This is the first article in a new blog series called Customer Case Studies. Since SEOptimer serves over 2,000 digital agencies around the world, we thought it was about time we showcased some of these brilliant agencies. We want to highlight some of our customers who not only get the most out of the tool but also realize the tangible business value through new client acquisition, increased retention, workflow efficiencies and more.
Last year I had the pleasure to speak with Andrew and Chris from North Shore Digital and was super impressed with the systems and processes they've put in place for delivering client excellence and how they prospect for new business.
About North Shore Digital
North Shore Digital are an award-winning digital agency based in North Vancouver, Canada. And I have to say, North Vancouver looks like an absolutely beautiful part of the world. Although I haven't been there myself, it's certainly on my "to visit" list!
North Shore Digital's backstory notes the local chapter of BNI as playing a key role in their initial client growth. They are certainly not alone as we know of several other agencies that formed and grew as a result of joining their local chapter. Andrew wrote about his BNI experience here. In case you haven't heard of it, BNI is a referral networking organization that started in 1985 and is active in over 70 countries. There's a very good chance that BNI have a local chapter in your city!
In 2021, the agency went from strength to strength expanding their team and launching a sister business, Financial Services Marketing to focus solely on the financial services niche.
We've previously discussed this 'niching down' tactic on our podcast and it makes total sense especially for agencies who naturally build up a number of clients in the same industry. When this happens, doubling down on that industry with specific content, assets and outreach that speaks to industry-related pain points is so effective.
While many principles of digital marketing are industry-agnostic, niching down is more about how these principles are applied to the industry and showing previous results for other customers in that industry.
The main agency specialize in lead generation for their clients with a particular focus on trades, landscaping, health clinics, financial services and schools. That being said, they offer a full suite of digital marketing services as well as content marketing, paid media and hosting & web maintenance. All of their clients are either bricks and mortar businesses or service-based businesses that rely on local SEO to drive new business.
How North Shore Digital Uses SEOptimer
Like most SEOptimer customers, the agency uses our Embeddable Audit Tool on key landing pages to drive new lead acquisition direct from their agency website.
When a new business lead drops their details on the landing page (like the one above), the details are instantly pushed into the agency's CRM, SharpSpring via SEOptimer's Zapier app. The prospect then receives a super-useful SEO audit report with North Shore Digital branding. This lead magnet helps the agency to keep a steady stream of new potential clients in their sales automation pipeline in SharpSpring.
When nurturing new business leads, North Shore Digital's pitch is to optimize the client's website and achieve an "A" score on SEOptimer as soon as possible. Here's one of their local clients, Cove Power who they've achieved an "A" score for:
I love this idea. It gives the client a really tangible short-term goal and proves the agency can move the needle quickly and effectively.
North Shore Digital also use GDS and create bespoke client reporting templates. This example below contains demo data but I saw some of their client dashboards and they are super comprehensive covering all the topline metrics for each service area the agency is working on:
Reporting is a fundamental service for any digital agency and North Shore Digital do a great job of this through their bespoke dashboards as well as using SEOptimer's White Label Reports.
Aside from SEO, the agency has 9 other digital marketing service offerings:
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- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- PPC & Paid Advertising
- Email Marketing
- Website Development & UX
- Lead Generation
- Content Marketing & Optimization
- Google My Business Marketing
- Analytics & Reporting
- Social Media Marketing
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In terms of the business model, North Shore Digital offer clients three different plans which are billed monthly:
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- Google Search Plan
- Online Growth Plan
- Online Growth Plan +
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Monthly Plans are a really great business model for digital agencies and equally important for clients because digital marketing is never 'done'. It's a constant process that requires ongoing effort. The agency offers digital strategy, content strategy, SEO, analytics & reporting and hosting & maintenance as part of every plan. Both of their Online Growth Plans additionally include paid advertising (Google Ads) with their Online Growth Plan + also including content production, content scheduling and email marketing.
Beyond digital marketing services, the agency also offers WordPress Hosting, managed backups & updates and ongoing website maintenance making North Shore Digital a truly one-stop digital shop!
Another thing I really like about the agency is that they actively live their values. They are truly committed to their local community in North Vancouver and see their clients' success as their success.
Be sure to check out the agency's website to see some of the great client testimonials they've received.
