SEM Society

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and director of a tour company that organizes guided tours of monuments in Rome, such as the Colosseum and Vatican.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SEM Society?

We saw the opportunity for a specific type of tour of the Colosseum with a lot of scarcity and very high margins. In order to take advantage of the opportunity, we looked into doing PPC for that product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SEM Society provides us with PPC services. We provided them with the products we wanted to sell and our availability. Other than that, we gave the team carte blanche to set the strategy, so they now run the campaigns independently without much input from us.

Initially, they ran test campaigns and then started to optimize them. They also create the ad content. Since tourism is seasonal, we don't have specific numbers to set as targets. Their deliverables consist of reports on how the bookings are going and our ROI. 

Once we had an audience with PPC, they also started helping us with social media marketing (SMM). They’ve helped us with marketing campaigns on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. 

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Kamran (Managing Director & SEM Expert). 

How did you come to work with SEM Society?

We found them through a referral. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €257,000 (approximately $272,000 USD) in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we spent €60,000–€70,000 (approximately $63,000–$74,000 USD) in 2020. This year, we’re on track to spend over €300,000 (approximately $317,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SEM Society’s campaigns have been incredibly successful. While most of our bookings come from large online platforms, which charge a commission, SEM Society’s efforts have allowed us to get more direct bookings, which are more profitable. As a result, we have more liquidity because we get the money immediately, whereas other platforms pay at the end of each month. 

Their work gives our brand more presence and enables closer ties with our direct clients, who can become return clients. Moreover, the ad spend is always less than the commission large platforms charge. 

How did SEM Society perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m more than happy with their project management. They don’t just keep in touch through our scheduled meetings, but even more frequently. We typically communicate via email and phone calls. We use Monday.com for reporting, and SEM Society’s reports are very detailed. They’ve even gone the extra mile and created a board on top of the usual reports to ensure we have all the necessary information. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with the results and service SEM Society has given us. They’ve taken our business to a point where we’re making much more revenue. Our brand presence can now compete with some of the biggest companies in the sector. Overall, they’ve helped us gain a good reputation. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s not much they need to improve. The only issue we’ve had was with some test campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic that weren’t very successful. However, that’s not something we can blame them for because not many people were traveling, and no one knew what could come out of the campaigns.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to trust them to best optimize the campaigns. Let go, and be confident that spending more money means more ad revenue. I understand it can be hard to let go when you don’t know if your provider is being honest. However, SEM Society assures that if a campaign gets to a point where it doesn’t make economic sense anymore, they’ll cut it short responsibly — that makes a huge difference.