Secret Sushi, Inc

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of platform marketing at Digital.ai, a software provider. We develop software to help companies optimize and complete their digital transformation activities, and we deal with Global 2000 large enterprises. The platform team that I manage includes all of our product marketing, corporate marketing, and analyst relations teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Secret Sushi, Inc?

We needed good-quality content fast, so we work with Secret Sushi to develop and repurpose content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Secret Sushi reviewed our website, and we gave them some of our existing materials. They also talked to our internal subject matter experts (SMEs). Then, they identified DevOps, AI, and digital transformation SMEs on their own and got them up to speed on our business so that they could provide a really nice external point of view.

Secret Sushi became an extension of our organization, helping us develop blogs, social media content, e-books, and our podcast. Basically, they help us with all forms of content.

We have ongoing meetings, and we include Secret Sushi in our regular planning sessions. They brainstorm both with us and on their own, and they come back with different ideas based on what we’re working on. Then, we review those ideas, and they work on them to deliver ready-to-publish content.

They’ve helped us get our podcast off the ground, and they create ready-to-post social media content. When they create a blog, they also give us some social media posts to go with it.

Repurposing content is another of the areas in which Secret Sushi’s involvement has had a great impact. We have a lot of webinars, but we were just posting them on our site and never using that content again. Secret Sushi now takes the webinars, breaks them into smaller format videos, and helps us repurpose those content assets for video blogs, targeted marketing programs, social media posts, and content for our website.

We just gave them the raw files of our webinars, and their team looks at them to come up with ideas on where and how to slice them. Then, they go ahead and divide the video, delivering ready-to-go materials. They don’t help us with video production yet, but I’m sure that they would help us immediately with that if we wanted to.

Additionally, They do the same repurposing for other types of long-format content. For example, they take our e-books and divide them into multiple content pieces for various purposes.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Adam (Founder & CEO) and Rai-mon (CMO), and they’re both really active in our account. Every week, we have a meeting in which Rai-mon is in, and Adam is available to us whenever we want. We also work with a project manager, and multiple writers are working for us in the background.

The beauty of Secret Sushi is that they pull in whoever they need; they have a lot of resources.

How did you come to work with Secret Sushi, Inc?

We brought together five different companies and merged them into a new one. Secret Sushi was already working for one of our portfolio companies; they ran their blogs and social media content. We got introduced to them and really liked them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Digital.ai started working with them in September 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the challenges about our company is that we brought five different technology companies together. Hence, we focus on various branches such as DevOps, security, Agile development, testing, and AI. Working with someone like Secret Sushi gives us the ability to tap into different SMEs as needed.

Our work is very technical and specific; we write about development and technical subjects for a technical audience. Our audience can easily identify useless marketing content. However, Secret Sushi provides substantial and substantive content that passes our audience’s approval, which is very important.

As we have limited resources, making Secret Sushi an extension of our team helps us extend our marketing reach to more audiences in ways that wouldn’t be possible without them.

How did Secret Sushi, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Secret Sushi’s project management is excellent — they keep track of everything. We have a weekly meeting, so they always know the status of things. The team is flexible and willing to reprioritize work as our needs change.

We exchange a lot of emails, we’ve integrated them into our Asana board, and they have access to SharePoint site — they’re integrated into our business.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Secret Sushi’s team is outstanding; they’re good at what they do, and they’re enjoyable and easy to work with. They’re also highly flexible, responsive, and very accommodating.

I’ve never heard them say that something is out of scope or that it will exceed the retainer; they just get it done. They understand our position and challenges — they're part of our team.

Bringing five companies together isn’t easy, so Secret Sushi has helped us bring order to our chaos and install a process. They're incredibly patient with us, and we appreciate that a lot.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very transparent, tell them exactly what you need, and bring them into your process. The more Secret Sushi knows the more they can help.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am VP of Marketing at Celigo (http://celigo.com), a leader in the Integration Platform as a Service company (iPaaS) space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

I first hired Secret Sushi when we were much smaller, to provide us with instant marketing expertise to help manage several of our initiatives around digital marketing on an ongoing basis. Secret Sushi managed several initiatives around all paid campaigns, website conversion optimization, SEO, some content, and other related efforts. This was split between the "Core" Celigo team as the agency of record for our CloudExtend business unit.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to be able to move quickly and efficiently to ramp up marketing operations. The Celigo marketing team was very small at the time, and it would have taken a long time to build all the necessary capabilities in-house.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had previously worked with Secret Sushi at two other companies - iCharts and Swarm Fund, so I bround them along when I was first hired at Celigo.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

As mentioned, Secret Sushi managed on an ongoing basis several initiatives around all paid campaigns, website conversion optimization, SEO, some content, web design, and other related efforts. This was split between the "Core" Celigo team as the agency of record for our CloudExtend business unit.

What was the team composition?

Team consisted of two direct contacts at Secret Sushi, and they would supplement with a stable of designers, developers, and writers as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Celigo has been growing consistently for the last several years, with the pipeline growth to support it. When we first started, CloudExtend was on the verge of possibly being spun off or shut down, and has been turned around into a thriving part of Celigo since.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very. There was a weekly conversation with the team, and items were typically managed via tools such as Asana.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The direct line of communication with the founder and CEO. Adam is a good person who really cares about his customers, and you can see it in every interaction with him.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As is, Secret Sushi is probably not built for the largest companies, who likely have requirements for in-house staff or very specialized expertise at scale.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Manager at Center for Employment Training (CET). CET provides voc-tech job training services in 12 markets in the US with a focus on targeting at-risk populations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

We originally hired Secret Sushi to complete a website redesign that had been shelved. The turn-around time was very short with a limited budget. Following the successful launch, we continued to engage the team for a variety of services from social strategy to digital advertising.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to bring the organization into the digital age and continue to transform how it reaches its audience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed firms and ranked them according to a needs assessment.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Secret Sushi is my marketing partner. As a department of one, Secret Sushi helps us in every aspect - PPC, SEO, "fixing" the website, content models, email automation, GA reporting, tools and resources, blog posts. Name it and I've asked this team to help or they simply step in and get it done. It gets done.

What was the team composition?

I've worked with a variety of team members and always am confident the job will get done and communication is clear.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After completing our first project together, we saw our digital lead generation go up 300%. A subsequent site also resulted in increased leads AND put into place better tracking systems and supporting toolsets.

This transformation has continued and increases with the implementation of each strategic initiative. Increased social engagement, a larger share of organic website traffic, and better processes are just a few accomplishments.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is great. I all fairness, this team has made recommendations on how I can improve my workflow and everything has gotten easier.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Regardless of what comes up, Secret Sushi, Inc can and does help. I am always thankful that I don't need to go to different companies.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can see.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a content strategy agency. We have been in business for 26 years. We work with the biggest and most innovative companies to help them plan, create, and maintain their technical, marketing, and training content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

Secret Sushi is our outsourced marketing agency. They do all of our marketing work. This includes implementing and maintaining our marketing automation system, creating and maintaining our corporate website, and creating all of our marketing materials. They provide all of the expertise we need to to be successful.

What were your goals for this project?

We need marketing expertise and execution to plan, create, and deliver all on our corporate brand. This includes website, collateral, presentations, and so on.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I met the owner of Secret Sushi years ago, as he was a big supporter of Teens in Tech. I admired his commitment to bringing young people through the ranks to become the next generation of software developers.

I got to know the company from there, through in-person meetings and I learned more about what they did. It was a no-brainer for me to start working with Secret Sushi after seeing the passion they put into their work.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Secret Sushi is my marketing department. Whenever I have an idea, I bring it to them and we discuss. They also have lots of ideas for how best to promote and market my company and brand. Secret Sushi creates everything marketing for us - our website, marketing automation system, campaigns, collateral, presentations - they are both strategic and tactical.

What was the team composition?

I work most closely with the owner of the company. I value the time and expertise he provides. In addition, I have worked with incredibly talented designers and other creative people, along with experts in marketing automation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have been in business for 26 years and Secret Sushi has been doing our marketing for more than 10 of those 26. I think this speaks volumes about the success of our work together. Secret Sushi is always innovating - looking for new and better ways to marketing our brand.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We work extremely effectively together. We have regular meetings and the people at Secret Sushi are always available for additional needs and questions in between.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They really care about the success of my company. They don't give mere lip service to caring. They put in the time and effort it takes to create and maintain by brand. That type of dedication to the customer is rare and valuable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I am 100% satisfied with the service I get from Secret Sushi. If I wasn't, I would have changed agencies years ago.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Marketing at a SaaS company. Our analytics solutions help IT executives gain visibility to improve their business performance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

When I joined the company, I knew we needed to scale our digital marketing efforts (and do it faster than our internal team can support). I brought Secret Sushi onboard to help us accelerate at much faster pace than we could on our own.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to accelerate our content marketing and social media outreach and our previous agency was not able to support us.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have known and worked with Secret Sushi at two of my previous companies, so I knew I didn't need to look further.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The Secret Sushi team is currently powering our content marketing efforts (e-books, blog, briefs) and is managing our social media presence.

What was the team composition?

In addition to Adam (the founder and CEO), our day-to-day contact is Rai-mon. They are supported by a team of experts in their field.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our digital presence and brand awareness have increased significantly since we started working with Secret Sushi. Not only has our blog traffic more than doubled, but their efforts are significantly contributing to helping us build pipeline.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very smooth. Our weekly calls keep us in lockstep and they're always responsive to urgent requests.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are a true partner that not only cares about our success but pushes us to succeed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a marketing content manager for a facility services organization that provides non-core services to large corporations. Our services include cleaning, technical, support services, food services, and security services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

Secret Sushi is helping with our digital marketing efforts and focused on our SEO and website management.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve our website visibility and grow our leads.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We met a member of Secret Sushi at a continued learning session and the organization's purpose aligned with our goals.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Offer SEO support and manage our website design. Help with the development of our advertisement campaigns.

What was the team composition?

We work with 2 people from Secret Sushi, Adam and Steve. They are great!!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen an increase in our website traffic and support from our executives. We have also seen an increase in website leads. They have helped implement a solution to track leads that come through the website.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has worked well for us and their team. We have meetings every 2 weeks to make sure our tasks and goals are aligned.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their response time is great and they have a large amount of knowledge. They take the time to help us understand their approach and solution.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Offer a detailed list of tasks in progress that we can follow the flow of work to ensure our goals are met.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a technology research and analysis company. We work with Global 2000 technology companies, enterprises and telecommunication service providers, helping them with technology trend analysis as well as technology report publishing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

We were looking for assistance in content marketing and social media strategies.

What were your goals for this project?

To help improve our reach and penetration of our target audiences.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had worked with Secret Sushi at my previous company, where I engaged them in website design and SEO services.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We worked with the Secret Sushi principals on defining the goals of our outreach, the target audience and the social channels. The Secret Sushi team were able to help us instrument our web properties to gather the necessary information about current audiences.

They also worked with us on the social channels to help segment and identify the classes of people who were trying to reach. Beyond that, they helped us repurpose and reuse existing content to effectively reach the audience.

What was the team composition?

Worked with the principals of the firm, who managed and handled all communications and also delegated and managed the team to deliver..

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We already have a much clearer understanding of the target audience and better insight into visitors into our web properties. We're currently working on running programs to see the size of the impact.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication with their team was effective--I prefer weekly F2Fs and emails over real-time communication (it makes it more effective for my team).

Secret Sushi was innovative in recording video updates along with screen recordings so we could view those at our leisure. It was useful for my team to see how they navigated the different dashboards and tools to pull the appropriate statistics.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're focused on ensuring customer success and have an upfront attitude. When they were confident in the results, they said so, and if it was something they weren't sure of, they didn't try to talk their way out of it or pretend they understood it, unlike many other firms. I appreciate candor. There was no bs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at this point--it's going well. And I'm not surprised since I had worked with them before.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by Mike Metz Jr. (Research Program Manager, AvidThink) on June 1, 2020. The original star ratings were: Overall - 5, Quality - 4.5, Schedule - 5, Cost - 5, NPS - 5. New content is below:

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

AvidThink publishes research briefs and reports on infrastructure technologies. We also provide customized research and go-to-market consulting as well as a combined research brief and video package offering that covers the hottest topics in technology. I oversee end-to-end lifecycle management of all company research programs and products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

Marketing consulting, content, and social media for our newly launched partner site.

What were your goals for this project?

Help create a marketing campaign and promotional plan for our new site to increase pageviews, report downloads, and video views.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Secret Sushi was recommended to me by a colleague who had a positive and successful experience with them at a previous company.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Secret Sushi: 

• Created social media accounts for both our site and partner sites.
• Set up applications to help us track our site engagement including Co-Schedule, Google Analytics (including prioritizing goals), and Google Ads to name a few.
• Created content to post across all our social media channels including 10 to 15 second video snippets pulled directly from videos we produce for our site. We have 40+ videos in total.
• Created blog posts for our Founder and Principal Analyst to post on his personal LinkedIn account. This was meant to direct users to our site.
• Created and ran ad campaigns.
• Provided feedback on site design.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with a Marketing Consultant and closely with the CEO at Secret Sushi. Their marketing consultant managed a team of people working on our campaigns.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're now able to track engagement. Our social media channels are set up and content is being pushed out on a daily basis. Our report download number goals are being met.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our team and Secret Sushi is very effective. Secret Sushi asks good questions about our company and products. This makes it easy for us to collaborate when they understand our brand and the direction we want to go. They are always asking how they can help.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I am impressed with the amount of knowledge and experience they have with a variety of applications including analytics, social media, marketing, and advertising. They always have a suggestion for an application we could use when we're looking for a solution.

I'm impressed with their attention to design. We used their feedback they offered while we were refreshing our website design and were pleased with the outcome.

I am impressed with their ability to generate content for us that is on brand.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Difficult to say at this point in our collaboration because our new site just launched.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO of a B2B SaaS legaltech company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a B2B SaaS legaltech that offers a web app for attorneys to use AI for a document drafting suite, generally used in the litigation life cycle. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Secret Sushi, Inc to accomplish?

• We were able to substantially add lots of "meat" on the bone for marketing assets across various surface areas (social media, email outreach, etc.)
• We were able to legitimize a lot of our Go-To-Market strategy
• We secured highly valuable testimonials to use for video ads and other assets from user of our platform.

SOLUTION

How did you find Secret Sushi, Inc?

Referral

Why did you select Secret Sushi, Inc over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Secret Sushi, Inc were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The overall goal is to implement strategies to help us sell our SaaS, the main deliverable was to increse the number of paying customers. Other goals included increasing the marketing surface area. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to create lots of useful marketing assets. 

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

They delivered all items in a timely manner with good communication. 

What was your primary form of communication with Secret Sushi, Inc?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Communication. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Secret Sushi, Inc could have done differently?

N/A. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

We had gotten behind in our digital marketing initiatives and needed an outside firm to get us back on track while we took the time we needed to hire the right team internally.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A board member and investor recommended them.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Secret Sushi took over all aspects of marketing during this interim period - managing everything from our paid ad campaigns to organic SEO to our content strategy, website enhancements, video and graphic design work, etc.

What was the team composition?

Adam the CEO led the efforts for Secret Sushi and pulled in a team to assist with graphic design, paid campaign management and content.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw website traffic increases, our website went from a C- to an A+ and the inbound leads picked up again.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have weekly meetings and Secret Sushi sent out weekly updates with metrics to communicate the health of our various campaigns.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Secret Sushi, Inc has deep and broad knowledge of all aspects of marketing. They were able to get their arms around our technology quickly so they could provide value quickly.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

Nothing comes to mind. The results were great and they're super nice.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a professional services company that provides IT and engineering services. I have primary responsibility for Sales and Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Secret Sushi, Inc?

We hired Secret Sushi as our outsourced Marketing Department. The provided us an overall strategy, execution, and anything else we needed to accomplish our marketing objectives.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a creative plan to have a stand out tradeshow booth. Secret Sushi supported us from ideation through the delivery of one of the best tradeshow events we've ever had.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The vendor was referred by a trusted friend and colleague

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Provide support during brainstorming for tradeshow themes. Provide project plan and all execution resources including coordination with third-party vendors(swag, tradeshow management company, etc)

What was the team composition?

I've worked with assigned engagement manager and company principals primarily as a check-in

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Home run. Our smaller tradeshow booth out scanned(ie collected more badge scans) than everybody else at the show including booths 4x the size and cost!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Pretty good. Secret Sushi held regular status calls to keep us coordinated.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by the breadth of resources they are able to marshall to get the job done.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The need to keep growing