HMG Creative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing, branding, and events person for Bouldin Acres. We have an indoor-outdoor bar, restaurant, beer garden, pickleball courts, and food trucks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

Our existing website contained quite a lot of information, which was not too friendly for visitors and users. It needed a bit of a redesign, so I turned to HMG Creative.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

HMG Creative redesigned our website and organize the information on it. They cleaned up the pickleball court booking function, which was important since the usage of that facility required prior reservation and since that was one of the main reasons people visited our website. The team also restructured our menus, included our contact details, built in a calendar of events, and created an online ordering system. 

They went by my vision for the aesthetic but made some improvements themselves where they felt it was necessary. They offered to do some updates and maintenance after the redesign as well. There was also one instance where my boss needed a page added to the website but didn’t quite understand how difficult that would be to do. HMG Creative guided me through the process to make sure that everything got done in a timely manner and that I looked better in the eyes of my bosses.

What is the team composition?

I only worked with one person throughout the project. The owner checked in from time to time as well.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

We were located close to HMG Creative and we got to know their owner since he frequents our establishment. The issue of fixing our website just came up in one of our conversations, and we were able to arrange a partnership after that. 

What is the status of this engagement?

They worked on the website from June–August 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our new website is a complete contrast to its previous version. The redesign was a big piece in our rebranding that happened last year, so this accomplishment is one of the proudest milestones I’ve had in work. We had a really good experience with HMG Creative. 

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

HMG Creative was so organized and efficient. All of our communication was super easy. If there was something I couldn’t figure out, it was really easy to get ahold of them. 

We share a document where we could leave notes, provide information and content, and just go back and forth. We also communicated via email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was really impressive how they kept the project from being stressful and overwhelming. They made the whole process seem so easy and they were there to walk me through how to manage the website myself. It was a huge thing, too, that they were able to use their own judgment on where to improve the website while still sticking to our aesthetic. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. It was an enjoyable experience. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just do it. Work with HMG Creative.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing and communications director at Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary, a private nonprofit. We have an indoor museum and 289-acre nature preserve, and we also provide a variety of educational programs and events to connect people with nature. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

Our previous website version was designed back in 2012, and while it was responsive, it wasn’t up to today’s standards. Moreover, it was lagging behind in SEO. As a result, every time we’d analyze it, we were falling behind in rankings and assessments on Google. We also weren’t hitting the market virtually anywhere and it was obvious that it was holding us back in terms of people finding us on the internet. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our website organization was highly diversified in terms of the several programs and offers we have. In connection with that, the team helped us organized the platform and made it user-friendly for our customers. 

They went through a branding session with us, trying to figure out how we needed to communicate our messaging. HMG Creative also walked us through the process of what we would be accomplishing. I turned over all the content such as page write-ups to them, and they wove everything together. 

Since we don’t have a lot of tech-savvy people in our company, HMG ensured that it’d be possible for our internal team to help on the website. As such, they designed it on WordPress. They used Elementor as a site builder to make our platform as straightforward as possible. Currently, they’re hosting our site and actively monitoring things.   

What is the team composition?

In total, we’ve worked with 3–6 people. During the proposal phase, we worked with James (Founder & Managing Partner), and he had some consultants too. Then, once we started the project, we began working with the creative team including the creative director and designer. 

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

HMG Creative submitted a proposal to us. It took us so long to decide because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we felt like HMG’s process was a lot more organized than some of the other organizations we approach. In terms of pricing, their offer was competitive too.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $48,000–$50,000 for the development and design of our website, and that doesn’t include the hosting they’re doing right now. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed the contract in August 2020, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From a purely analytical standpoint, it’s hard to compare year to year because of the pandemic. Looking back at 2019, we’re exceeding all the metrics we’re monitoring. Our bounce rates are down, people are staying on the site longer, we have more sessions, and more people are finding us through organic search. 

Moreover, our conversions have also increased together with our sales on PayPal and Blackbaud. Above all, they’ve managed to capture the complexity of displaying all of our offerings in a more cohesive and organized manner, and we’re seeing tangible results. Anecdotally, internal teammates have been pleased with the site improvements, especially now that we have a massive influx of people contacting us. 

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We heavily rely on Google Drive and Google Sheets as our project management tools. From a project management standpoint, they’ve done very well and established timelines efficiently. Any deviations on the deadlines have been on my part, and I’m glad that HMG has been flexible with me. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

HMG is very responsive to my questions, and they’re always willing to walk me through the decisions they make. As a woman in a workplace environment, sometimes it can be hard to have my voice feel heard sometimes, but with HMG, they’ve always been very supportive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Having a second pair of eyes to look over the stuff before it’s handed to me can be very helpful. For context, I had to do minor edits with the content they loaded on the website, but it’s nothing to be upset about. Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with the partnership because they’re easy to work with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared to ask for what you need and clearly present that information to HMG Creative. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Inspired Intellect is part of a bigger group called ADI Group that includes WordLink. We do data and analytics consulting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

We hired HMG to support the launch of our new website and brand in the US market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were launching a new brand underneath a large group of companies, and HMG worked with us in terms of our logo and website. Our team provided inputs to make sure we were aligned with our go-to-market.

Initially, we went through a discovery process with them and had a logo and branding exercise. This was so we can understand our brand positioning. Based on that, we started to create sample logos and our color palette. After that, we started the website creation process using WordPress. We provided the content, and HMG was responsible for the visitor journey, website architecture, and its look and feel.

We originally talked about doing collaterals such as business cards, and PowerPoints, and things like that. However, as we worked together, the scope of our engagement evolved to focus on the creation of our logos, brand guidelines, and website.

While the process was collaborative, we relied on HMG to funnel our plethora of inputs into a meaningful product. There were areas where our team had strong opinions collectively, based on recent design practices and the consideration of audience expectations.

What is the team composition?

We probably worked with around 5–6 people at different points. We had James (Founder & Managing Partner), as well as designers and strategists.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

In searching for a partner to help us with this project, we conducted a comprehensive search process and ended up shortlisting HMG.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $40,000 on the logo and website design.

What is the status of this engagement?

While we were signed in December 2019, we didn’t have our first call until March 2020, because we were trying to minimize the back and forth. Our engagement ran from March–November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Qualitatively, their work has been strong in terms of workload, and HMG was always responsive and willing to be flexible throughout the process. We had strong opinions after a deliverable, but they were always willing to go through several rounds of iterations with us. We highly appreciated having a team that was still willing to make multiple edits.

Even three months later after working with them, our IT team reached out to them for a question, and they replied and solved our issue in less than 40 minutes.

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

The project was well managed, and our main point of contact really streamlined the process. 

However, we could’ve probably used a heavier hand from their side. There were times when they were frustrated because of the lack of delivery from our side, and it dragged the project down. Based on where we stand right now, we really appreciated that because it showed that the HMG team was very focused on the project. They were very polite, which I appreciated, but they could’ve been heavier-handed than they were.

Another thing I really liked was that they put together a timeline early in the engagement, and they walked us through the many different deliverables and steps across each of the tasks. That was a great frame of reference when we were looking at the estimated time of delivery for different components.

What did you find most impressive about them?

A direct comparison is a little hard because we haven’t worked with a lot of other agencies. However, the reason we selected them was that when we were evaluating other clients, HMG had some impressive sites both in design and functionality. We really liked some of the work that they produced across a broad range of industries. They were highly qualified, they checked a lot of boxes, and they had great references.

We felt really comfortable with them and in the course of our engagement, we rarely waited for them because they were highly responsive to our burst of input.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re happy with the site, but for the most part, I think there were some technical and communication issues we could’ve avoided. There was also a specific issue that SEO was not included in their services, which was something we could’ve followed up on — we also would've appreciated it if they had told us that it wasn’t included.

I know they lost a couple of people, including our main point of contact in the course of our engagement, and that’s certainly hard for a design agency. We knew that they were picking up the slack and some communication may have fallen through the cracks, but that was something they could’ve done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

This may be specific to our engagement, but make sure to have clear expectations before kicking off the engagement. That’s what we struggled with and it delayed the project a little bit. Our internal strategy was key, and that was something that we could’ve focused on before starting the engagement.

Additionally, I would highly recommend having a heavy-handed project manager that’s in charge of driving the schedule, both internally, and from HMG’s standpoint. Try to funnel through all the different opinions and organize them. I think we were working at our best when we had internal discussions, and landing on a recommendation or content to provide HMG, in a timely and consumable way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO for an urban mobility operations company. We manage mobility assets, including bikes, bike-sharing stations, scooters, and metro transit vans across North America.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

We needed to completely revamp our website. We had a conference that we were sponsoring and we wanted to have the new site up and running in time for the start of the conference. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through a complete A–Z refresh of the website. One of the things I was responsible for was business development and we really wanted to showcase all of our great work on the site. The team was assigned to create a forum on the platform so that interested third-parties who wanted to talk to us or work with us on a mobility project could complete that forum on the site.

They essentially built out a blueprint, a template for the site. They worked very closely with us on gathering some existing content we had such as photos and video that we could feature on our site. We handled most of the copywriting, but they did all of the design work.

We had a shelf, so we knew what we wanted the categories to be broken down into. However, for the UI, the look, feel, and design of the site was driven by HMG Creative. We worked closely with them on what we were looking for and what the angle was. They also helped out with our social media, specifically spearheading our organic and paid social campaigns.

What is the team composition?

We probably interacted with five folks, including James (Founder). They also had a project manager.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

I found the HMG Creative team through a contact that I had down in Austin, who knew James quite well. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a mid-sized figure, around $50,000–$199,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our contract ran from May–September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did a great job with our website, and we were very happy with their end product. Everything was on time and within budget. It’s still a little bit early to delve into the details of the new site since it’s still only a couple of months old. However, we had a couple of pretty significant leads come in, and I would definitely attribute that to the new site’s look and feel.

In addition, our CEO and CFO — founding partners of the company — were thrilled with the team’s final product. Some of our general managers also gave positive feedback and they were very supportive. The site was definitely something that the entire company could be proud of. They also helped a lot with our social media campaigns and that went very well. 

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager was extremely responsive. There were several times when we emailed late at night after business hours. Despite that, they hit all of the timelines and deadlines and were in line with our expectations.

They were very organized and meticulous. When we were mapping out what the site would look like and all of the content that was required, their instructions were very clear on what we needed and they went over everything to make sure it was complete.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were one of the less expensive vendors that we talked to. Even though they were less expensive, the quality of their work didn’t suffer and it was really on par with my initial expectations. Just looking at some of the other sites and the clients they worked with, it was definitely in line with what they provided us.

I also thought they were no strangers to working with B2B companies and that was unique. They really understood who our core audience was and what we were trying to achieve. That was really helpful because some of the other agencies we talked to just didn’t have that experience, so it was a little bit more difficult to convey what we wanted to do. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think I would be nitpicking on some of the copywriting on their end — there were a few minor mistakes but they were able to rectify that. They don’t have areas to improve on anything systemic or structural — it was just a minor thing. Overall, we were happy with the way things turned out. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just like anything in life — what you put in is really what you get out of it. I think copywriting was their labor of love. They do offer copywriting services, but our industry is very niche and nomenclature heavy, so we took that upon ourselves to do. People just need to be aware of copywriting and the fact that it doesn’t reflect on HMG Creative’s capabilities. We didn’t engage them in copywriting, but just for other partners, it’s a pretty difficult task. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations coordinator at Austin Partners in Education. We’re an educational nonprofit that works with Austin Independent School District (ISD) better serve students. I was leading the website development project for our team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

Our Drupal website had been built in 2005 and was very outdated. The design was terrible, so I would often receive phone calls from users who found it unnavigable. We hired HMG Creative to give us a brand new look for our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and developed a new website from scratch. HMG revamped our logo (the basis of which had been designed by IBM last year) to reflect the Austin skyline. Their team migrated us over to WordPress and redesigned the website to be customizable and user-friendly. I believe they used HTML.

They also helped us with some Visualforce pages on Salesforce. This entails APEX coding, so they helped us integrate them into our website. They used a plugin called Elementor Pro.

While the website’s launched, we’ve since hired them to be an ongoing hosting partner.

What is the team composition?

We worked primarily with two people: Daniel (Creative Services Manager), who served as our project manager, and Blaine (Senior Visual Designer). We also worked with Johnny (Creative Director) who helped us with some of our Salesforce pages.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

We sent out RFPs to a couple of web development companies in the Austin area. We reached out to HMG Creative due to several considerations. One was that a board member of ours had recommended them. Secondly, a similar company to ours had utilized HMG Creative, and their website looked great. Lastly, our executive director had seen their name on the list of the top website companies, featured in an Austin-focused business journal.

Upon receiving their pitch in response to the RFP, we felt that they’d be able to meet our needs. They’re very responsive and quick to answer our questions. We felt that they’d be a good fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere around $33,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in December 2019 and the website was launched in July. We still have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website they created is beautiful, and we’ve received many compliments on it. The quality of their service was also great. They’re very responsive, which was a key highlight of our engagement. We would frequently go back and forth.

We're very thankful that they were patient with us in trying to make sure that everything looked right. We were generally very pleased with how their designs and our website turned out.

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We utilized email to communicate, and they always got back to my questions within a day, at the latest. We used Google Docs to provide feedback, and they were very receptive. There were delays that were out of their control; they tried their best despite the COVID-19 curveballs to our schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciated how customizable they made the backend of our new website. It’s super customizable, and it’s easy for us to navigate on the admin side.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would’ve liked it if there had been a more efficient tool to provide feedback on different website pages. It’s hard to visualize or articulate what a web page should look like, so providing purely descriptive comments on a blank Google Doc felt tedious at times. We also would’ve appreciated an additional overview of the content they placed on the site (I understand that that was out of the project scope, though.)

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d definitely encourage customers to go for it. If you’re looking for something that’ll be user-friendly on the backend, they’ve got it down. I’m relieved to know that we can manage and update our website by ourselves.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a B2B SaaS company that develops software that assists enterprises design security IoT systems. It functions on the iPad and Android tablets. That allows users to drag and drop different types of technologies to create a digital map of their IoT. I’m the co-founder and VP of sales and marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

While we didn’t rename the company, we needed to entirely update the brand. That would involve a new look and feel as well as a website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our last site was created with a Wordpress template, which held us for quite some time. However, it was time to establish our brand more comprehensively. First, a representative from their team attended one of our events and spoke with our clients about our branding. From there, they contributed their feedback in a meeting with our team to assist us in narrowing down our values and goals. Then, they drafted our brand story and designed the entire look and feel for both the brand and the site. That involved the creation of a logo, color palette, and more.

Working collaboratively with us, they detailed our site map. We wrote the content for the site while they designed it. Once we approved their design screens, they dove into the development and integrations. The launch was smooth because of our approval and testing rounds as well.   

What is the team composition?

We worked with one contact while creating the brand story. He had a small team and brought in a project manager about halfway through the project. So, there were about four people on the project. 

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

We did our homework before hiring them, examining 4–5 different companies. Their team was by far the most professional and helped us decide to focus on branding before starting on the website. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a total of about $60,000 on their work. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off in Septemeber 2019 and launched our site in March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We decided upon one of the first designs they brought to the table, and our logo is a huge step forward. We’ve received a very positive response on our rebranding efforts, traffic is up on our website. The increase in traffic could be attributed to many parallel efforts, however. 

Recently, we entered into a high-tier accelerator program for startups. Because of their work, we appear like a larger, more professional company. That’s helped us build confidence within our consumer base. We haven’t received feedback in this area yet, but all our results have been positive.

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated on a weekly basis through a combination of Google Drive files and Basecamp. Google Drive was appropriate for most of our work. Paul (Visual Designer) has been fantastic in his creative process. They have a great process, but it could’ve been managed a bit better in our case.  

The introduction of the project manager partway into the project was a bit difficult. We were way over hours, and that was a surprise to me because we weren’t tracking them before. This occurred during the site map phase. We felt that they should’ve been monitoring their hours on their end, as they were responsible for project management. Because of this, we went over our budget by about $5,000. We ultimately agreed to this, though.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re an organized, creative team. There was a gap between the brand story work and their website deliverables, but they maintained professionalism through that. They were professional, creative, and knowledgeable about their technology. We never doubted their capabilities.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

We ran into some back and forth while we were writing content based on their loose designs. That caused some delay. It may have helped to work on the brand story and design at the same time. We were hoping to launch in January 2020, but the deadline got pushed back into March 2020. Running into issues with timing and hours stressful, but it’s difficult to avoid that when project managers jump in late. 

We would’ve also liked to hear more from their owner. He was very involved in selling us on their services, but our contact with him ended when our contract began. It would’ve been nice to have a check-in with him.   

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Meet with them about their process to make sure you understand everything. Make sure you have a project manager from the start because that was one of our biggest struggles. It may also be helpful to request checkpoints with the owner of the company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and managing partner of TXV Partners, an early-stage venture capital fund.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

We needed to upgrade our branding, social media, website, and general identity as a firm.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first step was to complete the revamp of the website into one that was expressive, colorful, and more reflective of who we are as a company. 

The next area we sought help with was around our branding and utilization of various social media platforms. HMG Creative did a comprehensive report on our own identity as well as that of our competitors before implementing their own plan. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with a total of about four or five individuals. 

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

We conducted an online search for local creative firms and looked at a total of about 15 or 20 firms. We compared them pretty extensively, and ultimately decided HMG Creative would be the best fit for our project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $40,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement took place from July–November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received a number of compliments on our website. It’s one of the first things people say about us after researching our company — that we have one of the most clean, defined websites in the industry. We’re very proud of what HMG Creative was able to accomplish for us. It gives us a lot of confidence.

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We were always on the same page and well-aligned. It was a very enjoyable process. The team was hands-on and we felt like we were getting really focused attention. Throughout the project, we kept in touch over email and phone calls.

HMG Creative was very disciplined and always met timelines. They were the most professional team we’ve ever worked with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The amount of research they conducted and diligence they put into forming a plan for our business was excellent. HMG Creative looked at local and national firms, becoming experts on our space before executing on a website or branding project. It was comforting and helpful, and it spoke volumes about the level of commitment they have towards their clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re very satisfied with the experience overall. I have no negative comments or complaints. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know your business and what you want to accomplish. Come prepared with examples of what success looks like to you, and HMG Creative will be able to take all that information and create a smooth, successful outcome.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the associate director of marketing at College Forward, a college access nonprofit. We serve students starting in their junior year up until they complete their post-secondary degree.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

We hadn’t updated our website in about seven years, so we needed a new site that was going to help us move forward with our tech-mediated coaching solutions. Actually, the previous developer never finished it. We wanted a partner that wasn’t just someone who could fix the website but had more of a full-service marketing agency because we’ve been using various vendors for a number of different things.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

HMG Creative designed and developed our website. They took a lot of student surveys and presented those findings at a meeting. Then, they delivered wireframes and made sure the look and feel were right for us. We used WordPress to build the site. They also gave us a new style guide to help us figure out how to keep the website updated as things grow and change. 

What is the team composition?

I had one main point of contact but 4–5 people worked on the site.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

They were referred to us by another company. We did RFP so they were the only company that we talked to. I felt from the first call that they really seemed like a good fit for us. Asking important questions, I could tell they wanted a business partner, not just someone to complete a job for. They met everything we were looking for in a full-service agency and were able to use a WordPress platform.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2019–February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website wasn't previously mobile-friendly, and in one week we were able to recruit an Americorp coach through the app. That was really huge for us because a lot of the people we recruit are mostly college students. I was able to view this through Google Analytics. We also run some social ads, so the ability for them to see the ad and then go to the website and complete everything on their phone is really great and will drastically increase the number of applications we get.

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. From the beginning, they gave us a really detailed timeline and were very clear about the deliverables that we needed to complete or anything needed on their end. Their creative director was checking in with us to see if we needed any help and were making our deadlines. They kept a chart that we could see projects being updated in real-time. We communicated through calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really friendly and down to earth. I never felt like I was being talked down to and it seemed like they could relate to us. They really cared to know what people were saying about our brand. Our main value is to put students first, so the fact that they could incorporate all of the students’ opinions into the design was huge for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I could recommend is it would’ve been nice to use project management software like Asana or Basecamp, but I understand why they didn’t.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They take a really good strategic approach to design, so make sure that you’re ready for those hard questions. They’re not just going to build a pretty new website for you; they want to make sure all of the pages and functionality are based on a good business strategy. So, having a solid footing on where you are as an organization and what you want to see would be really helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an e-commerce store that sells ethernet cable in bulk. I'm the vice president of marketing and business development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

We're changing the way people buy low-voltage cabling through online channels. Since the website is the foundation of our business, we needed something that offered a good customer experience. We also wanted to display the brand in an advantageous way. We needed a knowledgeable, creative team that could be our marketing arm.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built something up from scratch, and they added new features. We have a more streamlined checkout process, and they greatly enhanced the product filters and the search process. The product isn't overly complex, but the filter helps our customers find exactly what they need. They also manage our social media on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, our email marketing, and the organic SEO for the site.

What is the team composition?

We worked with seven or eight people from their team, led by an account manager.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

We found them through a Google search and may have discovered them on Clutch.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent a little over $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2018. The website is finished, but we have them on a monthly retainer for our marketing and social media needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They do an amazing job with our social media. When we started working with them, we had almost no social media presence. Now, we have over 1,600 likes on Facebook and over 700 followers on Instagram. We've had a lot of engagement with influencers in our community, and Instagram is particularly successful for us.

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very responsive, and their communication is good. They outline projects ahead of time, so we always know what to expect. They followed a schedule for the site, and they communicated as they finished each step of the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They buy into our brand, and they take the time to learn about our company and our goals. They incorporate all of that into the work they do for us, and we can trust them to continue building the brand according to our vision.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The website took a little longer than we had planned, but that's the only speed bump we hit. Part of the responsibility for that is on our side.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get to know the people there. Their creativity, personality, and dedication align well with our company, so I'd recommend speaking with them to see if they line up with your goals.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Manager for SINC. We host custom dinners and forums for IT executives to network with their peers and solution providers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HMG Creative?

We were in dire need of a new website and a complete rebrand in order to stay in line with our competitors. HMG was able to give us a new logo, color scheme, and a whole new website.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the website to be more user friendly and for the website to give a direct path for our different users. I also really needed the new website to be easy to update on the backend and not hard coded. HMG was able to do this and also train me on how to use the new website before it was launched!

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I searched for vendors in the Austin area and compiled a list of 4/5 vendors. I spoke with all of them on the phone and HMG offered to come to our office for a meeting. We really liked what HMG had to offer and had a very reasonable price compared to other vendors.

Describe the project in detail.

After we selected HMG, I had a meeting to meet with the team at their office. I then met with the Creative Director and was able to give him an overview of what we were looking for. We had a few discovery meetings throughout our project and their team was always available for when I had a question. Once the templates were built out, I was able to go through and see what the website would look like and built out content for each page based on the needs given. This took about a month of development on their end, and then I was given the end product to have a training and launch!

What was the team composition?

I only spoke to the Creative Director but I know he had a team of developers creating the website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have had a ton of great feedback from vendors and attendees about the new website and how great it is. We have seen an uptick in registrants for events which is exactly what we needed!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Creative Director was very easy to work with! He was very knowledgable about our needs, available for calls, and always quick to respond to any questions or concerns.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I really enjoyed working with everyone at HMG Creative. Everyone was personable and knowledgeable about our space and what we needed to succeed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we are very satisfied with their work! We actually will use them again for future projects.