Straight North

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the digital marketing manager at Wastequip, an industrial manufacturing company operating in the waste industry. We manufacture a wide range of trash can sizes and the garbage trucks that pick up the trash. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, we have eight brands under that waste group umbrella.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

Our eight brands had eight different platforms and we had recently purchased a company based in California that hadn’t updated their website in years. We needed help migrating these websites to Drupal and fixing our organic SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North is moving our websites to Drupal. Thus far, we have launched two and expect to complete two more in 2020. Drupal allows us more flexibility and searchability, as well as being easily optimizable for organic search. The Straight North team understood the importance of organic search and optimized our sites. 

What is the team composition?

I have had conversations with four members of the Straight North team, including a writer, a designer, and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I had done a lot of research into companies that worked with Drupal and sent out an RFP. After speaking with multiple companies, I recieved a word of mouth referral for Straight North from someone who had heard good things about them. We had two initial conversations before we decided to work with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Straight North began in July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have successfully migrated two sites to Drupal and our search ranking is better than our old site by far. We’re looking good for 2020, with two more sites to come. My main point of contact at Straight North has been phenomenal in guiding this process, making it enjoyable and easy to get through. They were able to cross out a lot of things I was specifically looking for,

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

The project went smoothly. In our initial meetings, they outlined the schedule of the project, which they’ve stuck to. My project manager was incredible and responsive. She was always there when I needed an answer. She and I would have weekly meetings to follow up on our progress. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Straight North is really easy to work with, it’s been a very simple process. They’re receptive to changes and understand that at the end of the day we know the content best. They take our feedback seriously.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One area they could improve is integrating a tracking tool for project management as opposed to tracking changes through paper documents.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Follow the schedule and be prepared. If you’re not prepared, you’ll be playing catch up. Make sure you’ve got your ducks in a row before you engage with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive for a software development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We reached out to Straight North on behalf of our client. They’re in a very competitive market, so our objective was to improve their SEO.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our key metric was improving domain authority, so Straight North launched a link building campaign. They provided a six-month statement of work and outlined the process. They were supposed to build backlinks from reputable websites by creating contributed content for external blogs.

They also had their own dashboard that pulled information from Google Analytics and provided a list of backlinks they’ve created. They also helped develop onsite SEO practices.

What is the team dynamic?

I had a primary point of contact for the majority of the campaign, but I’ve spoken with 4–5 people throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I found them online and they were highly rated on Clutch. There’s a difference between SEO for a startup versus a large corporation, so we needed a team with enough resources to support the project.

I contacted a few companies, but Straight North was the only company that responded in a timely manner. I’ve worked with other SEO companies in the past, but they didn’t have the resources to work on a project like this.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in June 2019 and we plan to terminate the contract soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

After working with them for two months, we hadn’t received the major deliverables that were outlined at the beginning of the project. We did receive a few smaller deliverables, like links to sites with weaker domain authorities, though. I reached out to my main point of contact to express my concern, but there continues to be a delay.

For what our client is paying them, we expected the quality of their work to be better. Their team seemed to copy and paste text from the website for the content they were producing. As a result, the content was awkwardly written. Anyone could have done that. There was no quality control.

I provided feedback, but nothing I suggested was incorporated into this particular project.

On top of that, their team is more focused on building backlinks than increasing domain authority, which is our primary objective. I guess they want to increase traffic to the site, but we’re not aligned on what we need to get done.

How was project management handled?

Our primary contact did the best she could, but we needed a project manager to really direct the project. There were a lot of individuals working on different things, but they weren’t strategic and didn’t control quality.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do have the resources they need to support a project of this scale, but don’t have the necessary skills to market themselves as SEO experts.

In what specific areas can they improve?

With proper leadership, like hiring a new SEO director, they could improve their effectiveness.  For now, though, the way they represent themselves is misleading.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

I would only use them in a strict marketing capacity.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on January 17, 2020.

Thanks for taking the time to leave your review. From our discussions with you, it seemed that you were happy with the quality of our copywriting work with regards to your product category pages along with the content asset and content-based links that we built for you. However, you were not satisfied with the timeliness of our service delivery.

We are confirming that 100% of the campaign deliverables are complete per the scope of work detailed in our contract. We apologize for the delay in completing work by the end of each month. To make things right we have offered to refund the last monthly payment for your campaign.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I handle marketing and online advertising campaigns for Sycamore Hills Dentistry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We were previously using a dental-specific SEO company and we weren’t happy with their cookie-cutter marketing. It was too generic for us. We wanted somebody who could bring a more personalized approach to our account and get better results.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They overhauled our website, working on content and optimizing pages for SEO. They redesigned the pages and the flow of the site, including updating all images. Other services included keyword analysis and ran PPC campaigns.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Natalie (Project Manager, Straight North) as my main point of contact. She handled everything with my website.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I used to do marketing for another company and they used Straight North. I knew of their reputation and I was always impressed by the quality of their work and the personal attention they gave to each client.

How much have you invested with them?

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

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve spent $10,000–$25,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re driving traffic to our website and we’re moving ahead in PPC results and keyword searches. They bring a lot more to the table than our previous vendor.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of my communication has been with Natalie, and she’s always exceeded my expectations for managing our account. She makes sure I know what’s going on. Any issues have always been resolved very quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Having worked with other agencies before, I’m really impressed with Natalie’s handling of our account. Whenever I talk to someone else at Straight North, they know who we are and what we’re trying to do. They’re personable and they make sure we know they care.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Find an account manager who’s really good at communicating with you and keeping you on the same page. We didn’t have that with other companies.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Sol Green Homes. I flip houses; essentially, I am a real estate investor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

I was looking for a marketing company who could do paid ads on Google.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We discussed everything over the phone. They said they would set up new landing pages for me and do all the research about my business. According to them, it would take them two weeks to set up all the campaigns and initiate them.

Actually, it took more than four weeks, which was the first red flag for me. I sent several emails asking about progress and when they would be starting the campaigns. We kept going back and forth and they said they were working on it. At some point, I sent a final email letting them know it had already been more than four weeks, and that, at that point, I was considering hiring someone else so I could get ads running by the end of that week. It still took them another week to actually start running the campaigns.

In my initial call with the sales representative, they said they would run ads on both Bing and Google. I am a small business with a limited budget; I wanted to start small and asked them to focus on Google to start. Although I am not sure they ran ads on Bing, I am sure they ran ads on Google. They gave me access to the Google Ads account so I could see what was going on.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a sales representative initially, and, after I signed a contract with them, I was assigned an account manager and a customer care manager.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I started searching for a reliable company with great reviews. I began my search on Google, and I knew about Clutch and found Straight North through the site. I wanted to hire a company that could do PPC and Google ads, but additionally SEO and Facebook ads in the future. Their profile mentioned they work with small businesses like me, with lower budgets in the beginning.

I contacted them, as well as two other companies with similar competencies from Clutch. Straight North seemed to be more flexible with their terms and I decided to go with them. The other two companies didn’t follow up or there were other reasons I decided not to go with them.

How much have you invested in them?

In total, they charged me around $2,100. It may not seem like a lot of money, but considering they charged me that amount and wasted two and a half months, it was. Someone with better expertise may have done the job better, and I maybe would have made some more money during that time.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

They ran my ads for about a month, and for that entire month they set up a few ad groups and campaigns in one account. I had around 1,000 impressions, and 42 clicks. The click-through rate was 3.86%, and the conversion rate was 7%.

There were certain types of audiences they had to focus on rather than only driving traffic from people who wanted to sell their properties. All the conversions they brought me were irrelevant. Most of the leads who converted were people who wanted to sell their houses faster, and, in return, they had to sell at a cheaper price so I could sell it, fix it up, and make a profit.

How was project management handled?

They did communicate and were responsive to my emails, but when it came to fixing those things, most of the time they didn’t agree with me. Although they have experience managing Google Ads, from my standpoint, I know my business better and I gave them suggestions of what might work best for my business. They just kept doing what they were doing.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

One positive thing was their communication. When I would reach out to them, they would reply the same day, if not immediately. They scheduled calls so that we could discuss things.

In what specific areas can they improve?

For the money I paid them, they didn’t put in enough effort to fix things in the campaign. They just ignored most of the suggestions that I gave them to improve the performance.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

It seemed like they have quite a few staff members, and they should be doing great business if they have that many people working for them. I would suggest for people that are considering working with them to find out if it is worth it for a small business, especially if you don’t have a big budget to spend per month. Maybe a small mom and pop company that will put more effort into your campaign would be better than a large marketing company like Straight North.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on August 21, 2019.

Thanks for your review. It seems while you were happy with the level of communication our team provided, you were not satisfied with the time it took to build and launch your new PPC campaign along with the performance that was produced in just over one month.

Regarding the timing, the contract that you signed clearly stated a 17-business day timeline from the kickoff meeting to campaign launch. Our team delivered this in 20 business days. There must have been a misunderstanding on this, and we apologize for the three-day delay.

In response to the performance, PPC campaigns require data to be collected in order to make strategic decisions that allow us to improve the performance of your campaign over time. In 36 days, your campaign garnered 87 clicks and 8 leads. Unfortunately, at your monthly budget, this short timeframe did not allow for adequate data collection, which would have enabled us to make larger-scale changes to improve future campaign performance.

Please note that nearly 50% of your total investment went into building out a new PPC campaign that you now own. You are free to manage the campaign yourself or hire another firm to manage it for you.

We are sorry that we did not deliver on your expectations. In order to make things right, we decided to release you from a legally binding contract and the associated billing one month early.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive VP of a national recycling company. Our business handles recycled paper, plastics, and metals. We provided services throughout the US, operating our own network of plants in addition to brokering recycled products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?
 
We were looking for a vendor that could rebuild our website, which hadn’t been updated since 2011.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We tasked Straight North with creating a brand new website that would allow us to grow as a business. Our main goal was to obtain new customers, so the platform needed to be mobile-friendly. 

As for the content, we wanted to highlight who we’ve become as a company by integrating more interactive graphics. They also set up the on-site SEO for our target keywords and developed off-page SEO strategies. But, we haven’t gone live with those yet because we wanted to see how the first two months after launch would go.

What is the team composition?

We interacted with 3–4 people in total. There was the initial salesperson who pitched Straight North’s services. From there, we were assigned a project manager and a writer, who became our main contacts across the process.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We were looking for firms in the Chicago area, and one of my personal contacts happened to mention Straight North. After interviewing a few companies, we felt the most comfortable with them. They truly understood what we were trying to accomplish, and, personality-wise, we meshed very well with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The bulk of their redesign work lasted from January–July 2019. The goal, now, is to implement their SEO strategies over the next few months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any feedback yet because we’re less than two weeks into going live. However, in that short timeframe, we’ve definitely received leads more consistently than before. They did a fantastic job ensuring the site is easy to follow. It now more accurately represents who we are and helps portray our message quickly.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was easy to deal with. We had face-to-face meetings, and they were timely in their responses and willing to listen to our comments and questions. We used web conferencing tools to visualize what had been done. They did a very nice job of explaining the rationale behind doing one option instead of another.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated how they worked with us as we tried to make something specific to our company. They acted like a partner that was willing to listen to what we truly wanted instead of pushing their own agenda.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we were very pleased.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should voice whatever questions they may have. If things are going a certain way, just ask for an explanation—there’s usually a good reason why.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by the client on January 14, 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since the website’s launched in Early August 2019, we’ve seen a nice uptick in the number of visits to our site as well as the number of requests from potential customers and suppliers. We’re also getting positive comments on the look of our site. It’s professional, easy to follow, and impressive overall.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What’s impressed us the most is their timeliness when responding to our concerns. They’ll sit down and have a conversation with us to explain why something was done a certain way. And, as we all agree, they’re then able to assist us with making any changes that we might not have realized during the first iteration.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
Make sure you ask questions so that you understand their rationale. At times, you might not see why something needed to be done a certain way—maybe certain pages were linked together or some other detail. Whatever the reason, don’t be afraid to ask any questions you may have.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of marketing and digital strategy at Technical Solution Holdings. One of our portfolio companies is a leading provider of controlled environmental testing and certification services. They serve a variety of industries, including hospitals and healthcare, laboratories, pharmaceutical manufacturing, academic and animal research, and biotechnology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Straight North?

We initially engaged Straight North to develop a new B2B lead generation website that would be integrated into Salesforce. This would optimize the leads and allow us to score accordingly in Salesforce Pardot. Now, we continue to use them for digital optimization, SEO/PPC, and lead generation support. 

What were your goals for this project? 

The goal of the project was to deliver a best-in-class B2B website that brought in new customer lead generation. We wanted to have the platform integrated into Salesforce along with a user-friendly portal where we could track key performance indicators (KPIs) and lead generation metrics. We also needed to deliver an ROI on lead generation and track the original traffic source. In the end, we wanted to be able to duplicate the structure and strategy of the final model for other companies within our holding company portfolio. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Straight North through a recommendation and vetted them with our statement of work (SOW) deliverables and lead generation strategy. Our CEO, president, and I oversaw the selection process. 

Brian (Senior Account Executive, Straight North) was the pivotal reason we chose Straight North. We had a lot of back-and-forth with him, and he brought in their web design and SEO/PPC teams for additional dialogue and strategy review. Straight North’s key differentiation was their methodology, transparency, lead validation, and real-time reporting. 

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Our previous site was nonresponsive and had broken links. The load times were terrible, and the trust and citation flow metrics were not good. Straight North was responsible for building out our new B2B site, collaborating with our team to integrate it into Salesforce for lead generation.

Since then, we’ve expanded their role to include digital marketing services (e.g., SEO, SEM, PPC). The team supports us on keyword research, site map updates, internal links, backlinks, and content creation. They’ve also given us access to their proprietary analytics portal called GoNorth Reporting. It provides real-time reporting on KPIs and lead metrics on traffic and SEO/PPC along with form lead details and phone lead recordings.

What was the team composition?

The team structure has been consistent throughout the engagement. Ann (Senior Project Manager, Straight North) acts as our account manager for web design, and Courtney (Account Manager, Straight North) is our lead for SEO/PPC. Both work with our project manager who coordinates with our subject matter experts (SMEs), senior management, and digital team. For ongoing support, we rely on their digital director.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been very satisfied with the success we’ve seen in just over five months. We continue to see month-over-month (MOM) traffic growth and double-digit new lead generation customer conversions.

As for the website, numerous customers have complimented on our efforts. The site’s hierarchy allows our customers to move through our pages at a comfortable cadence. In addition, they’ve recognized the new content on our services, and we’re seeing more success when upselling additional services to existing clients.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our internal project manager works with their two account managers. During development, we had a very detailed timeline and expectations on deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We are in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, nanotech, and medical device industry space, so our services are very technical. Despite the complexity of our field, we’ve been impressed by Straight North’s patience and professionalism when creating content for such niche topics.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can’t think of anything. They did a great job and continue to do so for our PPC, SEO, digital optimization, and lead generation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing manager of a construction company specializing in residential home remodeling in the Chicago area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Straight North?

We engaged Straight North to make design and development updates to our website and manage our PPC and SEO campaigns.

What were your goals for this project?

Through this engagement, we hoped to increase web traffic to an updated website. We wanted to present ourselves better to our targeted audiences.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We initially met with Straight North in 2013, but we decided then that they were not the best fit for our company. It wasn’t until several years later that we became unhappy with our current website and the company managing our SEO. At that time, I reached back out to Straight North to see if we could strike a deal.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We’ve relied on Straight North to improve our website’s design and functionality. Further, they currently conduct keyword and backlink analysis as part of their ongoing management of our PPC and SEO campaigns. They also create search-friendly content for our website to drive additional traffic.

What was the team composition?

We initially met with a salesperson who presented Straight North’s services. Once we signed a contract, Straight North dedicated a project manager to our account along with a web designer, a content writer, and an SEO/PPC specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our online traffic has increased by 30% since the launch of our new website. We’ve received compliments about the site’s design from our team and clients alike. We are currently working with Straight North on SEO strategies that will include targeting specific locations and utilizing our blog section.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Olivia (Associate Project Manager, Straight North) ran the website update project very well. It was helpful only to have one point of contact. She was responsive and personable. She held her team accountable and made sure they were making progress toward our goals. They met all of our deadlines and regularly followed up with us to gather feedback.  

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by their process. Straight North presented a thorough plan that mapped out all meetings and deliverables. They proved that they were prepared. We have a similar approach to projects with our clients, so to see that commonality was very reassuring.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can’t pinpoint any areas that need improvement. So far we are extremely satisfied with our new website and Straight North’s performance with our other projects.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and chief officer at Twelve21. Our two holding companies are an automotive consulting firm and a career advocacy and head-hunting agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We needed help with the relaunch and redevelopment of two websites. We wanted original and conspicuous designs that would appeal to a wide audience. We also needed a technically straightforward platform that our team could easily manage.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North built a WordPress site for the automotive consulting firm. Currently, they are working on a site for the career advocacy and head-hunting agency. They are in the process of beta testing and finalizing our SEO and PPC plans.

What is the team composition?

Michael (Business Development Manager, Straight North) oversees sales and business development. Natalie (Project Manager, Straight North) has been our project manager for both websites. We have also worked with creative developers and graphic designers.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We initially contracted Straight North for digital marketing services, then hired them to build a site for the automotive consulting firm. We reengaged them to build a site for the career advocacy and head-hunting agency.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent over $10,000. We expect to exceed $20,000 by the end of this year. We agreed to a flat service fee and pay in monthly increments.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Straight North in April 2018. They completed work on the automotive consulting firm site that fall, and they began developing the head-hunting agency’s site about a month later. Our work with Straight North is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before hiring Straight North, our automotive consulting firm site did not register on any rankings. We were on the 98th page on Google. A month after Straight North launched the site, we jumped to the second page of almost every key web search. We have not put any additional money into SEO or PPC, yet our rankings continue to improve.

The head-hunting agency site has not launched yet, but customers regularly provide positive feedback on the automotive consulting firm site. They praise the clean and unique design. We have received many inquiries about who built the site.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Straight North is incredibly accommodating of our small, busy company. We have made significant progress because they instill deadlines and regularly follow up. They cater to our demanding schedule and needs. We communicate online and via conference calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The automotive consulting firm site’s initial metrics have exceeded our expectations. Straight North has done a fantastic job capturing my company’s vision. Once we provided a brief description of what we wanted, Straight North handled everything and performed very well on their own.

We are extremely pleased with the automotive consulting firm site and are looking forward to the head-hunting agency’s site launch.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I cannot think of anything.

Any advice for potential customers?

Provide as much vision and context to Straight North, and they will take care of the rest.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a nationwide legal services company. In my role, I work with our outsourced SEO agencies to make sure that they’re getting our leads up and promoting our Google rankings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

When I joined my position, we didn’t have any digital marketing strategies in place to boost our Google visibility let alone any analytics. We were also buying firms across the US, so we needed a way to promote all of our locations. Straight North came onboard to establish our SEO/PPC efforts, track our marketing data, and improve our lead generation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

During our preliminary meetings, we discussed our needs to give them a better sense of the situation. Straight North then outlined an SEO plan, showing us the trending keywords and how they related to our field. We refined that list to make sure that those keywords reflected our services and added new terms to target.

They also created a strategy to get our directory listings published, support our PPC campaigns, and improve our web content. Because content is king with Google rankings, it was imperative that we had strong pieces to bulk up our site. Their team wrote several articles, ensuring that the pieces were appropriate and included the right keywords.

To track our marketing efforts and cultivate qualified leads, they set up our Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts along with their own reporting tools. One tool allows them to record the first 30 seconds of a call to determine whether or not it was from a potential lead.

Currently, they continue to drive our digital marketing efforts, delivering a separate monthly report for our SEO and PPC campaigns. This allows us to compare our month-to-month results and better adjust our strategies. Additionally, as our organization buys up more firms, they’re proactive in getting the new firms situated on the main site, Google Maps, and searches.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with two account managers so far, including our current point of contact.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

A colleague recommended Straight North to me. After looking at multiple agencies, I decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $2,500 a month with another $1,000 dedicated to ad fees.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work started in October 2016 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything is on an upward trend. In the last two years, we’ve seen a big increase in organic traffic. Stronger content and targeted keywords have spiked our Google visibility, and our lead quality has also improved. A few months ago, we reached a new high of 81 leads.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re quick to get back to my inquiries, and the turnaround time on projects is pretty good. If we need to add something to the website, they complete the task within a fair timeline. As for communication, we email a few times a week and hold monthly calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their account manager is exceptionally responsive and communicates well. She updates us on production status and passes on messages on our behalf. If she doesn’t know something, she checks with the relevant resource and gets back to us. It’s an open and transparent process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were some website changes that could've been completed faster, but that might be unfair to say since I don’t know how complex it is on the development side.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re building a web page or implementing a change to the site, make sure that Straight North understands exactly what you want. That way, you won’t have to redo work due to an initial misunderstanding. Maintaining open lines of communication is also important to keep everyone on the same page.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a sales enablement technology company that creates software for an efficient sales environment. As the digital marketing director, I manage the website and oversee all of the online ad campaigns.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

When I came onboard, our company didn’t have a real marketing team, so we had trouble shifting our focus to PPC marketing. We already had a Google AdWords account but had only used it for one-time campaigns. Although I tried my best to optimize the keywords, we simply didn’t have the frame of reference to know if our strategies were producing results. As such, we needed an agency that specialized in PPC to guide us in the right direction.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our VP of marketing believed that most of our leads were generated from trial downloads, so we decided to focus on demo-driven campaigns. Straight North reviewed the ad campaigns that we had already created and modifying our approach. It was a repetitive process of testing different strategies and learning which messaging, keywords, and landing pages generated qualified leads. We used Pardot in conjunction with Google Adwords to measure how many downloads converted into customers.

What is the team composition?

We interacted with their account executive during the contract process. For the project, we worked with the account manager and a PPC specialist.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

The first agency that we reached out to declined our offer because they had signed on with one of our competitors. We then started asking around for reputable PPC companies, and several people in our network gave Straight North a glowing recommendation. 

How much have you invested with them?

In the beginning, our monthly spend was between $16,000–$17,000. Near the end, the monthly cost increased to about $20,000 each month. Overall, their services only accounted for 15% of our media expense. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from March–August 2018. Although their services have helped us tremendously, we’ve decided to shift our focus to content-driven campaigns and produce the work in-house.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before we hired them, our cost per conversion was at an astronomical rate of $1200. After they came in and modified our key messaging and digital ad strategies, our average cost per conversion dropped to $365. 

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Straight North is one of the most transparent and responsive companies that I’ve had the pleasure to work with. We didn’t know what to expect when it came to setting deadlines, so we relied on them heavily for scheduling. They stayed true to the suggested timeline and kept us updated along the way with biweekly phone conferences. Their project manager was very responsive to our needs and always had an answer for our inquiries. It was also nice to have their PPC specialist present during the meetings; he gave feedback on all of our business ideas, even for matters outside of the scope.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work was integral to our success, so I hold their optimizations in high regard. Straight North used their knowledge to transform how our team thought about PPC campaigns. They cleaned up our AdWords account and helped us focus on what was most important for our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They spent a significant amount of time conducting tests on material that they had already observed during the onboarding process. They should keep a record of their results so that they can refer to them and avoid redundant evaluations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have an honest conversation with your team. Map out what you hope to accomplish and how much you’re willing to spend. When we reached out to Straight North, we didn’t have a solid plan. One of the biggest disservices we did to Straight North was changing directions halfway through the project. Had we gone into the project knowing that we should spend our efforts on content-driven campaigns, we would have seen great results instantly.