Stella Rising

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a brand manager for a consumer electronics manufacturer. I’m in charge of our mass-market, consumer-facing products.

What challenge were you trying to address with Stella Rising?

We’re a manufacturer that’s been around for a while with fantastic products, sales pitches, and marketing, but our web-savvy was behind where we needed it to be. This was particularly true regarding SEO. Our websites weren’t doing what they needed to pull in organic traffic or win search results on Google and other search engines. We wanted to bring in expertise to help us structure our websites and their content.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have a number of different websites, and they had complete scope over our consumer-facing website for our product line. They also worked on our master website some — a small chunk out of thousands and thousands of pages. Their scope solely related to SEO best practice.

They did site audits and gave us both technical changes that needed to be made on the backend (ensuring that pages redirected correctly and were structured correctly) and provided recommendations for writing meta tags, page titles, and headers. They also made direct copy recommendations in the form of content gap analysis. Looking at competitive sets and consumer search behavior, they told us what we should write pages about and recommended specific content for our unique products.

Looking beyond content, they ensured our pages were up to Google’s standards in terms of speed and mobile responsiveness. Additionally, they provided education for our team, which was what made us happiest. They came in for a number of learning sessions with all of our copywriters to show them how to write with SEO in mind.

What is the team composition?

We had a chief point of contact, who was a knowledge leader in the space. They did a fantastic job of simplifying things and working with us to know what to do and why we should do it. There was also another person who helped with the day-to-day stuff, building out the data sets and doing some of the assessments on the sites.

How did you come to work with Stella Rising?

My boss made the connection. Some kind of outreach sparked it but I can’t remember specifically. We knew we needed the capability to push ourselves forward in the digital marketing space. From the work Stella was doing, it was clear that they were focused on digital marketing and were experts in building brand awareness, whether for new brands or new products.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $90,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2018 until December 2019. Other places within our company have picked up with Stella Rising after we ended with them.

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

We weren’t able to do everything they recommended we do—there’s probably still low-hanging fruit out there—but we did see a 20-30% increase in organic traffic to our site, which we were excited about. This hasn’t dropped off since then, either. The larger benefit, from my standpoint, however, is that our organization now has a better understanding of the value of SEO. We have new processes in place to do SEO checks on new pages and implement tags on everything. It’s a new muscle that we didn’t have before, so it’s a big deal.

How did Stella Rising perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a good job. They were clear in terms of bringing insights to us over time. From the start, they broke it into six-month-long project cycles and laid out maps for what would be done and what deliverables we could expect. They stayed pretty much on time with those. Any bottlenecks were on our side, not theirs.

They were responsive and did a good job of pushing, though they could have done better in helping us see clearly what deliverables we wanted to achieve. All in all, I was pleased. Our communication was mostly over emails and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their most valuable contribution was the SEO training they did. Not everyone is set up to do that: train multiple audiences internally.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did a great job of giving us information but those could have been consolidated down to a checklist that could have been completed and tracked continually over time. Sometimes they would give us a list but then move on to a new list without revisiting the first one. Deliverable management, you could call it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Look internally, first, and ensure your team is ready to learn and that you have resources allocated to make changes. Additionally, give Stella access to make changes on your behalf. Stella is ready to run when they enter an engagement, but you may not see the full returns if you’re not ready.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of integrated marketing for Pause Well-Aging. We develop skincare for women experiencing the early stages of menopause. We really developed a new category in the skincare market.

What challenge were you trying to address with Stella Rising?

Being a small startup brand, I knew we were going to need an agency that could act as an extension of the team. We wanted them to look at our strategy as a whole and also manage our Amazon services. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They manage our Amazon Business completely. Their team works on SEO, SEM, display ads, social media efforts, and manage any kind of paid marketing channel for us. We’ve continued to add more services to their portfolio with us. 

What is the team composition?

Currently, I work with 6–8 people on their team. 

How did you come to work with Stella Rising?

I’d worked with them in the past for a previous brand after being introduced to them by a colleague and had a fantastic experience. They were able to do great work at that previous brand, so I chose to use them again. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019 and our engagement is ongoing. 

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

They provide very high-quality work. 

How did Stella Rising perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. We have very clear communication. While I do work with six or so members of their team, we do have a project manager who pulls everything today for us and can be our point person. I can reach out to any specialist to talk about a particular item and we have weekly calls, too. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They get it—they understand that we are a niche brand in a crowded industry. They believe in our mission and are willing to adapt to our needs. Different things work for our brand since we aren’t traditional, and they are more flexible than previous agencies we worked with. 

They break down what they do and translate it so everyone on my team understands it and knows what is going on. They are extremely detail-oriented and really able to see the bigger picture for our company. They know what our yearly goals are and any momentary limitations. They’re good at laying out what we need to do today to reach our goals down the line. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything. If we hit any roadblocks, we team up together and find the way through. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open about your goals. Understand what you’re asking and be clear about what you want them to perform. Let them know about the rest of your business, too. You might be missing something in their portfolio that could get you to your end-goal even faster. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

EDGE BEAUTY, Inc. is a new corporate entity that will revitalize the fragrance category with a direct-to-consumer business model that incorporates direct selling on an e-commerce site, under the brand ScentBeauty.

The company strongly believes in educating consumers on fragrance through clear, intelligent editorial on its website customized through sampling and more. I am Director of Sales and oversee both our retail and online only channels.

For what projects/services did your company hire Stella Rising?

We hired Stella Rising to assist us with a launch of one our our first fragrance brands.

What were your goals for this project?

To launch our brand the products under it flawlessly as we know there are man things that can go wrong with a new launch at AMAZON let alone a new brand. To capture what the key differences and "story" behind the brand. To convey the creativity and transpar

ency of the products in a way that would be compelling and ultimately lead consumers through a purchase path whether organic, social driven or paid.

How did you select this vendor?

They came highly recommended specifically for Beauty.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We engaged them to help build out or product detail pages (including copywriting and keyword optimization), our brand store and give guidance on several other things we had questions with along the journey.

We also used them separately for paid media on this brand and several other brands that were outside of the AMAZON eco-system.

What was the team composition?

We worked with several people on the team but my direct experience with Rina that was specific to AMAZON was INCREDIBLE. I cannot sing her praises enough.

She is intelligent, professional and incredibly efficient. There was never a time she couldn't answer a question of ours. She is detail oriented and never misses a beat. She is an absolute dream to work with and so is her team.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We were able to launch our brand on time and with almost no hiccups! We had only one change that we decided needed to be made after receiving customer feedback that Rina and her team took care of within minuets.

They worked so quickly through the entire project and even took on things that others likely wouldn't have.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

From start to finish it was handled very professionally, efficiently and timely. They were very organized and the communication was amazing. They made sure all milestones were being hit.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I love that it is woman owned and their accolades speak volumes. Their internal contacts and brands they work with are also impressive. For me personally, it was the people I worked with directly that impressed me most.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think there is some room for improvement with paid media tactics for smaller, unknown brands that are just getting started. These are uncharted waters for every agency but I think as this company continues to grow this would be an area to focus on a bit more.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We’re proud to say that we’ve been setting the standard for world-class fragrances since 2003. We’ve always put our consumer's (that’s you!) safety first. That’s why we always vet ingredients both natural and synthetic for safety—without sacrificing the complexity of a perfume you’ll love and cherish for years to come. And to ensure a healthy and happy planet for future generations, our packaging is eco-conscious. We work with partners that use green manufacturing practices and our fragrances are infused with responsibly sourced, sustainable ingredients that give back, and we never test on animals. You can rest assured knowing that Clean Beauty Collective makes the simple, trusted, and conscious choice every step of the way. I am the Sales Manager of North America.

For what projects/services did your company hire Stella Rising?

WE hired them to completely overhaul our current Amazon store front, A+ pages, SEO/amazon media along with cleaning up our current amazon assortment.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase brand awareness and sales. Also were looking to have a cohesive brand look and voice from our own ecommerce site translated to amazon.

How did you select this vendor?

I had worked with them in the past and my CEO had also recommended them.

Describe the project in detail.

We first started on the back end and had all the asins on Amazon cleaned up, merging some old asins with new asins as we had done a packaging update on one collection. We then added two more collections. We turned off old asins that were no longer relevant to our portfolio. Assets from my team were provided along with copy and Stella Rising updated every single page, A+ page and also built a beautiful and cohesive brand store. Currently we kicked of SEO with amazon with incredibly strong results and are looking to keep this partnership and scale and grow the business.

What was the team composition?

We work with a dedicated account manager, then we have a VP Rina who oversees it all. We also have 2 more Stella Rising expert who focus solely on advertising and SEO.

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

Our sales are up double digits YOY and some times triple WOW along with our traffic to our pages which is fantastic. We also set goals for ROAS on Amazon and are exceeding those.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Incredible! They are so knowledgeable and patient. they are available at any time of day and are always willing to supply me with any additional information. They exceeded expectation's everyone on the leadership team at Clean Beauty Collective is very pleased with how quickly the business has turned around. In the initial stages we were in constant contact now that everything is up and running we maintain biweekly callas and weekly sales recaps; but the team at Stella Rising is always available.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Definitely the knowledge they have of Amazon and the inner workings. They truly are experts and can grow and really scale all types of companies.

Are there any areas for improvement?

none

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Senior Manager of Digital Marketing and Communication for an independent clean beauty company. We manufacture skincare and cosmetic products and sell through wholesale and direct to consumer channels.

What challenge were you trying to address with Women's Marketing?

We wanted to improve our website, by creating a better user experience, and increase the quality of web traffic by making SEO a part of all of our marketing decisions. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our partnership with Women's Marketing consisted of SEO and content development. The first thing they did was a complete audit of the site. They helped our IT team clean up backlinks. They worked really closely with us to determine which keywords we needed to be targeting in order to improve our quality of traffic. Bringing our blog into our main site from a subdomain has helped tremendously. They also performed a content audit to ensure we’re reaching the right people with quality content.

What is the team composition?

We work with the Director of SEO as our main contact. 

How did you come to work with Women's Marketing?

When we started our search, Women's Marketing was handling our print media. They had recently acquired a digital agency, so we took a call with them out of courtesy. We were really impressed with what they had to offer. When we had talked to some other SEO firms, their understanding of our brand was minimal and their approach to SEO felt a little forced. The quality of our brand and our messaging is incredibly important to us, and so working with a team who really understood that was key.

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

Organic search traffic has increased by close to 50%. We’ve also seen a notable increase in sales revenue, so we know they are driving quality traffic to the site. The blog has been one of the largest drivers of traffic since it was brought from a subdomain. Women's Marketing works really closely with our website and social media teams to make sure that all of our content is optimized for SEO and UX.

How did Women's Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Our account lead is really amazing. Our entire team has been incredibly impressed with his knowledge. He challenges everyone to think differently about things and come at problems from a different angle then we're used to. His project management skills are really strong. He’s very organized. He did the whole blog migration by himself, and he's even stepped in to assist us on project that we wouldn't normally expect in his scope of work. We've been really happy with the partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It feels like they're an extension of our internal team, and that we’re not merely one of their numerous clients. It’s very seamless. The positive results come from them taking the time to understand our business and recommend things they know are going to work for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They're always ready, willing, and able to step in as needed.

Any advice for potential customers?

Educate them as much as possible about your business. Giving them an opportunity to learn and understand the brand is key. They’re eager and ready to do exactly that, but they need to be given the tools. Don't expect them to just figure it out; immerse them in your brand.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the senior vice president for a B2C pet insurance company. Most customers find us online and request quotes through our website, and only about 3% of enrollment happens over the phone.

What challenge were you trying to address with Women's Marketing?

The majority of our new business comes from paid search and paid partnerships. Our main goal was to get more enrollments organically, which exceeded the defined roles of both our technology team and marketing department. I needed an outsourced partner who could streamline our focus on organic rankings continuously throughout our process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

As our full-service SEO partner, we’ve integrated Women's Marketing into all of our internal processes. The team constantly optimizes our new content for organic search results through a comprehensive SEO campaign. Thorough competitor research informs our keyword list and backlink strategy. The team even ran analyses of all our 51 different state landing pages for organic search.

As an integral part of our process, Women’s Marketing assesses everything we produce to preempt problems. They make sure it’s completely optimized and without issues from a technology, content and link standpoint before it’s put up online. They run technical audits that impact our technology team, press releases, new website pages, and blog articles. As they go alone, they fix problems by updating the site as needed, including meta tags and title tags.

Pinpointing the best content to pursue drives maximum web traffic and conversions. The team also gives us insightful recommendations to improve our editorial calendar and existing assets like PR content. When we implement mass changes to our blog, they execute all the most tedious tasks. They managed college outreach for our scholarship program to get .edu links back to our website.

What is the team dynamic?

They’re embedded within our day-to-day workflow, which I find to be key for success. Women’s Marketing is willing to work diligently to overcome our lack of internal resources to carry out their recommendations. We have a design partner and conduct conversion optimization efforts in-house that inform their work.

How much have you invested with them?

We have them on a retainer for about $5,000–$6,000 per month.

How did you come to work with Women’s Marketing?

I liked their work during our past partnership with a different e-commerce company. Based on the success of that print campaign, I hired them for this project as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Women’s Marketing during the first quarter of 2016, shortly after I started my role here. Our relationship is ongoing.

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

Women’s Marketing has met all our expectations. Generally speaking, their work has had a major impact on our business. Organic search is now one of our main channels. We now have 30% or more of our enrollments coming through our site.

Thanks to Women's Marketing, organic traffic is up by 40% and growing faster than any other channel. Organic leads have increased by 63.5%; organic enrollments have increased by 41%; and referring domains have increased by 23%.

How did Women’s Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Working with Women’s Marketing has empowered us to efficiently implement best practices. We improve our workflow each time we go through the same cycle. It’s a living-and-breathing process. Since they're part of our team, so we communicate daily. They’re always available to promptly answer our ad-hoc questions. We mostly use email along with monthly phone/GoToMeeting conversations.

When our main point of contact was in Seattle for a conference, she made time to visit our offices. She gave impactful presentations to our senior leadership that got the whole team to understand our goals and their respective roles. They send us recommendations, follow-ups, and set up meeting times in accordance with our schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a unique working relationship. Compared to most of our past partners, working with Women’s Marketing is like night-and-day. The team is hands-on and fully committed to our program’s success.

They're never rushed through their work and are always willing to make any changes we need. Anytime we ask for additional information, they're happy to provide it in a way that’s easy to understand. Rather than operating on a set format, they take the time to provide insights rather than just numbers and reports.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. I'm extremely happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to meet with them and provide feedback on what they're working on. For example, It's the client's responsibility to double check keyword lists for accuracy to ensure they’ll attract the right audience to your site.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Company is a retailer of women's and men's apparel, I oversaw all of Digital at the company (acquisition, retention, site and data).

For what projects/services did your company hire Stella Rising (formerly Women's Marketing)?

Website was not setup well from an SEO perspective so we hired Stella (John M) to do an initial audi and the signed them on to a retainer for ongoing SEO assistance and work.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve SEO traffic tot he website.

How did you select this vendor?

Had previously used Stella for Paid search and our consultant (John) is an expert in the field.

Describe the project in detail.

Initial Audit of the website for best practices, then on-going conversation around performance, audits, advice, etc.

What was the team composition?

There was a project lead, but he was also assisted by others within the company.

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

Strong SEO growth to our collection and product pages.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very strong and responsive from Stella.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The communication and understanding were impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Unfortunately, some times we just didn't have the tech or resources to really implement the changes.