CASE STUDY ON ZIPLINE GEAR
Stringing up Growth and Efficiency in a Crowded Niche
Executive Summary & Founder Story
Nathan Sleadd
FOUNDER
Nathan Sleadd wanted to build a zipline when he was 14 years old but could find no sites online where he could buy a zipline kit. He instead figured out how to buy the cables, grips, and other equipment and assemble them between two sturdy trees. He wondered if other people wanted it and he put an ad in the paper. It sold!
Convinced that there would be a market for his idea, he put it on eBay. His mom had to drive him to the post office in order to ship it since he wasn’t old enough to drive yet. He then rented some space in a warehouse and started to ship orders out. Pretty soon he had to hire a an assistant to help him and that’s how the company was born. He originally started out using Google Ads and figured out how to create campaigns and advertise the company with some moderate success. He incorporated in 2007 and brought on more people like Joy who runs much of the day to day operation.
Challenges
We had no idea what impact these agencies were having.
After some initial growth, their paid search campaigns plateued and they weren’t able to breakthrough. They hired several ad agencies that sounded good on paper, but after multiple months of working with them, results were difficult to decipher.
Afterwards, they tested out a service that provided lessons on how to do paid searches, though the strategy proved to be deceivingly complex. It required a level of expertise they couldn’t afford while focusing on their core strengths. They didn’t want to spend a ton of time on paid marketing, but they knew how important it was.
How jetfuel.agency Helped
Jetfuel.agency’s first course of action was deploying a full scale audit of Zip Line Gear’s paid search accounts, then quickly restructuring campaigns. ZLG noticed an immediate uptick in return, which then led to collaborative efforts on a parallel venture, Backyard Zipline.
“We acquired Backyard Zipline and it was kind of floating along. Then jetfuel.agency started working on it and the numbers just exploded.” We came up with an innovative bidding strategy that allowed us to grow both companies at once.
Results, Returns on Investment and Future Plans
These were the results after 6 months of working with us in 2018: +60.89% revenue, +103% ROAS.
Last year’s progress: +30.7% in PPC revenue, +32.10% in ROAS Joy loves that “we come up with ideas proactively and always are the ones bringing ideas and solutions to the table.” They can focus on what they do best in their business and she sees us as a true “plug and play” company that isn’t blindly experimenting or messing around - we use a combination of proven strategies and tests that make sense to find opportunities in their specific market.
We are continuing to push the envelope in this space and are looking forward to growing their accounts with optimization and creativity.
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