Single Grain

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO of a B2B SaaS Platform that enables businesses to obtain a clear view of the entire customer journey. In short, we are a unified business communication SaaS suite which integrates phone service, call analytics, a CRM platform, live chat software, and more. We are based in the USA and have over 1,000 team members in our company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Single Grain?

We hired Single Grain to create and implement a social ad campaign strategy for us. We decided to outsource social ads to a vendor to compare how that would stack up against our in-house team.

What were your goals for this project?

Goals were straightforward - to decrease our CPL and improve our lead quality. The Single Grain team was able to identify cost-efficient audience segments, strategize and deploy the ad campaign, and optimize to perfection.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I've known Single Grain’s CEO through various Mastermind Groups, and knew that his clients were very happy with the work they’ve done. Based on trust and reputation, I was willing to give them a shot.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Single Grain worked with us to determine what lead would provide optimal down-funnel performance. They then identified the most cost-efficient audience segments and created social ads on a few platforms. They continued to optimize the ads and targeting.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two ads team members.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They decreased our CPL 41.37% year-over-year on paid ads. Our lead quality increased while our ad spend dropped.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very easy to work with the team — we used project management software for regular communication and had weekly meetings. We got to speak to the people running our ad campaigns, not an account manager. It was nice because there wasn’t a lot of back and forth between us, the account manager, and the ad team. We could easily make changes and were getting information directly from the source.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with their specialty knowledge - most agencies are really broad and give a "jack of all trades, masters of none" vibe in the initial calls and discovery. This wasn't the case with Single Grain - they knew their stuff. They live and breathe social ads—almost to the point of obsession. This is the kind of agency I like working with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have no other feedback at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a digital acquisition manager for a panel company that provides companies and institutions with reliable data for market research. We utilize a community of people who share their opinions and other types of data in exchange for points that can be redeemed for incentives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Single Grain?

We’d just launched our brand in the U.S. and were looking for an innovative advertising company to adapt our acquisition campaign in this new market.

What were your goals for this project?

We expected to achieve a high volume of leads that met our cost-per-lead (CPL) goal.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After scanning some articles recommending a few digital marketing agencies, we contacted our top choices. We asked for media planning proposals that accounted for our goals and challenges. Single Grain’s CEO offered an innovative campaign proposal, so we hired them.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Once we accepted Single Grain’s proposal, they set up our campaign and messenger bot. We only provided a few elements such as tracked URLs, images, and guidelines. We also gave Single Grain a budget with our volume and CPL goals. From the beginning, they met our expectations successfully.

What was the team composition?

We closed the deal with Single Grain’s CEO, and then we worked with a team of three people. The size of the team changed at one point when someone left the company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Each month, Single Grain met our high expectations and goals. Thanks to their campaigns, social media interactions increased, and fan engagement grew. They also launched the campaign in new countries that they’d never worked in before.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager really understands our industry and challenges. The team works hard on the creative aspects and always looks for ways to improve the campaign and increase results. They also helped with the translation of creative elements.

In the beginning, we had weekly calls. Now, we speak every two weeks in order to have more data to analyze. They also send regular emails and follow up with posts in Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re innovative and creative.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have no feedback. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a multimedia publishing company servicing businesses in direct selling. I am the Chief Technology Officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Single Grain?

We were doing a large digital product launch, and we were looking to have the largest launch of this particular course. We had engaged Single Grain to help us with the paid media strategy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Overall, it was a strategy in terms of what different online marketing channels we should be using, utilizing the audience, the different type of demographics, and where we were going to get the best return on investment. Then, it came down to creating the ads, the CTAs [call to action], the copy, and the actual images. They did all of that for us. Mainly for this one, we ran AdWords, Facebook, and Instagram, so Single Grain had the task of configuring all the different online media, advertising, and providing pixels and traffic information to the team inside to place on our websites and web properties, just to ensure all the tracking was taking place.

They did the strategy first. Then it was the ad copy, the CTAs, and the images that go with that as well as the retargeting. Then just general overall marketing funnel design, which included feedback on the registration page and design of the funnels. This particular one was a very large event and we had to use YouTube live on it, and so they had some ideas around that as well. They provided the internal development team basically the tracking codes to place on all the pages and the web properties. They knew exactly what they were doing and how to get it done.

How did you come to work with Single Grain?

Our Chief Executive Officer had reached out through his network, and Single Grain was recommended to us.

How much have you invested with Single Grain?

I’d say between $50,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Single Grain was engaged from May to December of last year [2015].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any results of the engagement?

We had between 20,000 and 25,000 of the registrants come from the paid ads, so roughly 45% of the registrants in that campaign came directly through the ads that Single Grain had set up. The overall launch was the largest launch that we had done. We did $1.2 million in 10 days.

How did Single Grain perform from a project management standpoint?

Single Grain was really good on that. We did three phone calls a week, a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday check-in, sometimes half an hour to an hour long. Single Grain was always prepared. They always had great insight, reports, and metrics to give us. They even set up a dashboard for us and just always came prepared and always had the numbers.

Sometimes they weren’t great; sometimes the numbers were low and they would tell us what their plan would be, and what tweaks they would do to the ads. They always shared the information and gave good updates.

What did you find most impressive about Single Grain?

Having worked with a couple of different ad agencies in my career, the thing I liked most about Single Grain was that they really felt like a partner. They really had a vested interest in the outcome and just in the overall the success of the project. I think that’s the most important thing; you really knew that they wanted to be there and that they wanted to make it happen.

Are there any areas Single Grain could improve?

Not that I can think of. It really felt like their team was part of our team. They set up a Slack channel, and they gave us access to two of their guys internally. There’s nothing that I could say that they could do better. It worked great. Everyone was happy with the outcome and just wanted more.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is a financial software firm.

What is your position?

I'm one of the co-founders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Single Grain?

We were looking for a company to help us develop a successful content marketing strategy. We wanted to be able to increase our user engagement through interesting and useful content.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Single Grain developed content in the form of articles for us. They also wrote for our blog in the hope of bringing more people to our site.

How did you come to work with Single Grain?

We were recommended to Single Grain by a trusted consultant of ours.

What is the status of this engagement?

We are currently working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

So far they have written 50 articles for our blog.

How did Single Grain perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed really well. All of their articles are well written and we are very happy with what they have delivered.

What distinguishes Single Grain from other providers?

One of the biggest things that distinguishes Single Grain from others is the quality of their work. They consistently provide great work and are always available. This is very important to us.

Is there anything Single Grain could have improved or done differently?

It would have been great if they had spent a little bit more time in the planning stage.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The company I work for is an online marketplace for small business loans. We help small business owners apply to multiple lenders.

What is your position?

My title is head of content. I oversee all everything that we produce to educate small business owners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Single Grain?

When I first approached Single Grain, I was talking to them about their SEO [search engine optimization] services, but ending up utilizing their content creation services.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Single Grain provides content for us on a monthly basis. We publish on our site twice a day, and then we publish 20 to 30 articles a month externally - all on our own. It's very difficult to find good writers and manage the process, so Single Grain helps us by producing about four articles a month.

How did you come to work with Single Grain?

We began working with them on the advice of a mutual contact.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We started working with them in the fall of 2015 and spend less than $10,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We are currently working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Single Grain perform from a project management standpoint?

From the beginning, Single Grain has always done a wonderful job at project management. They are clear about the schedule and always meet deadlines.

What distinguishes Single Grain from other providers?

Single Grain is very well organized, which puts me at ease. When you're managing so many pieces of content and so many freelancers and internal writers, organization is crucial. Their SEO services, from a pricing perspective, are affordable when compared to others in the industry. They're much more specific about what they're capable of doing, which takes out the guessing work on our side.

With regard to content production, their cost per article is on par if not a little bit below industry rates, but you get the added benefit of having it go through an editor before it even reaches you. That added service that we would be paying extra for is very nice.

Is there anything Single Grain could have improved or done differently?

The only thing I would say is that there are certain times where I can tell a piece is coming from a particular writer. I hope they will continue to keep the best writers on staff.

BACKGROUND

We are a legal website that helps people find legal services quickly without spending too much time doing research or speaking to the wrong attorney. I am the founder, we are still a small, but growing startup in the San Francisco area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We needed to drive more leads and traffic to the website. We make money by having valuable traffic, so we needed an overall digital strategy. Single Grain helped us increase traffic but, more importantly, helped with conversion optimization and generating more qualified leads.

SOLUTION

They provided some SEO [search engine optimization] work, digital marketing strategy, and conversion optimization. The main service we hired them for and their real strength for us was around content marketing. They really helped us craft some great legal content that worked with our audience and drove more business.

They help us less now with the content but their work also included copywriting and distribution work. They knew the right channels for distribution and increasing brand awareness. It was a full campaign utilizing a strong team with multiple resources. It lasted several months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

We are very satisfied with their work. We heard that they were experts at dealing with startups in the area and they didn't disappoint. What stands out is that they have a skilled team with subject matter experts in each digital marketing discipline. These guys are very good.

I have no complaints to report and am really satisfied. I would recommend them to others and have already given their name out before.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a SaaS [software as a service] company that provides a tool for companies with hourly workers to use to schedule their employees. We are When I work, http://wheniwork.com/.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I'm the marketing manager. Single Grain started with us before I came on board. I manage Single Grain’s work with our company as well as doing some of our own marketing activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Single Grain?

To drive more quality trials of our software. We have a 30-day-trial offer and are currently testing a 14-day-trial offer. We want to have better users that could convert into sales. Scaling out our [Google] AdWords, scaling out our Facebook campaigns, retargeting our advertising, so we can get them to convert higher as well are also goals.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Single Grain also did social media marketing with us. They completely managed all of our social channels, getting activity, finding out what the best time is for us to post, what was the best format of each post on each channel.

Whether it was better to get followers or whether it was better to improve engagement, and what was working with our audience as well as content, was also part of their strategy work. They were producing and managing the content for our blog, as well as forming the ideas of what was going to be featured on the blog, creating it, and publishing it.

What was your process for selecting Single Grain with which to work?

When I came here in January, we already had them on board. It was through a reference, I believe.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

We scaled them back a little bit because we brought some of the work in-house. That makes sense with the nature of our work. We still use them heavily for managing our Facebook ads.

When was the project completed?

The project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Are you satisfied with their work?

Absolutely. I started working here in January, and everything grew in the seven months that I was leading the work with the help of Single Grain. I don’t have revenue figures, but everything doubled or tripled in growth with respect to trial acquisition, customer acquisition, revenues, and social media presence. Single Grain deserves a lot of credit for the quantifiable growth.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I've worked with other agencies. Single Grain is very in tune with their clients. With Single Grain, we can schedule a phone call whenever we need to talk to them. We can make sure that everybody is aligned with our objectives and goals, rather than them just being on autopilot.

They didn't just say that they didn't know whether their campaigns were actually working. They were very much involved, and told us what they were doing and why they were doing it. They gave us suggestions, asked us what we thought, and asked how they could move it forward.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. For me, I had a lot to learn when I first started. That was my first experience in that kind of position. I think they nailed it right away. They helped me get up to speed right away on everything they were doing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Our company provides wedding websites for couples who are planning their wedding, so they can announce their wedding details and communicate to their guests, and receive their RSVPs.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Single Grain?

It was about building our brand and getting more traffic. We are still in the middle of the work with them. We’ve been working with them for about 10 months so far. What we wanted to accomplish with them is to get a presence in social media and bring in more users to our website as well as email marketing. So, we are working with them on a lot of things. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They do email marketing, social media content, and SEO [search engine optimization] work. We had this change in our business model back in February, and that’s when we actually hired them. We wanted to fix several things.

First they started by fixing our SEO, so they gave us a lot of suggestions based on our website, things that we should change to get better results. Then they also worked on our social media presence, which is Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

They continuously provide content for our social media sites, and they pretty much built our entire Facebook audience. They’re also helping us with our conversion rate optimization. They are doing experiments and testing on our website, on several pages, and testing what’s converting, and which content and layout works better for users. We had some very good results with that, too.

What was your process for selecting Single Grain with which to work?

My business partner found them. He found an SEO expert online, I think his name is Neil Patel, and they are somehow connected to him. We looked at several SEO companies, and they looked the most professional, honestly. We really liked the way they are marketing themselves, and I still feel it was a really good choice.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

It’s hard for me to estimate the work hours they are providing because I feel that I’m getting an entire team who’s working for me. I see people posting on Facebook, writing blog posts, so I can’t really tell how many hours they put into this but it looks like it’s pretty involved. I feel they put a lot of effort in it. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

The engagement is ongoing. So as long as it makes sense for us to work with them, and currently that’s what I see, then I will definitely want to continue the engagement. Also, I’ve recommended them to other companies.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

Currently we have about 7,000 likes on Facebook, and that’s all from their efforts, we didn’t have anything before that. On Twitter, they keep pushing content that keeps generating interest. We have about 3,000 followers now. We are also working with them on paid search acquisition.

They are managing our Facebook ads, and they are experimenting with different targeting. It significantly raised the amount of users who are coming into our site and creating trial sites with us. So, that’s another important area. They are directing users to our site from social media.

Also, I see that when they are doing A/B testing, their methods are much more efficient than the A/B testing we did for ourselves. I see differences between their A and B version, like 70 percent or 80 percent. We were not able to accomplish more than about 2 percent difference in our own A/B tests, so they are very efficient with finding content and layout that works better.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

They are the first digital marketing company I’ve worked with, but I really think what’s great about them is that whoever I work with in the company looks like they are total professionals in every area they are working in. From social media marketing to conversion rate optimization, they have expertise in all the different competencies.

Single Grain always works with the best people. They have partners for email marketing specifically, a man who is really good at that. They care about working with the best people. I also see that, if they don’t know something about my market, then they figure it out very fast.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

Not really so far.