Pixels Matter: A Shapiro Case Study
The Nine Digital's manufacturing marketing team delivered the following services to Shapiro Metals:
Introduction
Shapiro, formerly known as Shapiro Metals, is a national organization that operates in 12 different locations across the United States. Engaged in a transition from metals to sustainability, they are expanding their services and launching new divisions in their quest to become a leader in sustainable practices. Their operations are complex and varied, involving multiple departments, all working towards a unified vision of growth and environmental responsibility. They have been working with The Nine since late last year. In their role as the agency of record, The Nine has steered Shapiro's remarkable transition from a metals-focused business towards sustainability, embodying their strategic and dynamic approach to meet their client's evolving needs.
Turn Around and Strategy
The Nine was brought on board due to the challenges Shapiro faced with their previous marketing agency, which lacked agility and failed to deliver satisfactory results within an acceptable time frame. As Shapiro was quickly changing their identity and launching new divisions and services, they urgently needed an agile, integrated, and manufacturing focused marketing agency that could keep pace with their rapid rate of change. Along with the fast pace, Shapiro was in need of a strong SEO strategy. When we began working with Shapiro, their website didn't accurately represent their business activities. To address this, we had to create several new pages that were previously missing.
These pages included:
- Optimized all thirteen Google My Business profiles.
- Rewrote all title tags and meta descriptions for main service pages.
- Pages dedicated to each individual plant location.
- Information tailored to each primary industry they cater to.
- Details regarding the types of materials they handle.
- Insights into their sustainability and circular economy initiatives.
Our Approach
Every design, every piece of content, every ad, every report, and every strategy The Nine develops is built on the pixel. When they say pixel perfect, it means every ounce of their being is poured into crafting the thought, design, copy, and code because it all has meaning.
With this in mind, The Nine began to intentionally identify the baseline needs to transition Shapiro to a sustainability brand. The approach was simple– ensure the messaging for Shapiro was spot on, and market and optimize with a results-driven mindset. From there, The Nine identified the execution tactics to make this vision come alive, including website development, performance marketing, and SEO.
Solution
The Nine's agile response mechanism was evident from the start of the engagement, as they began taking over from the previous agency. They showcased their capacity to turnaround projects within a week or two, demonstrating a significant improvement in speed and efficiency. The services provided by The Nine to Shapiro include a creative retainer, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), lead generation, and indirectly, social media management via their creative retainer.
Despite the complexities of the organization, The Nine's team managed to efficiently interact with seven departments at Shapiro, delivering speedy results at an enterprise level. The team's quick response times and friendly approach made it easy for Shapiro to work with them, leading to positive feedback across the organization.
Impact
The results of this partnership have been evident in multiple ways. One of the most significant impacts has been on Shapiro's social media presence. With a newly integrated social media, organic social posts have led to consistent praise from Shapiro's sales team, partners, vendors, and executive leadership. The revamped social media content is seen as clear, consistent, and worthy of sharing.
With a strong SEO strategy, Shapiro began moving up the Google ranks. When we first partnered with Shapiro, 91% of their web traffic came from branded searches. Only 10 months later, with the help of The Nine, this had decreased to 75%. The drop suggests that an increasing number of people were discovering the Shapiro site through search engines without previous familiarity of the brand (a key goal of SEO).
The results from the organic website traffic has also resonated with the sales team, who now actively have website leads to work with. This increase in organic traffic has also led to an increase in data collection, building the foundation for the Nine’s future marketing efforts.
A high percentage of the traffic search volume was from these three keyword wins here with their local SEO targeted campaigns for their St. Louis location:
Keyword: “metal recycling springfield missouri”
Current Position: 7 (page 1)
Before Nine (November 2022): 17 (page 2)
Monthly Search Volume: 210
Keyword: “metal recycling springfield mo”
Current Position: 5 (page 1)
Before Nine (November 2022): 21 (page 3)
Monthly Search Volume: 260
Keyword: “scrap metal st louis”
Current Position: 6 (page 1)
Before Nine (November 2022): 26 (page 3)
Monthly Search Volume: 50
Conclusion
The Nine's ability to adapt quickly to Shapiro's dynamic needs and provide a broad range of efficient and effective marketing services has greatly assisted in their successful rebranding journey. This case shows The Nine's versatility, agility, and commitment to delivering results, cementing their role as a valuable partner in their clients' growth and transformation.