Skip to main content
Case Study

SuRe InnoVations

Gaining Street Cred Online: SuRe InnoVations Makes Their Presence Known With Robust Digital Marketing

Published May 2022

Sean Sullivan and Tom Redhead have been working together for over 20 years now. Before founding SuRe InnoVations, Sean and Tom partnered on a five-year project that led to many days on the road together discussing their dreams, ideas, and plans for the future. At the time, both were working in the consumer electronics retail arena, and both wanted something more. As their five-year project came to a close, Sean and Tom decided it was time to turn idle talks into concrete reality. 

The concrete reality was a custom electronics integration firm specializing in residential automation projects for luxury homes. But before they could launch a firm and a brand, Sean and Tom needed one critical component to start their next adventure: a name. 

“SuRe” combines the first two letters of Sean’s last name and Tom’s last name. “InnoVations” represents the innovative ideas, projects, and perspectives they bring to the home automation market year over year. As Sean put it: “If we take the first two letters of my last name, and the first two letters of Tom’s last name, we have a sure thing.” 

More than 10 years after SuRe InnoVations opened in 2009, Sean and Tom are still riding high on their sure thing. SuRe InnoVations is a proud CEDIA member and three-time winner of the Saskatoon & Greater Region’s Consumer Choice Award (2019-2021). 

One Firefly has been SuRe InnoVations’ marketing guru since April 2020. During that time, we’ve helped them launch a brand-new website and grow their online presence with active content marketing and other digital growth strategies. What impact has marketing made on SuRe InnoVations? Read their journey below. 

SuRe InnoVations

SuRe InnoVations was founded in 2009 by industry leaders Sean Sullivan and Tom Redhead. Sean and Tom were already consumer technology veterans before opening shop to serve residents and businesses in Western Canada. SuRe InnoVations specializes in designing and installing custom automation systems and services for luxury homes, workplaces, and other commercial buildings. The company has years of experience in home theaters, whole-home automation, smart lighting and shading, integrated security, AV distribution, and many more solutions.

Sean, Tom, and the rest of their dedicated team are driven by imagination and fueled by passion. They come to every project with the goal of building captivating, convenient, and comfortable solutions that simplify and enhance the lives of their clients. SuRe InnoVations continuously strives to bring the best and most innovative technology solutions into the homes and businesses they serve.

Download Case Study

79.36%
Increase in new website
visits from organic search

41
Keywords ranking on page one of Google
(3x the number from April 2020)

49% 
Overall increase in website traffic

The Start of a Long-Term Relationship

“You gotta pay to play. Really, in a world where everyone is after your attention, you have to pay to play, and you want to make sure that every dollar you spend is going somewhere, because there’s a lot of dollars that can get thrown away in marketing.” — Sean Sullivan, Co-Owner of SuRe InnoVations

SuRe InnoVations first saw One Firefly in action at an Azione conference, where they heard our CEO, Ron Callis, give a presentation. Sean and Tom were impressed with Ron — not only did he speak knowledgeably from a technology and sales background, but he demonstrated a deep and authentic belief in the power of One Firefly’s product and service lineup. 

Plus, Sean and Tom felt like the time was ripe for change. They’d previously been working with a different marketing agency but were getting nothing in return — the website wasn’t generating interest, the social media marketing wasn’t generating calls, and they weren’t receiving any valuable return on investment from their monthly spend. 

Sean and Tom were willing to give One Firefly the chance to change that, and they weren’t disappointed. Our team came prepared to the first consultation with recommendations tailored to SuRe InnoVations’ needs and goals. “It was just easy,” Sean said. “And everything about this process throughout has been easy. And it works.” 

Implemented Solutions for Active Digital Marketing

SuRe InnoVations signed on for a brand-new website and multiple active digital marketing services to boost their online presence and attract visitors to their website.

A Mercury Pro Website

Before they could truly dive into active digital marketing, SuRe InnoVations needed a new home base — the website. And Tom knew what he wanted the new website to achieve: “One of the biggest goals for me with the website was that it was active and that it was a resource that people would actually go to, both clients and our staff.”

After speaking with Tom and Sean about their website needs, One Firefly delivered a beautiful Mercury Pro website with custom-branded colors, exclusive video content, solution pages for top services, and engaging features like an interactive smart home demo and video tutorials. 

According to Tom, One Firefly has met SuRe InnoVations’ expectations for the website. He hears his sales staff directing customers to the online demos and tutorials to learn more, and customers reference the website when they call the store to discuss services and solutions. The new website is a vital asset that demonstrates SuRe InnoVations’ credibility and value right off the bat. 

Monthly Content Marketing

SuRe InnoVations keeps their online presence relevant and top of mind by posting fresh monthly content in the form of blogs, email newsletters, Facebook ads, and Facebook organic posts. They receive one blog and accompanying email newsletter each month, plus one Facebook post per week and a monthly ad as part of their content marketing package. 

Since One Firefly took over content marketing in April 2020, SuRe InnoVations has seen tremendous growth in searchability, brand awareness, and website traffic. The website has received 11,730 new visits, with 3,375 visits coming from organic search, 2,196 visits coming from social media, and 401 visits coming from email. All in all, new website visits from organic search have increased by 79.36% since April 2020.

Additionally, regular blogging with SEO-optimized copy is helping SuRe InnoVations improve their searchability and brand awareness where customers are looking for them — Google. From April 2020 to December 2021, they’ve achieved the following outcomes:

  • DOUBLING keywords ranking on Google from 23 to 50

  • TRIPLING keywords ranking on page one of Google from 15 to 41

  • DOUBLING keywords ranking in the first three spots on Google from 11 to 23

Altogether, SuRe InnoVations’ SEO keyphrases
are up 2,776 spots on Google.

Engagement-Driven Marketing

In addition to content marketing, One Firefly helped SuRe InnoVations implement solutions that facilitate direct customer engagement. 

We installed Lead Concierge — One Firefly’s manned chat service — on their website, providing visitors with an easy way to ask for support, resolve questions, and receive customer service. Since starting Lead Concierge, SuRe InnoVations has received 37 leads from live chat within seven months, along with long-lasting trust from satisfied website visitors. 

We also set up Review Champ, which allows the SuRe InnoVations team to ask for customer reviews and feedback via a simple text message request. Good reviews are an amazing way to showcase credibility and reliability, gain customers’ trust, and maintain a good reputation online. Since starting Review Champ in early 2020, SuRe InnoVations has received 37 new reviews within seven months — and 35 of them were five-star reviews.

Google Ads

In January 2021 — a few months shy of a year since partnering with One Firefly — SuRe InnoVations decided to ramp up their marketing efforts with custom Google Ad campaigns. As part of an integrated marketing system, search engine marketing (SEM) has incredible potential to boost traffic, brand visibility, lead generation, conversions, and business growth. 

Within just one year, SuRe InnoVations received 83 Google Ad conversions, triple the number of Lead Concierge leads from the year prior, and double the number of contact form submissions from the year prior. There’s no disputing the fact that SEM has helped SuRe InnoVations build upon the impressive growth they were already seeing and increase performance across multiple online channels. 

“A website that is constantly evolving, staying sharp, staying new, having relevant topics — that is street cred for
us.” — Tom Redhead, Co-Owner of SuRe InnoVations

Website Hosting and Maintenance

Regular web maintenance is a critical — but frequently overlooked — component of managing a website’s performance. Local and remote backups, software upgrades, and security monitoring ensure that a website isn’t crippled or wiped out entirely by an error or cyber-attack. Plus, frontend maintenance like updating images and adding new pages keeps a website looking and feeling fresh, relevant, and timely for visitors. 

Tom and Sean freely admit that they have no idea what happens in their website’s back end, and they don’t need to know — that’s why they signed up for One Firefly’s Content+ hosting package. Our web team handles everything from back end attack protection and software updates to front end media refreshes. Their website hasn’t gone down once since they entrusted it into the care of One Firefly.  

For Sean and Tom, hosting with One Firefly is a no-brainer. “Why wouldn’t you?” Sean told us. “We are supposed to be industry leaders — we’re not Best Buy, we’re not anyone else. So, why would our website be OK from five years ago? Or from a year ago?” And as he followed up, “We have to make the investment in ourselves first in order to be the best, to be above and beyond.”

Results

SuRe InnoVations has seen their marketing investment into One Firefly pay off in spades. A few notable wins include:

  • A massive improvement in Google search rankings thanks to fresh, regular blog posting with SEO-optimized copy
  • An increase in contact form leads from approximately three leads a year to two leads a week
  • A $130,000 system sale to a long-time customer from a Savant email promotion (one of their first email campaigns with One Firefly)

“It’s the only advertising campaign that’s actually done anything for us,” said Sean. And with the guidance, support, and services of team One Firefly, SuRe InnoVations is poised to continue cultivating and growing their brand online into the next year and beyond. 

We can’t help but think it’s a sure thing.