Online Optimism

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the state director for The Education Trust in Louisiana. We’re an organization that focuses on policies and advocacies in education as they relate to students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Online Optimism?

One of our top priorities was dual enrollment in Louisiana. A government task force was created to understand the experience of our students and determine the barriers preventing them from accessing dual enrollment. We were a part of that conversation, and one of our goals was to increase our target audience’s knowledge about dual enrollment. Given that, Online Optimism helped us with a social media campaign around this type of enrollment. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided Online Optimism with general directives. Our team produced a one-page policy brief that captured all our priorities and recommendations for dual enrollment. We also provided student testimonials based on our interviews with students who had benefited from such an enrollment. On top of that, our team gave them a couple of research papers that were already on our website. 

Then, the Online Optimism team used all of these to create social media content for us. Specifically, they created Instagram content and stories, pictures, and animations. They also produced content for Facebook.  While Instagram and Facebook were our primary channels, the team also created content for Twitter.

At present, they continue to do these things for us. We also have one-on-one conversations with them around analytics and the results of what we’ve been doing. 

What is the team composition?

My primary point of contact is Stephanie (Social Media Strategist). Apart from her, we’re also in touch with 3–5 team members. 

During the kickoff meeting, I talked to 5–7 people from their team. 

How did you come to work with Online Optimism?

I inherited the engagement from our previous director. That director had already engaged Online Optimism because she had done previous work with them. Then, I picked up the relationship from where we left off. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $6,000–$12,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen increased impressions on our Instagram content, along with an increase in the number of our followers. People not only from Louisiana but also from California have come across our content and inquired about the hows, the whys, and the whats of our work. Overall, the campaign has been well-received by our partners and stakeholders, thanks to the quality of Online Optimism’s work. 

How did Online Optimism perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of project management, the team is detailed, accessible, and invested in our project. Since they’re invested in what our organization is doing, the engagement feels more like a true partnership than a working relationship. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

This isn’t my first time working with a communications consultant for a social media campaign, but Online Optimism has been beneficial to us in that they’ve been extremely flexible and invested in our campaign.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Online Optimism can simplify the data about the impressions and analytics they send us. The broken-down data is understandable for me because I understand social media. However, when I send it to other people in our organization, they usually have a lot of follow-up questions about the data. If Online Optimism can find a better way to present the data for beginners, that will be great. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Senior Director, Industry & Association Affairs at NCTA, the primary trade association for the Internet and TV industry in the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Online Optimism?

NCTA runs a website called FamFriendly.com to promote online safety and parental controls that are offered by their member companies. We wanted to have new users on the website and create awareness for it. Specifically, our group wanted to get 75,000 new users to the site; we also aimed to create awareness among our target audience and policymakers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, Online Optimism and I discussed a number of ways in which we could reach our goal. We talked about doing Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube; however, keeping our budget and goals in mind, we decided that Google and TikTok ads were our best options. 

To elaborate, Google Ads was our first obvious choice, but we wanted to try something new. As a result, we dug deep and evaluated each proposed option. The team gave me information about each platform’s users and metrics. After all that, we landed on TikTok. 

Moreover, Online Optimism developed the ads’ copy and imagery. I sent them the materials we’d done in the past, including the colors and the assets we had on our website. From there, they put together all the creative materials on their own. For TikTok, they identified popular people on the platform who helped us in our campaign. They also scripted and produced the ads. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with 4–5 people from Online Optimism. I talked to their CEO in the beginning, and after he passed me on to the entire team, I worked with Esteban (Digital Ads Director), Ariel (Digital Ads Associate), Meara (Social Media Director), and Shika (Social Media Strategist). 

How did you come to work with Online Optimism?

I was looking for smaller agencies that had a deep understanding of the changing online platforms for advertising, especially among social media networks. It was something I didn’t have time to keep up with, so I decided to outsource it. With that in mind, I searched for teams with a DC office. I interviewed four agencies and narrowed my list down to two. Online Optimism was one of them, and they were highly transparent. They also understood what I was trying to do; our personalities were a good match. 

Their ad spend proposal was what truly put them ahead of the other company. The team dedicated a significantly higher amount of budget to the ad spend than the other company. Moreover, their CEO made himself available to me. As he handed me off to the team, he made me feel confident that I could easily call him and expect a response if I needed something. That was how we started the partnership. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $25,000 in this partnership. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from August–November 2021. Our initial conversation started in August, and we kicked off the project in September; it was wrapped up in November. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With Online Optimism’s help, we reached more than 100,000 users through Google Ads; about 3% of them stayed on the website for longer than two minutes. For our DC-specific campaign, we had 5,633 sessions, and about 2.41% of those were longer than two minutes. 

Moreover, TikTok was also a success, but our money was much better spent on Google Ads. As a result, we stopped running TikTok campaigns after one month and pivoted all of our money into Google Ads.

How did Online Optimism perform from a project management standpoint?

Online Optimism’s project management was awesome. They were on top of everything, and the team paid attention to detail. Their resources were transparent and responsive, and they listened to me. Overall, they were incredibly communicative throughout the whole process. 

Moreover, the team was highly goal-oriented and quick to respond to any questions I had. They explained topics that I was unfamiliar with, such as TikTok and how it could drive traffic for us. Simply put, they did an excellent job of helping me understand what I didn’t know. 

In terms of tools, this was one of the few projects where I didn’t use any project management tools. We did use Google Documents, but we only talked every other week, and they sent me the results of the campaigns in PDF format. We communicated mainly by email and calls. In any case, they’d be willing to use any project management software if I wanted to use one. If I wanted to have weekly meetings, they’d also be willing to take that route. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The visualization of Online Optimism’s reports was highly polished. They weren’t just numbers; everything was visual and laid out nicely. Moreover, the team was willing to explain everything to us and gave us plenty of opportunities to ask questions. On more than one occasion, they offered to present the campaign’s information in any way I wanted or to someone else within our organization. 

Overall, Online Optimism checked all of our boxes, and they were a joy to work with — I was so happy that I found them. I was also happy with the details they provided from the beginning to the end; everything they sent me was second to none.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They provided us with a lot of information. Sometimes, I didn’t want to read through seven pages of information. To be fair, they probably would have given me one-page reports had I asked for it. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be willing to ask questions about anything that you don’t know. Online Optimism has a lot of people with different expertise, so be prepared to come with your questions. They’ll answer them, and you'll have the opportunity to learn a lot from them. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Business Development Manager for Sentient Digital, Inc., a technology services provider based in New Orleans, Louisiana, with offices across the US. I am the main contact for all marketing and design services from Online Optimism.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Online Optimism?

We first approached Online Optimism with the goal of using content to educate potential clients and job candidates about our services and expertise. We needed content that could clearly convey our value to a sophisticated audience; at the same time, we needed to get our name and expertise shared online in order to expand our reach and web presence. Online Optimism’s team developed a content marketing and SEO campaign that predominantly involves blogging, custom infographics, and link building, as well as social media, which we added on later.

About two years after beginning our partnership with Online Optimism, in the midst of a company name change, an internal brand update, a reorganizing of our main capability areas, and our acquisition of RDA, Inc., we were in need of a new website that would incorporate our recent changes and accommodate future expansions, too. We hired Online Optimism’s Design & Development team to build our cutting-edge new website, sdi.ai, which launched in November 2021.

SOLUTION

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

We were already using Online Optimism for blog writing and support with our corporate LinkedIn account. We had a good idea of the quality of technical writing and saw examples of other websites they had created. It was an easy decision to choose Online Optimism when we decided to revamp our website.

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

Our partnership with Online Optimism began with a combination of blogging and link building; with time, we’ve added custom infographics and social media marketing, too. Our campaigns run in 6-month blocks, which the OO team optimizes based on the results we’ve gotten from past campaigns. The content that Online Optimism’s team develops for our blog and social media rotates between a variety of topics appealing to our different audiences, and they’re always flexible with including content that may be more timely or become a priority for us.

They often interview our team members to help produce content even more effectively. Part of their deliverables include detailed monthly reporting on the results of their campaigns, with which we have always been satisfied. The deliverables for our website project included audience personas to represent our main users, a strategic sitemap to organize our site’s content, copywriting and editing across the site, wireframes to establish a design direction, and the final developed website.

At launch, we received a website manual detailing how to update our site, which the OO team walked us through at our virtual website training, as well as a year of complimentary support for the site. The site launched at the exact budget that we received in the proposal.

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

Lauren Walter, Search & Content Director Shika Lakshman, Social Media Strategist Claire Escobedo, Digital Designer Amanda McCrea, Content Associate Flynn Zaiger, CEO

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As our business has grown, so have our marketing needs. Online Optimism has been the perfect fit to help us adapt our strategies and expand our online presence. In our most recent 6-month marketing campaign, we had over 48,000 visits to our website, a 143% increase compared to the previous 6 months.

84% of our website traffic came from organic search, and 17 of our blog posts had a #1 ranking on Google, with many appearing in Featured Snippets as well. We are over the moon about our new website! It has the striking aesthetics we were looking for that reflect our exciting, innovative, and sophisticated work.

At the same time, it balances a wealth of new content we want to share with prospective clients, partners, and job candidates, prioritizing intuitive and easily navigable user paths for each audience. Not to mention, several years’ worth of blog content we had built on our old site was seamlessly migrated to the new one, and along with it, the valuable SEO gains we had achieved. Our team couldn’t be happier.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Online Optimism’s team has been incredibly communicative throughout our partnership, with a strict attention to detail and a clear commitment to meeting our goals. We receive monthly marketing reports—including data from Google Analytics for website performance, Moz for keyword performance, and LinkedIn for social performance—to keep us informed of our marketing campaigns’ gains.

Throughout the website project, we had weekly calls with the OO team to discuss our progress and approve deliverables, followed by emails with action steps for both their team and ours. They created a website progress tracker to keep track of all content and developed pages for the site in one place, so we always knew exactly where we were in the process, what was ready for our review, what we had approved, etc.

Even with some delays on our end in gathering content for the site, their team stayed on top of our project, adjusting our timeline as needed and always keeping on the right side of deadlines.

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

The OO team is not only capable, knowledgeable, and efficient. Everyone we’ve worked with on their team is friendly and positive, and it’s clear that they really care about us as a partner. It’s not unusual for them to go above and beyond in their work for us, just to help us out even more.

We love that we can work with a single digital marketing partner for services ranging from SEO to social media marketing, web design & development to long-form blogging. Online Optimism’s team is incredibly responsive, sending us regular updates, maintaining open channels of communication, and always responding promptly to more immediate requests.

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

Nothing! Project went incredibly smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Canal HR, a professional employer organization that provides big business benefits to small businesses. Our services include workers’ compensation through payroll and ancillary products such as medical, dental, vision, and other insurance that people need in addition to 401k. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Online Optimism?

We had been pushing our marketing efforts online, and we needed help in SEO. We wanted to make sure that our website was ranking high and generating leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave Online Optimism a history of what we’ve been doing. They found that our previous vendor only did Google Ads and didn’t work on our SEO performance. 

Online Optimism then started implementing improvements to the entire website. They hosted our site and added new content on all its pages. We meet every two weeks to keep tweaking our platform. Additionally, they’ve taken over our PPC campaigns. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with six teammates.

How did you come to work with Online Optimism?

I looked around for companies doing SEO. Whenever I mentioned Online Optimism, I always heard positive responses. 

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website’s search engine ranking has improved, and we’ve even placed first for multiple search terms. The amount of leads from our website has increased by 25%. 

How did Online Optimism perform from a project management standpoint?

Online Optimism is very good at project management. I always praise them during our meetings because they fill us in on their plans and thoughts. They pass everything by us before doing anything — it’s almost like they’re my in-house employees doing work under my direction. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re delighted with Online Optimism. Everything has been going well with our partnership. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. Whenever we have issues, we can discuss them during our meetings. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re having constant meetings, and you’re checking their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of marketing and communications for the World Trade Center of New Orleans. We are a membership organization with about 200 company members and close to 1300 individual representatives of companies who belong to our membership. A lot of what I do is related to event planning and coordinating programmatic and educational events for our members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Online Optimism?

We had a really outdated WordPress website. I was looking to modernize it and increase functionality on the backend. We also needed frontend improvements focused on UX. I had a vision of making the website more modern and cleaner with larger fonts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were instrumental in the creative process of building our website. There are over 300 world trade centers, and we had to match their branding guidelines, but I also wanted our website to have its own twist and highlight and showcase New Orleans. I gave Online Optimism the branding guidelines from the World Trade Center Association, and I told them about my basic ideas, but as far as the design went, I didn’t have a ton of ideas of what exactly they should do.

Their team came up with the fonts that fit the guideline, would look the best on the website, and would be the easiest to read. They helped us decrease the number of pages from 100 to about 30 on the website, and they helped to showcase our three main focus areas: education, connection, and advocacy. I had sent them some samples of other World Trade Center sites that I liked, and they took some of the elements of those other sites and implement them in ours. For example, the World Trade Center of Denver is known for the mountains. Their website has a mountain outline on the homepage of their site and every other page. I wanted something similar, and one of their team members, JP (Design Director, Online Optimism) created the city skyline silhouette by hand.

We were concerned about having to pay for stock images and related art, as we didn’t have a ton of photos in-house that were good enough to be on the homepage of our website. Since Online Optimism is a social media company and has a lot of clients that work in downtown New Orleans, they used some stock imagery that they already owned for our site, which I felt was really helpful. They took my simple vision and went 100 miles past that.

What is the team composition?

JP did the majority of the work and was our main point of contact. Flynn (CEO, Online Optimism) was helpful as well with business-related questions.

How did you come to work with Online Optimism?

I knew Flynn from my previous position.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent under $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project went from August 2018–January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our members and board love the website. They were really excited about the increased functionality because they need our website for event registration. We are really thankful it is where it is now. When the website launched in August, the number of users increased 1,468.2% just in that one month, and we continued to see steady improvements. The bounce rate decreased by 71% in that first month.

We saved $300 a month thanks to the functional backend they delivered, as we used to pay for maintenance each month. Those savings have been helpful for us, since we’re a nonprofit, and being able to make those changes in-house has saved us time as well.

Flynn came in and met with me. He looked at the backend of our site and the integration and realized that WordPress integrates with our CRM the best, although I was more comfortable with Squarespace. I expressed major concerns that I had with him about personally having to learn WordPress and having to use it when I wanted to make small edits to the site. Although I tried to convince them that Squarespace might have been the best, they took a holistic look at our situation and advised us on what would be best while still meeting my need to make edits easily on the backend. They implemented a WordPress plugin called WPBakery, which functions as a frontend editor. I can now edit right on the page if I am logged in. It’s really easy.

Once we launched the website, Flynn included two hours of website maintenance a month as a service from his company for a year. One of my worries was that the website would launch and that I wouldn’t know how to use something on the backend or would have questions, but having that support made us comfortable letting our previous maintenance vendor go.

How did Online Optimism perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fantastic. We were the ones holding things up because we had several events that delayed our response time. They were great and weren’t pushy about following up as they understood our situation. They met every deadline.

We had a short delay on our end when we had to decide whether to change our hosting service. Online Optimism went above and beyond on that issue as well and even offered to pay the increased hosting fee for us just so we could try it out. They never pressured us to switch back, and they said they were willing to do that for as long as it took us to get an answer from our board as to whether or not we could switch over to the more expensive hosting service. They were really helpful.

We mostly communicated over email or we met in person. There weren’t too many people involved, so I don’t think we needed to use a project management tool.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re highly responsive. I never waited for more than a couple of hours for an email response even at night, and they always had a very thorough answer. We never had to explain ourselves too much when asking a question. It didn’t take much for me to explain what my vision was for the website in terms of design or even functionality. It was nice to work with people who just understand what we mean.

They are very technical people. Some of the other companies I met were definitely not as sociable and spoke at a level that could be above people’s heads. Online Optimism doesn’t do that. No question is a silly one, and they are able to explain things in a way that anyone could understand regardless of their technical background. It made a huge difference for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re very satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask for anything. With Online Optimism, you don’t have to be afraid to ask. If it is possible, they will make it happen. We had a really tall order for them, but they handled it with class and professionalism and never made it seem like it was overwhelming for them. Even though we weren’t their highest-paying client, they treated me like I was their most important client in every interaction. I would tell a potential client to not be afraid to ask for exactly what you are looking for. Send them some samples of websites you like, and they will make it happen if they can.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive Director of Jefferson Parish Finance Authority

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The Mission of the Jefferson Parish Finance Authority is to provide financial assistance to Jefferson Parish residents and the surrounding parishes for homeownership thereby enhancing economic development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Online Optimism to accomplish?

• Be able to easily update our own site
• Updated appearance and functionality
• Responsive team when we need help

SOLUTION

How did you find Online Optimism?

Referral

Why did you select Online Optimism over others?

Followed up and listened to needs

How many teammates from Online Optimism were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

I hired Online Optimism to create a new website for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I am able to make updates on the website as needed, the website is more user-friendly, and the information is now current.

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

They were extremely helpful and efficient. In most cases, they delivered items ahead of schedule.

What was your primary form of communication with Online Optimism?

Virtual Meeting

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

They work together as a team, they are professional, and they are all talented.

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

None that I observed.