence as well.
How did you select PBJ Marketing?
We have received cold email from PBJ marketing regarding online marketing services. And, I had a long conversation with the account executive of PBJ marketing. We were really impressed their presentation that we have decided to go with them.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
After hiring contract with PBJ, we had a detailed discussion about the project. They have suggested some innovative ideas. They immediately started working on our project.
What was the team composition?
There was one dedicated account manager reporting directly to me.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
We hired them to plan and create online marketing campaign for us.They didn’t disappoint. Their presentation was easily the best and their ideas were very innovative.
We were convinced that their ideas would work for our company and since we were eager to get the campaign up and running online on social media sites, they worked twice as hard to beat the clock.
We were very impressed with their work and they’ve worked on more campaigns for our company since then.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
The dedicated account manager was always available. We have discussed the progress of the campaign on a regular basis. The communication was great.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
One of the most attractive features about PBJ is that they offer a number of digital marketing services which gives a client the freedom and space to plan a number of online campaigns simultaneously.
Unlike many other agencies which cater to clients from one specific industry, PBJ has an impressive portfolio to show and that was one of the prime reasons why we didn’t hesitate to sign them up for our requirements.
Are there any areas for improvement?
There’s not been anything to dislike as of yet. I’m quite satisfied with the service with the results.
the project
SEO & Digital Marketing Services for Financial Firm
"Working with just one account manager from their team has helped in developing a good rapport between both companies."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the marketing communications manager of a financial firm. I manager all the digital marketing operations of the company.
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing?
We have hired PBJ marketing to do search engine optimization, link building and social media marketing for our website.
What were your goals for this project?
We badly wanted to improve our online presence especially social media profiles and increase the followers.
How did you select PBJ Marketing?
They were referred to us by one of our clients and were one of the three digital agencies competing for the project.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
PBJ marketing did a complete SEO audit of our website and suggested the ideas they wanted to implement. They have added some great SEO friendly articles to our website which immensely helped our rankings. They even designed new graphic contents for our social media postings which was not even included in the initial contract. Overall, they did a fantastic job in improving our online presence.
What was the team composition?
There was one dedicated account manager to manage our project and he was always in touch with our internal staff.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
I can say with confidence that our online presence has improved. I’m happy to note that we now have a fairly large number of prospective clients as our followers and the number of genuine inquiries have also increased noticeably.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
The project manager was always available in zoom,Skype or direct dial. Phillip, the CEO of the PBJ marketing was easy to reach. The communication was great and they updated the progress on a weekly basis.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
They are easy to work with, listen carefully to given suggestions and don’t hesitate to improvise any strategy where needed. Working with just one account manager from their team has helped in developing a good rapport between both companies.
the project
PPC for Lift & Elevator Company
"Whether it’s a step forward or backward, they’ll communicate the truth about our performance directly and clearly."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We’re an accessibility lift and home elevator company that does sales, installation, and service to various types of lifts and home elevators. I’m VP of the company.
What challenge were you trying to address with PBJ Marketing?
We wanted professional digital marketing help for our search engine marketing efforts through PPC management.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They’ve done various aspects of search engine marketing, including PPC. To start the project, they asked us questions and clarifying questions about our business. Once they had their arms around our business through interviews and their own research, they started managing our PPC accounts. In addition to managing our PPC efforts, they track and report on our performance.
What is the team composition?
We work directly with David (CMO and Cofounder) and James (Senior Manager, Paid Media), but there are a total of four people that we’ve worked with.
How did you come to work with PBJ Marketing?
They were a referral from a company that does our SEO. That company doesn’t handle PPC services, so they recommended PBJ Marketing when we asked them about PPC. Our intro call was very impressive. It was clear that they’d be focused on measurable goals and outcomes, making sure we were on the same page along the way so we could appreciate the results of their work along the way.
What is the status of this engagement?
We’ve been working with them since October 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
From the beginning, we’ve been very pleased. While we were a little uneasy about offloading our PPC accounts to an external provider, they’ve handled it professionally from day one. They’ve done a nice job staying in line with our cost per lead, customer acquisition cost, and staying within our budget. We’ve benefitted from working with folks who primarily focus on this type of work, so we can focus on our industry and what we do best.
How did PBJ Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
They’ve done very well. We have regular meetings with them where we review progress. The communication, whether via email or an online meeting, is timely and professional.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re numbers people. Whether it’s a step forward or backward, they’ll communicate the truth about our performance directly and clearly. That’s a winning formula.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Nothing comes to mind.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Listen to their recommendations and give them a chance to deliver on their suggestions. You won’t be disappointed.
the project
PPC & SEO Services for B2B Manufacturing Firm
"The team worked with us as partners and gave all we needed to gain the best possible results."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the marketing manager for a small B2B manufacturing firm in Atlanta.
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing, and what were your goals?
We make small precision parts and other specialty products for manufacturing firms. We also do sourcing services as well. We hired PBJ marketing to help us set up and manage our Google Ads campaigns and SEO services for us. PBJ's goal was to drive consistent inbound inquiries from our targeted businesses at an efficient cost per conversion.
How did you select PBJ Marketing and what were the deciding factors?
Initially, I met with 4 - 5 well-known agencies in the city personally. But, I thought that that they were too expensive for us.Then I found PBJ marketing online, after reading all the clutch, Google place and other reviews, we have decided to go with PBJ. And, I thought that it the right decision.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
Even though we had a decent website, we were not getting any inquiries from the targeted business though our website. We never got a single inquiry about our product range online. The problem wasn’t with the website as such but it was with the fact that the website was never promoted in any way.
Nobody knew we had an online presence at all. PBJ team did a great work by implementing PPC and Google ads and then even created various social media profiles for us and updated content on a weekly basis there. The Google ad implementation and campaigns were spot on.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
The PBJ marketing team worked directly with me and my team. Nick, the strategy manager and even Phillip, the CEO was just one call away.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
We are really happy with the outcome of the campaigns so far. We have to temporarily pause the campaign due to the Covid situation but surely will resume the campaigns by the end of January.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
The dedicated account manager was always available even in weekend.The team communicated with us regularly using various tools such as Zoom, Slack, Skype and direct phone calls as well.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
When working with PBJ Marketing, they share their extensive knowledge and experience every step of the way. The team worked with us as partners and gave all we needed to gain the best possible results. The account manager was extremely knowledgeable and helped us in every possible way he can.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Not really. So far so good from PBJ marketing. I'm impressed with their dedication and hard work. They know what they are doing.
the project
SEO Campaign for Large Nonprofit Organization
"They guarantee their deliverables, no matter how hard or difficult they are to achieve."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Our mission is to partner with our greater community to lead conservation and inspire stewardship of our rivers and watersheds across the great state of Montana. I am the Director of Development.
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing, and what were your goals?
Despite being one of the largest nonprofits in the state and one of the most prominent in water conservation, our website has always retained a healthy engaged audience, but we knew we should have been growing bigger and faster.
We sought a digital marketing partner who could not only increase our traffic but provide strategic consultation and brand planning to increase engagement.
How did you select PBJ Marketing and what were the deciding factors?
We found PBJ through Clutch.co. We decided to hire PBJ because of their extensive experience and successful case studies within the nonprofit and organizational space. They impressed us with their proposal which included a deeper level of insights and competitors research that other agencies did not bring to the table.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
They started with a deep dive analysis of our website, identifying all the high-value keywords our competitor sites were ranking for. They then performed a comprehensive UX audit to assess how current traffic was performing and how visitors were engaging and not engaging.
They then worked with us to come up with a custom SEO strategy focused on moving existing pages higher up in Google’s page rankings for the keywords we knew we needed to rank for better.
PBJ also provides guidance on content creation. They laid out a plan for dedicated new content hubs driven by keyword research and improvements to website structure and user flow.
PBJ implemented SEO best practices such as installing SEO tools, following metadata best practices, making images smaller, and overall standardizing how content is created.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
We have a dedicated SEO account manager who also leads the overall SEO strategy. He is also our primary point of contact. The entire SEO team consists of at least one developer, and content manager (and a couple writers), an data analyst for reporting, and a team of link builders.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
We just received our 2020 recap since we started and we’ve seen an 80% increase in Organic Traffic compared to the same period last year. We’ve also seen a nearly 150% increase in New Visitors, people who have never visited us before.
Additionally, though we can’t attribute all of this to SEO but we can attribute a large portion, we’ve seen a 400+ % increase in donations.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
Very responsive and very organized. I can always count on getting a same-day response from them, or immediately the next day at the latest. We are never in the dark on what they’re doing, what is owed to us, what we owe them, etc. I wish my own team was as organized! But they really help keep us organized.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
They guarantee their deliverables, no matter how hard or difficult they are to achieve. Most SEO agencies DO NOT do this. They don’t buy links like most agencies. They reach out to websites and offer guest posts.
This approach sometimes takes a bit longer, but is the highest quality link you can get, and no matter how long or hard it takes they promise to deliver in full. They also guarantee you’ll keep that link otherwise they will replace it.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
No, love PBJ!
the project
PPC Management for International Firm
"We truly believe they are an extension of our own team and always looking out for the best interest of our business."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Our firm is one of the largest professional services network in the world. We provide consulting, audit, legal, advisory and tax services to a multitude of clients serviced by our thousands of professionals deployed across the globe. I am Project Manager in our Cyber segment where I work with clients to build, mature, and expand their cyber programs.
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing, and what were your goals?
With the recent rollout of new proprietary software products and cyber services, we hired PBJ to kick off an integrated Paid Media and SEO campaign. Our goal is to target high-profile companies within specific industries with the objective of generating brand awareness and qualified lead capture specific key decision-makers.
How did you select PBJ Marketing and what were the deciding factors?
We found PBJ through a Google search of top digital marketing agencies. We interviewed many agencies with several rounds of elimination and PBJ consistently stood out. In the end, it was PBJ’s thorough industry research, understanding of our marketing needs, and well thought out execution strategy that won us over. No other agency asked the sort of pointed and pragmatic questions as PBJ. I do a lot of RFPs, and with PBJ, the RFP process itself felt like onboarding and kickoff. When it came time to make a decision and move forward, we felt we’d be taking one step back if we went with anyone else.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
PBJ is tasked with the ongoing setup up and management all PPC campaigns and digital media buys for our nationwide campaign. This includes ad platform account setup, individual campaign set up (10-15 live campaigns at any given time), ad spend budget management, campaign conversion tracking and optimization, ad creation (text, banner, video, and animation), landing page design and optimization, and ongoing reporting. Key deliverables are brand awareness lift, website visits, lead capture (i.e. contact us, more information requests) and remarketing visits.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
The two owners of the agency led both the RFP response and the onboarding and remained in the forefront for the first couple of months of our engagement. They were supported by what would eventually become a dedicated marketing team. Once everyone felt our program was running smoothly, management of the account transitioned over to a Senior Account Manager and marketing team with senior leads for both Paid Media and SEO. This team was then also supported by a strategy and execution team. I’d say, in total, we had about 6-8 folks on our account which seems big but was well organized with a single POC.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
Our paid media campaigns continue to outperform month-over-month. Most recently, PBJ identified an untapped digital campaign placement which resulted in one of our most successful runs, garnering 19 leads for just $15.11 CPL in on month alone. Looking at Q4 alone, digital paid media initiatives alone generated 256 conversions (150% above our target goal) and hit an industry-low CPA of just over $26 (our previous record low CPA before PBJ was $73). On average, throughout 2020, conversions have seen a 20-30% increase month over month.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
Despite the large team and massive campaign “footprint”, communication and project management are very efficient and streamlined. We use a variety of tools from Google docs to Slack to Asana. We also get weekly email updates in addition to monthly, quarterly, and annual detailed reports. PBJ also created for us live-feed data dashboards for all our campaigns so we can see results happen in real-time.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
PBJ emphasized from the very beginning that they do not want to be seen as a typical vendor, but rather strategy consultants on all things digital; they are just that! We don’t make a single digital marketing decision without PBJ’s input. Whether it’s part of their SOW or not, they are always willing to assist and advise. We truly believe they are an extension of our own team and always looking out for the best interest of our business.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Not really. We did have issues getting PBJ all the appropriate access they needed to get up and running, but this was more or less on our end. PBJ was very patient and went above and beyond assisting us with getting control of our PPC accounts from our past agency.
the project
PPC & SEO for Major Auto Brand
"The most impressive part was how well they worked with our other agency partners."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
The North American headquarters for one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. Our US operations consists of a worldwide family of distinguished and exciting brands including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen.
At the time of my recent employment, I served as Senior Brand Manager, Midwest Division. My job was to provide corporate marketing and sales support through locally focused marketing programs for affiliated dealerships.
For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing, and what were your goals?
In preparation for the launch a new line of high-end, but affordable and energy efficient, all terrain and sport vehicles, the company developed a nationwide marketing campaign designed specifically to help support the company's extensive affiliate dealership network.
PBJ was tasked with the setup and management of targeted Digital Paid Media campaigns across Search, Social, Video, and Native ad platforms. The goal was to rise brand awareness and excitement and encourage people to visit their local dealership for a test drive.
PBJ was also in-charge of locally supported SEO campaigns, creating content, and increasing organic search rank and website traffic for auto related consumer topics.
How did you select PBJ Marketing and what were the deciding factors?
I had worked with PBJ in the past for another company/brand where they helped execute upon a similar campaign that helped support locally owned brand affiliates.
We interviewed several agencies in the process who had similar experience as well, but we ultimate chose PBJ due to their hands-on/manual approach to PPC, the level of account support they provide clients, and the apparent advanced level of data tracking and detailed reporting.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.
PBJ kicked things off with an onboarding phase that included market research, customer profiling, and funnel-based goal setting. They helped up sent target benchmarks for all our primary KPIS (CPA, LTV, ROAS, etc.).
They even helped us set up a complex attribution tracking model that took into account all the various touch points and interactions throughout the customer lifecycle, which was a big initiative we always wanted to achieved, but struggled in its creation.
After onboarding, PBJ built out all of our PPC campaigns at a local-level and created locally-focused ad copy and creative for each dealership. We launched campaigns across all paid media channels and PBJ was in charge of all the day to day operations and budget management for 100s of campaigns.
On the SEO front, the optimized every single Google My Business profile for each dealership and worked with dealerships to write and post blogs and guest articles of seasonal auto trends. This helped build activity and search presence in local Google listings.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
This was/is a very big program and required a large team to execute many deliverables. I don't know how big the full team was because the senior managers and supporting staff.
The senior team included an Account Supervisor who was our primary POC. On the PPC front, the senior team included a social media manager, paid search manager, and data analyst. On the SEO front, we had a senior manager for each of their 3 focus areas which was content, technical, and link building.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
We did not give our agencies much time to prep and launch, but PBJ was able to move fast and hit the ground running. Campaigns were launched almost immediately.
Month over month performance of campaigns always improved. Within 6 months, ROAS improved by nearly 60%. By the end of the fiscal year, our paid media KPIs performed 20% higher the year-end goal.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.
Project management was superb. PBJ was always reachable either by email, phone, chat, or video and always responded usually same-day or first thing the next.
The had a very detailed project management process and tools with an interactive online Gantt timeline, Slack for informal conversations, live-feed data dashboards for real-time KPI reporting, and Google shared docs for note taking.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
The most impressive part was how well they worked with our other agency partners. PBJ was the original Agency-of-Record in charge. They were one of several agencies as this was a very big online and offline campaign.
PBJ didn't stop at just what they were tasked with, PPC and SEO, they provided consultation and added-value to the entire marketing footprint. Towards the end of the program, they assumed an acting AOC role.
The other very impressive part was their quick turnaround and detailed level of reporting. They even helped us match online engagement/conversions with actual in-store visits.
They also provided us with weekly reports for each specific dealership that cross referenced digital marketing leads with dealership visits and sales.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Nothing that I can think of, everyone was very pleased with their performance.
The company was pleased with the results of the collaboration. Their LinkedIn campaigns outperformed other platforms and generated many customer inquiries. PBJ Marketing managed the project well, communicating through Skype and Zoom. Their customer service and attention to detail were impressive.