Surge Marketing

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We work for a network of six beauty and cosmetology schools operating in Florida. I am the marketing manager for all six schools, and I help run our social media accounts, retail, services, and every other aspect of our marketing operations.

My partner on the call is in charge of setting up and administering paid ads that we run on Google, and also works heavily with the admissions team on recruitment of prospective students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Amplitude Digital Inc.?

Our organization was with a different company helping to manage our Google ads account, and we didn’t feel we were getting a particularly strong performance in terms of either impressions and clicks translating to enrollments in the school or attentiveness of their service.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a lot of problems with our existing account, so their team, and Stephanie (account manager) in particular, started by cleaning everything up and really focusing on the specific keywords that we knew would lead to better quality leads rather than higher quantity. That included a lot of listening to what we actually wanted to target, which was something we hadn’t gotten much of at our previous company.

They’ve also helped to partner with us on doing more analysis of the end results of different ad campaigns that we’re running. She takes the information that we get and creates a trend analysis to see what’s working and what’s not down to the individual ad level and then determines what to tweak from there.

What is the team composition?

There were two particular individuals working with us on the project, including Stephanie and Jeff (President).

How did you come to work with Amplitude Digital Inc.?

We did an unofficial RFP to replace our previous provider and landed on a company that has since merged with Amplitude. They were working with another organization in the network of schools we are a part of, and their owner strongly recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

The contract is for a percentage of our spend on Google Ads, and that has amounted to around $80,000–$90,000 a year in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2019 and we had already started to see increases in the quality of our leads by December, so we are continuing to partner together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There has already been a measurable increase in what we would call conversions, in terms of translation between the ad clicks and enrollment. We may have had up to hundreds of keywords that really weren’t in the right segment, and now we are getting leads from nearly 90% of them, which is a huge improvement.

One of the specific metrics that we’ve tracked is how many tours we could actually produce in a week. That number has gone from around 10% to 20%, and we continue to get better and better at the conversion rate, which has allowed us to lower our overall spend while getting as many if not more conversions.

How did Amplitude Digital Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We use DashThis to port a variety of metrics in from Google Ads and Salesforce that we can use for our analyses. Stephanie has been a crucial part of that operation and has been incredibly helpful to me in making sure we get the information we need on time to make well-informed decisions in each step we take towards more efficient advertising.

They create a weekly agenda for our meetings on Google Sheets, as well as a recap after the call to make sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of progress towards our specific goals and any changes we might be making in the strategy for getting there. We consistently meet deadlines, and they are always responsive to our messages.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The level of communication and responsiveness that we receive from them makes them incredibly easy to work with. Even though we’re a few time zones away, she is always ready to hop on a call with us or answer a question so that we don’t have to wait at all, which we’ve really appreciated.

That level of dedication demonstrates her attitude of dedication to our account and the room that her company allows her to focus on providing quality customer service rather than simply trying to get us to spend as much as possible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t think of anything they could be doing better than they already are. They consistently go above and beyond to help position us as best as we possibly can against our competitors, and I can’t think of a single area they’re weak on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an e-commerce business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Amplitude Digital, Inc.?

We were trying to find someone to help us with our Facebook and Instagram ads. After several attempts on our own and things not working out with other agencies, we wanted to work with an agency that would get us a good return on our ad spend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their scope is finding the right digital advertising strategy for our ad spend. We gave them some KPIs and what we hoped the return would be. They did their best to try and hit those for us.

The team handled our Facebook and Instagram ads. Eventually, they introduced us to another ad platform that pointed people to our website. They also took over our Google Ads from everything from search to YouTube.

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with Katie (Account Director) and a digital marketing strategist. Occasionally, their supervisors would hop into our calls to discuss the bigger picture and next steps.

How did you come to work with Amplitude Digital, Inc.?

We’re located in Los Angeles, so I wanted a company I could talk to and meet in person. I initially searched on Google Maps. Originally, we decided to move on to another company, but they didn’t perform as well. Later, Amplitude Digital, Inc. reached out again and let us know they would work with us if we weren’t satisfied. We ended up being impressed by their pitch and then decided to move on with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$50,000.  

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in November 2019. We paused the work in June 2020 because of COVID-19.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Christmas season was amazing for us. We had a 2x return on our sales, and they hit all of our KPIs for that season. This past year to date, they’ve been able to generate over a quarter of million dollars for us from their work. They’re data-driven. Every decision they pointed me to involved numbers and statistics.

How did Amplitude Digital Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good at project management. We had a bi-weekly meeting where they showed us their dashboards and progress. They were quick to answer any emails.

If something needed to be uploaded, they were quick to respond to that as well. We created a private Slack group to communicate, which allowed us to implement things quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated their strong level of communication. The team knew what they were doing, not overselling their services. With digital marketing, it’s hard to predict the return or success, but they’ve been able to showcase it in their results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

With the pandemic, we’re trying to find strategies to move forward. Ultimately, because we’re trying to save costs, we couldn’t continue working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I liked to ask every ad agency about their retention rate. I ask how long people stay with you and why people choose to leave.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the IT director for a women's apparel and fashion design retailer, wholesaler, and e-commerce business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Amplitude Digital Inc.?

We wanted to increase our social media and internet-based marketing and digital advertising.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with our ad management for Google and Facebook, and they gave us direction and suggestions for ways to best utilize funds and budgeting. We received consistent weekly guidance and expertise in the field to help manage and support all our efforts. We gave them some direction, and they managed our SEO and PPC campaigns, as well as a few other efforts to generate traffic and attention to the site.

What is the team composition?

I worked closely with one of their owner-founders. He was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and patient. I also worked directly with three other team members who were experts in account management, SEO, and PPC campaigns.

How did you come to work with Amplitude Digital Inc.?

Our digital manager brought them to us. I was assigned their account after the original individual left. I'm not sure of the initial hiring process, but they were a pleasure to work with.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in June 2016, and the engagement ended in March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don't have any specific metrics, but they provided excellent data during our collaboration. I am more than happy to endorse anything they have to say about our partnership.

How did Amplitude Digital Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They have excellent account management and project management expertise.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They go above and beyond to understand the businesses and the people they work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did an exceptional job, and I have nothing to call them out on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have faith and trust in them. They know what they're doing, they care, and they are invested in their projects' success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the former senior marketing manager for Hedley & Bennett. We provide specialty apparel and products for customers in the culinary industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Amplitude Digital Inc.?

Amplitude Digital Inc. serves as our agency of record for all SEO, PPC, search engine marketing, and social media marketing needs. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to grow our e-commerce business by 25% from Q2 2018 to the end of the year. We also wanted a higher return on investment for our marketing spend. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our CMO selected Amplitude Digital Inc. before I joined the company.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Amplitude Digital Inc. began the project with a discovery meeting to understand our business as thoroughly as possible. Their team dove into finding broken links on our site, optimizing our SEO ranking in target keywords, and rewriting meta descriptions. They also run seasonal search engine marketing (SEM) and PPC ads and assist us with social media marketing on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with an account lead as well as SEO and SEM experts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Amplitude Digital Inc. grew our e-commerce business by 43% within our designated period. They also achieved first ranking in search results for many of our target keywords.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Due to their intimate knowledge of our business, Amplitude Digital Inc. felt like an extension of our internal team. Reliably proactive and organized, the team pushed us to go beyond what we thought was possible without losing track of any details. They were also always on time, demonstrating their respect and commitment to us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I’ve never worked with a more passionate team of individuals. Amplitude Digital Inc. believed in our vision, took our goals as their own and worked hard to accomplish them. Their drive and integrity stood out the most to me.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I could not have been happier with Amplitude's work and partnership.