case study: proteq

The Solution

Created marketing copy to tell the client's story, and published it on the Digital Main Street blog, which showcases the stories of small Canadian businesses pivoting to online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Developed quality content using journalistic storytelling skills.

  • Interviewed the client for direct quotes that add colour to the story.

  • Focused on a story angle that would keep audience engaged.

  • Rather than pushing aggressive advertising, opted to humanize the business through a story for greater audience engagement.

The Challenge

Shopify client wanted to create an online presence and funnel in views to her new online store, Proteq, which sells face masks.

The Results

Story funnelled in nearly a fifth of all leads to the Proteq website.

  • It is the second biggest referrer of leads to the online store, according to Shopify analytics.

  • Read the story here.

Testimonial

"Ali Zafar immediately made an impact in suggesting content marketing ideas and story pitches to the media. We were featured in Today's Parent just last week and already made sales coming from that channel. It builds trust for the brand."
— Berna Demiryol, Proteq Founder

Case Study: Metro News

The Challenge

Increase readership numbers for Metro News at a time when print readership was dropping.

The Solution

As front-page editor for Metro News Toronto and Calgary editions, I developed:

  • Engaging display copy that enticed readers to pick up newspaper edition.

  • Utilized design skills that strategically placed photos and content for ease of reading and content absorption.

  • Hyper-focused on target market and target audience in developing and laying out front page content.

The Results

Created the largest audience in the Toronto market, after the Toronto Star, with a weekly readership of 1.2 million print readers in 2014.

  1. Created the third largest audience in the Calgary market, after the Herald and the Sun, with a weekly readership of 209,800 print readers in 2014.

  2. Increased readership by 30% in the Calgary market from 2012-2015 at a time when competing papers were seeing readership drop.

Case Study: Funny Bones

The Challenge

Shopify client wanted to use marketing content to create brand awareness for Toronto board-game cafe's newly launched website.

The Solution

Use storytelling to humanize the business as it pivoted online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Develop a narrative-driven story to produce blog post.

  • Focused story on the struggle of getting through the COVID-19 pandemic as a brick-and-mortar business pivoting to online.

  • Used SEO best-practices to keep story elevated on search engines with support from Ahref.

  • Created a Call-To-Action directly linking the story to the business.

  • Used clear, concise copywriting to devleop content for the business's Shopify storefront.

The Results


"The blog that you wrote made an impact. Our website traffic has grown exponentially in the past month thanks to your assistance with our social media presence and SEO strategy.  This increased traffic has led to much more conversions and thereby leading to a tremendous increase in our overall sales!  The sales over the past 4-5 weeks has been the best stretch since we have started our business! Any company would be lucky to have you as part of their team." — Funny Bones Inc. Co-Owner, John Lee

The Results

A 110% increase in online leads to the business through blog post and Shopify storefront.