Why you shouldn’t work with Solutions 8.
Hello! My name is Kasim (rhymes with “Awesome”) and I’m the Founder & CEO of Solutions 8.
Because this particular page of content risks sounding a little flippant and maybe even slightly combative, I wanted to write it myself in order to ensure the approach I have chosen to take is properly communicated.
I believe strongly in honesty as a principle. As the cliche goes, it truly is the best policy. For that reason, I would like to present the reasons we may not be the right fit for some organizations. I hope it is well received.
✗ We make traffic happen, not miracles.
The only thing we do better than digital marketing is managing expectations. If you’re interested in real results, truthful feedback, and a consultative partnership, we are your team!
While I’m thrilled to say that it is (very) rare, campaigns can and do fail. Competitors can bid you out of the market, Google can change their compliance requirements, the market can shift against our favor, etc.
As a rule, I won’t allow our team to take on clients if we don’t have a reasonable expectation of success. However, it is important to understand there are a myriad of factors out of our control that impact a campaign’s ability to perform.
While we can’t guarantee success, what we can guarantee is insight. If a campaign does under-perform, our commitment to you will be working to do everything we can to understand why. Very often, this information can be extremely valuable and help identify potential future strategies.
There’s a big difference between an explanation and an excuse. I am committed to making sure my team always falls on the correct side of that line.
✗ No feedback? That’s a deal-breaker.
Traffic requires optimization. Optimization requires data. The more information you provide on how well leads are performing, the better your campaign will run.
If you are unwilling or unable to give us conversion data, we’ll be greatly limited in our ability to properly optimize your campaign.
For example, when traffic converts into a lead (which we track automatically on our end), the vast majority of PPC managers consider that a “win” and begin optimizing to earn more of those.
However, that’s not good enough for us. We want to know, of the leads that converted:
– Which specific leads resulted in a closed deal or purchase?
– What is the lifetime value of each closed deal?
– How long did the sales cycle take?
– What were the specific pain points that resulted in the final sale?
– Any other information that can help influence the direction of your campaigns.
This information allows us to further optimize your campaign and work to identify common denominators that can lead to much more successful traffic campaigns.
If you aren’t willing or able to capture and share this information, our ability to optimize ends with simply producing a lead instead of being able to drive traffic and generate leads we know have a greater likelihood of being higher quality.
If you need assistance in choosing and setting up a CRM, please let us know! We are happy to make strategic recommendations based on our analysis of your needs.
✗ New Ideas Are Exciting and All…
We’re happy to help you test your concept in a new market. However, please keep in mind that businesses with proven models and the ability to scale tend to perform best.
When dealing with a startup company (and especially products or services that are brand new to market), we are essentially testing the viability of an entire business model inside of an organic ecosystem.
That means an increased number of variables and business elements all have the ability to impact the campaign’s success. Elements like branding, market position, pricing, customer acquisition, sales narrative, closing procedures, and retention.
For organizations with a proven concept and existing market position, the vast majority of these elements have been at least partially vetted. For organizations that are new to market, it is important to understand the exploratory nature of a marketing campaign.
I’m not trying to bat your business away. We absolutely love working with startups and have had some pretty outstanding success in the space!
But, because I know how sensitive the early stages of a new company can be, it’s important that I ensure we are properly managing the expectations associated with these types of campaigns and help communicate the risks involved in the process.
✗ Online leads need love..
This is true for B2B and B2C alike. When people go shopping online, they want instant gratification.
If a user lands on your eCommerce site to buy a product, it needs to be an easy and enjoyable process.
If the phone rings, your team needs to answer it.
If someone fills out a form requesting more information, someone needs to respond right away.
If you don’t, your competitor will.
This isn’t meant to be flippant, I just need to communicate the reality of the online ecosystem.
Especially in very competitive industries, you’ll find your competition can be fierce and very efficient.
If you don’t have the infrastructure necessary to service high quality traffic, this approach might not be the best fit for your company.
✗ We Aren’t a “One-Stop-Shop.”
Solutions 8 is a targeted traffic and lead generation agency. If it doesn’t drive revenue, we don’t do it. Being everything to everyone is a recipe for failure (I know, I’ve tried).
In fact, I would caution you against an agency that does everything under the digital sun and then some. The “jack of all trades, master of none” cliche is just as true for digital marketing, maybe more so.
I’m so proud of my team and what we’ve built. We stand among the minority of agencies that actually found our superpower and chose to stick with it.
We are absolute rock stars at driving traffic and generating leads and we have made the strategic decision to stay in our lane.
If you need assistance with other facets of digital marketing, we have a very robust network of relationships and are happy to help refer you to a strategic partner.
If you’d like us to work alongside (or, in some cases, even manage) other digital marketing vendors, we’re happy to discuss those arrangements as well.
However, we have chosen not to offer services that fall outside of our core proficiency. As much as a “one-stop-shop” may sound appealing, it isn’t something I feel we could offer without compromising our core values.
✗ Patience Is a Virtue: It Takes Time to See Results.
Important Update: In the past, our rule of thumb was 90 days for a campaign to be fully optimized. This meant that after 90 days, we would typically have enough data to know whether or not the campaign would work long term.
With the introduction of Performance Max, the 90-day guideline no longer applies in most cases. Instead, it takes roughly 45 days just to see what we’ve built and how it’s going to work.
Essentially, Day 46 is now Day 0.
This new campaign type is seven campaigns in one—Search, Shopping, YouTube, GSP, Discover, Display, Local, and Remarketing—and all of them are being optimized at the same time. Once Google has gathered and analyzed the available data, then we can start to see how the foundation we’ve put into place will perform over time.
Put simply, it takes time to successfully optimize a campaign and position it to scale. But more often than not, being patient during that initial learning period pays off in the long run.
I want your business.
I hope nothing I have written above has given you any offense or caused you to shy away from us as a service provider. I would love to earn your business and have the opportunity to help you achieve your goals.
Right now, you’re considering placing your trust in my company and letting us manage your hard earned money in an industry where over 90% of all online ads fail (Source: Digital Marketer). That’s a daunting prospect for both of us!
Luckily for you, we’ve spent more than a decade building solid systems for making sure that we fail forward (shout out to John C. Maxwell) and find the path to success.
To do that, we need to start with truth and transparency as the foundation of our relationship which is the purpose of this small tangent we find ourselves on.
Regardless of whether or not we’re able to work together, I wish you success.
