Learn From Our Digital Marketing Certificate Graduates
Case Studies From 9 Graduates Of Our Digital Marketing Certificate Course
BizHack Academy’s digital marketing certificate program, called The Digital Marketer’s Edge, is a seven-week, fast-paced, high-impact program that aims to give small businesses the tools they need to conduct successful digital marketing campaigns. This course is designed for goal-oriented business owners who are focused on seeing measurable and sustainable results. During our most recent cohort, we witnessed more than two dozen of these business owners complete the course and graduate with their digital marketing certificate.
Of these graduates, 9 businesses presented the results of their real-life digital marketing campaigns to their peers, including their processes, their mistakes, their successes, and their biggest takeaways from the course. Here is what they learned over the course of seven grueling weeks.
TL;DR: Nine digital marketing certificate program graduates shared the amazing results of their own real-life digital marketing campaigns.
Through the implementation of BizHack Academy’s proven Lead Building System™, these graduates witnessed visible, long-term results that allowed their companies to gain an edge in a fast-paced digital world. The benefits they experienced include:
- Rapid lead generation
- New loyal customers that will generate long-term revenue
- Increased confidence in their digital marketing skills
- A community of professional marketers and fellow business owners to rely on for support
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Digital Marketers’ Edge Program: Real Life Case Studies
Carol Heller: CH Counseling
With her marketing consulting service, CH Consulting, Carol Heller entered The Digital Marketer’s Edge certificate program hoping to learn more about marketing online in a world that has become largely digital. During her time in the course, Carol focused on marketing her husband’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy practice so that her husband could focus his energy on changing his clients’ lives for the better.
Carol began drafting her campaign with the goal of generating leads for private pay. To work towards this goal, Carol launched a Facebook ad campaign in which she used videos to increase brand awareness and promote lead generation. With a goal of generating 1,000 video views and 4 new leads, Carol worked on targeting her audience in a very specific area and promoted audience engagement by offering a free 15-minute consultation with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. By following BizHack’s Six Pillar digital marketing philosophy, Carol witnessed an increased number of inquiry calls to her husband’s practice as well as increased traffic to the website.
As Carol continues her digital marketing journey, she plans to expand her strategy to cover numerous other platforms like LinkedIn and email, as well as launch new campaigns that implement retargeting and look alike audience techniques. Carol’s marketing campaign for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy exemplifies how the BizHack Lead Building System can be applied to medical practices in the same way it is applicable to other types of small businesses.
Amy Reeger: Mosquito Joe of Greensburg-Johnstown
Amy Reeger was one of six representatives from across the country of the Mosquito Joe franchise that participated in Cohort 18 of The Digital Marketer’s Edge. As the owner of the Greensburg-Johnstown location of Mosquito Joe located in western Pennsylvania, Amy Reeger’s commitment to her franchise comes from memories of fighting off pests when playing outside as a child, and now from a desire to protect her grandchildren from the dangers of mosquitos and ticks.
Amy Reeger enrolled in the course with the goal of increasing traffic to her online platforms with the hope of encouraging customers to maximize their tick protection during summer. With the tick population in her community exploding, Amy worked to level up her marketing campaign in order to protect families around her from the threat of Lyme disease and other risks that come with pests. Throughout her time completing the program, Amy learned the importance of her business story when engaging potential leads and nurturing customers in every stage of their journey— brand awareness, sales, and referrals.
As Amy continues her digital campaign using what she learned during The Digital Marketer’s Edge, she hopes to continue to foster growth within her franchise with the goal of connecting with more lifetime customers who will rely on Mosquito Joe for all of their pest protection needs.
Alison McLaney: Digipraise
Alison McLaney spent nearly 20 years working alongside her family as a jewelry evaluator for the insurance industry and helping clients receive their greatest value for their treasured jewelry pieces. However, Alison McLaney still witnessed the pain her clients felt when their family heirlooms were underinsured as a result of their appraisal being outdated and inaccurate. Because of this, Alison McLaney and her family founded Digipraise, an online appraisal update service that works to ensure families receive maximum insurance protection for their jewelry.
Alison McLaney joined the 18th Cohort of The Digital Marketer’s Edge with the goal of learning more about Digipraise’s customers so that she can best market to and serve them. Through the implementation of BizHack’s Lead Building System, Alison McLaney produced a video as part of a Facebook ad campaign that generated over 2,000 through plays. After testing her digital marketing methods several times, Alison generated 31 leads and began making plans to convert these leads into long-term customers.
Following her graduation from the digital marketing certificate program, Alison plans to consistently post to Digipraise’s social media accounts as well as build connections with insurance agency owners, aggregators and insurance carriers. As the Digipraise team works to grow their website, Alison McLaney hopes to continue to protect the cherished family jewelry of her clients by encouraging potential customers across the country to take the step of knowing their jewelry’s value.
Michelle Rupp: NRG Insurance
Following in her parents’ footsteps, Michelle Rupp is the second generation owner of her family’s insurance company, NRG Insurance. She has worked to continue their mission of using their company to give clients and employees a safe and joyful life.
During the campaign she launched as a participant in the 18th Cohort of the Digital Marketer’s Edge, Michelle Rupp focused on marketing to tattoo studios in the Washington area as her targeted audience. She launched a series of online ads— one to increase customer awareness of NRG Insurance, and a second to focus on lead generation. While she encountered obstacles during her journey to launching a successful digital campaign, Michelle Rupp’s new marketing skills were leveraged to yield great results.
The NRG Insurance team was able to take on new clients and begin the process of finding an insurance plan that works best for them. Michelle Rupp learned the importance of experimentation in order to find what works best for her company and audience. With BizHack’s advice, she implemented a strategy to analyze her ads’ results and make adjustments along the way. In addition to this, Michelle Rupp continued to invest in her family’s original goal by putting in the time and energy to build long-term relationships with clients that will eventually earn NRG Insurance profit.
As Michelle Rupp makes plans to continue her online advertising using the new digital marketing skills she learned, her goals are to clarify the overall mission and character of NRG Insurance to customers as well as implement email campaigns and data analytics to give their current marketing an additional boost.
Toni King: Yoga 6
After running a personal training fitness center, Toni King and her wife decided to open up Yoga 6, a yoga studio located in the Bay Area of California, in order to achieve better work-life balance and support their 5 children and pets. The couple faced numerous challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the strict safety guidelines imposed by the state of California that closed their studio’s doors for months. Toni King persevered through the pandemic and applied for the digital marketing certificate program at BizHack Academy because she wanted to obtain in-depth marketing knowledge so that she would be able to understand lesser-known concepts that her marketing agency was using to market Yoga 6.
When launching her digital campaign, Toni King targeted an audience interested in yoga and other relevant brands and hobbies to best appeal to her ideal customer. She launched one Facebook ad to share affordable Yoga 6 offers and a second ad to generate leads. Her advertisements garnered thousands of views and with the new information she learned at BizHack, Toni hopes to achieve her desired results as she continues to apply what she learned. During her time in The Digital Marketer’s Edge course, Toni was able to learn BizHack Academy’s simple and repeatable digital marketing strategies for her own business and discovered her love of the creative opportunities marketing provides.
In the future, Toni hopes to continue to engage in insightful and well-informed discussions with Yoga 6’s marketers and feels equipped to make knowledgeable decisions that will benefit her business.
Sara Bess: Mosquito Joe, Northwest Florida
Sara Bess grew up as a child of a single mom who moved frequently from apartment to apartment, without having a private outdoor space to enjoy. Now, Sara and her husband have 4 kids and a dog in Northwest Florida where she is the owner of the local Mosquito Joe franchise. At her current home, her children have a big yard to enjoy in the summertime but Florida’s mosquitoes and other pests inhibit their family from fully taking advantage of their outdoor space. Because of this, Sara is especially passionate about Mosquito Joe’s success as a way to encourage families to get outside and enjoy their backyards as much as possible.
As a participant in BizHack Academy’s digital marketing certificate program, Sara ran five digital campaigns to use her newly learned marketing knowledge: brand awareness, lookalike audience strategies, an irresistible offer and lead generation. As a result of her numerous online advertisements, Sara Bess was able to generate seven leads while her colleagues were receiving endless phone calls from new clients.
In the coming weeks, Sara plans to take a pause on advertising in order to focus her location’s energy on serving the influx of new clients they received as a result of her new marketing strategies. During her time at BizHack Academy, Sara was able to gain a better understanding of her customers’ journey and learn more about the endless options online advertising provides. She plans to continue advertising in the future while analyzing her results through the use of different online platforms like Google and Facebook.
Scott Sanders: Tobacco Barn Distillery
As a member of the Navy, Scott Sanders would give international military partners bourbon as a gift and began to realize that bourbon was a great way to bring people together. He opened up Tobacco Barn Distillery with the help of two business partners that brought their different skills and expertise to their process of distilling bourbon.
While Scott Sanders entered BizHack Academy skeptical of the use of social media in marketing Tobacco Barn Distillery, he implemented our proven digital marketing techniques and achieved amazing results. His primary campaign objective was to increase traffic to their company website. As part of achieving this goal, Scott launched his B2C campaign by targeting male customers and utilizing a compelling message that encouraged customers to turn to Tobacco Barn Distillery for their Father’s Day gift-giving needs.
Scott Sanders generated promising new leads during his time in the Digital Marketer’s Edge course, learned the importance of ensuring their company’s marketing strategies are modern and took advantage of his current networks and personal connections online. As Scott continues his digital marketing journey, he plans on launching campaigns using email and LinkedIn and may start a podcast with his business partners to share their journey as owners of Tobacco Barn Distillery!
The BizHacker Award Goes to…
During each cohort, one graduate is awarded the BizHacker award, the highest award we bestow. This award signifies the graduate’s commitment to the digital marketing certificate course alongside their embodiment of BizHack’s values. In this cohort, we had two winners. They are driven leaders in their business who are committed to learning and applying their new digital marketing skills, learning from their mistakes, and using their gifts and passions to make the world a better place. This semester, the BizHacker award was awarded to Ian Tepoot of Cloud and Joy and Amy Williams of A-B Unlimited.
Ian Tepoot: Cloud and Joy
Ian Tepoot and his wife, Selina, created Cloud and Joy, a low-sugar, healthier ice cream company after Ian recovered from a hiking accident that left him pre-diabetic from his medications and treatment. Unable to find healthier ice cream options with ethically and sustainably sourced ingredients, the couple formulated their perfect ice cream themselves. As part of their commitment to “do good when doing well,” Ian and Selina decided to donate a portion of their proceeds from each sale to Heifer International, a nonprofit organization working towards global agricultural sustainability.
With pints of Cloud and Joy ice cream being sold at grocery retailers around the country, Ian Tepoot enrolled in BizHack Academy with the goal of improving the company’s marketing initiatives to engage new customers. Using BizHack’s Lead Building System, Ian launched two ad campaigns in which he used geotargeting, audience filtering, and data analytics to best appeal to his target audience. As a result of the tools he learned in The Digital Marketer’s Edge course, Ian continued to work towards his goal of connecting with customers and building relationships with new retailers. Ian’s hard work during the 18th Cohort of the Digital Marketer’s Edge earned him the recognition of a BizHacker award.
In the near future, Ian hopes to emphasize the positive impact and feelings customers have when purchasing and eating Cloud and Joy’s ice cream and explore new creative concepts in their marketing campaigns.
Amy Williams: A-B Unlimited
Amy Williams was diagnosed with a neurological disorder as a child and was told by doctors that it may prevent her from doing day-to-day tasks. Amy went on to defy the restrictions that had been placed on her throughout her life to found A-B Unlimited, a company that produces marketing and promotional products for companies. Because her parents always encouraged her to embrace what makes her different, her mission now is to help other businesses showcase what makes them unique on customized merchandise.
As part of the 18th Cohort of The Digital Marketer’s Edge course, Amy worked to level up the marketing of her new brand, A-B Golf, which focuses on producing customized golf equipment and merchandise for corporations and their executives. Amy used audience targeting and video advertisements as she made her way through the course and was able to generate new leads as a result of the tools she applied.
Amy plans to continue to leverage the help of the BizHack team to build up A-B Unlimited’s marketing strategy to produce long-term benefits. Amy’s hard work and commitment to her involvement in BizHack Academy’s programs earned her the BizHacker award for Cohort 18. Amy now prepares to launch a new brand called “The Promo Lawyer” using her new digital marketing expertise.
These nine business owners represent hundreds of small businesses who have completed BizHack Academy’s digital marketing certificate course and witnessed similar amazing results. At BizHack, we believe every small business has something unique to offer their community and that by enacting your own real-life digital marketing campaign, you are giving your company a chance to impact the world.
