The Content Bureau

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at Okta, the leading identity access management provider. We have cloud-based technology solutions.

I lead our named accounts marketing team. We specialize in account-based marketing and targeting the largest enterprise customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

When we do account-based marketing, we need to speak to our prospective customers in their own voice. We do a lot of content customization and write pieces of content specifically for the account we’re targeting.

The Content Bureau helped us build a standardized set of content around some of our primary business solutions that we could then use to customize in a way that would be meaningful to our target accounts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team provides content creation, copywriting consultation, and design services. We provided them with a standard template, but they were able to take that template and add design elements to make that content much more meaningful and interesting.

From there, they worked with our subject matter experts to ensure that the content was impactful and relevant. They’ll then work with our marketers and sales organizations to customize those core pieces for a specific account.

We use all of the content pieces they help us create in our campaigns and programs.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with four people on their staff, including their owner, copywriters, creative director, and design managers.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

The team was recommended by another organization that was doing similar marketing and content creation. I had a great conversation with their owner, and they were enthusiastic and well-versed in the things we needed.

They had the depth and breadth of services that we knew if we began this project with them, they would have the ability to continue expanding with us. As we got started, they were a joy to work with.

How much have you invested with them?

It was right around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has made our interaction with our target accounts more meaningful to the people receiving the information. It’s easy to follow the creation process. They’re great collaborators, and we enjoy working with them.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they’re excellent. We tend to communicate through email or conference calls. A lot of what we do is dependent on the availability of our subject matter experts. We’ve had a couple of concurrent pieces going simultaneously, so we would check in with them weekly.

There are project management tools on the backend. It’s a personal engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Content Bureau has a genuine interest in our success. Their collaborative approach helped with that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I’ve come across yet.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of what you need. Be able to articulate that to the team. They have a clear idea of where to start but also be willing to chat collaboratively with them. Take advantage of their advice and guidance. They’re very experienced.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product marketing at Nintex. The company is the global standard in process management and automation. We think about how we can map and manage clients’ everyday business processes and find ways to automate parts of those processes, allowing people to focus on more strategic endeavors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We’re a relatively small company within the business world. We’re making our name broader within the process management and automation space, but we’re still not super well-known. One of the challenges we were trying to resolve was getting people to know more about us, and that led us to believe that we need some good content to drive leads. People wouldn’t know who we are without doing some research. We went to The Content Bureau to create that top-of-the-funnel content, namely e-books.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The initial scope of work was to identify some key industries that we could market to. We went down the path of creating what I consider to be industry e-books, settling on the top-five business processes that were ripe for automation: banking, credit unions, healthcare, pharma, and government. Based on the initial scope of work, we honed in on seven business processes within those industries.

We were going to ask The Content Bureau to start drafting these e-books but had to put a pause on it because of COVID-19. We had to make some changes within our organization, and the focus wasn’t there for this project during that tumultuous time.

We reengaged The Content Bureau about a month ago, to start drafting the e-books. They send the e-books back to me for review then make the edits I request, and we go back and forth like this. We’ve finished five e-books, we’re drafting three more, and I can see two more coming down the pipes.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with around three people from The Content Bureau. I have a primary content writer helping me out, a relationship manager, and someone in charge of logistics and billing.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

My manager had a previous working relationship with The Content Bureau, and he found them to be excellent. I chatted with them and saw some of their previous work. Their writing style fit our needs, and they had a quick response time.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial SOW was for $30,000. The three e-books we’re working on now will cost another $14,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with The Content Bureau in February 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. We had to put a pause on the project after COVID-19 struck.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have anything quantifiable right now. The Content Bureau writes the content, we give final approval on it, and everybody feels good about it. The next step for me is to work with our in-house designer to actually put the e-books together.

I can’t speak in terms of leads generated, but the qualitative comments from our internal professionals are resoundingly positive. The processes that The Content Bureau identified to resonate within the industry make sense, the way they wrote was concise, and the delivery method was fantastic. These qualitative comments convinced me to write even more e-books with them.

When working with any vendor, I’ll judge them based on turnaround time and on how much attention they pay to me. If their response time is rather slow, it’ll put a bad taste in my mouth. With The Content Bureau, their methodology has made me comfortable working with them.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re on top of every single one of my communications. When I ask for edits, they take feedback really well. I feel like their project management is superb, and I have nothing negative to say.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their delivery speed has been really impressive. I expect a fast response time to questions and edit requests, and The Content Bureau is the fastest agency I’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

With content, there are two routes we can take: we know what we want that content to look like and we just need someone to write it for us or we want someone to actually go out and do research and brainstorm ideas. It really depends on who’s looking for content. If the client has some ideas already, and they need The Content Bureau to write those in a manner that resonates with how the brand should be perceived, they’re really good at that.

On the opposite side, if someone’s looking for them to actually do the research and legwork, The Content Bureau may not be the right choice. That’s not a knock on them. We already had some ideas on what we wanted to do when we started the engagement. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 I work for an accounting and consulting firm. I’m the marketing director, and I’m responsible for our creative services as a whole. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We’re in an in-house marketing team, and we generally don’t do a lot of outsourcing. However, as our requests from clients evolved, we needed to build a list of vendors that we could work with on some marketing projects. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They create an assortment of different content assets. This includes editorial work ranging from webpage copy to thought leadership pieces and article marketing to social media posts. Their work in this regard varies depending on what our clients need. 

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of 3–4 people. My primary contact is Stacy (Owner), but I’ve also worked with Ruth (Writer & Consultant) and one editor. 

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

Another member of our marketing team had worked with The Content Bureau previously, and she referred me to them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $125,000 so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them once in 2015 or 2016. However, we didn’t engage with them on an ongoing basis until June 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team is engaging and responsive. They’re knowledgeable about the topics we’re asking them to cover. We’ve seen promising analytical results. 

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re amazing. Ruth and Stacy are very responsive. I always here back within 24 hours. Everything is quick and organized. They’ve helped us streamline some of our processes. They’re very precise and deliberate. 

We primarily communicate with them over the phone and via email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management and communication are the most impressive. I also appreciate the expertise and qualifications of the team. We don’t have to make a lot of edits to their work, they nail it the first time around. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I wouldn’t call this an area for improvement, but I have noticed that their pricing is a bit higher than other vendors in the industry. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re relatable and easy to work with. If you’re looking for a personable team to partner with, then they’re great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for NetApp. We’re a global data management and services company. We’re focused mostly in the hybrid cloud space, selling to enterprise accounts. I’m a senior manager of business value marketing. This is about what programs and services we can offer to give our customers additional value. I do go-to-market strategy, as well as execution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with the Content Bureau?

We launched all those initiatives in the fall and needed customer-facing and sales materials to educate our sales teams and partner communities, as well as our customers. We contacted the Content Bureau to help us write all the content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

This was all brand new content. We had multiple briefings with them to describe the initiatives and product offerings. We had some internal content, but they helped us start out with the copy blocks and messaging. I’m a very technical person that can get into the weeds easily, but Content Bureau made it more customer-friendly. It was easier to understand the value for the customer thanks to Content Bureau.

What is the team composition?

My primary contact was my content writer Ruth, (Creative). She stayed with me throughout the entire project, continuing to do some additional content creation. Brooke handled all the money, logistics, cost, and fees associated with the different content deliverables.

How did you come to work with the Content Bureau?

I came on board in July, and we were already working with Content Bureau. They’d had numerous initiatives copywriting in the company.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $55,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together on this project since July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were the writer for the blog that introduced the new service offerings and initiatives, and the piece got a lot of traction. The content on the web pages received 4500 views in the first month. Internally, the content has been viewed over 12,000 times since late October. Their content was very heavily viewed by our sales and partner teams internally and customers externally.

How did the Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really great to work with. They’re very professional, keeping me up to date on things and hitting their deadlines. They’ve even come in under budget on some of the content initiatives. We communicate over email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of creativity is amazing. We’ve brought them a couple of assignments where some of the slides we’d created just weren’t resonating with our internal or external folks, and they brought back really creative ideas. Additionally, their writing capabilities are amazing. They excel at taking complex ideas and making them simple and easy to understand and use.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. I wish we’d used them a little bit more on design because their work was very high quality when we did ask for design work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The briefings we had, which were basically brainstorming sessions, helped get them involved at the start. Have those sessions and describe the technology. They’ll grasp it quickly and come back with ideas to present. They’re solid on both content creation and design.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and managing partner of a healthcare-focused venture and growth equity fund. We invest in high-growth, commercial-stage healthcare businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We were in the process of raising our next fund, which we do every few years so that we can invest. As part of that effort, we have to put together a private placement memorandum (PPM), which is a vital document in the fundraising process. The Content Bureau helped us create that PPM.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We collaborated back and forth on the initial outline of the PPM. The Content Bureau’s team interviewed several members of our team about our strategy, our focus, and our portfolio companies. They presented a first draft of the PPM, which we iterated multiple times. The Content Bureau filled out the PPM with graphics and ultimately proofread and produced a document that was close to 30 pages.

What is the team composition?

We worked closely with Lauren (Copywriter, The Content Bureau) and Stacy (Owner, The Content Bureau). They worked with a graphic designer, as well, but we did not interact with that person directly.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

We had worked with them on a previous PPM, so we had a history with them. We chose to go back to them because we had a positive experience the first time.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $35,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October–December 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality was excellent and as we hoped. The proof is in the pudding: We put out the PPM, and our fund was meaningfully oversubscribed in just a few months. There are a lot of components to that, but having a good PPM is undoubtedly one of them.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They iterated on our timeline and produced the PPM on schedule. There were turns along the way, but pretty much everything went according to plan. They did a great job of understanding our strategy and reflecting that in an easy-to-read document.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a nuanced strategy because healthcare is a complicated sector. People can play and invest in a lot of different parts of the industry. Coming from an organization that presumably writes about a lot of different things, they were able to grasp the complexities of our business exceptionally well and enunciated that in the content.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They provided excellent graphics for us, but we did explore pushing them on fancier graphics, which seemed to be a bridge too far in their skill set.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’ve been very supportive of our efforts. It speaks to the quality of their work that we’ve returned to them for our needs. We’d work with them again, no question.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a marketing manager at a software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We needed a vendor to help us create content and develop messaging.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They write success stories about our customers and help us develop in-depth messaging for our product. They've also created some content for our website. For success stories, they do phone interviews with our customers and pull out the technical details about the usage of our platform and our API. After they write a customer success story, I hand it over to the customer for approval and then, it gets published online. The Content Bureau has been working with our company for a while, so they know our platform, our brand, and the terminology guidelines. 

I also started a new messaging project with them. Our platform is used differently by different industries. We needed to tailor our messaging to those industries, particularly manufacturing and construction industries. The Content Bureau did a series of interviews with our stakeholders on the product side and they also talked to our business development team. After that, they did a few iterations of messaging around what the platform does for different personas or industries we work with.

What is the team composition?

I have a few points of contact, depending on the type of project I am working on.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

They worked with our company before I joined the marketing team a few months ago.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $138,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were instrumental in taking over our customer success story process. I have full trust in their ability to create stories that highlight both our customer success and our platform, showing how our platform helps that customer be successful.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They turn things around very quickly and reach out to us if they have any questions. Their proactive approach and fast delivery times help the  project go smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're able to understand the technical concepts that would be unfamiliar to a lot of people. Also, they've invested a lot of time in working with our brand guidelines and our company writing style. That was invaluable to me when I joined the marketing team and they have actually taught me about some of our more obscure company writing policies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I've been very happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you're looking for. They have expertise in different areas and they can share their past experience with you and often even provide advice on procedures and process. They’re a great agency – reliable and fast, so you never have to worry about a project being delivered on time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is an insurance technology vendor. I'm the director of marketing and communications. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We were looking for a high-quality thought leadership content creator.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Content Bureau contributed the writing and design skills we needed to produce a thought leadership white paper featuring areas that we want to be known for. We outlined the scope of what we desired out of the writing, including requirements for the length, tone, and outline. 

The white paper was about 3,000 words and included a variety of graphics and images. We distributed this piece of content through the Internet for users to download across a variety of marketing channels. 

What is the team composition? 

Our main point of contact was the copywriter, Ruth (Independent Contractor, The Content Bureau). 

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

I have a colleague who had worked with The Content Bureau in the past. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $23,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together over a three-month period this year, in the spring quarter of 2018. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Content Bureau delivered a piece of content for online download that has been well received. We have been gaining contacts through the downloads up to this point. We're happy with the results. The white paper did what we intended it to do. 

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

The Content Bureau managed the project well. We stayed in touch using phone and email. We had some minor difficulties with scheduling around vacations and had a few related communication glitches. Other than that, they were good at scheduling.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Content Bureau provided us with a highly talented writing and design team. They produced a very high-quality piece of content. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. The Content Bureau did a great job of managing the project and getting results. We had a few scheduling glitches, but it was nothing critical. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The Content Bureau is a highly skilled resource. We will continue to use them for our content and campaign needs. I fully recommend them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a global marketing lead at a security company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We were looking for a company to help us produce some fresh, compelling content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provide them with the topics we want to turn into marketing content. Depending on our objectives, the content can be an eBook, a white paper, or infographics. After we give them the bullet points of what we want to get across, The Content Bureau writes the content. Then, we review it and go through an iteration process. They also do the creative layout and work closely with our brands to ensure that the creatives they produce follow the brand guidelines. In addition, they do some promotional pieces for us, including email and ad copy.

What is the team composition?

I usually work with Stacy (Founder, The Content Bureau) and Ruth (Content Writer, The Content Bureau).

How did you come to work with them?

They were referred to me by a colleague.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our objective was to generate demand. We've definitely seen more qualified leads after we started working with The Content Bureau, so they’re helping us accomplish our goals.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s very easy to work with them. Our schedule is quite busy, but they're flexible and give us a couple of days to review everything, sending us reminders when they haven't heard back from us. We use a combination of email and phone to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They produce high-quality content, so most of the time, we only need to tweak it slightly. The speed at which they work is also astounding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. The collaboration has been great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain to them the message you want to get across and allow them to determine how to craft that message for your target audience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a senior marketing manager within the middle market at PayPal. We focus on partner marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We wanted a creative agency to help us engage with our partners and come up with a solution for sales enablement that gives both merchants and internal account managers a better understanding of our product suite. We wanted insights, copy, and integration information that would make us more effective.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were a critical partner as we created a suite of product toolkits, which are some of the most valuable assets they created for us. We’ve since evolved them for use across multiple partners. I work very closely with them on obtaining all the necessary information and they act as creators.

They know all the legal rules and regulations—which are constantly in flux—and they help us source our insights properly. They consolidate all of this information into a usable format to make the end user’s experience seamless. Several of our teams leverage the toolkits and there are now multiple versions of them.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Allison (Editorial Team, The Content Bureau). She acts as my account director.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

They were already an approved agency that the middle market team was using when I brought them into my projects.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested about $500,000 with them. Several of our teams use them, so the total company spend is much more.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in December 2016. The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They know all the social touchpoints that help develop nurture streams for email and marketing. They have a significant impact on our whole business and are integral to the success of any campaign we launch.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

Our account director is absolutely phenomenal. They’re organized and meet even the most aggressive deadlines. They provide informed suggestions on our communication strategy, rooted in an understanding of our brand and legal guidelines. This permits us to move quickly and avoid multiple rounds of legal review.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They fully a part of our team. We recently launched a huge campaign and they’re still helping us make changes. From beginning to end, they build a strategy, come up with timelines, and bring products to market. We couldn’t do without them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We keep going back to them because they are reliable, collaborative team players. They meet deadlines and deliver everything they’re supposed to. They are honest about their abilities and respond quickly.

They understand our business and deliver creative copy that makes sense for our products. They know their craft and they excel at it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of marketing at Opportunity Fund. We're a small business microlender based in California.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We needed to put together a solid messaging architecture for our small business lending program. We were looking for a company to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They interviewed us and we shared with them the direction we wanted to go in. Then, they came up with a very nice messaging architecture that allowed us to offer specific content and images related to our message. They were instrumental in helping us refine our message and bring consistency to our organization. We're now lining up a contract with them for our new fiscal year.

What is the team composition?

We mostly work with Stacy (Owner, The Content Bureau).

How did you come to work with them?

I used to work with them at my former company.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2015 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have direct Salesforce and partner management sales teams, but they didn’t have a consistent sales tool. Now, we have one consistent set of messages for our sales and marketing teams, and Salesforce has really become dependent on those assets. The Content Bureau helped us refine and formalize our programs before we present them to the outside world, which had a big impact on our organization.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're extremely flexible, respond quickly, and deliver on promises.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Having a project manager can help facilitate the execution of some projects. Most of our projects are fairly straightforward, but occasionally we have a complex project, so having someone to manage it would be helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about their scope work, the content they'll work with, and any constraints they'll have. They're incredibly flexible and are always trying to find a way to meet our needs.