Roketto

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Highstreet is a real estate development firm focused primarily on developing condo-quality rental apartments. Since 2005, Highstreet Ventures has developed and built 17 projects including; 1,708 rental apartments, 301 condos, and 48 townhomes, as well as developing and selling a hotel. These projects reside in BC, Alberta, North West Territories and soon to be Ontario.

I’m the Marketing Coordinator who oversees the marketing for the entire company from content and design to execution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Roketto?

We had condo sales coming up in Calgary. We were looking for new branding, a website, a digital campaign, and some print products. We wanted an agency that had prior experience in a related industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Roketto completed the whole branding for McCall Landing and Skyview Ranch, which were originally going to be multi-family rentals. However, due to the rental market in Calgary, we decided to switch the 280 suites to condo sales.

They’ve completed the full website development, set up the digital campaign involving Google remarketing and AdWords as well as some signage and closed gate brochure designs. I’ve worked with four or five team members from Roketto indirectly and directly with three project managers.

How did you come to work with Roketto?

I sent out a request for proposal to 10-15 marketing companies in Calgary and Kelowna and vetted them myself. I narrowed it down to three based on their quotes and experience in the industry. Our management team did personal interviews with those three, and Roketto was ultimately selected.

How much have you invested with Roketto?

We’ve spent close to $30,000 so far on the one project. Soon to be more with the other projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in December of 2016 and was completed in March of this year. Our relationship is ongoing, as they’re currently managing some changes to our website and our digital campaign. We plan to use them later this year for updates to several other rental community websites.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We receive reports every month. When we first launched in March, we had 106 goal completions. We had 2,700 sessions, and 1,700 unique users to our website. That was with a budget of $3,000 through Google. We had an impressive percentage of conversions with our remarketing ads. We had 422 clicks, with a conversion rate of 3%. To date, we’ve had over 200 paid conversions, which has resulted in us selling 20 condos within two weeks.

How did Roketto perform from a project management standpoint?

It was very important to our team that we worked with a firm that was down-to-earth. In terms of management, Roketto incorporates a lot of software that is easy to understand. They use software like Invision to show you a live preview of what your website will look like, as well as the website itself on a test server. For branding, we did a number of different concepts. They were very timely with their responses.

What did you find most impressive about Roketto?

Instead of just sending a PDF proposal in response to our RFP, they came to us in person, shook our hands, and gave us a booklet with their proposal. They go out of their way to provide a personal touch, which sets them apart from other companies.

Are there any areas Roketto could improve?

I can’t think of anything. We did a lot of due diligence in making our choices.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is The Garage Sale Luxury Auction House. We market and auction luxury assets - typically luxury real estate valued at $5 million or more. I am lead analyst and the project manager for our last auction.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Roketto?

We needed a better solution for our website. Our previous company was challenging to work with. It took a long time to make changes and we had no backend access. That was the main concern. We were going to essentially rebrand our website and we needed to have an option that allowed us to have better backend access moving forward as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It started with just a relaunch of our website. We scrapped everything that we had before. It was a full relaunch of our website. We had maybe 15 pages that we built from scratch. We had a graphic designer who built some templates and then we worked with Roketto to bring those to life. That was how our involvement with them first started. From there, we started doing some digital ads through Roketto as well. They helped with our online campaign for our last auction. We have a designer who’s on our team; he built it. We had our content ready, and they were able to build the functioning website using that stuff. I think there was a certain template that worked but then we had to make some modifications to suit what we needed. I think they added some plugins. I don’t know exactly. They were big with helping with the strategy of the advertising. We had our graphic designers who would design the ads, and they would help us with the different sizes we wanted and create the ads. Then, they were in charge of distributing them across various online channels.

How did you come to work with Roketto?

We did a pretty extensive review of various companies both in Kelowna - both our companies are in the same building. We looked at some companies out of Vancouver, Calgary, and Kelowna and did a full comparison and based on their product, the time they could do it and the price point, they were the easy choice for us.

How much have you invested with Roketto?

I don’t know that. When we originally worked with Roketto, they had the best price point for the website and all throughout the process it didn’t mushroom over budget. We are quite pleased with the money.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2015. They’re providing ongoing support for all of our website needs. We’re in between campaigns right now. For our company, we do one auction at a time. We don’t have an auction happening right now, so we’re not working with them digitally, but we’re not working with anyone else either. The next time we have an event we’ll be looking at our options for digital ads again and likely continue working with them I would say.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

For our last auction event, which was our first one working with them, we had the highest price at an auction than we’ve ever had. We had the most number of bidders, and we had the most number of inquiries. So pretty much across the board for our top metrics. I’m not saying it was them directly, but they were a big part of it, and we had a very successful auction for sure. 

How did Roketto perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. Super easy to work with and very approachable. We can always set up a meeting, and there’s time. They’ll meet us face to face or respond promptly to our emails and needs. It’s been great on that side of things. We mostly just email back and forth. We were working with Asana last year, but we stopped using that internally. It was mostly phone calls and emails and meetings.

What did you find most impressive about Roketto?

I think just that it’s been super easy. I never get the sense that they’re out just for money. Lots of times we ask a question, and it doesn’t show up as half an hour of time. It seems to me that they genuinely care about the success of our company and not trying to get the next dollar out of us. It’s been a pleasure working with them. They do great work.

Are there any areas Roketto could improve?

There’s always areas for improvement on the digital campaigns. What our company does - we’re never going to sit there and say everything was perfect. I think we’re always trying to get more bidders and more inquiries and we’ll continue working to improve our model. We focus on a small client group. We’re continually going to try to improve how we market, and that would be true with any supplier that we work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of North Note. Our company provides music and pre-clears music for licensing for TV, film, commercials and small independent jobs. They can come to us, pick a song and license it for use with audiovisual work.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Roketto?

Previously we've used Squarespace and other similar platforms and they were fine for presenting our services and music. What we needed to do was create a site that had full e-commerce, filtering, and search functions. It had to present each artist and song in a modern and clean way. It was a real challenge for us to find a website builder who can handle the e-commerce and search side. Even though there were existing plug-ins, they wouldn't do exactly what we needed. That's why we decided to go with this kind of development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we discussed the budget and the timeline that we wanted as well as what we wanted to achieve. We went back a week later to review the options they put together. Roketto put together a site that works using WordPress as a base. They also developed a few custom plug-ins and included existing plug-ins as well. Each of the music pages was custom designed for us and they did a nice job. Plus, we needed to create options on the music player that didn't exist. The ability to download is a common one so that they can add songs to a playlist. They also custom-made the actual cart process and functionality. We needed to provide a lot of product variance for 10 different online licenses since the client can choose from 3 or 4 versions of each license.

How did you come to work with Roketto?

Originally, I was recommended someone else. But speaking to my partner back in London, he wanted to make sure we were competitive on pricing. That’s why I put a request out to a couple of other developers. I liked the look of Roketto's designs and what they'd done on the home page of their own website. They were 1 of 2 companies I went to. To be honest, when I first went into Roketto, I thought I'd already made my mind up I was going with this first team. What I really liked was that they listened and they weren't particularly pushy with sales. The proposal that they put together was so much better than anyone else and it was a lot more transparent. They described where they were going to spend what and why each piece was needed. The other companies just gave an estimate on an hourly basis, whereas Roketto gave a quote on a project basis.

How much have you invested with Roketto?

We spent under CAD11,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first part of the project started in February 2016. This version one of the website is definitely completed and was launched on June 7. At the moment, we're focusing on driving sales at North Note but we do foresee another phase of it at the start of next year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

One of their most important contributions was on the client's workflow. They can start with a huge haul of music then narrow it down by collecting favorites and adding to playlists along the way. That is the function that we're getting the best feedback from, definitely. We've also had several people talk about what a great looking and modern site it is compared to our competitors. We've got a couple of competitors that have deep wallets. Particularly in the UK, we're getting a lot of compliments on our site because it's modern and it's designed well. Our competitors’ sites work well in terms of function but don't have an attractive, appealing look. I would say the look of the site and the ability to collect the playlist are the 2 things we're getting a lot of good feedback on.

How did Roketto perform from a project management standpoint?

Roketto did well. They would share what they were doing with me every week. They'd give me proper updates every couple of weeks. I went into their office probably 3 or 4 times towards the end to nail down what needed to be improved and what needed to be finished. Roketto was very good at prioritizing and getting things done within the timeframe. That was the most impressive thing. We used Slack as an instant communication tool. The other app is almost like a whiteboard where we could move different things around in a workflow.

What did you find most impressive about Roketto?

What I really like was that they listened very well. They're young and very enthusiastic. They didn't make any assumptions; they always researched the best solutions. I've been involved in web development projects in the past that just spiraled out of control financially. I think their research and enthusiasm are 2 things that I really was impressed with.

Are there any areas Roketto could improve?

I felt prioritized and they exceeded my expectations. That's the honest truth. I can't really say there was any disappointment there.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Marketing Coordinator of a software company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provides technology, online platforms, and services related to process safety management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Building a New Website
• Re-Branding Company

SOLUTION

How did you find Roketto?

Word of Mouth

Why did you select Roketto over others?

• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Roketto were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Creation of a brand new website including moving all CRM, Sales, and other tools into HubSpot. Key deliverables included updated branding and content, graphic design updates, and general key milestones throughout the delivery. We were also fortunate to be able to use Roketto to do our HubSpot onboarding which was extremely helpful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Immediate increase in website traffic and trackable improvements to SEO and user functionality.

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

Their team was amazing. We had drastic changes mid-project - twice! The team rolled with the changes, immediately helped to support with strategy and implementation and stayed on track for delivery.

What was your primary form of communication with Roketto?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The level of care and communication with us as the client. If they thought something we asked for wasn't going to work, they weren't afraid to stop and approach it differently and tell us their thoughts.

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

Nothing!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My husband is the owner, and I am the tax director. We specialize in commercial construction.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted a new website, since we were unhappy with our past website and didn’t feel that it was a good representation of our company.

SOLUTION

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

We were referred to Roketto by a friend.

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

They provided us with a new and improved website that gave us the professional image we desired.

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

We worked with a few people from the company, but I am unsure of their titles as they are no longer with the company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have received positive feedback about our new website from current and potential clients.

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

The team was very communicative and kept us on schedule, even though at times we didn’t have a lot of time to spend on the website. They checked in with us and reminded us of the tasks that were to be completed.

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

They were very knowledgeable about website design.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Risk Alive Analytics provides actionable process safety insights through big data and advanced algorithms for hazardous facilities like refineries and fertilizer production sites. My role is Vice President, Business Development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Roketto?

Re-design our website and migrate to HubSpot CMS platform.

What were your goals for this project?

Speed was critical as was cost. There were critical events and opportunities coming up where an updated website was essential to capitalize on those activities.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They came highly recommended by BDC.

Describe the project in detail.

Migrate from app site to CMS platform and upgrade the site to modernize and adopt updated messaging. I was the project sponsor on client side helping with content and direction on messaging, coordinating with third party marketing consultants.

What was the team composition?

Senior dev and Project Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project exceeded my expectations, we were on track, on budget and the delivery was much more than I had thought possible. Roketto updated so much of our content and uplifted the messaging so much the end result bore little resemblance to the original. I was shocked how far above and beyond they went in what was supposed to be a relatively small scope of work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication flowed quickly and easily.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The over delivery and value was what amazed me most. They did some really great work with graphics, layout and ideas that gave us a tremendously powerful marketing and communication asset.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None