Loom’s 2023 end-of-year round up

Another year over – and what a year it’s been! The Loom team have worked tirelessly to support clients and create even more fantastic results. We’ve spent the last year focussing on fostering long-term relationships with our clients and partners to deliver marketing-leading services – especially during continued turbulent times. We’ve also invested in our team and our community throughout the year, doing our best to make a difference in any way we can.

Thanks to our team, the agency has seen 30% YoY revenue growth with an 87% client retention rate, which is way above the industry average of 75%. This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our clients, partners and, of course, our team. Together, we’ve provided market-leading digital marketing services that have generated great success – for both clients and Loom itself.

It’s been a tough year for lots of businesses with budget cuts, reduced funding and servicing expensive debt. This means that many have struggled with profit margins and cash flow. When trading is tough, having a strong, collaborative client/agency partnership is essential to help solve the challenges. The economic forecast at the start of the year was pretty gloomy so we planned for moderate agency growth across the year. Despite this, we’re delighted to have had our best year of growth, exceeding expectations across many areas – from revenue to new client acquisition. 

Nikki

Celebrating new clients, projects & team members

This year we’ve welcomed 27 new clients from a wide range of industries, including education, B2B, SaaS, construction and ecommerce, across a range of our services:

• Stellar & Judge Homewares for integrated Paid Media & SEO to drive an increase in ecommerce revenue

• intY for PPC to drive B2B Saas leads through to their site

• Bristol Grammar School and Wellington College for PPC & Paid Media to drive prospectus downloads and boost open day attendees 

• Swiis Foster Care for Paid Media Consultancy to upskill their in-house team and ensure their account is as effective as possible

• Oakwrights SEO Site Migration project to ensure no authority or rankings were lost in the transition to the new website

• Truespeed for Paid Social to increase B2C signups in the South West 

We’ve already crafted exciting new strategies for our  clients, each intricately designed and aligned with business goals. Keep an eye on our Case Studies page to learn more about the work we have planned in 2024. 

What we’ve been working on

As well as welcoming new clients, we’ve continued to drive traffic, increase conversions and generate brand awareness for existing clients – some of which we’ve worked with for years now. Our successes this year  include:

• Rolling out SEO management alongside Paid Media for Persimmon and Stage Depot
• Launching new services, products and ranges
• Short-form video project for Henchman to enhance their paid advertising and boost sales of their tripod ladders

Four new digital marketing specialists join Loom

We’re a people-first agency and so we were excited to welcome four new experts to the team this year. The team has brought new skills and knowledge to the company, bolstering our expertise and driving us and our clients forward.

Tom celebrated his 10-year Loom anniversary in April. Tom started back in 2013 when Loom was Digirank, and when 20 team members were just 4. So much has changed since he joined us, and he’s had a huge effect on how Loom has evolved through the years. ⁠Our clients have benefitted from his intricate knowledge of digital strategy and SEO – we’re not sure where we’d be without him!

Digital marketing industry overview

As always there have been many changes within the industry this year. Our job is to keep our clients at the forefront of digital marketing, always making the most of every opportunity. 

Goodbye Universal Analytics, hello GA4

Over the last 18 months, we have been preparing our clients for the introduction of Google Analytics4 (GA4). To ensure that a potentially disruptive change was as smooth as possible for our clients, we worked closely with them and their developers to integrate GA4 in order to keep reporting consistent. Read more about GA4 here. 

The rise of AI 

We can’t talk about 2024 without mentioning AI. The rise of various AI tools has sent shockwaves through the industry and we’ve been keen to learn all we can about how to responsibly use it to supercharge our services. 

2023’s SEO updates

Google continued to make waves throughout the SEO industry – especially after entering the year on the back of the EEAT update. There was also the removal of FAQ schema for websites that are not Your Money Or Your Life, and the updated Helpful Content Update. The importance of link building was once again in the spotlight, with their weight in SEO strategies being slightly diminished (see Claire’s prediction here for more information). 

These updates only highlighted the value of SEO strategies that are bespoke, unique and focus on the user, not search engines. Creating content that’s heavily keyword-orientated or engaging in black hat link building techniques are unlikely to provide the results you want to see.

Accreditations

As an agency, we’re always striving to do more for our clients, teams and the industry. And so, we’re incredibly  proud of our new accolades! The accreditations we’ve received this year are a credit to our dedication to our partners and the businesses we work with, ensuring that we’re providing market-leading strategies that put our clients in the spotlight.

Google Premier Partner – as a Premier Partner, we’re in the top 3% of Google Agencies in the UK and this year have managed over £5m of media spend for our clients. This is based on a number of factors, including client growth, retention and diversification. It also means that we get to enjoy regular trips to Google HQ for their exclusive training days, and put our learnings into practice on clients’ accounts straight away. This year the paid media team has gained expert insight into GA4 integration, privacy-preserving measurement solutions and new products including Demand Gen and Performance Max etc.

Google Ads Digital Champions – Alex, Harry and Tamas became Google Ads Digital Champions, enhancing their skills on how to apply digital technology to solve problems for clients.

Great Place to Work – this employee-driven accreditation captures feedback on workplace culture and has recognised us as a workplace loved by employees. 100% of our team said that Loom was a great place to work!

Cyber Essentials – we’re proud to continue to be part of the Government-backed Cyber Essentials scheme, giving our clients and partners peace of mind on our commitment to cyber security.

Enjoying agency life

Our people are at the heart of Loom. We always strive to have a healthy, fun and supportive environment that lets our experts shine. Having a strong agency culture is something we’re really proud of, and we’ve been lucky to share many fun moments that have brought us closer together as a team.

Earlier in the year, we hosted our annual summer getaway glamping in the Wye Valley. From cricket and cocktails to capsizing our canoes, we enjoyed our time away from our desks, getting to know new team members and bonding over pizza as the sun went down. 

We’ve also enjoyed client away days, including Infinity Motorcycle’s annual surf trip which is always a highlight of our agency’s year!

As well as mug making and our first potluck evening, there have also been cycle rides and numerous after-work pub trips! Forging strong relationships between our team makes for great collaboration as well as making Loom an enjoyable place to work.

With our growing team Loom HQ has moved offices… one floor up in Temple Studios! Unit 2.2 is a new space which has allowed us to refresh our surroundings and given us much more space for collaborative working.

Growing & sharing our knowledge

Embracing the ever-changing digital marketing world, we’re always learning and feeding our curiosity to evolve the agency and push our clients forward.

Our Content & SEO team headed BrightonSEO for two days of insightful and inspiring talks from the biggest names in the SEO world. We’ve been going since 2012 – we can’t get enough! As always, the team came back full of new ideas and strategies for our clients, such as making the most of Chrome DevTools and creating more inclusive websites. You can read more about the team’s top takeaways in our BrightonSEO roundup guide. 

Dedicated to helping businesses thrive online, Nikki and Karen continue to be part of the Bristol agency leader community attending thought-leading events such as Agency Hacker’s Good Agency Summit and Agency Pipeline.

We also regularly collaborate with other agencies such as web developers, branding and PR for cross-agency sessions to bolster our service.

As part of the West of England Good Employment Charter, we take part in events and network with other organisations all committed to improving employment practices including improving diversity and inclusion, lowering barriers in the workplace and making workplaces more green.

Attending events gives our team the tools to supercharge client accounts, but the sharing of knowledge doesn’t stop there. Our bi-weekly Loom Knowledge Shares ensure that we’re always pushing forward and keeping our clients ahead of their competition! This year we’ve covered everything from AI to digital strategy, including Google’s roll out of EEAT, the evolution of GA4 and how to make the most of Amazon Prime Day.

Iloominate

Inspiring the next generation – this year we’ve been able to reignite our work experience opportunities. Jazmine, Tyler and Nancy joined us each for a week earlier in the year for an insight into agency life and the different areas of digital marketing. 

Continuing our pledge to share our digital knowledge and skills with the next generation of digital marketers. Tegan and Vicky took part in BIMA’s Digital Day where they stepped back into the classroom to inspire and introduce 30 pupils of Beechen Cliff School to the exciting world of digital. 

Digital Marketing Surgeries – as 2023 has continued to be a turbulent ride for businesses, we opened our doors to marketing managers and business owners from local Bristol businesses throughout September to share advice on all things digital marketing. Those who joined us left with tangible takeaways thanks to our content, SEO and paid media experts.

Team charity days – every year, we close our laptops and dedicate two days to support local charities. This really goes to the heart of our values to support our people and the local community. This year we spent two days at The Vench – a community adventure playground in Lockleaze, Bristol. We worked hard gardening and painting before having some well-deserved down time on the drop slide and zipline. 

Back in the summer, some of the team took part in Bristol’s annual Break the Cycle charity ride. A 33-mile route through the picturesque, but pretty hilly Mendips. Well done to Karen, Nikki, Matt, Dan and Tommy (who finished the route so fast he got missed at the final check in point!)

What 2024 holds

So that was 2023 – but what about 2024?  We’re aiming to build on a successful year, evolving strategies and building long-term relationships as well as doing the best for our team, clients, and the world around us.

B-Corp

We’re committed to being a trusted partner for clients, our people, community, and the planet. We know that our impact goes beyond the digital space, and so we’ve been putting together initiatives and reviewing processes to maximise the difference we’re making as a company. 

Loom can be a business to better the world and increase stakeholder value.  Creating a sustainable business is critical for our evolution and essential for us to be able to thrive.

Working through the B Corp assessment process has provided us with a structure to help guide decision making and intentions across the whole business. We now have clear measurement and improvement targets for the next few years which include:

1. A commitment to reducing our GHG emissions by 5% in the next year

2. To donate 1% of company profits to a nominated cause/charity

3. Commit to giving 280 hours per year to the community

One area of our B Corp promise is around supporting our local community. This involves  supporting local grassroots charities, all with the aim of reducing food waste and poverty in Bristol. From fundraising to volunteering and digital marketing support, our aim is to ensure we are making a positive impact in this area throughout 2024. 

Embracing AI

The emergence of AI tools has sent shockwaves through the industry —some welcoming the transformative effects they bring, while others are more wary of their arrival.

At Loom, we always prioritise human creativity, recognising its irreplaceable value. Nonetheless, when used responsibly and thoughtfully, we know AI has the potential to elevate our marketing-leading services. In 2024, it stands as a pivotal focus for our agency, as we eagerly seize the prospects it presents.

Signing off for the new year

What a year! There’s not long left until Loom signs off for Christmas, so we’d just like to say a huge thank you to our clients, partners and team for all their hard work and support this year. We’re proud to be part of a vibrant, supportive community here in Bristol, and we’re elated to have supported so many businesses in the city and beyond.

2023 has been another exciting year on the small business/agency rollercoaster. We pride ourselves in being able to offer digital marketing stability to businesses who crave organic online growth for many years. I’m so proud of the team this year, who have steadied the ship amidst the choppy waters of an ever changing digital marketing and economic landscape. We take time to listen to our clients and adapt strategies and tactics to suit their needs. All with a smile and a can do attitude. We’re excited for a few weeks off at Christmas (whilst dipping back in to manage some Boxing Day sales campaigns!), and eagerly await the challenges and opportunities of 2024.

Karen

Our offices will close at 4pm on Friday 22nd December and will reopen at 9am on Tuesday 2nd January. We’ll be available for emergencies during this time and all live PPC and biddable media accounts will still be managed. 

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, from Loom.