In digital marketing, success hinges not only on the initial strategies but also on the adaptability to evolving trends and the relentless pursuit of creative, engaging campaigns. Much like the landscape of SEO, digital marketing requires an understanding of evolving audience behaviour, messaging that resonates, and the tenacity for consistent effort.

The statistic that individuals typically need exposure to a message at least 7 times before taking action highlights the importance of persistence and creativity.

For many of our clients, taking charge of this realm while maintaining the daily operations of their business can be challenging. This is where our expertise comes into play. At Northnet Media, we understand that small businesses may lack the in-house resources to explore the full spectrum of marketing possibilities. This realization inspired us to expand our services beyond web design and development, offering an all-in-one approach that has proven to catalyze success.

In the following case studies – which highlight 2 of our digital marketing clients from 2023 – we reveal how our comprehensive digital marketing strategies have driven tangible results even when working with a limited budget.

CASE STUDY #1:
FRP MANUFACTURER

THE CLIENT’S STARTING POINT:

This was a client of ours who we had created a new website for a few years prior. Although our initial project helped them to establish some key SEO rankings, they did not pursue any other project work after that. They do not have an in-house marketing person/team. This meant that they were not active on any social media platforms, did not publish any blog posts aside from the occasional Press Release, did not utilize any email marketing, nor did they run any ads. While they would get a good handful of leads from their website every year, the majority of their revenue was being earned through their established client base. They came to us with an inquiry on how to solidify their presence amongst their top competitors and get more leads coming in.

They had a limited budget for it, but we presented a plan made up of the following:

• Search Engine Optimization with content authoring, to gain more top positions and hone in on high-volume keywords that only their competitors were using.
• Campaign-specific Landing Pages with SEO efforts to be used as the URL for ad campaigns.
• Blog Writing with a heavy basis on fact-sharing/education; and focused on SEO efforts.
• Social Media Management, to which it was decided that LinkedIn would be the most appropriate platform.
• PPC Ads, which we decided to run on LinkedIn and Google.
• Email Marketing to help them build a subscriber list and engage with their leads.

THE RESULTS:

By month 5, we saw that the daily visibility of our LinkedIn posts began to meet the daily visibility of our LinkedIn ads. This was partially due to credit we should rightfully give to the client – as key members of the team actively engaged in and shared the posts. That fact, in addition to us selecting the appropriate hashtags that would have their posts showing up alongside their competitors on the platform, meant their audience continued to grow. The data spoke for itself though and the client decided that we could turn off the LinkedIn ads. In the months that followed, we focused only on the organic side and their LinkedIn presence continued to grow.

The rest of the results speak for themselves. For this company, a single sale is often a 6-figure number; however, it should be noted that their sales cycle is approximately 6 months in length. Due to the limited budget, the client only wanted to run the entire campaign for 6 months… but after seeing the below data, they quickly changed their minds and opted to continue with all the organic efforts (basically, everything we had been doing but minus the ads).

Please note that the below table screenshot is from our 1-page file for data reporting. We showed the client this data on each platform for verification purposes and otherwise sent the following document for their records. These numbers were pulled from data on Google Analytics (GA and GA4), SEMrush, LinkedIn, and WordPress.

The top 2 items were contact forms already available on their website, which we replicated for the campaign landing pages. Ad Clicks were provided in a separate report (not included here).

CASE STUDY #2:
LOCAL ELECTRICIANS

THE CLIENT’S STARTING POINT:

A well-respected and established company of local electricians wanted to increase their brand awareness. Known in the area, but noting local competition that they were exposed to, they were ready to take things a step further. They had hired help to maintain a presence on Meta (Facebook, Instagram) but otherwise hadn’t acted on any marketing initiatives. Serving the mostly rural community that they were based out of, they decided to start by promoting that they were an authorized dealer and installer of a widely recognized North American brand of generators.

This company also had a limited budget, but having a clear and concise direction to work with, we proposed the following plan:

• Search Engine Optimization of their whole website to ensure they were ranking for high-volume keywords for their services.
• Campaign-specific Landing Page with SEO efforts to be used as the URL for ad campaigns.
• Email Marketing setup and integration so that we could begin capturing contacts and creating campaigns based on interests and actions.
• Blog Writing on FAQs homeowners have about electrical issues; all with SEO to index these posts.
• PPC Ads on Meta and Google, targeting homeowners who were looking for generators and emergency management solutions [for their home].

THE RESULTS:

Month after month, this client had leads for generator sales.. so much so that they had nothing but good things to say. This company ended up being contacted by prospective clients outside of the targeted advertising area; causing the business owner to start coming up with new service ideas. Once month 6 rolled around, we expected to sit down and do an evaluation, purely to see if they wanted to change the service plan… only to find out that things were going much better than we ever could have expected. The campaign was going so well that the generator company’s VP of Sales ended up paying them a visit in person – to congratulate them on their campaign success and for being the top Canadian reseller of their generators. 

As a result of everything that transpired, this company was keen to expand efforts even further. Starting in month 8, we’re changing their campaign focus and adding additional services to their digital marketing plan. Along with continuing our efforts under the new initiative, we will be creating their LinkedIn page and presence to promote their B2B services. Upon reviewing the data behind the below report numbers, we’re all excited to see what will come next for this client. These numbers were pulled from data on Google Analytics (GA and GA4), SEMrush, Google Ads, and WordPress – this does not include Meta Ad numbers.

“Number of Quote Requests” and “Number of Contacts” refer to general inquiry contact forms on their website; the rest were campaign-specific contact forms.

As these 2 case studies demonstrate, the world of digital marketing is a landscape of untapped potential for businesses seeking to amplify their reach and impact. Success in this arena is not just about crafting compelling campaigns, but also about the investment of time, effort, and strategic thinking. And while the above clients had a limited budget to work with, it still amounted to growth that was worth the investment. At Northnet Media, we are committed to unlocking the full potential of your brand, and our track record speaks volumes about our ability to turn ambitious visions into tangible results. If you’re ready to explore the possibilities and elevate your business to new heights, consider our digital marketing services.