Merritt Group

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr Director of Corporate Marketing of Gigamon, Fidelis Cybersecurity, ResolutionOne & AccessData

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Companies offer cybersecurity, networking, and threat response services to prevent, protect and resolve threats to keep their company, customers and intellectuall property safe and secure.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Merritt Group to accomplish?

• Launch start up companies to define new solutions in emerging technology space.
• Elevate company/brand visibility and relevance with business press, tech media, influencers, and industry analysts.
• Develop effective digital, social media and integrated marketing programs to increase sales demand generation and partner programs..

SOLUTION

How did you find Merritt Group?

Referral

Why did you select Merritt Group over others?

• High ratings
• Deep knowledge and expertise

How many teammates from Merritt Group were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Merritt Group handled our PR, AR, executive visibility programs, crisis communications, and digital marketing programs at four different companies, AccessData, ResolutionOne, Fidelis Cybersecurity, and Gigamon. 

Increased company's visibility in emerging tech market. Achieved top tier/global media coverage including business press (WSJ, NYT, Bloomberg), major news outlets, broadcast media (CNN, CNBC, Fox News, Reuters, ABC, CBS, NBC), and top online news outlets.

Elevated C-level executives brand and visibility in the market through company news profiles, broadcast interviews, speaking opportunities, and thoughtleadership via major online sources.

Advanced our product and services excellence to key influencers and analysts. Achieved top leadership ratings with Gartner (Magic Quadrant, Emerging Products), Forrester (Wave) and IDC.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Increased PR and social media share of voice and company visibility metrics and measurement by 100+ to 200+% year over year (depending on each company's program at the time).

Demonstrated PR/AR/Social Media programs and coverage/results contributed to website, sales traffic and demand gen growing traffic numbers. Increased followers, website views, and sales demand generation activities.

Built strong relationships with industry analysts and influencers around our company and products to position our tech leadership in very competitive markets. Merritt advised and provided strategy to get our products featured in Gartner Magic Quadrant and Forrester Wave as top product leaders.

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

Our Merritt account teams aligned culturally with our marketing teams and executive teams to  become an integral advisor and extended marketing team. They brought exceptional knowledge, tech expertise, news-jacking and digital media strategies that proved successful. Their deep understanding of new tech industries, augmented AI and ML, and cybersecurity + networking + incident response is best in the business. 

What was your primary form of communication with Merritt Group?

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

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

The most impressive and unique attribute is their people, teams, and account management. Collaboration stands out. Merritt hires the best leaders and account teams in the market. They are smart, strategic, eager to jump in and do the work. They have deep relationships with key business press, tech reporters, influencers and analysts. Personally, working with these teams was like working with my favorite friends and tech colleagues. We worked hard, got results, and laughed alot. To this day, many of my Merritt peoples are dear and treasured friends since 2013. 

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

No. Merritt Group's team excelled! I miss them dearly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CMO of a government company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a space science and engineering company committed to delivering a technological advantage to national security customers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Merritt Group to accomplish?

• Improve brand awareness

SOLUTION

How did you find Merritt Group?

Knew of the company

Why did you select Merritt Group over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Merritt Group were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Merritt Group worked closely with my team to develop an integrated marketing and communications strategy to inform the direction of the project, and then managed the day-to-day execution of all programs. Deliverables included:

• Brand strategy
• Messaging
• Media relations, including training and preparation
• Monitoring, reporting and measuring
• Digital marketing 
• Collateral and asset creation

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

During our time working together, Merritt has developed a paid-social strategy that they manage and execute on our behalf. In 7 months, they have produced nearly 2M impressions of our brand for an average CTR of .33% which far surpasses benchmark expectations for our industry. 

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

Merritt Group is very responsive and attentive. They are a small but mighty team, expect my wishes but push back appropriately when they think we should take a different approach. Deliverables are always produced in a timely fashion, with expectations managed closely should there be unavoidable delays.

What was your primary form of communication with Merritt Group?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What I love most about working with Merritt Group is that they operate as an extension of my team. Because my internal team is so small, they are always willing to step up and jump in wherever they can to take something off my plate. They aren't just a reactive agency waiting on direction. They are doers. 

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

Sometimes the familiar culture we have cultivated as a team can create a more casual approach. This is generally fine, but when mistakes do happen they need to be handled professionally, taken seriously and with accountability. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Director of Corporate Communications & Customer Marketing at GoodData. A software company based in San Francisco, we're a platform to create, distribute, and manage analytics at scale.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merritt Group?

We wanted to work with a PR agency that could help us get our message out to targeted media publications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Merritt Group works with us on developing a PR strategy and thought leadership platforms. They target trade and technology publications and publications that focus on AI and machine learning. We brainstorm together for articles and pitch outreach. They create all of our pitches and work to secure bylines for GoodData. We also wanted to launch an influencer program on Twitter, which they manage for us.

What is the team composition?

We have three primary contacts. We work with an account manager, the lead for our byline pitches, and a manager of our influencer program.

How did you come to work with Merritt Group?

We’d put out an RFP, but it was actually a former employee who brought them to the table. They came in and pitched to us. We chose them after going through the RFP process.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $12,000–$15,000 per month as the scope of work has grown over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together started in June 2015 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They're responsible every month for tracking and sharing project metrics. They track how many bylines were placed every quarter against goals, as well as how many articles we contribute to (e.g. a quote from our CEO, or a quote from one of our data scientists within a larger article). They also track metrics that pertain to our influencer program, such as how many engagements, conversations, and new followers we have.

How did Merritt Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is excellent and responsive. Not only do they do all of the pitching, but they also manage the project logistics. They’re responsible for keeping track of every pitch and where each pitch stands. They also provide a lot of strategic direction and suggestions. We do most of the content creation in-house, but we use them for editing and helping us expand on a story if needed.

They're prompt, responsive, and helpful. We frequently text back and forth, and I always hear back from them immediately. I’m comfortable sending them an email to ask their advice on an opportunity to pursue. We have a regular cadence for our status update meetings, as well as regular meetings for all of our thought leadership platforms.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re extraordinarily easy to work with. They're willing to do research before making final strategic decisions. They provide strategic feedback, and they're willing to say if something isn’t a good idea and we should try something else. They’ve expanded our thinking by bringing us new opportunities that have proven fruitful. Merritt Group’s knowledge of our competitors and the industry helps with competitive differentiation when pitching stories. They're also very knowledgeable about the industry as a whole, which is imperative for our thought leadership platforms.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing negative to share.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Growth Officer of IS Partners

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

IS Partners is an IT and CyberSecurity compliance auditing and certification CPA firm. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Merritt Group to accomplish?

• Rebranding
• Better SEO
• Marketing

SOLUTION

How did you find Merritt Group?

prior relationship with the firm

Why did you select Merritt Group over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Merritt Group were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

1. Website Re-design and SEO: Design and Prototyping, copywriting and editing, SEO, development and take live
2. Company Rebranding: New logo design, new marketing collateral and powerpoints, new project documents.
3. Marketing and Communications services: Technical SEO, Content Strategy, Content Production, paid media management, email strategy, website management, program management and reporting

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Adjusting our marketing spend for better search performance, increase traffic to our website and content and meetings being booked

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

They have delivered 100% on every project and request. Exceptionally organized, they keep us consistently informed and utilize Monday.com dashboards with clearly defined deadlines—often completing tasks ahead of schedule. Their performance has consistently exceeded expectations.

What was your primary form of communication with Merritt Group?

Virtual Meeting

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

They are a pleasure to work with—fast, intelligent, highly organized, and refreshingly straightforward in their communication.

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

There’s nothing the firm needs to improve—they continue to impress us and have become a valuable source of insight and learning.