Spectrum Group Online

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We deliver fruit to offices as a wellness benefit. Often what we’re doing is getting into the breakroom, delivering fruit to employees who want a healthier option instead of the junk food that’s normally in a breakroom. I’m the marketing manager, and I’ve been in this role for a couple years. I manage our marketing department, including our print and digital efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spectrum Group Online?

When I moved into my current role, we realized we weren’t doing enough in digital. We wanted to increase our presence in social media and ads. We did work with an SEO group. As part of my transition into this role, I did a bunch of classes and started learning more about the space. I met Massimo, the owner of Spectrum Group, through one of my classes. I instantly started learning from them, and I felt there was a need for us to transition from our current SEO provider to Massimo.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first step was to educate us. Massimo and Spectrum are teachers at heart, so they educated us on the rules and principles to live by for quality SEO. From there, we developed a strategy, that we’re still continuing to implement, around how we can participate more heavily on improving our SEO standings, while keeping them good and healthy. Also, on the ad space, they’re helping us a bunch with our Google AdWords, which is more on the SEM side. They’re definitely helping us build out those creatives in respect to the ads.

They also help us to investigate and learn what our keywords are, and how to get the most and best bang for our buck. They constantly give me a checklist about what we can do to help navigate the SEO in the right direction. We have an internal social media person, but we are looking at whether we can have them help us with the ads for our social media.

How did you come to work with Spectrum Group Online?

The initial meeting was in a class that I took through UC Berkeley. I took two separate classes with them, so I got to know them through the 12 weeks of the classes, and I learned a lot from them. I looked at some of the suggestions they gave us through the class, and how that correlated back to the business. Massimo and Alyson do an amazing job of educating people and really driving people to the statistics of what it means to be [search engine optimized]. That really instilled confidence in us to move forward.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began in October of 2015, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’re a national brand, and we deliver nationwide; however, we do have a very local presence. We like to use local couriers and local fruit. Part of the strategy with Spectrum was around how we can be seen on the internet as a national brand that focuses locally. We developed landing pages that are focused on that, and built keywords that are focused on that national but local strategy.

We recently worked with Spectrum to identify some metatags and meta-descriptions that needed correction. They developed the standards of what those should be, and then also helped us identify some training for our own team around how to write that content. That helps dramatically with our click-through rates and our bounce rates, as it leads people in the right direction to find what they’re searching for.

How did Spectrum Group Online perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re amazing. They’re super-responsive. I can rely on Massimo and Alyson specifically to respond within 24 hours of getting an email from me. I have a monthly call with them that’s a two-hour meeting, and they’re very willing to be available on whatever chat feature I’m using to ask them a quick question. Massimo and Alyson have visited our office several times. Their availability and responsiveness are top-notch. They meet all the deadlines, and they’ve actually helped us be more accountable in that area. They encourage our own deadlines for updating the blogs and articles on our sites.

What did you find most impressive about Spectrum Group Online?

They pair very well together as a team. Massimo is really data-driven, and he knows Google like the back of his hand, whereas Alyson is a content person. With those two things paired, they make a really nice duo. I feel they are educators at heart. They’re willing to do the work for you, but if you want to learn to do it yourself, they’re not afraid to teach you how to manage your own SEO and then back off. I think that really sets them apart.

Are there any areas Spectrum Group Online could improve?

They’ve done a great job at building their team up in the past couple months, but I think they probably need more support.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

McRoskey Mattress Company makes the world’s best mattresses by hand. We're in San Francisco, and we have been doing this since 1899. I’m the marketing manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spectrum Group Online?

Our company had previously done digital marketing, specifically pay per click ads, but not had a lot of success with it. Spectrum offered us a complete package. In addition to pay-per-click, ad creation, and management services, they offered SEO, Google Analytics, social... the whole digital package.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

From a digital perspective, Spectrum did all the keyword research. We reviewed it, and then they managed and optimized the ad buys, placement, targeting, and all that stuff. For SEO, we went through a process about a year ago where they helped us improve SEO on our old website.

We recently redeveloped our website, and the new site was just launched. In that process, Spectrum was our SEO partner. As we created new pages, they optimized them for SEO. They also went back through the pages after we did some tweaks, to ensure proper keyword placement.

We did social ads with them, and we went through various types of targeting. It turned out that social doesn’t work very well for us because of the type of product we sell. However, through that process, they helped us figure out a lot of demographics. We learned that social only works for us with a special offer or promotion. They did a little content creation, but I like to keep that in-house.

How did you come to work with Spectrum Group Online?

Spectrum was hired before I started working for the company. When I started, I reviewed all the agencies of record we had. I eliminated almost all of them, except for Spectrum, because they were ineffective. The people at Spectrum are smart and competent.

How much have you invested with Spectrum Group Online?

It ranges between $1,500 and $6,500 monthly. [$18,000-78,000 for 12 months]

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began in April of 2016, and our relationship is ongoing. They’re now working on a project for our sales department. They’re doing a deep dive with customers, to find out their motivations, as a way of driving our future acquisition strategy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Spectrum has given us the right tools to figure out how to keep optimizing our website. We were doing a continuous test on optimization as we were building the new site, and they provided a lot of tools and guidance to help us with that. Since we relaunched the site, our conversion rate has increased. We’re a week out from launch, and the new site is a 4% conversion rate, whereas the old site was somewhere between 0.9% and 1.2%.

Internally, there’s a lot of questioning of the efficacy of digital marketing. There are two camps, and they both feel passionate. Because of our long sales process, it’s been very hard to build an attribution model to find out the details.

How did Spectrum Group Online perform from a project management standpoint?

Alyson is their project manager, and she is great. She is very good at herding all the captains in place and laying out the process. They’ve met all the project deadlines. They set a reasonable pace and reasonable expectations. The other key skill of a project manager is to be able to communicate with different types of people, with different comfort levels with technology. While I may be clear on why we’re doing what we’re doing, from a technology standpoint, there are a lot of conversations about why we’re doing certain things. Alyson is very good at that.

What did you find most impressive about Spectrum Group Online?

They go above and beyond for us. They are really interested in education, and they also teach at an MBA program. They do a very good job of partnering with you and educating people. The first thing they do is a workshop with everyone in the company, to teach them how to do certain things, so they could work better together.

Are there any areas Spectrum Group Online could improve?

Massimo is very smart and gets things done, but he is very easily distracted. Alyson is very linear and stays on task. So, in communicating with them, it’s the most efficacious to go through Alyson, unless you have something that’s about some weird, wonky, data thing. In general, she’s better at giving complete answers, and not just being in the weeds.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Coordinator of an other industries company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

silicon anode technologies to enhance EV batteries 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Spectrum Group Online to accomplish?

• improve SEO

SOLUTION

How did you find Spectrum Group Online?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select Spectrum Group Online over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Spectrum Group Online were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Spectrum has been great with creating and optimizing our Google Ads campaigns and improving SEO. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Conversion and impression rate increases. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Very responsive and always producing deliverables on time. 

What was your primary form of communication with Spectrum Group Online?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They're very knowledgeable about digital marketing; they know what to do in order to get the results that we need. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Spectrum Group Online could have done differently?

na

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a B2C client.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

It was not a company activity. It was professional work for my immigration matters.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Spectrum Group Online to accomplish?

• Establish my media presence in areas related to Semiconductors, Cloud Computing, Data Centers, Storage Systems, NAND, Flash, SSDs, and NVMe.
• Establish the breadth and depth of my media presence
• Quantify my influence on the tech and business community with my blogs and other media blurbs

SOLUTION

How did you find Spectrum Group Online?

• Online Search
• Referral
• previous connections

Why did you select Spectrum Group Online over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Human-to-human connection

How many teammates from Spectrum Group Online were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

I was required to produce evidence of my media presence and influence and quantify the reach and depth of my blogs and other media blurbs. I needed a subject matter expert and an institution that was established and recognized. 
As an example, pick one of my blogs and check the number of views, how long people stay on the page, who are the people reading my blogs, whether the blog is copied/ leveraged elsewhere, which geographies viewers come from, and the most important and critical, quantify the reach (depth as well as breadth) or quantify my influence. 
I had some interaction with Massimo in the past and thought of reaching out to him if he could help. Had a conversation with Massimo and Alyson and explained to them what I needed and how much time I had. The Spectrum Group Online helped with three things: 

1. establish my media presence with my blogs and other activities
2. establish my influence on tech and business people in my chosen field
3. quantify the reach of my media activities. 

The Spectrum Group Online delivered the identified tasks professionally and on time, which helped me meet my objectives successfully.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Quantify the influence, i.e., depth and breadth of my media activities in blogs, videos, articles, interviews, etc.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

At first, they understood my needs, timelines, and depth of coverage, which helped us to converge to SOW, and we kept adjusting as we collected data and pieces of evidence. They had good flexibility while doing research.

What was your primary form of communication with Spectrum Group Online?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Human-to-human connection
• understood my needs and turnaround time
• We were impressed with their professional approach and how they suggested better solutions than I initially proposed.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Spectrum Group Online could have done differently?

From my SOW perspective, I don't see anything to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Spectrum Group Online, and what were your goals?

I lost my high ranking on Google and wanted to expand our reach.

SOLUTION

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

It was a referral

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Video Call, Tasks calls, website copy rewrite

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

3

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Better ranking on Google

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Efficient

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

They are a very knowledgeable and organized company.

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

None