Patchboard

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and cake artist behind Oliver’s Desserts. We are a local bakery offering homemade desserts in a large variety of dietary needs for events from birthdays and weddings to corporate catering and everything in between.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have grown organically for over 10 years but have never but spend behind paid marketing. We had Ian conduct an SEO audit to show us where we stand currently Vs competitors and how to improve our reach.

SOLUTION

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

We had a referral and after a meeting with Ian where he described his offering and previous results and price point we thought it a good fit.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

This was a service designed to help us find how we rank online Vs our competitors. Who we think our competition is versus who it actually is. What we think key words should be vs what the research shows. Where we have opportunity to strengthen legit links and build our trust and presence online.

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

We worked directly with Ian during this process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have been able to take some action on feedback given that is already improving website speed and ease of use.

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

We had a video call at the beginning and end which was thorough and information and prompt email communication during the process.

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

I really appreciated the resources given to follow up and take action on the information given. It can be overwhelming, so having “how to” steps made it doable for me to implement.

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

I’m not sure if it’s possible, but maybe small action items we could have done during the process to yield better information gathering. Some of the reports they ran were unable to gather information because I wasn’t set up online correctly in some areas.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Publisher of Cincinnati CityBeat and Organizer of many themed weeks in Cincinnati, OH.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to develop a mobile app that would allow users to visit participant locations while earning points along the way. Also - the app allowed consumers to browser the offerings, plan their routes and engage with sponsors thus earning more points and increasing ROI for our partners.

SOLUTION

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

We've worked with them for many years on other products. It all comes down to trust, expertise and execution. They were passionate about our success, and really it showed.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had numerous discovery meetings sharing our goals and expectations of how we wanted this app to look, feel and ultimately work. We had a tight window of time to turn this around ( 1 month ) and they pulled it off. We are already exploring 5 more event apps in market.

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

2 - Co-owners and operators.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We went in with a hope of a certain amount of app downloads. We increased that expectation by 100%. Consumers enjoyed downloading, entering contests and being able to notify them with push notifications if a client was out of a specific item, had a 2 hour wait etc.

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

The communication and responsiveness is unrivaled.

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

They were fast, responsive and an absolute pleasure to work with. You truly feel is if they are a part of your team and vice versa. Our success is their success.

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

With everything new - there are always things to be learned along the way. We discovered and held a post event feedback meeting in order to add new elements in the future and make the experience even better going forward for the user.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Marketing for a Music Promoter.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had a brand new venue being built and needed a website that was aesthetically appealing, but easy to navigate and presented a lot of information in an easy to read manner.

SOLUTION

How did you select Patchboard and what were the deciding factors?

We have used Patchboard for several other of our venue websites in the past, and their knowledge of both the programming side as well as their in-depth knowledge of the music/entertainment industry make them our go-to web developers.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had an initial meeting to go over design ideas and what our ultimate goals were, and we definitely looked to them for guidance on making this website as technologically up to date as possible. The next step was getting the initial design schemes and layout and then tweaking as needed.

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

Two. The head developer and head partner of the company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have received lots of positive feedback from users of the website and we could not be happier with the final product.

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

I cannot say enough good things about their communication, response time to questions and their flexibility when it vcame to making slight changes to the initial design. I have worked with other companies in the past and it would take days to get a response, that has never been my experience with Patchboard.

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

They are a locally owned company that is invested in their clients. They took pride in the products to produce quality results.

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

None!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Sr. Sales & Marketing Manager, primarily in charge of admissions marketing and any digital marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had taken ownership of another company and had two separate websites that we needed to combine. On top of that, our websites were designed long ago and regularly re-skinned to look updated, but the underlying code was terribly inefficient, slow, and not optimized with structured data for SEO.

SOLUTION

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

We had been partnering with Patchboard for PPC management services for years and built up trust with their team. When we decided to outsource the new site, we began researching and interviewing companies and settled on Patchboard due to their proven success with other local businesses and our previous working relationship.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a meeting to discuss our goals with the site and how Patchboard could help us achieve them. They educated us on the benefits of structured data, streamlined content and website speed as major factors in user experience and SEO. Their team researched prominent questions regarding our industry and helped us create FAQ sections that would help us show up in google snippets and drive more traffic to our site. They then custom built the site and CMS for us to make it super easy to manage and keep up to date. When we launched, all of our team was impressed with how user-friendly everything was.

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

I'm not exactly sure of their titles, but we worked with the developer, the owner (who managed the entire project), and a content editor/writer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

It's tough to measure the specific outcomes since we combined two sites into one, but we have seen huge numbers of clicks to our "book an appointment" page.

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

The Patchboard team was always available, no matter what time of day to answer any questions we have. Whether it was a mid-day email or a late night text, they were there. They utilized Google Suite to facilitate communication and review of progress.

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

Our industry is unique in that we serve two separate types of clients (service guests and admissions prospects) and they were able to balance that impeccably in the new design, utilizing a system of determining the website visitor's intent to serve them content catered to their needs. Their willingness to learn about and understand our industry in order to best solve our unique challenges makes them a great partner to work with.

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

Nothing, I can't wait until our next project!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

DiaZam is a SaaS company with software to help the event industry rapidly diagram event layouts. I'm the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had done some internal development, but parted ways with our developer. Patchboard was able to come in, update the software, and get some buggy features working. We had a tight deadline for an investor meeting and they wrapped up the work quickly.

SOLUTION

How did you select Patchboard and what were the deciding factors?

I've known the guys at Patchboard for several years. They've done some other development for me in the past. When the company had and internal issue, I knew they were the company to call.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The were able to update the server to the latest version of drupal, make sure all the code worked with the newest version of drupal, fix the map integration with Next, and take care of a few other bugs in the software.

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

I worked with Ian who is the project manager and Nathan who is the lead developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Within a very short time period, Patchboard was able to get our SaaS up and running again. We've had no issues with the software as we beta test.

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

The guys at Patchboard are easy going and we initially discussed what needed to be done over the phone. After that, we used email to work through things in detail.

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

I think the quick turnaround was the most impressive thing. I did talk to a few other companies so I would have a benchmark and most developers said it would take a couple weeks and cost twice as much.

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

Based on this project, no.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Manager for Fountain Square, a Civic Space that hosts events and is located in Downtown Cincinnati.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Patchboard?

Display ad campaign on Facebook and Google.

What were your goals for this project?

Drive traffic to our website and ultimately book a session at our ice rink.

SOLUTION

How did you select Patchboard?

I've worked with Patchboard on a handful of campaigns across the entities I work for and have been happy with their pricing and processes.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Patchboard helped to run very successful Display Ad campaigns across Facebook and Google for several entities I work for including Fountain Square and the Fountain Square Ice Rink.

They made things easy and turnkey for us and we saw great results and great timely reporting. We created the ads and they handled the targeting, placement, reporting, and more. Highly recommend!

What was the team composition?

I've worked most closely with Ian who is always happy to answer my questions, offer advice and talk me through anything I don't understand.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw great reach and click throughs on our campaign. We had a very successful ice rink season and I think the ads Patchboard ran greatly contributed to that.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Since this isn't a huge project, it was just Ian and myself working together. I let him know our goals, he made recommendations and let me know what elements he needed from us to make it happen.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were easy to work with, friendly, and delivered great results.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None I can think of!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

PromoWest Productions is a concert promoter. I am the marketing director for our concert venues in Columbus, Ohio and Newport, Kentucky. We also have a venue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and another one opening soon. We also hold a music festival during the summer. I place all of the advertising for any and every show and special event that comes through our venues.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Patchboard?

We are working with Patchboard to create a website for our new venue in Kentucky.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a lot of initial brainstorming sessions together to figure out the best way and most accessible way to present our events to the public. We do close to 700 shows a year in our Columbus venues alone so Patchboard is creating a centralized website that could encompass and cater to all of our venues, including the ones we’re planning to open in different cities. They’re building the site from scratch on the WordPress platform and making it easy to navigate for people looking to purchase tickets.

On the other side of that, the team is also working on the backend where we put up so many announcements. They’ve made it possible for us to schedule shows in advance, post at later dates, and ensure that the links for buying tickets actually go to the ticket seller’s website.

The team has also developed two apps: one for the music festival and one for our entire company.

Although we have an in-house graphic designer, the team still gives input about what would look better in terms of readability and other factors. They would strategically place links throughout the website, making the layout accessible and functional.

What is the team composition?

I only directly worked with two people, Nathan (Partner) and Ian (Owner).

How did you come to work with Patchboard?

Our relationship with Patchboard started when we purchased Bunbury Music Festival, an event that normally takes place every June. The previous owner of the festival hired Patchboard to help with the Bunbury website so that’s when the introduction came in. Then, when our core company needed a website and an app, they helped us launch those a few years ago. 

Our current project is quite big, but luckily, one of the guys at Patchboard used to work at a music venue in Cincinnati and knew what we were looking for. They also had a local music website where they could help us pick local bands which made them a natural fit for our website revitalization project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested close to $30,000, probably more.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in January 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our box office person who posts shows loved the backend. It’s very simple and user-friendly, especially seeing as there are only 2–3 of us working on website projects. 

I haven’t gotten a ton of feedback from customers, but nobody has complained about it either. At least, from my perspective, when I go to the website, it’s pretty easy to find what you’re looking for, which is a big thing. Through the website, I could easily find and purchase tickets for any show at any of our venues. 

How did Patchboard perform from a project management standpoint?

Nathan and Ian are fantastic. Especially with COVID-19, we’ve had to put so many different messages out. They’ve been so great at getting things up as soon as possible during the early stages of the pandemic. There is always a clear deadline, and they’re forthcoming when they’re unable to meet it or if there are any issues. There hasn’t been a task that their team has not been able to do.

I find them to be very patient. I’m not a web person, so I’ve had to go to them with a lot of questions. The communication between us is always great and has become simpler now that Patchbord knows what we’re looking for. They respond to our emails within an hour or two every time. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Building a new venue in the pandemic put us in a unique position, and Patchboard has been helpful with trying to get messages across. They know our business inside and out. They’re very understanding and offer to brainstorm or talk us through any problem.

I could not think of better partners to have, and I wouldn’t want to give them up. It doesn’t seem like I’m working with a company; I look at them as a part of my own team. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything. I’ve been super pleased with our relationship. However, I would suggest that they simplify terms for people who aren’t technologically savvy. This is a very minimal thing, and I suppose I could educate myself a little bit better on those topics.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend Patchboard to anybody. They’re very understanding, patient, and super easy to work with. They really give their 110%  and are experts in what they do. If you’re going to start a new project with them, I would suggest you adopt a partnership mindset. Listen to their advice and take what they have to say into consideration.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the COO of Further Concepts and Investors

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A Country Music Festival in Southern Ohio

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Patchboard to accomplish?

• Bring awareness to the event
• Sell tickets
• Stay on budget

SOLUTION

How did you find Patchboard?

Referral

Why did you select Patchboard over others?

Great culture fit

How many teammates from Patchboard were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Ian and his team wrote our social media add plan for year one of VOA CMF

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We needed to sell a lot of tickets.Patchboard helped us do that through an effective paid media campaign,

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

Ian and his team always delivered on a date line.

What was your primary form of communication with Patchboard?

Virtual Meeting

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

They had a unique background in marketing and event planning, which helped them write a plan that was on budget and effective.

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

No they did a great job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner of two summer collegiate baseball teams in the Coastal Plain League

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Patchboard?

Our VP of Marketing resigned three months before the season started and our junior marketing team wasn't experienced in digital advertising and marketing strategy.

We needed a consultant that understood ticket sales to help educate and guide our staff and help them learn so they could fend for themselves without needing a consultant.

SOLUTION

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

Patchboard had digital executives that were well known in the sports industry and experienced in selling tickets and came highly recommended.

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

We had weekly calls with Patchboard executives to walk through our strategy and planning. Their staff coached are people on how to maximize the number of leads generated in a cost-effective manner and strong ROI for ad dollars spent.

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

One, Ian, who is one of the top executives of the company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Cost per lead was cut by 2/3 and we continued to boost ROI from our ad spend from roughly $4/1 to $7/1.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Weekly Zoom calls as a group and then one on one calls during the week on key execution steps

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

There are very few digital ad agencies that also have experience selling tickets. Patchboard had that combination.

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

Nothing. Very positive

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

ECHL - 'AA" Professional Hockey - Developmental League

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Patchboard?

Consulting to help build "playbooks" and strategies to help generate leads and track conversion to our events via web and social for 28 professional hockey clubs.

SOLUTION

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

Patchboard has significant experience in create websites and utilizing social channels to serve as key drivers in the marketing funnel for event based businesses. Utilizing this knowledge, they customized a strategy for our teams.

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

Patchboard built a 4-session digital series and associated materials to educate clubs around North American on how to optimize their marketing strategy and track conversions.

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

Ian - Co-Founder

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Extremely positive response from participants, but measured analytics yet to be determined until the following event (hockey) season.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Prompt and professional communication - always prepared.

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

Very knowledgeable in this segment for marketing live events, with a down-to-earth approach to help educate and assist.

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

N/A