Cosmitto

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing & communications manager for Aervana, a Seattle-based company that makes a battery-operated wine aerator. It helps red wine taste better and fuller.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

We had tried to do social media and digital marketing management in-house and unsatisfactorily with other vendors. So, we were looking for an agency to take over.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cosmitto manages our social media and digital marketing. For organic content, they manage Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They are the first line of defense in terms of community management because they receive comments or anything that needs to be addressed before we do. 

The team also schedules all the content on our three social channels, as well as some on Pinterest and YouTube. In terms of creation, they draw from our wealth of previous photography, videos, and product copies, but they also create new content. 

What is the team composition?

Nikki (Owner & Creative Director) is our main point of contact. There is usually one other person working with us hands-on; Cheyenne (Business Development Manager) handled that for a while. We also have occasional contact with Emma (Digital Advertising Strategist) from the ads team on our calls.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

We spoke with 12–25 agencies to see how we could lower monthly costs while getting quality results and client care. This team was one of the most affordable agencies, and we felt they had the best combination of responsiveness and organization to get the job done.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent roughly $18,000. We spend $1,520 per month. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Cosmitto in July 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen organic followership grow on Facebook and Instagram. The most tangible results were seen in their tweaking of our Google Search metrics. They brought our cost per conversion down, and revenue has almost doubled from $600 to $1,100, last month. 

The results are cleaner and smarter, and we have a great presence back on our website. I’ve been very happy with their commitment in terms of quality of work and the goals being achieved.

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

The team does very well. They are communicative, responsive, and very available. When we discuss something, Cosmitto has a quick turnaround in providing me with a written brief to show my team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I love working with them. They are astonishingly affordable for the quality of work they produce. They have a level of responsiveness and client care that I’ve never had from an agency, especially one this affordable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, none that I can think of. We all continue to get smarter on the tools we use.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Meet their level of communication and availability. They are open to new ideas, even outside the plan. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a nonprofit that has existed for over 50 years. I am the Executive Director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Cosmitto?

We hired Cosmitto to create a new website, digitize archives, and write web copy consistent with our mission and vision. We are planning a future interview series that the Cosmitto team will be conducting on our behalf.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to effectively communicate our mission and vision to the public and to have an aesthetically professional looking website that cohesively integrated our past with our future and present.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We heard about Cosmitto through word of mouth after having met with several other agencies. Once we sat down with Nikki and Matt, it was clear that they had an understanding of what we were trying to accomplish and we immediately moved forward.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

there were several elements to our project with Cosmitto. First, we needed to get a website design including wire frames, logo creation, and color scheme. Next, we had to approve copy for the website that was generated by the Cosmitto team. The team was simultaneously digitizing the archives we accumulated over the past fifty years. Lastly, blogs were being created with several rounds of edits from our leadership and got to a place where we were comfortable and confident with their content and style.

What was the team composition?

We worked with an Account Manager that worked with their internal team (Content Creators and Web Designers). We also had close contact with both the owners, Nikki and Matt.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have launched the website with full web copy, a new logo, a new color scheme, and 4 live blogs. The results have gone above our expectations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Cosmitto team responded in a timely manner, asked clarifying questions, and completed the request to our satisfaction.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Nikki and Matt were always open to meeting with us in person when needed. Not only that, but they asked probing and well thought out questions that demonstrated their understanding of the subject matter. This validated our decision to work with them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

During our blog process, we needed a different writing style. As soon as we brought this up to Nikki, she adjusted our team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is Rinovum Women’s Health Company. We have the first and only FDA-cleared over the counter home conception device. It’s the step before trying further assistive reproductive treatment options like IUI [intrauterine insemination] or IVF [in vitro fertilization].

What is your position?

I am the Marketing Director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

In the past year and a half, we launched our product in the OTC [over-the-counter] market. We were looking for ways to beef up the content on our website and outsource some of the blog writing work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right now we have contracted Cosmitto for assistance with our blogs. They were initially helping us write our eBook content and help us with our newsletter.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

They came as a recommendation from somebody within our network. We liked that they were local in Pittsburgh and the idea of one startup working with another.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work with them is ongoing and has been going on for two years now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The newsletter open rates have improved by 10% so far. We’ve been very happy internally with all the content for the blog. We work with Cosmitto to develop topics that are relevant to our audience.

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

Wonderful. Their entire team has always been fantastic. They’ve been on time with meetings and deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of the other companies that were working with them drew us in. The fact that a number of them were in the healthcare space helped a lot too.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not with any projects that we’re working on. They met and exceeded our expectations to date.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is called Shift Collaborative. We are a creative agency. I am one of three partners at the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

We have partnered with them for scalability reasons. We offer some of the same services, but in order for us to stay nimble, we outsource some pieces of what we do to them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right now, we have two engagements with them. They’re providing social media services for two of our clients. They research social media posts, write them, and then we approve those based on our strategy.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

A colleague of ours connected us. We knew of them, so we scheduled a meeting, and decided they were a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s $12,000 per year right now.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since the beginning of this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their research and writing in the posts is really high, which makes reviewing much easier on my staff. They have been very consistent, which is helpful.

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

They've done really great. We have weekly deadlines with them, and they have no trouble with that. We have a really good line of communication between our project lead and their project lead on each of these clients. It’s been a great working relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It is the relationship between their project team and our project team, and how easy it is to communicate with them, but also the quality of the work that distinguishes them. We pride ourselves on very high-quality work, so to hand it over to somebody else is scary and risky for us. Working with them, we have peace of mind knowing that it’s going to be the same caliber of work that we would do ourselves.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At this point, everything has gone very well. With respect to our clients, they each have their own challenges with what we’re trying to do, so they’ve been responsive in making any changes that we’ve asked for. There isn’t anything that needs to be improved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing director for an online marketplace for law firms and legal departments to find legal help.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

We needed someone to partner with to take care of our content marketing and make it effective and engaging and help guide us in the right direction there. We also needed someone who could help us with our ad strategies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the pay-per-click campaign, they helped us figure out what keywords we should be using and finding the right messaging for those keywords, how often we should be using them, and how often we should be iterating them. They helped us with inbound marketing and social media management.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

We were dissatisfied with the previous firm that we were working with. We were looking for a startup cost and people who we felt understood what we were doing, who were great to work with, and had the skills, experience, and personality that was a right match for our people. Cosmitto fit all of those requirements.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, it is less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We are currently working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They've certainly increased traffic to our site. They've also increased our engagement with users on social media and just generally our presence on Twitter and Facebook which has been great.

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

They're great. They stay on top of both me and their deadlines which has made it a wonderful partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cosmitto's customer service is what sets them apart. I appreciate knowing I can always come to them with any question, and that they'll always respond quickly. I feel like they care, and they're trying hard to do the best that they can.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If they were a little bit more strategy-oriented, it would be helpful for me.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Kiski School is an all-boys boarding school. We have approximately 200 students from all around the world. I am the director of communications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

We are trying to attract more students.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide help with our social media. They post on our Instagram, Facebook, and two Twitter accounts. Additionally, they do some content marketing for us. They're in charge of our bimonthly blogs and interview alumni, students, and teachers.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

I sent out a request for proposals and five agencies, including Cosmitto, responded. We interviewed them and a committee decided that of all the options, Cosmitto came out on top.

How much have you invested with them?

The project was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since last September [2015].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our impressions have gone up tremendously with all of our social media outlets and have had more traffic to our site through the blog. They're also helping us with an email automation campaign. We're starting to see some potential new students because of what they have done for us.

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

They're easy to work with. Cosmitto is always flexible, and quick to give feedback or get tasks done. They do an awesome job at keeping us aware of everything that is going on, which I appreciate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their efficient workers and are generally very easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think so. I work well with them because they are very responsive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are consultants for employee benefits and actuaries. We do benefit, retirement, and compensation plans for employers. I'm the marketing and communications coordinator.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

We were looking for content to improve our SEO [search engine optimization]. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They research the content, write it, send it to us, and we review it to put out on Twitter and for blogs. They also use a combination of our own content and the things they've found to develop our newsletter.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

Somebody internally mentioned them to us. We talked a couple of times and decided to go with them. Just recently, we renewed our contract with them because we have been happy with what they've done.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's ongoing. Every week, we're doing something with them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're seeing an increase in people reading our tweets and blogs, following us on LinkedIn and Facebook that, before Cosmitto, we did not have.

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

They do very well in identifying content that we should use. When they send over the content that they're going to do for the next week, they send it with plenty of time for us to look it over to make necessary edits.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Not only are they fun to work with, but Cosmitto knows their stuff very well. They are very good writers and have an efficient system to manage projects in the time they promise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. We are happy with the work that they have done thus far.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Mr. Magic Car Wash is the name of my company. I'm one of the owners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

We were in need of an agency that could help us with our social media and blogs. We wanted to have a better online presence.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handle our Facebook page and keep our blog up to date on everything going on at the car wash.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

The other owner, Alan, found them and we liked that they were local. We saw that they were able to help us with the content creation we needed and ultimately felt like they would be a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We have been paying about $500 a month for the past three years.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's an ongoing engagement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we began our partnership with Cosmitto, we've seen engagement rise a lot on our Facebook page. Additionally, they've done advertising for us, which has had some great results. We're all very happy with what they do.

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

They do fine. We contact almost exclusively over email. Cosmitto keeps track of what people put on our Facebook page. They let us know if we don't know about them, and give us the opportunity to either reply or we will have them reply to the customer.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cosmitto is very proactive in helping us. They've noticed the things that have been working, and the ones that haven't. They have been very attentive and made necessary adjustments for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Nothing I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a seller of industrial and consumer grade magnets with worldwide sales and distribution. I'm managing partner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

We felt that we needed to have a social media presence in order to improve our organic search results, in terms of placement. It was the missing piece of our marketing puzzle, to complement our PPC [pay-per-click] advertising and display ads. That's what we were looking for in working with Cosmitto. We were also looking to replace a company that we had signed with previously, whose results were very poor. We decided to give Cosmitto the account and see what they could do with it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cosmitto is responsible for our content and social media marketing campaigns. Their team creates original blog content for us that focuses on our products, industry and other related topics that might interest current and potential customers. They post those pieces directly onto our WordPress blog and are responsible for maintaining it.

Cosmitto also creates and posts content and promotions onto our Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts. This includes addressing customer concerns and questions that come through our social media channels. In addition, they're responsible for content curation on our YouTube page.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

We found them through a standard Google Search and saw positive online reviews. I also appreciated the fact that they were local, and we could actually physically visit their company and go over strategies in person. That was a selling point.

I think the biggest thing that really sold us was that the company we were dealing with prior to Cosmitto had month-to-month term commitments. Cosmitto's philosophy is "we don't want to keep you if we're not producing the results," which we really appreciated.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost under $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2014, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The main result is higher engagement on our social media channels. We're also noticing an increase in our organic search results on Google and Bing. Cosmitto is fulfilling the role that we had hoped in terms of being able to increase our organic search results. We haven't looked at Facebook or Twitter ROI [return on investment] too much, but we know that it has increased as well.

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

The quality of Cosmitto's work is very good. They're taking a rather thin gruel with our product—magnets and magnetic—and they've managed to really create some good content that's good evergreen material that will have a good shelf life for us as well as highlighting links to magnetic related news items. In terms of their account management, they've done a good job of providing us with monthly reports, being attentive to any concerns we have and incorporating any content that we would like to promote. In all of those respects, we're very pleased.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cosmitto has a willingness to look at different angles that would work for our particular business model and product line. That's special.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish we were seeing more enhanced results than we are getting from our social media spend. I'm not saying this specifically about Cosmitto. I have to chalk it up to the nature of the product, and the level of engagement we can expect on that. I feel like given what we sell, they're probably doing as good of a job as they can. In effect, I'm praising them about as much as I can. Do I wish they came up with some miracle that would cause people to engage with us right and left? Sure. I wish we had that, but I have to be realistic.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of the company of Pipitone Group. We are an integrated marketing agency based in Pittsburgh that does a lot of B2C [business-to-consumer] work with a heavy focus on everything from social media and communications, to design and Internet applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cosmitto?

We were looking for a good partner to develop content for a one of our customers, a company that sells chlorine supplies. We were looking to create a set of blog posts that were specific to different industries: aquatics, irrigation, and food safety. We wanted content that was more search engine friendly and community-based. We started working with Cosmitto to help us with that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged Cosmitto to work with us to develop topics, and create original content about the topics listed above. They produced original content around the topics that were relevant to our client's industry. They wrote content that was not about chlorination tablets but about irrigation. For example, they wrote about the things that are happening in California with the drought problems, and how having effective water flow could help your irrigation. We would work with them and create the topics, or they'd come back to us with topics, and we would set broader goals for these blog posts. Then, they'd work with us, and write the blog posts, and we would then run it through the corporate side of our customer, so we could post it on the blog on their website.

How did you come to work with Cosmitto?

I met a member of their team at a marketing workshop. I also liked that they were a local business. That's why we chose them.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of the project is around $10,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for about two years [as of August 2015]. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we started working with Cosmitto, the number of users that have engaged with the content has continued to increase, from five or six originally to somewhere between 50 and 80 subscribers now. These are phenomenal numbers for this industry. The typical end user is a 35- to 60-year-old male, and to get them to engage in social media is tough. 

How did Cosmitto perform from a project management standpoint?

Cosmitto always delivered. We would bring up three or four story ideas, run them by our customer, and then choose one. Then, they'd write it, and it would take my customer two months to go off and approve it. They were consistent on their billing and on their deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provided a good value for what we were paying them, and they did quality work. My customer is a discerning customer. He's been in the business for 30 years or so, and he's a writer himself. He's been happy, so I'm happy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I was completely happy with how they performed. They've been very accommodating, too.