Agency Jen

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Definiti is a national retirement services firm. We manage the compliance and administration of defined contributions and defined benefit plans for employers throughout the US. I’m the director of marketing and I’m responsible for the messaging, communications, and marketing of all of Definiti’s outreach.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agency Jen?

We specifically sought out Agency Jen to help us with marketing and advertising.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a mailing list of about 6,000 names and we were experiencing some complexity when it came to making a structured, segmented list out of those different originating companies. Agency Jen came in, provided us with direction, and execute the solutions on my behalf. 

Jenny (Owner & Marketing Change Maker) helped us set up the email marketing program that is linked to our website. She used MailChimp to create custom graphics for this particular project.

While working with Agency Jen, we were also in the process of updating the corporate signage for our different offices. Jenny is based in the area where one of our offices is located, so we had her assist us with the designing, application, and wayfinding as well. She also created the new logo, accompanying graphics, and landing pages for our sub-brand.

What is the team composition?

Jenny was the only person engaged in the project. 

How did you come to work with Agency Jen?

I’ve known Jenny for several years and know her to be a very creative and strategic thinker. She is also Mailchimp trained and certified, which made her perfect for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

During the course of the last year, our engagement cost about $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2020 and it's an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It’s a relief to be able to hand over the work to Jenny. She's not just a graphic designer, she's also a strategic marketer in that she’s helped me find solutions to some problems that were not necessarily graphics creation or email marketing-related. 

The program she working on was only at its inception when we brought her in, but she’s been able to accomplish a high rate of growth and click-throughs for it. Since her involvement, we’ve grown our mailing list by about 15% and our open rates from 15% to 25%–27%. We’ve also gotten a 3%–5% click-through rate on the emails. 

How did Agency Jen perform from a project management standpoint?

Jenny is very well embedded in our overall process and schedule. I've not had any issues at all. Microsoft Teams is our primary method of communication. We also have a regular project meeting through video chat.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Jenny has a really unique ability to translate left-brain concepts to right-brain ideas. As a director of marketing, I get a lot of requests from the corporate side about specific activities and results that we need to accomplish. I can always count on Jenny to come up with a strategic plan and a creative execution for those. 

While our projects and very linear on paper, they're actually very complicated and detail-heavy, but Jenny’s been able to take those complexities and make them simple, elegant, and effective. It's the reason I keep going back to her.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I want is for her to work nearby since that would be a great asset to us. It hasn’t impeded our work, however, because a lot of opportunities to work remotely and effectively have opened up.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don't hesitate to share all that you know about your project with Agency Jen because Jenny is a problem-solver just as she is a creative thinker. Sometimes when we're working on individual projects, we tend to get shortsighted, but Jenny has the unique ability to see different opportunities. You might hesitate and think that you only need a particular output from her, but it would be best to tell her what you’re trying to accomplish and give her room to make some magic happen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Hoffman United. We do construction in real estate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agency Jen?

We were looking for capital growth for our construction and real estate vacancies. We wanted to use Agency Jen’s knowledge and experience to obtain that growth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Agency Jen does everything for us. Jen (Founder) is the CMO on our organizational chart. She handles all of our in-house marketing for us. She manages the commercials that we run, our paid digital ads, and our construction division. Jen also fills our vacancies.

We just completed the annual report for one of our companies. I drafted the content of the manager’s letter and the financials. Jen did the entire annual report booklet, including the design of it and the editing of our content, vocabulary, and grammar. She did the booklet from the ground up and turned it into what I wanted it to look like in my head. She completed the deliverable within a month and a half, and we were able to take it to our investors.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with Jen, but she has few other staff members that work behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Agency Jen?

I found Agency Jen through word-of-mouth. I talked to them and scheduled a meeting. They had a good presentation, and we’ve been running with them ever since.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together for quite a few years. We started in March 2016, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We wanted to make sure one of our investors knew exactly what we were up to and what we accomplished in 2020. The professionalism and quality of the investment were portrayed in the annual report that Agency Jen put together for that investor.

We started doing paid advertisements in September 2020 for one of our companies. Since then, we’ve seen a 300% increase in traffic to our website. Also, our vacancies have decreased, and our construction job projects for new customers have increased. Overall, we’re experiencing the growth we’re looking to achieve.

How did Agency Jen perform from a project management standpoint?

Jen‘s project management is excellent. She has a very good system to keep track of the projects that we’re working on. We meet every week, and she gives me an exact update about the status of each project.

She shares a Google Docs file, and we feed off information from it. Every month, she uses her project management tool to show us the results of increased traffic and responses we’ve gotten from their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Agency Jen meets all of our expectations. They come to our staff meetings with creative ideas to continue to pursue growth in all aspects of our company. They understand where the client wants to go, and they help with the growth and prospects to do it as the client envisioned it.

In addition to that, their deliverables are extremely well organized, well presented, and professional-looking. Agency Jen has proven to be professional, consistent, punctual, and creative.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything that Agency Jen could improve. They respond promptly, and their quality is good.

Any advice for potential customers?

A key component for growth is to invest in marketing. You have to invest money in order to make more money. Understanding the process of hiring someone like Agency Jen is an asset to your team.

They provide creativity from a different perspective on what needs to happen to pursue the growth you want to achieve. There's cost associated with having an independent contractor, so valuing Jen’s time and the creativity she brings to the table as our CMO is important.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Monacella Massage & Kinesiology, a therapeutic massage therapy studio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agency Jen?

Agency Jen did my branding and logo back in 2016. However, due to COVID-19, my role changed from working as a full-time massage therapist to working on the business. Therefore, I needed them to take care of my marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I first hired Agency Jen to design my logo. I had made a logo myself in Vistaprint, but after seeing similar designs everywhere, I realized that I needed a unique logo. Jenny (Owner) gave me a branding sheet with lots of questions that I filled out. She then created different logo examples, and we worked together to determine which one I wanted. She also gave me a fancy branding guide, which was fabulous. However, I didn’t know what Portable Network Graphics (PNG) or anything was, so she gave me a simpler version of it, which was super helpful.

Prior to hiring Agency Jen for this new project, I used to randomly do Facebook ads without paying attention to analytics. Jenny helped me streamline all of the services we used; for instance, my CRM scheduling system didn’t talk to the sales department or our emails. She fixed these issues and made all of the data talk to one another, so that we can comprehend analytics and have measurable goals and data.

Currently, she’s creating automated and targeted email campaigns, and we’re in the process of starting them. Also, I had somebody else write the content for social media, but it wasn’t focused. Therefore, I’m having Jenny work on the analytics of what type of content to post and follow a strategy. 

What is the team composition?

I largely work with Jenny.

How did you come to work with Agency Jen?

Jenny was referred to me by one of her other customers, and I tracked her down. I knew that I wanted to work with her, so I focused on saving money to hire her. 

How much have you invested with them?

The strategic marketing plan was $1,500, and acting as my CMO for three months was $5,000. I’ve made my money back, and it was worth it.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the logo in 2016. We started working together again in September 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’re just getting started on the marketing initiatives, but it’s exciting to watch it all come together. We’re at limited capacity due to COVID-19, but I’ve started to see an increase in the percentage of sales nonetheless. However, I’m excited to see, once the guidelines have been released, how much we continue to grow utilizing Jenny’s analytics and her ideas.

We’re also seeing an increase in Google reviews. Jenny has a lot of insights into things I’ve been too busy to think about, and I’m starting to see the value. 

Overall, we are now connecting more with clients. On top of that, having a monthly blog and a theme has helped boost our social media page. 

How did Agency Jen perform from a project management standpoint?

Jenny uses fancy tools, but I’m not good at using them. Therefore, she emails me to-do lists. We also use Google Sheets to keep track of everything and to keep me accountable for what I need to do.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Jenny’s knowledge is impressive. She’s both creative and analytic. Jenny doesn't just say that a campaign is great, but also gives numbers to prove that it’s working. She provides different test options to see which one works better. I just love the numbers part of it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there isn’t really anything. I wish Jenny could get in my head and make all the decisions. However, I’ve told her that, and she is taking more of the reins. For instance, she could go directly to the writer, instead of me being the middle person. She’s really open to questions and feedback.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be honest and have open communication as things shift. In the beginning, I didn’t know what I wanted or what to ask, but Jenny was open to suggestions, and we evolved in this relationship. She is extremely helpful – I didn’t even know that I needed all of this help.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

NPRC is an institution of Higher Education in northern Pennsylvania. I am the marketing and public relations coordinator.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Agency Jen?

Annual Report design.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We distributed and RFP and prioritized cost, business needs of the college, and methodology for project completion in the selection process.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

On-boarding, identified inventory, set responsibilities, and executed.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We employed a copywriting partner with Agency Jen when we awarded the contract.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

None at this time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are intimately knowledgeable about our organization.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

None identified.