Adster Creative: 2024 Review and 3 Year V/TO Reflections
As we near the end of 2024, some reflection is in order. The way we operate our business, really changed in 2021. While we had great systems, processes and people, it was time to add some Rocket Fuel and fully integrate the EOS model into our business.
Since our leadership team met, reviewed and planned our V/TO and shared this with our team in early 2022, the following was established:
Our 10 Year Target (BHAG)
Helping deeply passionate people become part of a digital marketing team while being actively engaged in building their dream job.
Our 3-Year Picture
- 100% right people in the right seats
- 100% of clients match our target market
- Share our rewards (2.5% profit returned to team via work-life balance, benefits & more!)
- A dedicated office space with a hybrid work model
Our Vision
Leverage digital marketing as a highly effective way to build a great business and career that offers flexibility, choice and freedom!
Our Core Values:
- Take Ownership
- Think Beyond The Task
- Constant Curiosity
- Persistence and Resiliency
- Commitment to BetterMENT
With our 1 year plan, 3 year picture and 10 year Target (BHAG) coming to fruition in July of 2025, our team has already accomplished the following:
People:
- Our net promotor score was the highest in our last quarterly survey since record keeping began, over 10 years ago
- We implemented the ‘Adster’ Version of a 4-day work week, with Focus Fridays, EBT and FlexDAY’s
- Our team grew 28%, with the average earnings for existing team members increasing over ~40% in the last 3 years (performance, COLA , new positions etc.)
- The average starting wage for new hires has increased, on average, over ~30%
- Our overall benefits packages, have increased by 49% to our team
- We helped 3 team members relocate, start families and purchase homes and continue on their journey in assisting them to build their dream career at Adster
- We promoted 5 team members, and created 3 new positions within our organization
- We celebrated 2 team members 10th year anniversaries, with the average tenure at Adster clocking in at 7.5 years
- Our average ‘team’ utilization went from ~91% to a more manageable ~75.8% average
Clients:
- Our retention rate remains one the highest in it’s spaces for a digital marketing agency at over 97.2%
- Our customer satisfaction survey was the highest in our last quarterly survey since record keeping began over 10 years ago
- We put in place a Head of Strategy, to work closely and learn from upper management to oversee the strategic direction for all accounts and support all our Digital Marketing Strategists
- Our Digital Marketing Team have seen over 2000+ organic ranking position improvements, driving millions of visits and have generated THOUSANDS of leads for our SMB customers
- We have taken what we’ve learned, working on one of the largest website assets in the world, on how we can best implement these digital marketing tactics for our local SMB customers. What works, what doesn’t, how can we do better for our customers.
- Every account in our possession was reviewed by leadership and our HOS in conjunction with our team to ensure their goals for their digital marketing met with our strategic direction internally
- We enhanced and revamped our process for receiving customer feedback, a systematic approach to ensuring their feedback was reviewed and actioned by our team and most importantly, that these changes and improvements were relayed back to our customers
- We established a budget for customer service outreach, personalized meetings and lunches to better understand our customers feedback, their strategic wishes and that our service offering(s) aligned with their goals for the future
- TLDR: We have more customers, on average, paying us more, for more valuable services, who are happier than ever and getting some of the best results they’ve ever seen
Business:
- We grew our account base by 54 accounts
- We implemented both leadership L10 meetings and team L10 meetings
- Our team performed 138 audits to businesses across Canada
- Our revenue has grown by over 30%
- Everyone on our team has a ‘number’ that they’re accountable to, which is reviewed in our scorecard every week which is tied to a quarterly ROCK, which is tied to the strategic vision of the company
In 2024…
- In 2024: 438 organic ranking position improvement over 21 accounts
- In 2024: Our team performed 92 needs assessment
- In 2024: Our team performed 35 audits (hand selecting the best fits for our agency through our needs assessments)
- In 2024: Our Director of Operations grew her family out on the West Coast!
- In 2024: Our team onboarded 13 new clients
- In 2024: we hired our ’10th’ Dream Team Member
- In 2024: To keep our digital marketing skills sharp, all Adster team members (some part-time, some full-time) have been fully integrated into helping 1+ million people find their dream jobs through our partnership with Energy Job Shop
Time to relax, recharge and plan for the next 3 years of adventure!