SoMe Connect

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for Hello Delicious.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

Social media wasn’t set up in our company and we didn’t have anyone on staff working on it. I didn’t want to take on someone full-time, but needed someone to work on social, analytics, paid media, and geo-targeting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, they established our social media pages and handles. They looked at our website, our portfolio, and where we were in the marketplace. From there, we decided how we wanted to present ourselves, with regards to the type of imagery, posts, and content. We then took it a step further on how we can do it via analytics and via geotargeting.

They tested some things like hashtags to determine which were good and which were too diluted. They’d A/B test images to see how they trend with consumers and then produced some user-generated content. They also do social advertising and decide how to push our Facebook followers to our website and Amazon. They help me create general AdSpends to increase our followers, our interactions, and public Facebook posts.

They’re a full-service agency. They do all of our photography and any type of video. They help us with our Amazon platform and have just started doing the script in the backend of the website. In the future, they will update my website images and some other ongoing things. Once all my products have launched, they will also do a complete website refresh for me.

What is the team composition?

There’s the two owners, an account representative, someone who works on the backend of our website, and another who works on the backend of Amazon.

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

They had already pitched to our owners and done some things with people in our company before I came on. I vetted three social media agencies and four companies for website. I also had three others I vetted for digital AdSpends or digital ad agency, which included Amazon.

I found SoMe Connect to be the right fit for us because of their team, what they do, and their owners. I knew they would be a one stop shop for me.

How much have you invested with them?

The work costs $8,000–$10,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had an increase in our Amazon sales by 20%. Our conversion rate is down to $1.40 an ad and we’re getting interactions from it. It’s so hard to say how many because I don’t have anything to compare it to since we’ve never done social media before. It is increasing sales.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re doing great—they’re always honest and on point. They do whatever we ask them to and always have good suggestions. They’re not like an agency trying to sell me on something or arguing with me on things. I’ve fired two social media agencies in my past that couldn’t post anything and had interns working on my stuff. It was awful. I’ve had none of that experience with SoMe Connect.

I have a weekly call with them and I can reach out to them anytime. If I need something, they’re always responsive. The level of contact depends on the project we’re working on. We communicate through email, Skype, and WebEx meetings. We go through their tools and their functions and what they have going on. Every month, we have a monthly recap.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The owners are super young and nimble, working with all size companies. It’s hard finding an agency that will go above and beyond for you. SoMe Connect definitely does. They have a creative edge and they’ll do everything, even if you have no direction. If you do have a direction for them, they’re really good about taking it and enhancing it. They’ll do anything you’ll ask.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’ve done everything I’ve asked them to and haven’t dropped the ball on me yet.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re going to work with them, know what you want. Don’t go in there and waste their time. If you’re not sure which way you want to spend your money, have a grasp of what you’re doing and what you want to do. You should vet several agencies because a lot of can talk a big game and then be terrible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a Chicago-based PR agency that represents The Gettys Group, which is a hospitality, interior design, and branding-and-procurement agency. They work with different hotels and restaurants across the globe, with offices in Chicago, Miami, and cities in Asia, just to name a few.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

We needed to make our website more user-friendly and implement different ways of increasing its SEO. The website had been recently relaunched by another designer. The team at The Gettys Group attends quite a few conferences around the world, and we wanted to make sure that we were connecting with the right people at those conferences, and that we were getting out some digital marketing collateral which engaged and reached our audiences.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In terms of SEO, SoMe Connect brought our rankings to the number one position on quite a few different categories, including hospitality and interior design. We saw that increase within just a few months. There was a lot of advice and direction from their end, in terms of our website, as well as backlinking and anything else related to SEO. SoMe Connect jumped in and produced results immediately.

There are different departments within The Gettys Group, including procurement, branding, and design. SoMe Connect provided insight into how we could make these different skillsets cohabitate on the website, so that there would be no confusion for the users who browsed through our projects and services. SoMe Connect made our content more seamless and user-friendly. Our website traffic increased quite a bit as a result. People also stayed on our site longer.

SoMe Connect also helped us with the development, distribution, and follow-up of our email marketing. They made sure we were targeting the right people at conferences, had the right timing for sending initial emails, and increased our clickthrough rates since the start of the collaboration, as well as the overall engagement with potential clients and industry peers.

SoMe Connect created digital graphics and email templates for our campaigns. When I left the company, their team was also working on an internal newsletter. There were a few other reoccurring campaigns which were not specific to any one conference, but simply gave our clients and peers updates on what was going on, without inundating them.

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

I heard about SoMe Connect through one of our events. Aalap Shah was being honored by a Chicago magazine which was focusing on trailblazers in that area, either in their respective industries or within the community in general. He was specifically being honored for his work with SoMe Connect, as well as for his philanthropic work. That was where I first heard about SoMe Connect, and, after seeing some of their case studies on local and national clients, as well as meeting with the team, the company seemed like the best fit for us. They were thorough and strategic in their direction. We could tell that they were passionate about what they did.

How much have you invested with SoMe Connect?

We had a monthly retainer with SoMe Connect. I don’t have exact numbers, but, based on the pricing I have seen, I know that they’ve been flexible with our company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SoMe Connect in the fall of 2016. The company is still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Internally, the members who attended those conferences mentioned that they were making more on-site connections due to the email marketing and communication handled by SoMe Connect on our behalf. We had more opportunities for new business and were able to stay in touch with clients, potential clients and members of the media much easier.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

Their reporting was always extremely thorough, SoMe Connect jumped on weekly calls and in-person meetings with us, and were always available, no matter what, either in-person or via email or phone. The reporting, even though thorough, didn’t go over the heads of people with no understanding of SEO. SoMe Connect made everything easy to understand. When things changed on our end, they remained nimble and able to adapt to what’s going on internally with us. Because they’re so involved with us, it was like having another member of the team, rather than outsourcing an agency.

What did you find most impressive about SoMe Connect?

Their client services, availability, nimbleness, and thoroughness are all fantastic. SoMe Connect also has the ability to turn around work quickly, and produce results. They’re not the type of agency which only produces results six months later. It all starts much sooner with SoMe Connect.

Are there any areas SoMe Connect could improve?

I honestly don’t have anything to report, at least not from my own work with SoMe Connect.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a web development, digital marketing and SEO company. I am the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

One of our clients needed pay-per-click advertising services, which is not my specialty. They were a shipping company which ran very large numbers, as far as PPC goes, and needed to convert better, increasing leads and decreasing customer cost-per-acquisition.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’ve worked with SoMe Connect on several projects in the past. For this particular company, the biggest scope of work was paid advertising. We didn’t undergo any SEO or social media advertising.

SoMe Connect has provided content marketing for me in the past, but with this client, most of the creative was limited to paid advertising, ad copy, and so on.

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

I was referred to SoMe Connect quite some time ago. They always did a great job on our projects, so I continued the collaboration.

How much have you invested with SoMe Connect?

The cost of SoMe Connect’s work has been around $25,000 overall.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with SoMe Connect in early 2016. The project was wrapped up in August or September of that year. It had good results, and the client ended up taking it inhouse.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client’s leads went up by 350%, and the cost-per-acquisition was cut in half. Their biggest problem was that they were buying leads from third-party distributors, which is common for shipping companies. The close ratio in those cases is very low, so, after working with someone who can run paid advertising and bring in customers directly, at the end of the day, the cost per actual acquisition will be cut in half. This is what happened for our client.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

One of the main things I’ve appreciated about SoMe Connect was their project management skills. We never had an issue with meeting deadlines. Everything was always done on time, and I can’t think of any issues.

What did you find most impressive about SoMe Connect?

They’re actually nice, fun people to work with, which can be pretty hard to find. It can be tough to work on large projects with a team that has an unpleasant project manager, or that has poor communication. I never experienced this with SoMe Connect. It was my favorite thing about working with them, besides the fact that we delivered good numbers, and made the client happy.

Are there any areas SoMe Connect could improve?

No. This particular project went very well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of NOTICE. We are a marketing company.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

I needed to find a partner for B2B marketing, specifically around search engine marketing, email, and website work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with SoMe Connect on multiple projects. They’ve optimized our website to ensure we come up high in organic search rankings. They’ve worked on ads for us that change depending on what page people visit when they come to our site. They’ve built new landing pages and ways for people to provide leads to the company. They’ve also given us ideas and executions around email marketing.

SoMe has also managed our Google Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign. They manage our digital PR, making sure we’re in various media, so we can get links back to our website and rank higher. We target reputable business publications within our niche. They also create and manage posts for social media.

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

We were introduced through a business partner of mine, who was also their client.

How much have you invested with SoMe Connect?

We’ve spent more than $100,000 over the last few years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2015, and the work is ongoing. We still talk almost every day.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gotten many more inbound leads as a result of their work and 30–40% more qualified traffic to our site through organic searches. In B2B, it’s always a long sales cycle, so I think a lot of it has to do with the nurturing opportunities. We’ve had more success this year than ever before.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. We have 1 person who handles the operational component of it, who does a great job.

What did you find most impressive about SoMe Connect?

They genuinely care and take the time to understand our needs. You don’t find that often these days.

Are there any areas SoMe Connect could improve?

No. We started small, and then grew based on success. There’s nothing I can complain about. When you build off measurable success, you can’t argue with it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The company is ADMCi School for Digital Craftsmanship. It offers design education and cross-training for business people and technologists in user-centered design.

What is your position?

I am the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

The education market is extremely crowded and noisy. We wanted to engage with SoMe to help cut through that noise, where people who are looking to broaden their career opportunities could find a chance to get the right education, as opposed to where a lot of other education groups are helping people change careers or get into a career. So our message was a little more subtle, and difficult to cut through the market.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

SoMe Connect provided business acquisition services. We engaged with them for landing page development, SEO [search engine optimization] strategy, direct marketing, and event strategy. We worked with them to formulate plans across those four channels to make them work together. For instance, we would have local meet-ups or other types of events that were driven by various forms of outreach, and either outreach or events would then drive people to a landing page sign-up activity, and that would turn into either sign-up for our education program or for a taste test with the education program.

They also did pay-per-click for us, but only in very niche ways, which actually was way better for us because, again, the noise and crowd in that market make for most of the keyword buys to be unnecessarily expensive. We were able to find strategies for messages that would reach, for instance, a project manager who would want to have the language of design but not necessarily become the designer, and that was incredibly effective for us.

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

It was a personal recommendation.

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

For that particular event, it was $10,000 to $50,000. It was the high end of that range.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work is completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

SoMe Connect took our cost-per-click down by 90% in most cases for qualified leads. They increased our qualified lead pipeline by 50%.

The other things would be in the ad-buy area, but that was probably more atypical just in that we were able to purchase keywords that were very much off the reservation but extremely affordable compared to the keywords that we had been buying or considering buying.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

SoMe performed extremely well. They have a project management process and kept us on track by way of weekly meetings. During the weekly meetings, the project manager would defer to the subject matter expert, depending on the topic, which I found very useful in that we didn’t have somebody being an intermediary. Communication was extremely efficient and effective.

What distinguishes SoMe Connect from other providers?

Honestly, it’s the joy for the work. Aalap is a wonderful person and loves what he does, and that shines through in all the people that work with SoMe. They love what they’re doing and genuinely enjoy working with each other. That creates a lot of lightness and enjoyable meetings and communication.

Is there anything SoMe Connect could have improved or done differently?

No, not for that project. I think they’re a growing company, and they’ll be able to take on greater scale. They were the absolute right scale for us at the time, so there’s nothing that we would change about that experience with our project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Pinstripes is a dining entertainment venue, where we host anything from weddings, corporate events, and off-site catering as well as everyday happy hour in our restaurant side of the business. We have bowling and bocce as well.

What is your position?

I am the marketing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

Everything in the digital realm was very new to most of our leadership team, so we need a partner to guide us. We knew we needed to be playing in this game, and SoMe helped us to understand what we needed to do to get the results we wanted. More specifically, we were looking for ways to grow our private events in general, the bread and butter of our business, through online lead generation.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

SoMe mainly provided SEO [search engine optimization] work. They reworked a lot of the content on our website. We had very little text on our website prior, so we did a lot of SEO work with them to focus on the types of searches we wanted to show up for. They also did some PPC [pay-per-click] campaigns for us. We did some Google search campaigns and retargeting campaigns focused primarily on events.

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

We met many agencies before choosing a partner.  We found that SoMe Connect was patient with us.

They were willing to understand our business and help us take what we wanted to achieve and break that down into a strategy plan that would help us achieve our goals. We chose them and have enjoyed working with them because of their dedication to help us understand what we were doing.

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

The project has cost around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is finished. We have just finished a website redesign, so we're looking to work with them again soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

In the past six months, since SoMe completed the SEO work, we've seen a 200% uplift in just in the number of leads that we've been able to generate organically on our website. Our event bookings were up at least 20% as well.

In terms of SEO work, I know we were ranked for five or six words prior to working them, and I know we rank for 5,000-plus keywords that we are targeting.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

They are awesome. SoMe is very responsive, and we always know what they are working on and where they are with it.

What distinguishes SoMe Connect from other providers?

SoMe went far and above any agency I have worked with. They were ready to stop by whenever our owner needed clarification or wanted to meet face to face with them. They were happy to jump on calls and discuss things at weird hours being in the hospitality business. Not everyone in our company understands the 9 to 5. They were always willing to do what it took to make our team feel at ease and help us understand that if you did need to do something last minute, they were always very responsive and on the ball with that.

Is there anything SoMe Connect could have improved or done differently?

I don't think so. I've worked with other agencies in the past, and I have loved working with SoMe, everyone on their team. It's been a very smooth process, and we've been excited with the results we've seen. too.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a strategic communications firm based in Chicago. We help clients of a broad range of sizes, with all forms of strategic communications matters, anything from proactive ongoing positioning in the market to issues in crisis management, employee and change communications, labor communications and beyond.

What is your position?

I’m the Senior Vice President of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

We needed to develop a website to have it ready for a client that was facing a particular challenge, which was highly sensitive in nature. We needed to have everything on the backend ready to go.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

SoMe Connect worked directly on creating the whole website, both the front end and the back end. I can say that the quality of the design was excellent. I don't want to get into the specifics of the client because it's very sensitive, but there was a certain nuance to how the issue and the client needed to be represented. They got up to speed on that very quickly, and were able to turn around a website that really hit the mark in terms of functionality and design.

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

We found them through networking and word of mouth.

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

I cost between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

It's still ongoing and still pretty sensitive, so not at this time, but we're all very happy with the work at this stage.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

SoMe Connect’s project management is one of the best of any digital or design firm I've worked with, and I've worked with a lot of them here in Chicago.

What distinguishes SoMe Connect from other providers?

The SoMe Connect team is very communicative on deadlines and expectations, and they're very collaborative, more so than other shops I've worked with, which I've really appreciated. It really does feel like we're one unified team working together on this project.

I would say the quality of the work is excellent. They meet all deadlines. The attention to detail is excellent as well. When we give feedback, it's always implemented and there's a good healthy exchange of ideas. There isn't a lot of pushback, which is great, which hasn't always been my experience quite honestly. The client service and the project management has really been superb.

Is there anything SoMe Connect could have improved or done differently?

Not that I can think of at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a multi-franchise company doing business in the mobile video game arena. We do bubble soccer, laser tag, and have mobile video game theaters.

What is your position?

I am the president of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

We were looking to increase leads by increasing our online presence. We partnered with SoMe to help us with that.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They've done a lot of SEO [search engine optimization] and paid online advertisement work, especially with Facebook ads and Google ads. 

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

They were referred to us by another company. They've been very good to work with and are very reputable.

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

The cost of the project is between $10,000 and $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The main result that we've gotten from this project is a 250 percent increase in online traffic.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

SoMe Connect has been very good about communicating and being responsive. We have a working meeting with them every other week where we go through updates.

What distinguishes SoMe Connect from other providers?

SoMe's attitude and their level of service have been outstanding. 

Is there anything SoMe Connect could have improved or done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is a restaurant brand called BIN 36.

What is your position?

I'm the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SoMe Connect?

We were looking to increase our online presence, especially through social media. That's why we partnered with SoMe Connect.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

SoMe Connect has provided a wide range of services, including SEO [search engine optimization], content marketing, social media marketing, and direct marketing for our company. They also helped set up our online marketplace and made significant improvements in terms of our ability to market our business online.

How did you come to work with SoMe Connect?

I found them through a professional business contact. I met the founder, Aalap Shah, and really felt like he took the time to understand my business and what would make a real difference in terms of how they could contribute to helping us with our needs. It was a good fit for our company.

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

The cost of the project has been between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

SoMe Connect's work has increased traffic to our website and revenue.

How did SoMe Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

SoMe Connect was excellent across the board. They were very strong in terms of communication with management and very strategic in terms of their ability to look at business problems and communicate them thoughtfully to management.

What distinguishes SoMe Connect from other providers?

SoMe Connect did a very good job taking the time to understand our business and then think about how they could add value within our market cycling and really think strategically about how they could help us.

Is there anything SoMe Connect could have improved or done differently?

No. I was very satisfied.