Higher Ground Marketing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Thinkando is an Atlassian Gold Partner, I'm the CEO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Higher Ground Marketing?

Ground worked on our website, marketing and also SEO. They are a great team to work with, really helpful, transparent and approachable. Highly recommended.

What were your goals for this project?

Build website, improve leads, improve results in search engines.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to me from another company in Manchester who had used their services.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Ground worked with us to create a website. They also work with us on a permanent basis to help us with optimization, marketing and SEO.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a web desi

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Ground helped us increase our leads tenfold. Great team to work with, really helpful, transparent, and approachable.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

PM was tight, transparent, and very well executed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How quickly we were able to use the work they did to bring in extra sales leads.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Lotto New Zealand is one of the World's top lotteries, having won multiple National and International awards for the digital aspect of their operations in my time at the organisation. I worked as Client UX Lead/ Mobile App Product Manager during a full digital rebuild and led agile design sprinting, customer/ UX research and digital design of Lotto's new digital platforms (web & mobile app).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Higher Ground Marketing?

For UX and UI design and consulting on a mobile app and website.

What were your goals for this project?

The New Zealand Lottery website receives around 400,000 users buying tickets each week and is one of the most commercially active websites in New Zealand which has a population of around 5m people.

The existing legacy site was dated, lacking in functionality and not designed for multi-device use or behaviours. The separate mobile App had a different look and feel and lacked critical features to support a more mature omni-channel UX approach.

The project also needed to launch a new range of games and respond to changing product conditions (e.g. up-selling and cross-selling, maturing subscriptions into the user flow) which needed a holistic UX approach.

We also wanted our customers to enjoy the experience of checking their paper lottery tickets each week via a virtual draw experience as this was a key touchpoint from the existing mobile app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

This was a competitive tender process; and Rob from Higher Ground Marketing was sub-contracted as specialist UX/ UI designer via the selected vendor (Colenso BBDO group NZ)

Describe the project in detail.

Design new mobile app and responsive website. Design new online games. Evolve user registration and reduce friction at key steps. Create new workflow for ticket buying account management, user access, CMS controls, CMS design for ticket results scheduling, plus many other components to help users manage there accounts more effectively,

What was the team composition?

6 x full time designers and 7 full-stack developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Great feedback from our customers on UX changes (e.g. purchasing user journey, registration flow changes, virtual draw experience) and as this was adding a new digital channel for purchasing tickets there was significant growth in the mobile app channel each month (approx 5% growth regardless of jackpot amount).

We also noticed that returning customers preferred the mobile channel, which supported a lot of the UX designs at the time and the focus on mobile-first design in places.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very professional. At the end of each sprint the UX team presented prototypes for feedback and sign off from the Lotto board and myself. I was based in-house with the design team for a number of months and formed a great working and personal relationship with a number of the team, and this definitely helped with speed and quality of delivery.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their in-depth UX approach, designed prototypes, leading workshops and presentation skills for board meetings. Open communication was also a key aspect of building trust.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The development scope needed more consideration as there were aspects that got rushed due to senior stakeholders demands, but I don't feel that was Higher Ground’s domain.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Managing Director of a team of Reach developers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Higher Ground Marketing?

We were brought in to work with Higher Ground to create an international shipping app and delivery management application (web & mobile app). We worked together under the business owner Couriers & Freight.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals were to develop various solutions on ReactJS from the prototypes created by Higher Ground.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Rob Hufton and his company Higher Ground were recommended to me by a UX expert who we worked with for almost 5 years as contractors of a Fortune 500 company.

Describe the project in detail.

Couriers & Freight already had a platform but they needed to scale to match their expansion plans. Their app combined numerous areas of functionality such as finance, shipping, booking, ecommerce integration, courier booking and staff management.

What was the team composition?

The team was comprised by the following members:

• the business owner and investor
• Robert Hufton from Higher Ground as product owner and UX consultant
• myself as development lead
• various senior and mid level front end and back end developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With Rob's help we have delivered a hugely effective freight and courier management app.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our team and Higher Ground was excellent. Rob is a great communicator and very easy to work with.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by their dedication, professionalism, and communication skills of the guys in Higher Ground.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Managing Director of a specialist Construction company dealing with problems of moisture in buildings on a design and installation basis. We have 25 staff.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Higher Ground Marketing?

Website re-development (continuous improvement basis), SEO and UX.

What were your goals for this project?

Modernise the site and to improve traffic.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I met with Rob and he clearly understood, then provided proposals which fit well with our needs.

Describe the project in detail.

Our existing site was not mobile friendly and 'modern', the project has involved moving the site to a new platform and then working to continuously improve the site and traffic to it. Beyond this we've developed a strategy for the site and wider influences (social etc), and so the service has gone beyond the scope of just the website which is absolutely ideal for us.

What was the team composition?

Worked directly with Rob.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site is now mobile friendly and traffic continues to steadily improve.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Regular meetings with Rob are held to discuss matters and remote communication is also regular, I'm certainly well prompted and assisted in respect of the aspects of the work which I have to attend to.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They offer good value, and they have a clear understanding of our needs are and excellent communication.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Brand & Marketing Lead of Fettle.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The UK's fastest growing bike repair network.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Higher Ground Marketing to accomplish?

• Conversion Rate Optimisation
• User Experience
• Search Engine Optimisation

SOLUTION

How did you find Higher Ground Marketing?

Online Search

Why did you select Higher Ground Marketing over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Higher Ground Marketing were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Rob and team helped deliver a full re-design on our website, from initial UX research, to wireframe design, development & ongoing conversion rate optimisation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Higher Ground worked swiftly, and with tight execution to deliver an outstanding new website within 3 months. We saw conversion rates increase 3x compared to old site.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Good project management, with through discovery phase and regular, ongoing comms.

What was your primary form of communication with Higher Ground Marketing?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They're a small, agile team who are personable and passionate. When your website is your bread & butter for sales volume - you want it in trusted hands.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Higher Ground Marketing could have done differently?

Would include more SEO help as part of the scope of the project, in addition to the UX / CRO side of things.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Managing Director of a Nationwide boiler repair specialist

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Higher Ground Marketing?

Our previous site was ok but we needed more conversions from our marketing.

What were your goals for this project?

A better mobile experience. Easier appointment booking but more leads from our marketing. We also needed SEO to be maintained as we do well for certain keywords.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Higher Ground came up as conversion rate optimisation so we called them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Each section of our website needs to be a landing page of its own as we use online marketing to drive leads. So the new design needed to work well for conversions and allow us easy set up for new pages.

What was the team composition?

Rob, Amy and his development team

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We are driving more leads now with a better quality of lead and less time wasters.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Friendly, reactive and professional.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their knowledge of landing pages and Adwords was good. A very good overall knowledge of websites as a whole.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don’t think so.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

High street casual dining restaurant group. Operations manager with multi site responsibility.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Higher Ground Marketing?

Website redesign and social media analysis leading to a full rebrand and request for increased traffic to the new website.

What were your goals for this project?

Heightened company awareness through online presence, leading to an increase in bookings week on week.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We received several pitches from varying companies. We liked the lean approach these guys offered. Small pieces of work. But loads of value.

Describe the project in detail.

We needed data and someone to provide a better user journey to fix a conversion rate issue. Higher Ground produced a simple, easy to understand method. Wireframes and analytics data to show where the issue was and how to fix it.

What was the team composition?

Only a small team but really reliable. We really felt they cared about our operation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our landing pages converted a better quality of lead. Wasn’t all about volumes of conversions.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Really easy. Always on hand to answer questions and thorough in their approach.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Lean. Easy to work with. Personable approach to agency delivery. Great value also.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really. We needed external branding services but that’s not why we used Higher Ground for conversion work.