Idea Grove

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of Sagiss

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sagiss provides managed IT & cybersecurity services to businesses in North Texas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Idea Grove to accomplish?

• Update and maintain our website.
• Build a strategy for generating inbound leads.

SOLUTION

How did you find Idea Grove?

Online Search

Why did you select Idea Grove over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Idea Grove were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We engaged Idea Grove to help update our website and implement a blog cadence. They took the time to get to know our business and what makes us different. They also interviewed several of our clients to understand their point of view. The result is a website that is more representative of our brand and producing more leads.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall increase in key metrics from the website - traffic, lead generation, and net new revenue.

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

Their team is incredibly responsive and timely. We had regularly scheduled check in meetings that kept the project on track.

What was your primary form of communication with Idea Grove?

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

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

There are two things that stand out. First, their communication is excellent. They do a great job of keeping the project moving forward. Second, they took the time upfront to truly understand who we are rather than offering "generic" solutions.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Manager of Standley Systems

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Standley provides office technology and document management services and support to companies in Oklahoma and North Texas of all sizes. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Idea Grove to accomplish?

• HubSpot CRM Integration & Support
• SEO
• Marketing tactics/strategy that generates revenue

SOLUTION

How did you find Idea Grove?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Idea Grove over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Idea Grove were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Standley partnered with Idea Grove for HubSpot, SEO and digital content strategy support. We began the relationship with a HubSpot project of integrating HubSpot with Dynamics, our sales CRM. Another project they took on was connecting all of our Google My Business profiles and set up an automation through HubSpot to collect reviews online to help boost our SEO as well. 

Their team also set up leading scoring in HubSpot for contacts as well. They've done a great job setting the framework and foundation for our digital strategy and making sure that we have the tools in place/set up in HubSpot to be able to track progress of those initiatives.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Dynamics is communicating two ways to HubSpot so we are now able to start using our own data and contacts to strategically market to our client base and opportunities. Our website health score has increased, we have visibility to leads and the lead source coming in. Having the integration complete has also allowed us to implement automations to better communicate with our audience. 

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

Their project management has been exceptional. They are organized and keep our team on track and are creative in their strategic planning. It has been refreshing working with them because of the way they manage our account. They're a true partner and advisor for us. 

What was your primary form of communication with Idea Grove?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are knowledgable, creative, and organized. 

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

We haven't run into any areas for improvement in our relationship so far and are very pleased with their work. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Corporate Communications of Beyond Finance

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Beyond Finance is the leader in the debt consolidation services industry by serving Americans struggling with unsecured finances with personalized plans and holistic services that move them beyond debt and transform their lives. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Idea Grove to accomplish?

• Develop media share of voice in niche industry
• Generate awareness among consumers

SOLUTION

How did you find Idea Grove?

I knew about the agency

Why did you select Idea Grove over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned
• The team's reputation and rapport

How many teammates from Idea Grove were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Help Beyond Finance create differentiation in an industry full of misperception and disperception--one that educates target audiences, inspires consumers, and motivates people to change their lives. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Idea Grove was able to create several "firsts" for Beyond Finance:

• National interview
• Thought leadership 
• Editorial 

KPIs aside, their work and partnership helped us cut through the clutter and stand out in the media. 

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

Everything was in a box. Each campaign, each pitch, each contact was given a separate focus that generated an individual result. Their team was dedicated to our mission and quickly responded to our needs, on time and with excellence. 

What was your primary form of communication with Idea Grove?

Email or Messaging App

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

It's rare in communications when you find an agency that meets the "bang-to-hype" ratio. I was confident Idea Grove would help Beyond break through and create awareness. They delivered exactly what we needed. The hype delivered that bang. 

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Brand + Comms of a supply chain, logistics, and transport company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We develop technology and services for independent trucking entrepreneurs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Idea Grove to accomplish?

• Increase awareness and visibility among prospective customers, investors and the broader tech industry.

SOLUTION

How did you find Idea Grove?

Inherited

Why did you select Idea Grove over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Experience in transportation / freight market

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

Developed a branding strategy. Managed PR program for major announcements and secured coverage in trade publications. Conducted surveys and developed research reports to boost brand awareness and win PR; managed PR program for research and secured coverage in trade publications. Conducted proactive media outreach to secure inclusion in trucking industry and economic trend stories.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Secured coverage in industry trades around major company and product announcements. Spread brand awareness by securing trade and social media coverage. Spread brand awareness by securing customer stories in tier 1, general interest publications before my time as well. Developed a brand messaging foundation.

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

I didn't have much insight into their internal project management but the deliverables were typically on time and the team seemed organized.

What was your primary form of communication with Idea Grove?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Appreciated how organized they were and they took direction well. We appreciate their ability to pull together interesting survey research.

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

More proactive thinking and telling our story at a high level (e.g. how does our work and data fit into conversations about economic activity).

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Gainsight's Social Media Marketing Manager. At Gainsight, our mission is to be living proof you can win in business while being Human-First. Our industry-leading platform helps companies of all sizes and industries achieve durable growth through customer-led growth strategies, product-led growth strategies, and community-led growth strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Idea Grove?

As a one-person social media team, we needed help scheduling our social content and creating a social media strategy. Our main goal was to increase our audience engagement on LinkedIn and grow our following.

SOLUTION

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

We searched online for agencies that specialized in B2B social media marketing. After meeting with a handful of vendors, we decided that Idea Grove was the best fit for our organization.

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

After a kick-off meeting, Idea Grove began scheduling our social posts. We create the content, send to Idea Grove a week in advance to post. They make edits if necessary and flag any issues with our scheduling platform. We meet on a bi-weekly basis where they deliver recommendations and any emerging LinkedIn trends. Once a month they deliver a monthly report and an influencer recommendations to feature on our monthly LinkedIn Live show.

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

We worked with an Account Manager and three members of their social media team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our LinkedIn followers have grown significantly with Idea Grove's help – we're almost at 100K!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been great. We've established a regular cadence on social post delivery. The Idea Grove team is great at reaching out via email for anything they need or any issues that need to be resolved.

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

We're impressed with the talent on their team. Everyone had an incredible background and were extremely knowledgeable on how to effectively market on social media. On top of that, everyone was so kind!

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

Idea Grove has been nothing short of great in our time working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Director of a B2B and B2C sales channel company that mainly supports brands to thrive on online eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon. My role is to position our company as a thought leader in the industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Idea Grove, and what were your goals?

Our business went trough a mayor rebranding and we needed a PR partner that could help us to position our new look and feel in the industry.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After reviewing their portfolio and meeting with the management team, we were confident they were the best option for us.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

They did a 3D Brand Strategy and one of the opportunities they saw we have was to create Surveys to amplify the results through different outlets that reach new audiences for us.

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

We worked with a team lead by an Account Manager. But the upper management was involved and support this project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Through the survey, we were able to earn media in 13 different outlets and reach a 22M total audience. Our domain rating went from 2 to 20 and our survey was ranking # 1 in Google when searching for keywords related to it.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Bi-weekly meetings and frequent email communication

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

Their CEO showed high expertise and a passion for supporting others.

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

The only thing I wish it was different was the response time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a user research firm. We research on behalf of Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies to help them identify improvement strategies for their UI/UX designs and branding. I lead the research operations team, including all researchers and recruiters. I also somehow inherited our marketing team. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Grove?

We needed to rebrand and change the way we did business. Our team realized we needed to do something about our content, but I couldn’t be responsible for content since I was already wearing many hats. 

At the same time, my team didn’t feel comfortable writing content. As a result, Idea Grove did exploratory research to help us figure out what we needed to do. We then re-contracted them to lead the content creation efforts of our organization. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Idea Grove did a mix of stakeholder interviews with people who had been with our company for a long time and who were newer. This helped them understand where we wanted to go. After that, they put together a report deck for us to summarise those research sessions, giving us recommendations on things we could do moving forward. Apart from that, the team gave us good, better, and best-case scenarios depending on our budget.  

Moreover, we did a branding workshop and went to Idea Grove’s facility. In there, we talked about how we could be seen differently and figured out the words we should use when talking about our business and space.

At present, we’re working on our content creation campaign. Idea Grove and our team have biweekly meetings for fact-finding sessions to ensure they sound like us when they put out content. They get to ask questions and poke holes in our research and vice versa. Overall, they help us create strategies and generate content, putting it in places where our audience can see it. We publish a long-form post each month, though we don’t have a content calendar. 

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager and two subject matter experts — one for branding and one for writing. Recently, I’ve been given another manager to ensure we stay on track. Overall, the working team is composed of 3–4 people. Over the course of the engagement, there have been 2–3 other people who’ve helped us come up with strategies. 

How did you come to work with Idea Grove?

One of the salespeople on my team recommended Idea Grove, along with two other marketing companies. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $40,000–$50,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started having conversations with Idea Grove in 2021, but the engagement officially started in January 2022. The project's first phase has already wrapped up, but our partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve started publicizing the first blog Idea Grove has written, and the content is good. We’ve been working on ensuring they use the right tone and message. Most of my feedback to them is around the implications of using a certain voice or tone — I want to be edgy but not piss everybody off.

How did Idea Grove perform from a project management standpoint?

Idea Grove’s project management is flawless. Madison (Senior Account Executive) dots all the i’s and crosses all the t’s. We typically use emails to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been truly patient with us when we’re having budget conversations. The team understands that we’re a small business, and I can’t just pull money from anywhere. They spend time getting to know our team, so they sound like us when they write. On top of that, they see and have my attitude and vision for the company. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Idea Grove’s process is good. Plan for your conversations with them. The team sends emails and agendas ahead of meetings. Our meetings are more effective when I’ve read through the agendas and prepared answers to their questions. You should do the same; preparing answers to their questions is a good use of your time. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ALPLA is a global leader in packaging solutions. We produce caps and injection-molded parts for a wide range of industries. We focus on sustainability and communications strategies for North America.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with the vendor?

We wanted to create a microsite to dispel myths about plastic packaging and inspire consumers to be more conscientious about sustainable living.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idea Grove was involved with creating/mapping out the microsite, ensuring it was ADA compliant, and assisting with a press release for the launch of the site. They are also involved with social content planning on a monthly basis.

What is the team composition?

We had a web and graphic designer working with us to execute the microsite. Idea Grove also coordinated a social team for us during our ongoing contract.

How did you come to work with the vendor?

We researched smaller companies who could assist with delivering all our needs – PR, Website development, and social media.

How much have you invested with them?

Over $50,000.00

What is the status of this engagement?

Ongoing

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a beautiful landing page that shares valuable information about plastics. It was well received by industry peers.

How did the vendor perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was amazing when it came to project management. Everyone is organized and well-prepared to meet our needs with status calls and delivery dates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We loved their willingness to assist along with their project management skills and attention to detail.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would’ve hoped for more inclusive management as it relates to data analytics, guidance with content and development.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing at ConverseNow, an AI company that provides voice AI for quick-service restaurants. We automate phone and drive-through orders for some of the largest restaurant brands in the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Grove?

I was the company’s first marketing hire. When I joined, I took upon many responsibilities, including idea growth. As part of this effort, we wanted to do a complete overhaul of our brand DNA, which included defining a new logo and new colors, imagery, style, and look and feel overall. Basically, we wanted to go through a complete rebranding process but keep our name, so we hired Idea Grove to help us execute our vision.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idea Grove was instrumental in helping us rebrand our company. They designed a new logo, defined new fonts, created custom imagery and character illustrations with our own style, and designed custom iconography and animations. Additionally, they built a new website for us from scratch, optimized for prospect conversion.

The process was highly collaborative; we provided Idea Grove with our vision of what we were looking for, and they collaborated with us using their creative and web design skills to execute that vision. Besides our brand vision, we provided them with information about our target customers, our products and services, our brand growth strategy, and our company’s overall vision.

The website they developed was a simple brochure website to provide customers with information about us, our services, and the various technologies we’ve developed. Additionally, they included a blog page where we can post our blog articles and press releases, a careers section where prospective employees can apply for a job, and a contact form for prospective clients.

As for the technology stack, Idea Grove used WordPress, WP Engine, and Elementor Pro to build the site and customize its elements as needed. For the creative part, they used Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, in which they designed character illustrations, iconography, and other visual assets.

What is the team composition?

My key points of contact were Madison (Senior Account Executive), Cecil (Associate Creative Director), who ran the lead on all the creative development, and Rose (Graphic Designer), who was the graphic designer under Cecil. I also worked with Megan (Senior Director of Digital Marketing), who built our website.

How did you come to work with Idea Grove?

Idea Grove contacted me through a cold email. I very rarely respond to those emails, but when I was looking for a partner, I wanted to leave no stone unturned. During the partner selection process, they were very communicative, which was very important to me.

One of my requirements during this process was that I wanted to work directly with the leadership team of whichever company I chose; I didn’t want to be handed off to a junior team. When I first met with Idea Grove, their senior leadership was on the call. They promised to meet my requirement, and they did. The people I met during the pitch call were those who worked on my project.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $69,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2021–May 2022. We’re now in talks with them to engage in a second phase and develop new things in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The impact of Idea Grove’s work on our business was monumental. They elevated our identity in a spectacular way, creating the branding we were looking for — a branding that joins what customers expect from us with how we see ourselves. We wouldn’t have achieved that without their help. Aside from the branding, they delivered a functional and aesthetically pleasing site.

How did Idea Grove perform from a project management standpoint?

Idea Grove’s technical skill set, receptiveness, and communication skills made it possible for us to get excellent deliverables and be involved in an enjoyable process. Although this project was time-consuming and required a lot of hard work from both parties, we were very involved in doing exactly what we needed to do to get it to completion.

Additionally, Idea Grove was very communicative during project revisions. Every time they delivered an asset, we had multiple constructive conversations, and they always were open to feedback. As a result of this collaborative process, we achieved great things.

I also want to highlight Idea Grove’s account management. Madison was, by far, the best account manager I’ve worked with. She kept everything organized and her team on track so that we could meet the deadlines. Additionally, she was very capable of handling both fun and difficult conversations easily, empowering both sides to work toward a common goal and making the best out of our partnership.

We constantly communicated via email, and we had weekly Zoom meetings throughout the project, which were very helpful. Once in a while, I also talked with Madison over the phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Idea Grove’s technical expertise and willingness to go the extra mile every step of the way set them apart from other agencies. Overall, they did excellent work; they really ran the gamut of being a full-service creative and web development agency. They delivered on all fronts and did everything they said they would do during the RFP process. We were very happy with them, and we would gladly hire them again for future projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only challenge we faced was that Megan was out for extended periods of time, multiple times throughout the year, which caused it to be a bottleneck during web development. However, I told Idea Grove about that multiple times, and I believe that they’re actively working on finding an additional resource for Megan’s team so that her unavailability doesn’t cause delays.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide them with your vision and rely on them to execute it. You can’t expect them to work from a blank canvas and deliver what you imagined. They will work as the extra pair of hands you need to get your project done, but you’re the one who knows your brand. Thus, the more feedback you provide and the more involved you are in the project, the better the result will be.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

SubjectData provides a wide ranges of IT Consulting Services for private equity firms engaged in mergers, acquisitions, carve-outs and divestitures, ensuring that M&A-related IT migration projects are conducted with the expertise and experience required to succeed. As a Managing Partner at SubjectData, one of my roles is to drive sales and marketing. That is, to enable our PE customers to make sound decisions about their IT professional services partners and to equip our sales team with the online assets they need to grow the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Idea Grove?

We had hired an offshore website and content development team to handle updates and additions to our website, including new service pages, blog posts, visual updates, and overall messaging to make clear the focus of our practice: M&A-relate IT projects and migrations. However, they never really took the time to understand our business, so unless we spoon-fed them every little detail, the content they write was generic and missed the mark.

After long patience with this vendor, we needed an agency that had the technical depth to understand our business and values, hone our core messaging, and create and publish web content that truly resonate with our audience.

SOLUTION

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

Both myself and our CEO had worked with Idea Grove at our past company, and we knew what both the content and creative teams were capable of. They re

ally knew our business inside and out, and they regularly produced blog posts, webpages, case studies, survey reports and other digital assets for that company. We never worried about the quality of the content Idea Grove created nor the campaigns they run for us. Now that the new company has taken off, we knew we were ready to engage a top-notch agency, and we again selected Idea Grove.

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

We started our engagement small, we needed to hone our core message and value proposition. This was the first deliverable on which we collaborated with Idea Grove. Idea Grove helped us distill our brand to its essence — the way we wanted the market to see us and the unique value we provide to our customers. Then we turned to updating our website, which had been more focused on general IT consulting, not our niche (private equity firms engaged in M&A activities).

Together we laid out a plan to refocus existing web pages on this audience and create new pages to show the more specific technologies and methodologies in which we excel. Part of this program was to revive our blog, where Idea Grove created engaging posts which often paralleled the new pages they published for us.

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

For most of the engagement, the account executive, the content director, and creative director were active on the engagement, although Idea Grove engaged other members of its content, creative, and content marketing teams as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As we have not yet put a formal content marketing plan or automation in place, I cannot provide direct metrics. However, I can share that the quality of the deliverables — new webpage copy and design, blog posts, and other creative work — has been top-notch. Our site continues to improve from a content, SEO and design perspective, and our blog content is far more targeted than what it was before.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Idea Grove’s account lead always communicated with us in a timely manner so that we always knew the timelines for each deliverable. Zoom and email are our primary communication channels.

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

Idea Grove isn’t the only agency out there that calls itself a B2B technology marketing and PR firm, but it truly knows its stuff. “Technology” covers a lot of ground, to be sure, and no one can be knowledgeable and instantly “up” on every facet.

However, our specialty — IT projects and migrations for private equity firms engaged in M&A activity — is pretty niche, and Idea Grove’s professionals just get it. They listened, refined our message, and made our website convey that we play in the league with the big four. I think that’s impressive.

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

I don’t know what they could have done differently or better. I just wish we could have engaged them sooner.