Sociallyin

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Chief Marketing Officer for a specialty foods company called Old St. Augustine Gourmet. I handle outbound and inbound sales and the digital presence of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

We wanted to develop our brand and also establish an online presence. We lacked the technical expertise required to understand how to establish a brand online and how to reach online customers. We couldn’t do this effectively ourselves so we thought it’d be best to hire experts. In the past, we worked with a company that provided us with initial branding. They focused more on designs rather than digital marketing and we really needed somebody with that expertise.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an initial discussion phase with SociallyIn where they performed an initial brand research on our company. They looked up our competitors and tried to see where we fit in and how we can improve.

For the past eight months, SociallyIn has provided us with a variety of strategies and processes. For example, they have introduced paid advertising on platforms like Facebook. Additionally, they have helped bring our whole brand together. Previously, our images and logos were not consistent. SociallyIn helped our company grasp why it’s important to be consistent.

SociallyIn also utilizes Google Adwords and helped us understand more about SEO. They made it really simple for us to understand the different components of digital marketing and why it’s important. They also taught us about content posting.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

I mentioned to a friend that I needed help establishing brand presence and we got referred to SociallyIn. We researched other companies, including SociallyIn, to make sure they were legitimate. There’s a lot of strength knowing that a friend trusted SociallyIn.

How much have you invested with them?

So far we’ve spent around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started around December 2016 and it’s still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been really impressed with their work so far. Overall, our online sales have been really good. We have also had a good click-through conversion rate from customers that are on our site. Additionally, we have also been getting a lot of wholesale leads. I really think that has a lot to do with us partnering with SociallyIn.

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

They have been awesome. They were very clear on what they were going to do and why it matters to us as a company. Our communication is mostly through e-mail and in some cases in-person. Initially, communication was a lot more intensive. Now as the project progresses, SociallyIn just check-in to make sure that we’re still happy. And, we are.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their energy and enthusiasm shows when they are working. That was really important for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re pretty on point with communication. They do what they say they’re going to do and the results speak for themselves. I’m happy with their services.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a restaurant management company, Patel Restaurant Group. I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

We were challenged by a digital presence and trying to improve our social media outreach, among other digital advertising challenges we were faceing. So we were really having this issue with setting up a good connection between us and the consumer, which is why we brought in SociallyIn. We needed a social strategy and management system for our restaurant.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Keith (SociallyIn CEO) recommended setting up an online presence from the get go. We created a digital presence with Facebook and LinkedIn. We worked on a strategy to connect with more fans on social media sites. This included the use of geo-targeted ads to help us grow our base. They also helped with the application process – allowing potential employees to apply to our restaurants online as opposed to getting a paper application from a brick and mortar location. In addition, they set up a respective website for each restaurant and coordinating the social for each site. They create collaborative content which goes up on our site, based on my restaurants interests. I am consulted throughout this process. There was some SEO work as well.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

We had a first initial phone call. Because I was very conveniently located near their office, I met with them and brainstormed ideas. They picked at my brain and got a pretty good idea of what I wanted without me talking a lot. They're  sharp individuals.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement is ongoing

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very pleased with our return on investment with SociallyIn. They streamlined our social media. It was outdated, and they brought our team up to speed. And they have increased my likes and my overall engagement with the local community. I'm very pleased overall.

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

Extremely well. They're busy, but they're always on top of their work. We used Skype, Facetime, and talked on the phone. We have weekly meetings in terms of budgets and strategies.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re just hungry individuals. They bring something to the table that these older companies don’t. These guys are low-key, they have slim overhead and they put all their heart into every vendor for every project that they get. And I would definitely recommend them to another company like mine.
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of True Beard. We offer all-natural beard products online and also sell beard shampoo and conditioner. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

The beard market is very wide and relatively unknown. People don’t know a lot about how to groom beards. We wanted to maximize our reach to get people to not only know about us but to learn more about beard grooming. I didn’t have a background in social media and website development, so we needed help with both. This was the first time we were working with an outside provider.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SociallyIn helped us with our branding, website, and social media. They created the website from scratch, designing and developing both the frontend and backend. One thing I didn’t understand that they really helped with was the coloring of a website.

I wrote some of the content on the site, but their team looked over it and made changes and suggestions. They also helped us choose what direction to go with for our marketing. They developed our Instagram and Facebook platforms, which we did not have before. They now provide site maintenance. They do work on our blog posts and give us ideas of new content to post.

What is the team dynamic? 

The owners were my age and we were able to talk on the same level. They were laid back and not so business like. We got business done, but it was in a fun way. I love the fact that they’re a small agency, but they can handle big projects. I was able to work with the owners, which felt very personalized.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

I was searching for a marketing company to help me with this new business venture, and a mutual acquaintance introduced me to them. I didn’t know how it would be to work with an agency like this, but they made it easy. 

How much have you invested with them?

I spent $50,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The company is new, so we don’t have any metrics. We do track the traffic to our website, but I don’t have anything to compare it to since we didn’t have a website before. Their work has been fast and efficient. The quality has been great. People really like the site’s colors. It relates to the brand message we’re trying to get out. In this regard, SociallyIn made the website more pleasing to the eye and helped drive more customers to it. 

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

I haven’t had any issues with communication. They are a growing company themselves. Throughout the process, there have been situations that came up where we’ve slowed down, but it wasn’t anything major. When those issues came up, they communicated with me quickly and we were able to come up with a solution. They aren’t too far away from me so we’ve had some in-person meetings. We also communicate by phone and email. They make themselves available to me 24/7. We communicate as needed now that we have things in place. During development, we talked every day and they taught me some things and showed me things they’ve done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The fact that they are a small agency but they’re able to handle a large amount of work is amazing. Some of the things they’ve talked about with me some of the bigger agencies didn’t even know things about. They provide exceptional work. 

They’re young and very good at what they do. They have a lot of knowledge and are passionate. That was a good thing for me. I wanted to work with someone that took my business seriously and would get me where I wanted to be.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on communication and time management. Even though they’re available to me all the time, sometimes things can get miscommunicated because of the way we’re communicating.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We manufacture and sell wall-art pieces. I am a manager of the business and work closely with the co-founders. I also have a small share in the company. I work out of Sofia, Bulgaria, but the business is based in Seattle, Washington. We have a 3-person management team and use 4 different contractors from around the world. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

We had almost no social media presence and wanted to use this channel to direct traffic to our page.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an initial 3- to 4-week preparation period during which SociallyIn studied our business, investigated our presence, and created a custom strategy. We shipped a couple of our products to them in order to give them a clearer idea of our brand. We were very happy with their work.

SociallyIn was a professional team and maintained constant contact with us over Skype and Google Hangouts. They addressed all of our concerns and questions immediately and proposed strategic guidelines based on our goals. They didn’t just sell us a premade approach that they only tweaked for different clients. SociallyIn put together a unique strategy and took their time to get it right.

Because our product is visual, we decided to focus on pictures and customer reviews on Facebook and Pinterest. SociallyIn started building our brand presence there, posting for us and creating custom work. We did have a Facebook page, but they basically started working from scratch.

SociallyIn recommended some changes on our site, but we postponed this part in favor of other tasks. Their ideas were great, though.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

We were looking for the best company on the market for our price range. We googled options, contacted them, and had a few back-and-forth conversations. I don’t remember where I found SociallyIn, but they were advertised as a leading US social media marketing [SMM] company. They had a top-10 ranking on a website as well as nice reviews. Once I decided to contact them, I was pleasantly surprised to hear back from the owner of the company instead of a representative. We exchanged a few emails about what I wanted, and our management decided to start working with SociallyIn based on our positive personal connection with their team.

They did not advertise their services excessively on the call. Instead, they listened to us and offered solutions. They suggested starting with a 3-week trial period during which they’d build a custom strategy for our company. Their communication was outstanding compared to the other companies we contacted, which advertised themselves from the start of the call.

How much have you invested with SociallyIn?

I don’t have this information.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SociallyIn in December 2016. Our team made an internal business decision to focus on a different goal, which is why we’ve stopped working with SociallyIn. The collaboration ended in March 2017. We no longer maintain our Facebook or Pinterest pages. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For a couple of months, we increased the traffic coming from social media to our website. I’m not sure how great the conversion rate was since the website didn’t allow us to set up tracking components. I couldn’t say how much the traffic affected us revenue-wise, but we noticed an increase.

If we move on with this social media project in the future, we will ask SociallyIn for help. I am 100% confident that they can do SMM better than us or any other company.

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

After signing the agreement with SociallyIn, we had 3–5 calls on different topics. They created new material constantly, submitted it for our approval, and asked additional questions. Because we are based in Bulgaria, there is a 7- to 8-hour difference between our teams. When we sent them messages over email, Facebook, or Skype, we received replies during business hours—or even afterward—within 30–60 minutes of our initial contact. I give them 5 stars on all counts.

What did you find most impressive about SociallyIn?

They are great professionals with a personal touch. The team we worked with seemed happy about their work. There was no tension in the air. The atmosphere was great.

Are there any areas SociallyIn could improve?

No, we’re very happy with them. I’m sad we’ve had to switch to a different project. We stopped looking for other social media companies after we found them. I want to work with SociallyIn in the future and will contact them in the upcoming weeks. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a landscape designer and estimator for SGK Landscapes, which is a full-service design and build firm based in Starkville, Mississippi.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

We had hit a wall and had never done any advertising on a larger scale. The ultimate goal was to expand our marketing and territory. With this in mind, we had to have a partner who was rounded enough to take us to that level. We felt that SociallyIn would be a good fit since both our companies were maturing at the time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SociallyIn had never worked with a landscaping company before, and we had never worked with an advertising firm, so we initially tried to elaborate how we could project the service through our different platforms. We decided on what was important to us, and what SociallyIn could deliver. They laid out a platform which extended over social media, Google Ad Words, and other channels. We compiled a list of the ones we thought we could reach, and they, over the span of a year, used those different channels. We narrowed them down to the ones we considered would hit the most people and get us the most bang for our buck.

They created advertising models for us for Facebook and Instagram, allowing us to target certain audiences in our prime market. In looking at who our target customer was, we adjusted a number of parameters and metrics on Facebook based on who was following and commenting on our profile, and what their regional dynamics were (including general spending and dollar value of household incomes).

In the beginning, we had a shotgun approach and took everyone in mind. We started to use the rifle approach later, zeroing in on customers who we knew would be interested in landscaping. We started separating the men from the women and started targeting more towards women, who had the most interest in our services. Facebook allowed us to target precisely the customers we wanted to reach, which in turn, helped us at the qualification level and with keeping out the things we were less interested in. The same went for our Instagram, which none of us had used before.

Over the course of a year, SociallyIn drove our keyword effort, compiling list after list of trending searches and looking at different platforms and the hashtags which led clients to landscape, design, and maintenance photos. Once they started doing this, the traffic on our website went up, which had been revamped before the start of the project. The overall goal was to funnel all our traffic to it and monitor everything happening with our keyword searches.

The initial intention was to advertise with SociallyIn and see what they would have to offer, but we didn’t have the right website for bringing our traffic to a comfortable place. It was a usable site, but not one which would be able to collect data and show the matrices around where our customers were coming from and where the target market was. SociallyIn redesigned our site, launched it, and not only did they create advertising campaigns, they took them to the next level. They took us out of our comfort zone and allowed us to show people a different side of the business, giving us a culture with which people in our community could relate.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

We went through an interview process with 3 separate advertising firms. SociallyIn not only had a portfolio of artistic work for billboards and website design, but they could also turn our Facebook into an advertising tool tailored to our market. SociallyIn could offer us a broad spectrum of what we needed and where we wanted to be in the future, which gave us an idea of an internal plan that would allow our organization to be on the same page.

How much have you invested with SociallyIn?

The cost of their work has been between $15,000–$25,000 on a yearly basis.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SociallyIn in December 2015. The collaboration is ongoing indefinitely.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Given the fact that we’re only in the second year of our campaign with SociallyIn, I’m not comfortable with attributing dollar values or other metrics to their work. It will take us 3–4 years in order to really say what’s coming in. Rather than dollars and cents, SociallyIn has sent us profitable, well-rounded customers and allowed us to weed out the ones which wouldn’t be qualified.

Our traffic is double if not triple of what it was previously, and it’s a more consistent flow of traffic rather than just seasonal. We always see clients tapering off during really hot and really cold periods, but I would venture to say that, through our sales process, advertising, and campaigns, everything has been remaining steady, which has helped our company goals in the long term.

When we were ready to hire SociallyIn and were seeking advertising partners, we were in the process of opening a satellite office in Tupelo, Mississippi. We were looking to expand our company, and the most important thing was branding. Thanks to SociallyIn’s work, we have become the premier landscape company within The Golden Triangle, which is our regional area; we have also been chipping away at the Tupelo market, which is a tight-knit one. People know the name, even though they may not know all the services we offer. SociallyIn has hit the nail on the head in this regard.

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

We were assigned a dedicated project manager and were entered into Basecamp. I have been the main contact, along with our account manager. From a communication standpoint, everything has been clear. It’s easy to send SociallyIn photos and discuss our approach for social media and other channels.

We try to be proactive with SociallyIn and give them an outline of how our industry and landscape work throughout the year, with seasonal changes, so that they can be on top of what they need from a maintenance and construction standpoint, addressing what we need to offer at that time. From a project management perspective, I’ve never had an issue with timelines, nor have I seen a lack of follow-through.

Because of the nature of our workload, we receive monthly reporting through email for Facebook, Instagram, and any other advertising spectrum we’re engaging in. For any major changes relating to expense and direction, we have a phone call with SociallyIn’s team and have a brief 10–15-minute discussion. We also have quarterly office meetings, going over what we are seeing, where we want to be, and if SociallyIn is headed in the right direction.

What did you find most impressive about SociallyIn?

The team is very young — they have fresh minds and aren’t afraid to go out of the box. Looking at the advertising world, most people are like this, but for our location specifically, there is a lot of old thinking and a traditional way of doing things. I think that SociallyIn offers enough out-of-the-box ideas, which allows us to take different approaches compared to everyone else. We need to be different because this is how people hear about us and see us.

Are there any areas SociallyIn could improve?

They have had some growing pains but we went through the same thing in terms of expanding and defining roles and processes. More structure would be welcomed, but this comes with maturity. They’re finding out who needs to be put in the right role, and how things need to be followed up on. We haven’t had any bad experiences per se, but there is a need to know who needs to take control and when, and staying strict to timelines.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the sales manager at Mattress Store & More. We currently sell mattresses and furniture to the public.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

Initially, we were having trouble getting our name out there. We didn't have much of a social media background, and we were only doing the traditional advertising — radio, TV, and billboards. That effort wasn’t gaining us the customer base that we needed. After getting involved with SociallyIn, we almost immediately started seeing a lot of communication with our customer base, and we’ve been doing great ever since.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

One big thing that SociallyIn can do, which takes the stress off of our minds, is they reach out to different counties that surround our city. We were able to reach a broad group of people without doing too much work. SociallyIn came in, with their photographers, get photos with the right angles, create the videos that we don't have time to do, they upload all of it to our website. They also take care of our website along with our Facebook page. The group of people that we want to target is active on social media. Students and middle-aged couples are really active on Facebook, and we get a good reaction from them.

SociallyIn puts out posts that are approved by us. They have a graphic designer that has been doing great. They’re not used to retailing mattresses, so we do give them a lot of feedback, but other than that, they are awesome at communicating with us. Every week we come up with a few posts for social media, but most of the time we do a meeting via email and we meet once a month about the content that we want on our page.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

My district manager approached SociallyIn. I think he found them through a different company that SociallyIn has been advertising. To be honest, I've only been working for this particular company for about one year. It’s a sister company to a different store, and I've been working with the overall store for about 4 years.

How much have you invested with SociallyIn?

We invest around $1,500 a month with SociallyIn.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started working with SociallyIn in November 2016, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before we hired SociallyIn, we had around 89 Facebook followers, and with SociallyIn’s help, we should be reaching the 2,500 mark. I haven't had many people compliment the website, but they have come in and said, “Hey, I noticed your Facebook post.” That has been really good for our company and SociallyIn because they’re posting more often and with more details. So, we’ve really been getting a lot of feedback from people saying, “I’ve seen your posts.” Before it was just, “I’ve never seen your billboards, your commercials,” etc.

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

SociallyIn performs awesomely from a project management standpoint. We currently have realized that we need to meet personally with their team to go over some things. They definitely have a great workspace, and they do a lot of teamwork. I think SociallyIn has a really good sense of work ethic.

We’ve recently been doing a lot better with communication because we are starting to have in-person meetings a lot more. Before we were missing some things when we were doing email, but that’s what’s going to happen when we go over so much content. You can't express as much through email. SociallyIn does an awesome job face-to-face.

What did you find most impressive about SociallyIn?

SociallyIn’s team is fairly young. I don't think they have anyone over 30 years. They have a young, go-getter type of atmosphere. They come to our store a lot, and their photography is awesome. I think that’s a good quality to have in a company that is in advertising.

Are there any areas SociallyIn could improve?

I think it would be good if there were more face-to-face communication. Our communication was lacking, which wasn’t good because we’re going over a lot of content. But since we’ve corrected some things, our face-to-face communication has been great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a company that sells interior doors for home and commercial use. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

We’re a startup company, and we needed a professional logo and a website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They recommended everything to us for building and hosting the website, which is on WordPress. They did all of the technical work to build the site. I provided most of the content, although they did offer some ideas. Our business deals with professional contractors, so the website was designed with them in mind. We didn’t need a lot of detail on the site; we just wanted to show what we offered. We wanted to keep it simple but encourage contractors to contact our sales team for further information.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

My husband had attended a seminar with various vendors, including SociallyIn. He was impressed with one of the owners, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with SociallyIn?

It was $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in July of 2016, and the work was completed in February of 2017. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t really pushed the website yet. I just gave it out for the first time this week, and I haven’t received any feedback.

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they performed well, except when we got to the website development part. I don’t feel that we were a team on that end. The branding and logo creating were excellent. I got quick feedback on that phase, but it seemed like the project stalled on the website phase. There was a lack of communication and periods of time when nothing was being done. The developer said they were waiting on information from me, but I had sent it over two months before.

We worked with a different team member when it came to the web design, and maybe our personalities didn’t click. We’re almost three hours away from their office, and we did visit a couple of times, but those meetings weren’t productive.

What did you find most impressive about SociallyIn?

They’re creative and have a very bright team. For the most part, they were responsive to my needs.

Are there any areas SociallyIn could improve?

When they have meetings with their customer, they should be more constructive. Some things that SociallyIn said they had to see us for really could have been done online. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company does aircraft after-market component support for a lot of airlines, OEMs [original equipment manufacturers], and MRO [maintenance, repair, and overhaul] providers in the aviation industry. I’m an assistant vice president of the company. We started in the early 90s and now have a worldwide customer base. Over the past 20 years, we’ve done a lot of aircraft assembly that supports both Boeing and Airbus. The company is based in the US. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

We wanted to expand our presence in the business space and the community using social media platforms. Our goal is to increase our customer base. We were on social media platforms already but we were not getting the results we wanted.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were more involved in the sense of taking the identity of OEM and putting our company out on the social platforms. SociallyIn helped showcase our capabilities and the customer service level we provide. They came on site and talked with our team, took pictures and videos, and shared them on different platforms through organic or paid advertising. The platforms they helped us with were Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. They were also very good when it comes to service offerings, especially with some of the products and services that we offer. It was a collaborative effort in terms of the content put on the platforms. They made suggestions on the best way to market our services. We relied on their expertise to determine the best timing for marketing any of our posts or services that we wanted to feature.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

Our CEO found them and brought them in to see what they could offer. He asked about the creative abilities they had to offer our company for our marketing and PR media relations.

How much have you invested with SociallyIn?

This is confidential. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done a good job of expanding our reach in the community, the US, and the world. They helped us establish a brand presence and expand that. We’ve seen a massive surge of well beyond 100% on all the platforms. If users have questions, SociallyIn makes sure those are answered. They’d done a good job of making sure people know who we are.

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

I work with a team of 4 on a daily basis. Their responsiveness is one of the reasons we like working with them. We communicate by phone and email. They come to our office periodically for larger projects or when we’re talking about KPIs.

What did you find most impressive about SociallyIn?

I love the fact that they’re young and they bring a lot of good ideas to the table. The fact that they’re very responsive and adaptive to our requirements is very important to us.

Are there any areas SociallyIn could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Jubilations is a wholesale bakery specializing in cheesecakes. We built a new facility with a gourmet coffee house in the front. The coffee house itself is larger than a typical Starbucks and has a big viewing window through which our bakery’s operations can be observed.

What is your position?

I am the owner of Jubilations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

I was ready to take my website to another level. In doing so, I also wanted to establish a social media presence and have it tie into the site.

We focus on business gifts for our gourmet goods, which is where the social media effort comes into play. It’s important for the coffee house as well.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They redesigned our website and provided social media marketing. We’ve had meetings about brand discovery with experts they offer in this field.

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

We’re located in West Point, Mississippi, 25 miles from Mississippi State University. I’m a board member of a couple of groups there, where I saw some presentations that SociallyIn made to alumni groups. We started a conversation after that.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Our budget varies from $100 to $2,000 per month. The reason for this is that part of their work is commission-based.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2012 for minor projects. We picked up the work after a dormant period in 2015, going into full swing. When we first approached them, SociallyIn was a new company and were limited in terms of what they could offer. They’ve now matured and have more capabilities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Since they started working on our Facebook page, we’ve gone from less than 2,000 likes to close to 6,000. SociallyIn helped us create a second Facebook page for our coffee house. We initiated a five-stage social media campaign at the end of December that received around 25,000 responses. The high interest shown was a complete surprise to me. SociallyIn are experts in social media. What they’re doing works for us.

How did SociallyIn perform from a project management standpoint?

The quality of their work has been very good. When there’s an issue with the outcome, it will typically be a product of communication and not of skill. The people at SociallyIn are very skilled at what they do. I am impressed in this regard.

Is there anything SociallyIn could have improved or done differently?

We should have more face-to-face communication. I’m 59 years old, and one of the reasons I’m using SociallyIn’s services is that they’re young enough to be my grandchildren. I need the advantage of youth in order to understand social media. That generation is far more savvy and comfortable with using electronic communication rather than using a telephone or talking face-to-face. I find this to be a problem within the industry as a whole. I know that SociallyIn will listen to my needs in the end.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Henson Metal Works is a licensed manufacturer of home and garden accessories with collegiate logos.

What is your role at the company?

I am the president and owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SociallyIn?

We needed help with social media marketing support, cost-effective photography, and general marketing efforts.

What were your company's business goals for the project?

We wanted to be able to accomplish these following goals:

• develop a targeted social media advertising plan
• track and measure ROI [return on investment]
• general marketing support (presentations, trade show support, graphic design, and product development support)
• product photography support
• test program for retail expansion and exposure

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Their involvement was to: 

• develop social media plan with deliverables
• cost-effective photography
• confirm effectiveness of retail expansion without boots on the ground

How did you come to work with SociallyIn?

We found them through a referral.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I was approximately $4,000 to $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is still currently ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

SociallyIn performed well overall. The photography process turned out excellent. The retail expansion test and social media initiative are currently in progress.

What distinguishes SociallyIn from other providers?

They are focused at accomplishing certain goals and center on specific targets when launching initiatives. SociallyIn also executes their projects on time and within budget.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

The only thing would be to provide more explanations and definitions of graphic and social media marketing terms.