Growing revenue 150% with Vendasta’s multi-location reporting and social media management
Founded in 2011, Symboliq Media is based in St. Charles, IL
Symboliq is a full-service digital marketing agency
Vendasta partner since 2017
Faced with a roster of clients shutting down their small businesses at the onset of the pandemic, Symboliq Media needed to shift their business model to ensure their agency wouldn’t be included as one of the casualties. Armed with a plan of attack, in 2021, Symboliq turned to their partnership with Vendasta to help execute a new strategy.
Experiencing exponential growth with a new approach toward large businesses and multi-location agency clients
Increase in Total Annual Revenue
Engaged
Accounts
Billed Digital
Products
Background
At the onset of the pandemic, the agency was primarily serving small local businesses, like restaurants and hair salons, which were particularly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. When clients began shutting down their businesses, the Symboliq team knew they needed a new approach to keep their agency growing and profitable.
With his sights set on bigger business and more meaningful client partnerships, Symboliq Media Co-Founder Randy Blakeslee began consulting with his Vendasta account manager to see what could be done.
Objectives
After exploring the capabilities of Vendasta’s multi-location reporting and product functionality, Symboliq Media set out to:
- Cross-sell and upsell their client base to retain existing business and grow recurring revenue on each account
- Insulate themselves from times of economic uncertainty by winning new business with larger organizations and brands with multiple locations to manage
- Provide clients with comprehensive reporting to prove campaign performance and build trust as an agency that delivers results
The approach
Opening the door to multi-location brand management
In 2021, as Blakeslee began testing out which technology providers could arm him with the tools he needed to go after bigger accounts, Vendasta’s multi-location functionality stood out from other solutions only supporting social media management.
“It was really nice because it has a lot of different bells and whistles,” Blakeslee says.
“It opened up our minds to cross-sell and upsell. Really it’s not even selling to me. It’s more about how we can help our partners be seen online better, quicker, and easier, giving them a proper dashboard for analytics, and letting them really understand it. Having that collaboration builds true partnerships.”
Taking the opportunity to build the Symboliq brand
To better position their agency to go after bigger businesses and more profitable contracts, the Symboliq team tackled their own brand refresh as well.
“We revisited why we do what we do and who we want to partner with.”
“For a year with our own company, we updated logos, we started doing monthly swag items for team members, and we did some client appreciation. We really upped our ante and got involved in the culture building of our agency,” explains Blakeslee.
Shortly after, a steady flow of new client relationships began to come in.
“We took off with Ziva; we did a whole brand out. McMurray Stern has been a huge client of ours. We have consulting contracts with a lot of B2B now. We picked up a franchise. The only reason we were able to do that after studying, doing homework, and putting our hat into the ring, was Vendasta’s multi-location dashboard,” Blakeslee explains.
Manage multi-location brands with Vendasta
Execution
Connecting Multi-Location Business App to prove performance and build trust
In 2022, Symboliq Media began working with Fully Promoted. The branded apparel franchise is part of the Starpoint Brands family, a division of the United Franchise Group.
Armed with multi-location tools built into the Vendasta agency management software, the relationship took off. Symboliq managed Google Business Profile optimization, online listings management with Vendasta’s listing distribution, citation building, and more.
“We actually did the work other people said they were doing but they weren’t. We could show what we did. So now, all of a sudden, you see these analytics coming through the [client portal] and you see the growth. We started running ads and I connected those to the dashboard. We had everything populating, and it worked. It was awesome,” Blakeslee shares.
Winning the business of 150+ locations supported by a dedicated account manager
By the end of 2022, Symboliq received a call to renew their contract with Fully Promoted well before the existing agreement was up.
“I flew down with my Vendasta Account Manager Dakota Zirk, and he gave me some extra sales tools and tips.”
“We showed them what we’re doing differently and why. For us, it was about personal attention, quick turnaround, a great social calendar, and great analytics. It really proved to them that there is a partner out there that cares about what’s going on with their business, not just saying they do and charging them.”
That meeting would open doors to more than six new opportunities with Fully Promoted corporate-owned locations over the next year.
“When you have 150+ locations, it’s very difficult to pinpoint an issue or trouble with one location. You can’t see them all at once unless you are utilizing the tools that Vendasta has built out.”
Randy Blakeslee
Co-Founder, Symboliq Media
Symboliq Media’s top products:
The conclusion
With many more multi-location and franchise deals in their pipeline, and a growing team of 12, Symboliq’s total annual revenue has skyrocketed 150% from $1.2 million in 2021 to $3 million in 2023.
“I can have confidence in bringing another client with 200 locations because I know Vendasta will handle it. I know you’ll take care of me. I know things will get done.”
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