Skalski Growth

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder of the Foundation for Technology and Entrepreneurship, and we’re tech accelerators. We work with MIT and run a program called MIT Enterprise Forum for Central and Eastern Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Skalski Growth?

Our goal is to help our corporate partners with their innovative challenges, by identifying the best startups to support them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

What we do with Skalski Growth is digital marketing to recruit startups for our corporate partners. We really need to be aware of how to communicate and evaluate our campaigns, so we wanted their expertise. What they basically do is design a strategy to reach startups in targeted countries, identify the right channels for these campaigns such as email and social media, and figure out how much we should spend on them — Our goal is to get more startups to our program that can easily match the corporate challenges. 

Apart from that, they’ve also reworked our website, and they’ve been matching the challenges of the startups who are applying. In addition, they’ve also been helping us with strategies to identify our corporate partners using LinkedIn. They know how to build these marketing funnels to reach people, so our next project with them is to build the right product to attract corporations.

For the channels of our campaigns, they changed the flow and the traffic of our CRM, and they’ve been using this tool called Metadata to help track data and information accurately. The content that we write for our corporate partners is done in-house, and Skalski Growth is in charge of the graphic design aspect.

What is the team composition?

We work with one person, Wojtek (CEO & Chief Growth Marketer), and I’m not sure who else is helping him behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Skalski Growth?

I was frustrated with the previous agency I’ve worked with, so I went to a friend of mine whose opinion I value highly. They recommended Skalski Growth, so I immediately went to them and got started.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2020, and our partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our partners are happy that they’re growing and getting the right startups to help them.

How did Skalski Growth perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform very well — whatever they say, they get done. They’re very young and well-versed in all the technology tools, as well as building structures, preparing strategies, and creating reports.

We typically use Basecamp to manage our projects, and we communicate through email, WhatsApp, and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with how they’re very effective and strategic. They’ve worked hard on a lot of projects, and we also like that they’re a very motivated team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We have open communication about how we can get better startups, and they’re very productive. There’s always room for improvement, but I’m generally happy and if there is a problem, we’ll always solve it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The client should always know what problems they need to address. While they might be very good digital marketers who understand SEO and SEM, they’re not going to be the people who’d be doing the creative work. You really have to understand your problem, and understand what Skalski Growth is good at.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We work on behalf of our client - one of leading real estate development companies - on branding and marketing of their new real estate property.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

We hired Skalski Growth to implement marketing automation system with CRM module and launch online presence of a new real estate in paid and organic marketing channels.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to create virtual sales office for the pandemic supported through marketing automation and lead generation.

SOLUTION

How did you select Skalski Growth?

We used to work on some previous projects together and were confident in Skalski Growth’s digital marketing competences.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We started working with them before launching our new real estate. They helped us choose and implement marketing automation system with CRM module, as well as train the sales team on how to make the best use out of it. They also helped us set up analytics for our website and launch it's presence in social media and promote it through Facebook and Google Ads, as well as SEO.

Additionally they provided us with a dashboard to track current performance of the website, paid campaigns and the sales process. They also keep us up to date with what types of apartments are the most popular and what our competition is doing in terms of online marketing.

What was the team composition?

We work directly with Senior Growth Manager supported by junior growth marketers and experienced freelancers (SEO, developers).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They helped us:

• Successfully implement marketing automation system with CRM module
• Automate some tedious tasks for the sales & marketing team
• Launched succesful PPC campaigns with cost per lead lower than in traditional real estate portals
• Create clear analytics dashboards that we can easily check performance of marketing and sales on

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very effective thanks to weekly updates, real-time dashboards with business metrics and live communication on Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team is result-oriented and technical, but at the same time, business-forward and communicative.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not right now.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

1koszyk (1cart) is the easiest way to sell on the Internet. We offer a platform to sell products and services on any channel - website, blog, social media, email, sms, offline - via a link without a need to build and maintain an e-commerce store. As there is a courier and payment gateway in the package, our users get pretty much everything needed to start an online business in less than 15 minutes. My name is Konrad Lapin, and I am a founder at 1koszyk.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

We hired Skalski Growth to help us comprehensively with our business model, growth strategy, digital marketing (website, paid campaigns, SEO, social media) and web/marketing analytics.

What were your goals for this project?

We had developed 1koszyk a few years back as a side project. For about a year after the launch we had only managed to get a handful of users and built no sustainable acquisition channels, even though the feedback from these actual users was very positive. That’s when we realized that we may need help from a marketing/growth expert to make it all work. Our main goal was to verify whether we can transform 1koszyk into a real business with a growing number of users and revenue.

SOLUTION

How did you select Skalski Growth?

Myself and my partner met Wojtek (CEO at Skalski Growth) at an event about online business, where he was one of the panelists. We liked the approach to digital marketing that he had presented (results-oriented and agile) and decided to reach out and explore whether we can work together.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We’ve been working together since January 2020. Skalski Growth started with auditing our situation and preparing a new growth strategy. This was the first thing that impressed us. They gathered very interesting insights about our past performance, competitors and potential customers, which significantly reshaped our communication, pricing and marketing strategy. In the past our communication was more technology-focused and targeting rather bigger players.

According to the new approach proposed by the agency, we concentrated primarily on smaller businesses and individuals who want to start selling their products and services online (the target group was split into multiple segments with various business potential - for further exploring through customer development and A/B testing). On top of that, the agency suggested specific channels and tactics we can try to acquire and retain users, alongside a clear timeline to make it happen.

After the strategy phase, Skalski Growth helped us with rebuilding our website - to make it more user-centric; setting up analytics and reporting - to see what’s happening and what’s working; kick-starting content creation, SEO, paid campaigns, social media, email marketing and many more (the scope of their help is so wide that it’s difficult to list it all). Soon we started to see a steady increase in number of visitors, new accounts and revenue.

As the Covid pandemic started in Q1 2020 we thought about suspending the project. We asked Skalski Growth for their opinion. Their recommendation was that we can possibly use the “new reality” to our benefit, as many small business owners may be looking for solutions to start selling online fast and simple. That was inspiring and we agreed to proceed. Soon, after updating our messaging and campaigns to reflect the new business environment and what entrepreneurs cared about most at the time, we started to see a further growth in our key metrics.

What was the team composition?

There was a Growth Marketer who acted as a project manager and our main point of contact. There were multiple specialists in the team - including a SEO expert, copywriters and marketing specialists helping with various aspects of the project. The CEO at Skalski Growth was also involved at every stage as an advisor and a supervisor of the team’s work. From our side, there were two founders, a graphic designer, as well as a support team and IT team involved - depending on the need.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I cannot share specific numbers, but within a few months we managed to reach stable and steadily growing numbers of new accounts and revenue (we are currently very close to the breakeven point).

When it comes to new website visitors, it increased about 8x within a year up to about 10,000 users a month (most of them from organic channels). Costs per user acquisition in Google Ads and Facebook Ads are decreasing from the very beginning, which is a sign of optimization success.

In terms of SEO, we managed to get high organic positions in Google on some highly competitive, transactional phrases but also on many quality, long-term keywords.

On a qualitative side, we get a lot of feedback from our new customers that we are very visible across the web. Our product got featured in multiple blogs posts and e-learning courses about doing business online. We were also approached by some big brands and investors to discuss partnership opportunities.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is very effective. We have weekly calls, where we chat about business metrics, progress and plans. Skalski Growth provides us with monthly reports on SEO and weekly reports on pretty much everything else.

Whenever we ask for some additional insights, they respond with detailed analyses - e.g. on customer cohorts or performance of specific campaigns. They plan their work weekly and report all tasks in a project management software - which is very transparent. We are also on the same Slack channel and if needed (e.g. edits to the website or ads) - they get it done immediately.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’ve truly become our marketing partner. It feels like they are a part of our company. What’s the most impressive though is that they excel at both levels: strategy and execution.

According to my experience this is a very rare quality. On one hand, they’ve helped us reframe high-level topics like our entire business model, messaging, pricing etc. They’ve built many things from the ground up - analytics, acquisition channels, and email marketing.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There always are some, both on our side and theirs. Our long partnership is a process and I find Skalski Growth open for our questions and recommendations. They listen and search for the solutions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Meteotrack is a new generation weather forecasting platform precisely addressing various weather-related problems in B2B and B2C. I am the owner and founder of Meteotrack.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

Wojtek Skalski, CEO at Skalski Growth, joined our four-day Product Discovery workshop as an independent growth strategy expert. It was a consulting engagement.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to generate ideas and an action plan for further Meteotrack’s product and business development. We gathered a group of the very best experts to share their experiences and shed light on various aspects of startup growth.

SOLUTION

How did you select Skalski Growth?

We worked with Skalski Growth on other digital marketing projects and were satisfied with their deliverables. We also heard a lot of positive feedback from other tech companies they partnered with.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Skalski Growth CEO’s joined our 4-day Product Discovery workshop. He delivered a presentation about startup traction channels and took active part in brainstorming and discussions.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with the agency’s CEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a result of this workshop we gained a great clarity when it comes to the product and business development direction. We know what to do next - and what’s maybe even more important - how to avoid the common startup pitfalls. Together we came up with a list of the most promising customer segments, explored how to reach them and what messaging to use.

Thanks to understanding the competitive landscape better we managed to define a differentiating positioning for our brand. We learnt about available growth marketing strategies and brainstormed how to apply them in our specific case.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was smooth and effective. We communicated over video conferencing software and email.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had wide, practical experience in growth strategies and were pragmatic in their marketing approach.

Are there any areas for improvement?

none

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Omnipack is a full-stack fulfillment provider for eCommerce. Every day we support over 100 companies in delivering Amazon-grade customer experience, regardless of their scale and without them having to invest in logistics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

We hired Skalski Growth to help us with lead generation in Poland & kicking-off our presence in Germany and other new markets. They also support us in marketing & sales analytics, as well as automation of our key sales & marketing processes.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to generate more leads (demand in general) & start generating leads from other European countries, improve CPL, and automate our key processes.

SOLUTION

How did you select Skalski Growth?

Recommendation.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We joined forces with Skalski Growth in 2017 to support us in lead generation in Poland. They have explored multiple acquisition channels including paid search, paid social, cold email, and more until we found what works best for us.

Since then Skalski Growth also helped us to start building our position in new markets, such as Germany, by transferring the most successful tactics from our home market and adjusting them to local requirements.

Aside from Lead Generation, they have been a great help when it comes to software & automation. They have migrated our CRM and automated our key marketing and sales processes (such as reporting or lead qualification).

What was the team composition?

We work directly with Skalski Growth’s CEO (Wojtek) and a Senior Growth Manager (Anna) who manages the project. When there is a need they engage trusted freelancers (developers, graphic designers) to deliver the best outcome.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We managed to develop a reliable lead generation model for the polish market, as well as gained traction on new markets, such as Germany. We also saved plenty of time thanks to the automation of key marketing & sales processes they’ve helped us implement.

In 2020 we doubled the number of generated leads in Poland and from the very beginning, we are achieving very good results in other markets (Germany, Sweden).

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between the Omnipack team and the Skalski Growth team deserves a special distinction. Their proactive approach totally makes them stand out. In addition, we always receive feedback on time and each week is planned in very detail. We don't have any problems calling the CEO ad hoc or discussing any topic within five minutes on Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Every new project meets a proactive approach. It makes cooperation much easier and builds morale in both teams.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We have not identified areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

SuperDataScience.com is an online educational platform to guide you to become a Data Analyst, a Data Scientist, or an AI Engineer. I'm the General Manager at SuperDataScience.com

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

Content Strategy & Elements of Growth Strategy

What were your goals for this project?

1. Create a Content and SEO Strategy for SuperDataScience.com
2. Explore possible traction channels for SuperDataScience.com

SOLUTION

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Content Strategy (e.g. keyword research, content planning ) & Elements of Growth Strategy (e.g. value proposition research, channel opportunities exploration)

What was the team composition?

Skalski Growth: Wojtek Skalski + Dorotea SuperDataScience:

1. GM
2. Product Architect
3. Data Analyst
4. Creative Advisor

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within one month we could develop an actionable plan to kick off SuperDataScience's Content Strategy.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great. We had continuous working sessions. Thanks to Wojtek's lead and guidance, we were able to co-create the vision for SuperDataScience's Content and SEO Strategy. Skalski Growth felt like part of the SuperDataScience team, not as a distant external consultant.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I highlight:

1. Wojtek's passion and dedication to the project.
2. Wojtek's clear way of explaining and teaching concepts. He always dedicated time for everyone to understand.
3. Wojtek's recommendations were truly based on a deep understanding of our company and our competitors. The working documents we received contain plenty of handpicked information.
4. Wojtek provided ready to use guidelines and actionable plans.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, nothing comes to my mind. Working with Wojtek is a great experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

AutomatSpec is a leading provider of vending and coffee services in Poland. We cooperate with corporations and institutions in the educational, healthcare and government sectors. With branches in over 38 cities and more than 5000 operating vending machines, we are the largest player in the Polish vending industry. I am an IT Specialist at AutomatSpec.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

AutomatSpec hired Skalski Growth to help us drive more business from digital channels. At the time, we had very well-developed field sales and strong brand in the industry but struggled when it comes to the online presence. Our website wasn’t up-to-date, we didn’t do any paid campaigns or SEO activities. We also weren’t sure to what extent digital marketing can boost our business.

What were your goals for this project?

Our ultimate goal was to receive more quality leads from large companies and public institutions. We also wanted to have a fast and useful website, initiate ongoing SEO activities and test the most promising paid channels. On top of that, we expected maximum transparency when it comes to what we spend and how it translates to business results, so having robust analytics was also essential.

SOLUTION

How did you select Skalski Growth?

Wojtek (CEO at Skalski Growth) was referred to our CEO by his friend, who had a chance to work with him on some previous projects. He told him that Wojtek is very results-oriented and devoted to getting things done. After an introductory phone call and a meeting with our team, we decided to work together.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They started with an in-depth interview about our company, services, competitors and the goals we want to achieve with digital marketing. They extended the findings with competitive research and keyword analysis to create a complete online marketing strategy. One of their first recommendations was to rebuild our website from scratch to improve user experience and conversion rate, but also to be to create new content and drive organic traffic.

They prepared a year-long vision for the website development, with pages dedicated to our services, machine categories, industries, and even top cities we operate in. The first version of our new website with the most essential pages was ready in a few weeks (which was quite impressive taking into consideration our previous experiences with digital marketing agencies).

In the following months, they added new content on the remaining pages. Since the new website launch, we’ve observed a stable growth in organic visits. What’s even more important - we got more and more quality leads from this channel. In order to further improve the conversion rate, they introduced new forms of contact on our website - for example, livecall widget and an interactive contact form for prospects to explore our offer.

It increased the number of contact requests greatly. We worked in weekly sprints, launching new marketing initiatives every week. One of the most successful ones was Google Ads. As they kept improving our campaigns, ad copy and keywords, we have seen a constant improvement in cost per lead and lead quality. Also - analytics. From the very beginning of the project, we had a weekly reporting on our spending, channels and how they generate new business.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with Wojtek (CEO) and Michal, who acted as a project manager and a technical marketer. The team was supported by a remote SEO manager and a marketing assistant.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our new website was ready in the blink of an eye. We’ve seen a steady increase in organic traffic which converted very well to leads. Paid channels (e.g. Google Ads) turned out to be very effective too. The leads’ cost and quality have been improving over time. We got cooperation requests from large companies and institutions, just as we intended to.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication was very effective. They visited our office every week to discuss results and plan the next steps. During the week we communicated over the phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are very pragmatic and communicative. And what’s probably the most important, they attach importance to driving results. Combined with their expertise in digital marketing, it makes a great mix.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything was great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Dietific is a leading provider of diet catering in Poland. We started locally, paying high attention to food quality, macronutrient balancing, and great taste. Now our services are available in over 60 cities in Poland. Our customers appreciate us with one of the highest satisfaction ratings in the industry. I am a Founder and CEO at Dietific.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

We hired Skalski Growth to manage our SEO, paid channels and website. Additional areas included influencer marketing, email marketing, our presence on comparison sites, reporting, and automation.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to gain more traffic from organic in key cities, improve cost per acquisition in Google Ads and make sure that our website loads fast, has relevant up-to-date information and converts well.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Wojtek (CEO at Skalski Growth) was referred to me by our investor.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

First, there was a two-hour interview to help them understand the company, services, competitors, and goals we want to achieve. They performed competitive research and keyword analysis to get additional insights. Based on that they prepared a marketing audit and tailored digital marketing strategy. They also used our product to gain full understanding of our distinctive features and qualities and help us communicate them better one the market. They reshaped our website to make it load faster, become more mobile-friendly, prioritize key information etc. At the same time, they optimized it for SEO and conversion rate. When it comes to SEO, they planned and executed our content and linkbuilding activities, as well as made sure that our website is optimized from a technical standpoint. It lead to a 100% growth year over year in terms of traffic from search, including improving our positions on some highly competitive keywords. For SEM, they audited our historical campaigns and rebuilt the account to improve the performance. The return on this channel is positive, even though we have much smaller budgets than our nationwide competitors. On top of that, they helped us with managing social media, influencer marketing, email marketing, and some automation and reporting tasks.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with Skalski Growth’s CEO, a growth marketer who managed a project and an SEO expert. There were also some freelancers (graphic designers, copywriters) as well as junior team members helping with the execution of specific tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our organic search traffic grew 100% year-over-year, similar to the number of orders. Our website is faster and more mobile-friendly, which leads to improved cost per conversion. We have better visibility into what works and what doesn’t. Also, our ability to respond to sudden situations with the right messaging has increased significantly.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication works really well. We jump on weekly calls to discuss progress and results. They are also active and very responsive on our company’s Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are very results-oriented, flexible and communicative. Always making sure that we do things that can lead to better results and we do them fast. They feel like a part of our own team, not just a contractors. They are also very invested in their work and that translates to investment in our product, they are willing to go the extra mile if that helps with getting the result we need.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I feel like for some time willingness to help us on all marketing related tasks was really holding the results (already very good ones) back. That was caused by the fact that some of the tasks that they offered to handle would be better suited with specialist in that field - and as much as it was cost effective and kept with the team that didn't required briefing - being current with the company and events. However over the course of the contract that's a issue that was adressed and corrected.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the PR & Marketing Specalist at a software company headquatered in Krakow, Poland. Our company has about 60 employees and we serve businesses around the world and offering software to sell personalized photo products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

We hired Skalski Growth to help us with lead generation, content creation, social media management & landing page development.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to find new marketing channels, that would bring us a steady flow of leads, as well as optimize our existing ones, such as Google Ads.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After cooperating with 2 different agencies, we have picked SkalskiGrowth.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They started by optimizing conversion rates of our existing channels and helped us implement a new Google Ads setup that we are using and developed further with satisfying results to this day. Then we moved on to experimenting with new channels and seeing what would work best. We tested campaigns in several social media channels & found one that really increased the number of quality leads and is still doing so. They also helped us with landing page development for events & webinars, as well as content creation, and social media management.

What was the team composition?

The project was led by the owner, Wojtek Skalski. We also had an assigned Growth Marketer (Anna Sztabkowska) who was taking care of day to day tasks with the help of their team. Skalski Growth was also providing the help of a professional copywriter & proofreader, and SEO consultants.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It is hard to calculate the real number that demonstrates the progress or success, but we have found value in discovering particular marketing channels that are working in our niche business.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication was never an issue. We shared a slack channel and had regular meetings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Agile approach and flexibility + the real orientation towards the client.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were very satisfied with their work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Parkalot is a company that provides car park sharing and management tools for companies. We help medium and large companies to manage their internal car parks. I'm am the company founder and CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Skalski Growth?

Skalski Growth took care for the "growth" part of the project. Created the ideal customer profiled, planned and executed marketing actions. This includes content creation, SEO, AdWords, web-design, partners research and more.

What were your goals for this project?

Release the project and gain traction.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Skalski Growth was recommended by several recognised growth experts. We started our cooperation with a 3 month trial period that went really well.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Research, content creation, SEO, AdWords, web-design, partners research and more.

What was the team composition?

We cooperated directly with 3 people, including Wojciech Skalski

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While gaining traction not generating profit was the main goal, by the project's end, the results exceeded the cost by an order of magnitude.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

As Parkalot team was really small, we appreciated Skalski Growth ideas about how to structure the work. We felt like a lot of task were accomplished without our effort.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I'm impressed about the way they structure the team. Every single member seems to excel in one field (ie. content creation) but has decent knowledge in others as well.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would choose different communication tools.