Sourced from benefitcorp.net: “ A Benefit Corporation is a traditional corporation with modified obligations committing it to higher standards of purpose, accountability and transparency:
Purpose:
Benefit corporations commit to creating public benefit and sustainable value in addition to generating profit. This sustainability is an integral part of their value proposition.
Accountability:
Benefit corporations are committed to considering the company’s impact on society and the environment in order to create long-term sustainable value for all stakeholders.
Transparency:
Benefit corporations are required to report, in most states annually and using a third party standard, showing their progress towards achieving social and environmental impact to their shareholders and in most cases the wider public.
Traditional corporations are expected to use profit maximization as the primary lens in decision making. Many now see this as a hurdle in creating long-term value for all stakeholders, including the shareholders themselves. Benefit corporations reject this myopic model. They are required to consider all stakeholders in their decisions. This gives them the flexibility to create long term value for all stakeholders over the long term, and even through exit transactions such as IPOs and acquisitions.”
Simply put, B Corps uphold the definition of ‘sustainable business’ and harness their purpose-driven goals within their everyday processes.
To become certified, each company must be assessed by the B Lab and register with the state as a Benefit Corporation. The B Impact Assessment is completed every 2 years and a minimum score of 80 must be reached in order to stay certified.
View our latest benefit corp impact assessment report here.
Being a B Corp and living those core values bleeds into every aspect of our business.
B Corp certification demonstrates to our employees that our company walks its talk and is connected to a higher purpose. As a result, we’re able to attract top tier talent that is highly engaged, motivated and hard working.
B Corp certification leads us to develop more meaningful agency partnerships as we're connected with like-minded individuals and companies who serve to operate their business in an ethical fashion that benefits a greater good.
B Corp certification means that we believe the good companies should win! When we partner with a client who is a fellow B Corp or whose mission is aligned with ours in serving a greater purpose, it allows us to create circumstance for good to spread far and wide - of that we're especially proud. We believe that when purpose-drive companies succeed, it puts us all in a better place.
Bank Transfers:
This is an easy and secure way to pay. You will submit your bank information electronically (using TRUSTe) when you receive your invoice via email.
Check:
For monthly services, invoices will be sent electronically 30 days prior to the recurring campaign date in order to receive payment upon the recurring service date.
Note: if paying by check, work begins once payment has been received.
Credit Card:
We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express for invoices that are less than $1,000.
We use Quickbooks for invoicing and accounting. Invoices are setup with the payment schedule and terms as described in your signed master services agreement (MSA).
Initial invoice(s) will be sent out within the first few days of signing, with the option of paying via ACH directly from the invoice.
There are three types of potential SOW's that may be established between Digitopia and its clients.
Project SOWs:
Project SOWs are services that start and complete over four (4) or more weeks. In order to commence the SOW, a payment of 50% of the total investment is due on or before the date of the kick-off workshop (“kick-off”). The second and final invoice for the remaining balance of the total investment will be sent when the scope of work is complete. This invoice is “due upon receipt.” Project SOW's are priced as a flat-rate. Project pricing can vary greatly ($10k-100k) due to the amount of work that a client may or may not need to establish their foundation, or what we call an “ecosystem.”
On-Demand SOWs:
On-Demand SOWs are services that start and complete in less than four (4) weeks. Payment is due upon completion of an On-Demand SOW. On-Demand SOWs are priced hourly. Hourly rates range from $125-200 per hour, depending on the service requested.
Recurring Service SOWs:
Recurring Service SOWs are services that repeat on a monthly basis. Payments are due on or before the 1st of each service month. Recurring Service SOW's are priced as a flat-rate on a monthly recurring basis. Recurring service pricing can vary greatly ($10k-50k per month) due to the number of areas of our client’s “ecosystem” that we manage and execute. Our pricing does not include advertising spend as those fees are paid directly to advertising channels.
Pay-for-Performance
We do not offer pay-for-performance terms with our agreements due to the long-term approach of a quality program. For this reason, only a small percentage of your investment can be measured for ROI within the same period that the investment was made – the majority of your investment will result in assets that drive audience growth long after our work is done.
Contact your strategist via email to request a cancellation of services.
Recurring Service SOW's must be terminated with at least 90 days written notice (a "rolling 90" agreement).
We need a main point of contact from your side, usually the marketing manager, and access to your subject matter experts (SMEs).
The first month is all-hands on deck, and then after that, we'll get into a cadence where just the marketing manager is required for of the strategy and approvals.
Yes. As a HubSpot Platinum tier certified partner agency, we’re experts in developing and deploying content marketing campaigns for our clients.
Specific content deliverables include, but are not limited to: owned blog content, earned blog content placement, infographics, white-papers, photo edits, video edits, landing pages, webpages, executive interviews, etc.
We offer paid advertising campaign management across a variety of social media and search engine platforms including:
First, we select a list of research-backed, optimized keywords that will be triggered by users searching in search engines like Google.
For those keywords, we develop and write advertising creative to market your products or services so that users will your advertisement when they search for relevant terms.
You will pay each time a user clicks on the advertisement and traffic is delivered to your website. This payment model is referred to as Cost per Click (CPC).
The CPC amount you will pay is dependent upon a preset "maximum bid" determined by what you’re willing to spend. Additionally, there are other factors that influence the CPC such as the quality of your advertising account structure, advertising creative, and advertising relevance.
Paid social media advertising works similarly to paid search advertising in the fact that cost is often accrued on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis — that is, you pay only for the traffic that is delivered to your website from the advertisement. That said, there are two noteworthy differences between paid social media advertising and paid search advertising:
Our approach to developing paid campaigns depends on variables like campaign goals, buyer personas, our clients’ sales cycles, and commercial transaction type (B2B or B2C).
EX) Optimizing lead-gen campaigns with Google Ads for B2C companies with considered sales cycles, requires razor sharp buyer personas and demographic targeting, tightly themed ad groups, testing ad copy and enticing offers, focused landing pages and a variety of keywords.
Upon returning your SOW, your strategist will schedule a kick-off phone call or in-person meeting with your team.
We will take over management of your campaigns at this time and follow up on the action items we outlined in our initial audit of your account and your SOW.
Generally, within 1-3 weeks of our initial kick-off call, you will have a newly-revised series of campaigns ready to launch!
The primary benefit to having an agency manage your social media campaign is experience.
By focusing specifically on social media, agencies have the ability to stay up-to-date on current trends, tools, advertising strategy, platform changes, and know all of the ins and outs of the various intricacies of social media.
Yes. Social media works for every company.
Social media allows one-to-one brand-buyer relationships to be developed and maintained like no other advertising channel.
Furthermore, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are equipped with some of the largest audiences and most advanced analytics data in the world.
You can identify your target audience on a hyper-granular level to provide timely, personalized, custom experiences with your brand that will drive long-term brand awareness and engagement.
Yes. We have experience with HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, MailChimp, and Constant Contact.
However, we primarily leverage HubSpot’s email marketing and automation tools to manage email marketing and lead nurturing campaigns for our clients. We build templates, workflows, and automation. Additionally, we offer list management and comprehensive reporting to help you make informed decisions.
We can work with any list size.
We've worked with startups whose main goal was list growth and development, growing them from zero subscribers to more than two thousand in 90 days.
We've also worked with clients who had lists with hundreds of thousands of emails and worked to segment, optimize, and grow their lists in alignment with larger digital campaign objectives.
Our clients work with us to send anywhere from 1-12 emails per month. These include promotional emails, sales emails, and/or newsletters.
We also build workflows and setup lifecycle emails such as a welcome series, win-back emails, transactional emails, and triggered emails that are automated.
Yes, providing thought leadership, and being active in the global marketing community is very important to our team. Our team members have spoken at universities, entrepreneur organization events, local high school's, marketing events, and conferences around the world on a variety of topics.
We work to stay on the cutting edge of digital marketing best practices, always develop new talks and slide decks, and openly share our 'secret sauce' from our client success in order to ensure attendees garner valuable, unique content.
Get in touch with us to discuss your conference or event. Frank Cowell, our CEO, is also available to deliver keynote presentations. If you are interested, please email: speaking@digitopia.agency
We're always looking to develop relationships and meet new prospective employees.
If we're not actively hiring at a given time, we're still working to build up our talent bench.
We work primarily with B2B clientele, with anywhere from 25-250+ employees, producing 5M-50M+ in annual revenue, that have a considered sales cycle, and a dedicated inside sales team that needs a high volume of qualified leads.
We work primarily in industries such as: manufacturing, finance, professional services, software, and technology.
Our high level process of executing a digital marketing campaign includes the following 6 steps: Assess, Plan, Build, Drive, Optimize, and Grow.
Assess:
In the Assess Stage, we will assess your current digital marketing performance to establish a benchmark and get an understanding of KPI’s such as:
Additionally, you'll want to answer the following questions:
Plan
Now that there is a baseline understanding of your current digital marketing performance, we'll move into the Plan Stage where we will collaborate on, research, and define the following:
Build
In the Build Stage, we'll build the foundation needed to empower your digital marketing program. This includes:
NOTE: The Assess, Plan, and Build stages will only need to be executed once. These stages have a finite "project" period of 45-60 days. Once complete, we'll move into a monthly "service" period that includes the Drive, Optimize, and Grow stages below.
Drive
In the Drive Phase, based on your growth objectives, resources, and budget, we'll drive visits and engagement using some or all of the following methods:
These methods are listed in priority order with the top methods driving visits and engagement much faster than the bottom methods.
Optimize
Hand-in-hand with the Drive activities, we'll Optimize your digital marketing program for maximum performance which includes:
Grow
Once your program is up-and-running, we'll strategize additional content and offers to engage existing and/or new buyer personas which includes:
Our onboarding process is purpose-built to ensure a smooth transition between sales, finance, and production. An easy and seamless client experience in this transition is of paramount importance.
Our process involves finalizing contracts, connecting with Accounting, assigning dedicated strategists, and conducting thorough kick-off meetings.
Finalizing Contracts:
Upon receiving a signed SOW, your New Business Strategist at Digitopia will connect with the CEO of our company to review the contract, countersign the agreement, and send it back to you for your records.
Accounting:
Within 72 hours of receiving a signed SOW, our Accounting Department will be in touch with a request for initial payment.
Dedicated Strategist:
For multi-service clients, you will be assigned a dedicated Account Strategist as your main point of contact. Unlike the typical "overloaded Account Manager," your strategist only leads a handful of clients. This allows each strategist the time needed to immerse themselves completely in your brand. Your strategist will act as a seamless extension of your internal team.
Initial Audit & Kickoff Meeting:
Prior to the client kickoff meeting, the team will have requested access to all necessary platforms and reporting tools, which will be used to perform an initial audit of all relevant systems and past marketing activities.
Your account team will come prepared for the workshop-style kickoff meeting (3-6 hours) with additional questions and recommendations on how to prioritize your digital marketing opportunities.
In this meeting, all stakeholders will review a detailed project/service timeline as well as examples of deliverables that will be developed within the first 8 weeks. Additionally, we'll work through a series of discovery and planning exercises that span subjects such as: sales process and performance, marketing goals and current performance, market segmentation, buyer personas, content marketing, advertising channels, and more.
Along with daily, as-needed communication, we will establish a standing weekly meeting with you and your key stakeholders.
This allows us to set expectations for weekly tasks, deliver incremental reports, and make quick decisions regarding timely needs.
Note: Once-a-month standing meetings may also be established based on your communication preference.
Yes, an exhaustive competitor analysis and benchmark report is a mandatory initiative/service for all new client programs.
We leverage best-in-class tools like Google Analytics, Google Trends, Ahref, SEM Rush, Raven Tools, Moz, ScreamingFrog, Majestic, Sprout Social, Spyfu, SearchMetrics, and more to deliver comprehensive peer analysis, audit reports, forecasting, and future strategy planning.
This is a very complex question which demands a thorough answer.
But, before we provide marketing budget recommendations, let's define it: Your marketing budget refers to all costs for marketing, advertising, public relations, event marketing, and anything else you might leverage to promote the brand and drive revenue.
Based on the latest research, our expert opinions, and years of marketing experience, we, generally, recommend:
You should spend 2 to 5 percent of your sales revenue on marketing.
The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends spending 7 to 8 percent of your gross revenue if you're garnering less than $5 million a year in sales and your net profit margin—after all expenses—is in the 10 percent to 12 percent range. For new companies (startups), especially those in competitive markets, these numbers increase to 12 to 20 percent. For established companies, you should be spending 6 to 12 percent of gross revenue on marketing.
What about digital marketing specific budgets?
According to Forrester Research Inc., most industries such as design and media, transportation, retail, health and beauty, real estate, information technology, agriculture and environment, and building and construction dedicate 50 to 65 percent of their overall marketing budget to digital marketing specifically.
When working with Digitopia, if you haven't already defined an annual marketing budget, we will build one with you collaboratively. This budget will be derived from real, meaningful, benchmark data that we plug into a business math formula to determine your COCA (Cost of Customer Acquisition). Some example metrics within the formula include:
From here, we can begin to determine necessary, profitable budgets based on your goals and benchmark data, and begin to project marketing ROI as well.
We determine success metrics for all program activities by performing a COCA (cost of customer acquisition) analysis prior to any contracting.
We consider metrics like the LTR (lifetime revenue) of our client’s customers, our client’s gross margin, LTV (lifetime value), and COCA% to determine a max COCA$ that ensures a program with eventual ROI.
For lead generation campaigns, we also consider monthly objectives like website visitors, leads, qualified leads, opportunities, and customers along with the conversion rate at each point.
Paid/direct response KPI examples would include metrics such as impression-share, CPC, CTR, landing page engagement, and conversions.
We track KPI’s through a varied tool stack that includes, Google Analytics, Shopify Analytics, HubSpot, and more.
Absolutely!
If we cannot help you with your marketing needs, we will help you get in touch with someone who can.
We have built an extensive network of agency partners who we work with regularly and trust.
If you own a business or manage a website of any kind, you likely want target audiences to visit it. SEO is important because it’s specifically aimed at helping do just this; improve the online presence and traffic for a website.
SEO helps you show up at the most important stage of your customer’s journey, when they are actively looking for products and services you offer, or resources and information for which you have expert insights.
The Beginning (0-6 months):
The first 6 months of any SEO effort is almost always exclusively dedicated to fixing mistakes, fine tuning, and closing the gap between what your website has in place and current SEO best practices.
Once completed, these efforts can have ongoing and compounding benefits for years to come. The newly accessible and optimized pages start earning rankings and traffic, which foster more links, more exposure, more sharing, and more business.
The Turning Point (6-18 months):
Eventually, the list of actionable, immediate fixes, and optimizations depletes. At this point, your website will hit an "SEO Plateau."
In order to reach the next growth plateau (between campaign months 6-18), you must invest in new strategies, such as:
Local SEO is a hyper-specific tactic that focuses on optimizing your website to achieve local search rankings by ensuring that your business is properly represented on review sites like Yelp, City Search, Kudzoo, and others.
Your Local SEO Expert focuses on making sure that your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) are correct and consistent across these listings so Google indexes your business information and website appropriately.
SEO as a broader practice focuses on optimizing your content – your blog and your website content, in general – to ensure it’s fresh, accurate, and interesting for search engines.
We are a HubSpot Platinum Tier certified partner agency with 15 managed clients.
We have extensive HubSpot Marketing experience, including the development of an “Implementation Playbook,” that allows stakeholders to deploy campaigns in a systematic fashion.
Everyone on the team is HubSpot trained and certified. Additionally, we are called-upon by HubSpot and other organizations to speak as thought leaders.
We're a certified Google partner agency managing close to 1 million dollars in annual client ad spend.
With team-wide certifications across Google’s entire suite of ad products, Search, Display, Mobile, Video, and Shopping, we're able to connect with a wide variety of our clients’ target audiences at the optimal stage of their buyers journey to effectively drive brand awareness, website engagement, lead generation and sales.
We have a large and varied digital marketing tool stack to assist with reporting, client communications, file sharing, campaign planning, campaign tracking, trend monitoring, analytics insights, CRO, and more. Here are just a few examples:
Fill out the form to schedule a connect call with one of our expert digital strategists.
2011 Palomar Airport Rd.
Suite 101
Carlsbad, CA 92011
Call us: +1 858-345-2569
