Winston Digital Marketing

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of New York Harbor Tours, a boat tour company that offers boutique and private tours of New York Harbor and beyond. We also have a specialized marine consulting service for film and media productions.

For what projects/services did your company hire Winston Digital Marketing?

We were looking to expand our tours business, which was lagging far behind the marine services and consulting part of the business. We did a lot of traditional outreach with mixed success but were having trouble breaking through the very crowded field competing for clicks in the New York boat tour sector.

What were your goals for this project?

Simply to increase online visits and sales.

How did you select this vendor?

Referral from another non-competing business who recommended them unequivocally.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

SEO services; managing Google ad campaigns; managing website to increase visibility.

What was the team composition?

Worked largely with owner but also other members of his team for specific projects, i.e. Google Ad campaigns.

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

Web traffic for tours business is up more than 100 percent in the two years we began the project; online sales have doubled in that time and continue to grow.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Easy—John and his team are easy to get a hold of. We communicate mostly by email but it is easy to schedule a call as needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The proactive aspect of their approach. They are always reaching out with new ideas a ways of improving traffic and sales conversions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None, I cannot say enough good things about their approach and work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The name of my business is Inside Music Schools. We work with high school musicians and their families to help them identify colleges with music programs that are best suited for them. So if they’re trying to decide between Berklee School of Music, Juilliard, or any other music school, we help them determine the right fit and how to apply.

What challenge were you trying to address with Winston Digital Marketing?

When I started my business, I created a website, but soon found out that it’s not easy to attract eyeballs to a website. I learned a little about SEO, blogging, and marketing, but still wasn’t able to attract visitors.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They primarily helped with SEO. They created a clear-cut, six-month plan to begin with so we knew what to expect each month. Month one would be keyword research, two would be technical audit, and so on and so forth. Then we reevaluated at the sixth month.

They created content and edited the website to optimize for SEO. They gave a weekly report on how many eyeballs have been on the site and would make recommendations periodically. The report would tell us how we’re doing month over month and year over year.

What is the team composition?

We began working with John (CEO), but then he brought on Kristen. She became the front line and really is the person we work with on a day-to-day basis, while John started looking at the business from a 40,000-foot level.

How did you come to work with Winston Digital Marketing?

My son and I started looking online, and the thoroughness of the outline they provided us really sold me. We just clicked and we went with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

We have two primary competitors, and for a while we were showing up just below one of them. After a year of working with Winston Digital Marketing, we leap-frogged past them and we come up as the number one search result for keywords like music admissions, music school counselors, and things like that.

As a result, I’ve had more people reach out to me this month than ever before. And I’ve been in business for nine years! On top of that, I made more money last year than in any previous year. It’s great to know that we’re attracting more eyeballs.

How did Winston Digital Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

John is always available and very responsive. I speak to Kristen multiple times a week. She always picks up the phone and gives me time to get my stuff one. There’s a lot of give and take between all of us, too. Kristen created a really useful Microsoft Spreadsheet that helps us track who is working on what. She also follows up with me when I need it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very astute to what I need and are very patient. I’m not very technologically adept, so I don’t always understand the terms they’re using, and I don’t understand why we need Google MyBusiness, or Facebooks Reviews, but they explain it thoroughly.

They also know that I’m a bit of a procrastinator, so they’ll send me gentle reminders before something is due.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Others may disagree, but for me personally, I sometimes become overwhelmed by the amount of feedback they provide. I suppose it’s useful, but I don’t know what it all means. I just want the key takeaways.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of Saraval Industries. We buy and sell trading desks on Wall Street.

What challenge were you trying to address with Winston Digital Marketing?

We were looking to advertise our business more effectively. Most of our clients came through word-of-mouth referrals, and we had no digital presence, as our website was very low end.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we began our engagement with Winston Digital, they came prepared, having already conducted research on our website. They immediately offered us a plan to improve our search rankings.

The team also completely revamped our website. We collaborated to create relevant content, and they consulted us on best practices for creating content that would rank highly on Google. They also manage our PPC ads. 

Now, our engagement is on a continuous ongoing basis, and the team sends monthly analytic reports.

What is the team composition?

I have two main points of contact with Winston Digital. 

How did you come to work with Winston Digital Marketing?

We interviewed with at least 10 different companies, but Winston Digital was the only one that could effectively in communicating how they would go about generating more business. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000 – $50,000 with Winston Digital.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with the team in January 2016, and the work is ongoing.

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

We didn’t understand the concepts behind SEO until we began working with Winston Digital. Before the engagement, our website didn’t house any information, and we never had customers or potential customers reach out to us through the site. Now, there are times where we see between 3-10 requests through the platform, with a closing rate of at least 50%. Winston Digital has secured us really good, quality leads.

Their work with PPC has been extremely effective and allows us to get more for our money. 

We’re at the point with Winston Digital that I often don’t read their reports in-depth, because I can see the results of their work for myself.

How did Winston Digital Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Winston Digital is very flexible. We mainly keep in contact over email, as we’re often too busy to have regular phone calls. 

If something ever comes through that needs to be explained, the team will always take the time to speak with me until we’re aligned. They’re readily available whenever we need them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Winston Digital has earned our trust in a way no other provider has. They’ve done everything they’ve said they would, and they do it well. We have almost more business than we can handle because of the leads they acquire.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be patient in the beginning, because it can take some time to see results. Follow their advice, and you’ll achieve your goals.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and CEO of Sea The City, which provides jet ski and hot tub boat tours.

What challenge were you trying to address with Winston Digital Marketing?

There was a double challenge of ranking first in searches for certain keywords and increasing awareness about our services. Our business needed to be more visible in a wider range of keywords because people weren’t aware of our services. We wanted our services to be known.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve been with them for a few years now, but our engagement started with keyword research. Their team looked into the searches of people who visit our city. They then beefed up our keyword strategy in those categories. With our assistance, their team wrote blog posts that are likely to catch peoples’ eyes and increase our domain authority to become a more trusted source. Their team handles our Google Ads campaigns too.

What is the team composition?

I initially worked with the head of Winston Digital Marketing almost exclusively. Over time, we started to work with other members of their team too.

How did you come to work with Winston Digital Marketing?

The agency that helped us with our public relations referred us to Winston Digital Marketing.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend at least $2,000 a month with Winston Digital Marketing but the cost fluctuates because of how some of their services are structured.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2016 and our engagement’s ongoing.

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

They refined our Google Ads campaigns such that we’re getting excellent returns on investments. Our ROAS (return on ad spend) is around 4.5%–6%, which is a lot. Our business has grown substantially throughout our engagement, which is partially attributed to Winston Digital Marketing. They’re certainly getting eyes on us to increase the number of calls that we receive. The number of customers that report having found us through general search terms skyrocketed over the past couple of years. Their team gets to people who wouldn’t have known about us any other way besides search.

How did Winston Digital Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Mostly, we communicate via email. Anytime I want to have a phone conversation, I get one right away. I get a series of weekly and monthly reports too. They’re always making adjustments to add technology and features. Their team’s proactive, so I rarely have to come to them to address a problem. Unlike many companies that provide technology-based services, their team doesn’t treat their strategies as a black box. They make time to explain their efforts and take deep dives into any topic. Ultimately, that works better for them because they get a better knowledge of what we need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team always uses ‘we,’ so it’s completely a partnership. That’s a big difference from other providers. We had to pivot our marketing substantially given a disruption to tourism. Right away, they stepped up to help and manage the heavy lifting.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I do not. They’re always moving the ball forward on their own and solving problems before I know that they exist.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Nothing is set it and forget it. If you put effort into the relationship, you’ll get a ton in return. That’s my general advice for working with any vendor.