Straight North

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of marketing at a software medical device manufacturer that develops pre-operative planning solutions for orthopedic surgeons.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

One of our in-house engineers had developed a website a few years prior, but we weren't getting any traction or new leads with the site. We wanted to use the website to showcase our products in a professional way to improve our lead generation. Coincidently, around the time we wanted to update our site, we launched a new product and thought it was the perfect time to try a new online marketing strategy with it. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North designed and developed a new website for us from scratch. We requested that the design be more user-focused to help users identify the products they could use and guide them down a path towards a demo request. We provided use cases and user stories to appeal to our core audience: surgeons, surgical staff, and implementing facilities. 

They also helped us create site content to improve our SEO using keywords we provided that focused on orthopedic surgeons. I also sent them our competitors' sites to see where they were positioned. In the end, about 80% of the content on the new website was new, with a few holdovers from the previous site. 

Once the design and content were finalized, Straight North began development work in WordPress. They added a targeted request form for users to fill out connected to our sales pipeline and Slack to ensure we're not losing potential leads. They also improved our website speed and connected us to a hosting platform. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with a project manager, Matthew (VP Sales), and a larger backend team of 5–6. 

How did you come to work with Straight North?

One of our market researchers looked locally for a firm and did more general Google searching to find several firms. Once we added Straight North to our shortlist, one of our employees realized they'd worked with them and gave them an internal referral. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $15,000 with Straight North. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Straight North from May–December 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're currently reorganizing internally, so I haven't looked at our Google Analytics metrics yet. Anecdotally, however, we're getting more site traffic and more demo requests than before — we get an average of two demo requests a day. That means that users are coming to the new website, sticking around, and asking for more information. A few customers who have seen the new site have given positive feedback. Internally, we've gotten good feedback from our employees because the company's story is clearer and looks more professional. 

The contact form Straight North developed evolved into a new channel for our current customers to use to communicate with us instead of calling. We're now considering expanding that online channel with Straight North's help. 

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

I was pleased with Straight North's project management; they stayed within budget. I worked with the project manager almost exclusively, and he was responsive and easy to work with. Since we're a federally regulated company, we have firm project deadlines since we have to pass everything through our compliance team. Straight North's project manager ensured we met those deadlines and was always clear about what we needed to provide to hit them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really like Straight North because their offerings are à la carte; if they don't have something, they'll connect us with a partner. We're a B2B company in a small market with a high-lifetime value proposition and don't need regular updates to our site. However, the fact that they offer those services outside of our contract is excellent. 

I also appreciated that, as a tech company, Straight North was open to us working with other firms. It was comforting to know that we could take full ownership of the deliverables and manage our own content after the project was finished. Their team was also very transparent about the work they were doing. Other companies gave us complicated proposals that made it hard to understand the costs, but Straight North was very open about what they were charging us, which aligned with how we run our business. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The content sign-off document that Straight North provided was confusing, which led to me putting content in the wrong spot. We then spent a lot of time going back and forth to iron out the issues, setting our timeline back. It would've been great if Straight North provided more clarity on those documents and their uses.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Straight North requires customers to sign multiple documents that their copy editors use to build site copy. I'd advise customers not to assume anything about how those documents are used; customers should set up a call with the Straight North team to explain them. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company designs and manufactures custom-made packaging machinery for the food/beverage, pharmaceutical, and other industries. I am a sales support team member at the company and handle most of the company's marketing activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Straight North?

Our website was created by a third-party marketer entirely in HTML. Not only did our site look outdated, we were also unable to edit the site and were entirely reliant on the third party to make all of our edits. We were looking for a solution which allowed us to edit the site on our own in a more expeditious and cost-effective manner.

SOLUTION

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

One of our sales manager's business contacts used Straight North's services to redesign their company site and recommended that we try using them too. We appreciated that they had experience with sites in our industry and their down-to-earth way of discussing the project details.

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

We began discussing the details of how we wanted the site to look at the end of April, and SN gave us several updates consisting of general skeletons of the site, the theme, and content. They allowed us to have a large hand in how the site looked and felt, and we were able to make changes to any of the copy provided.

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

In total, we worked with a project manager, a web designer, and a copywriter

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All of our colleagues and customers love the new design! We can already see the level of traffic on our website going up thanks to SN's interactive web design.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager was in steady communication throughout the process, and there was never a time where I felt concerned that we wouldn't meet our deadline. And we actually were able to launch close to two weeks earlier than planned!

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

I really appreciated Straight North for working so hard to give us what we wanted. I have experience in web design, but not enough to make a full-blown site. It made me very happy that SN was so receptive to my feedback.

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

Things can always be done faster or with more efficiency, and nothing is ever "perfect", but I would do everything the way it was done all over again. My company and I have no complaints, and plan to utilize any of SN's additional web-related resources that we can!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of an equipment rental company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We wanted to update our website in order to better communicate our value proposition to the market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North relandscaped our entire website to the point where it was much easier on the eye. We shared our ideas, and they worked on improving our platform’s UI by making it easier to navigate. On top of that, they assisted us in completing our website content. Overall, they helped us in quickly communicating facts about our business to potential visitors.

What is the team composition?

I only worked with one person. I came in halfway through the process since I was only hired to take over the project. As a result, I didn’t know if there were other people involved.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from March–July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I couldn’t tell you any quantitative data, but our stakeholders and shareholders were pleased with our website’s update. They said they liked our website’s organization and flow because they perfectly aligned with our company’s mission. The platform also highlighted what we were good at, specifically our core business.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

The team helped us with our strategic efforts. We communicated through phone calls and emails. Then, we used Microsoft Word to send documents. Even though I was busy at times and couldn’t answer their email for a few days, they cordially followed up. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They persevered and stuck with us to make sure that we stayed on track and accomplish the goal we set out to achieve. They didn’t let our project turn into a cold case file. In addition, even when our business was redirected many times, they stayed engaged and responsible. Overall, Straight North did a good job in our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they missed little things here and there. However, it didn’t really affect the overall project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Push them because they can do a lot of things that you won’t expect. More importantly, you have to tell them what you need so that they can get back to you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of marketing for an analytics company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?
Our team wanted to improve our organic search results. We brought them on for SEO services.
 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
We entered into a six-month contract of SEO support. Our account manager helped optimize our website with keywords, handled link building, and wrote some content for us. They also discussed and executed our project plan on a month-to-month basis. Their team provided recommendations on how to update our landing pages with those keywords as well as wrote keyword-rich blogs for us. In addition to the research, they monitored results and handled backend SEO work. We utilized their custom platform as a centralized place for our different results.

What is the team composition?
I worked with an account manager who was replaced in the middle of the engagement with another account manager because it wasn’t working well. We also worked with the director of client success at times.

How did you come to work with Straight North?
I found them on Clutch. We went with them because the salesperson was very convincing in relaying that Straight North would be guiding us and doing a lot of the work. The fact that they had content writers was very appealing. We have a small marketing department and not a lot of bandwidth.

How much have you invested with them?
We invested $2,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?
Our engagement was from September 2020–April 2021.
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 
There was a moderate increase in organic search volume over time. We had just launched a site and started at ground zero. There was some improvement, but I’m not sure if it can be differentiated from the site or in response to Straight North’s work.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?
In terms of an account management perspective, it was pretty unorganized and difficult to follow. Our first account manager wasn’t very proactive. I had to be the one to initiate a project plan and ask for a weekly meeting; it wasn’t a turnkey that was set in place from the start. I was under the expectation that the partnership would be more educational and Straight North would guide our company more through the process.

We had never done SEO for our company before. I had to deliberately ask them to be clearer and provide more context around what they were doing. Once I asked that they were really receptive and put me in the right direction; there was more of that educational tone. It took some time to make sure our relationship was fine-tuned and running in an efficient way. I met with our account manager every other week. We used email and Zoom to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?
Their sales team was great at the beginning. Also, their reporting tool is interesting. It was nice to have a centralized place to keep track of all the project work and results.

Are there any areas they could improve?
I was a little underwhelmed and not impressed with their ability to write content. They’d incorporate keywords into our site and blogs. However, they didn’t do so in a way that was aligned with our branding. I had to rework almost every piece of content that they sent to us. That made it more difficult.

I thought the content writing piece would streamline my work quite a bit but, in the end, it didn’t. I had to go back and do a lot of it myself.  A few pieces of content they put together weren’t totally focused on the topic at hand so they had to redo it. The timing of the content came as their writers wrote it which was often a few weeks after the deadline or project calendar. 

My recommendation to them is to better align with the client's content updates so the content can better align with the brand in addition to just adding keywords to the site. It’d also be beneficial if they were more transparent and upfront about how their process and different deadlines work.

Additionally, when we changed account managers, they didn’t inform us that it would be happening. I asked why it was happening and they expressed that we’d be better suited for the new account manager. That whole transition was done in a politically correct way versus a transparent way. It was a bit odd. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
We didn’t have the best experience working with them. Perhaps, it can be based on the project manager that you’re with. Make sure you’re straightforward about what your SEO learning curve is upfront to ensure you’re placed with the right account manager. Also, be prepared to make edits and work iteratively if you’re looking for them to recreate all the content on your website. The perfect product won’t be delivered on the first try.
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a manufacturing company that makes manufacturing solutions for the factory automation industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We saw a need to revamp our website because it had been a few years since it had been redone. We operate a separate website from our Japan corporation. Our US website was a landing page that would only link back to our Japan website.

It was challenging to track the SEO and what our visitors were searching for. We wanted to make an independent US website so that we could more effectively support our US customers. We also wanted to come up higher on the Google search rankings.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North upgraded our WordPress website and made it look a lot cleaner and easily navigable. They did both the front- and backend and we can build on the platform. They’re now helping us with an SEO campaign.

What is the team composition?

We initially worked with Brian (Senior Account Executive). Once we decided to sign on, I worked primarily with Natalie (Project Manager).

How did you come to work with Straight North?

When we were doing research for a website designer, it was important for us to have someone who had experience supporting clients in the manufacturing industry because the content is very niche. We found out that Straight North had that experience.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $40,000 in total. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from early summer 2019. The SEO campaign is still ongoing, but the website was launched in September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There are certain features on the website that weren’t present before, such as testimonials and YouTube videos. We have a lot more content. I think we’re improving our presence online.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is great. Sometimes my internal team and I had some back and forth that made it difficult for Straight North to move along. They were very patient with us.

Natalie coordinated the meetings with her content writers, website designers, and engineers. We mostly communicate via email, and I visited their office where they presented designs. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is always really present, and they follow up often. They didn’t pressure us even though we were formulating our needs as we went. Additionally, the website looks great, and their design expertise and customer support are excellent. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions. They give good support. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear vision of what you need. If you have that, Straight North will make sure that it comes to fruition.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an IT services company. We have about 45 clients and primarily do managed IT services, where we come in and either supplement an existing IT staff or replace the IT staff completely. We do some other projects, like cloud migrations and firewall installs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

My company wasn’t happy with our organic rankings on Google. We engaged Straight North to launch a series of initiatives to boost our rankings on Google.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first thing we collaborated on was the keywords we wanted to rank for. We prioritized those keywords, and then they came up with initiatives on how to rank better for those keywords, whether that was an optimized page on the website, a piece of content that we used as a link magnet to get links back to our site, or a series of blog posts where we optimized for a certain term that we wanted to rank for. The strategy was personalized in terms of what they thought could get the best results for each of these terms that we wanted to rank for.

What is the team composition?

My one point of contact is Ann (Senior Project Manager), and she is impeccable at her job. I told her at the beginning of the partnership that she would need to manage me a bit and keep me accountable, and she has done that tenfold. 

How did you come to work with Straight North?

It was a referral. My boss here at Aqueity knew of a guy who had used Straight North in the past and had nothing but good things to say about them. I set up a meeting with Matt (Business Development Manager). We evaluated two other SEO companies, but Straight North stood out because they have a really sound process behind everything. Everything is documented, and they communicate really well, which I could see even in the sales process.

How much have you invested with them?

We are on a $2,000-per-month plan. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in January 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t get a ton of inbound leads. It requires a lot of trust to get someone to hand their IT department over, so it’s a long buy-in process. We got an organic lead a few months after Straight North came on and closed it to the tune of $12,000 a month in recurring revenue for a three-month contract. We’ve already seen measurable results in terms of dollars. 

They’ve successfully boosted our rankings on Google; the average search result across our tracked keywords right now is on the second page, whereas they were on the seventh or eighth page before Straight North came on. We were nowhere to be found before, and since they started six months ago, we’ve seen gains.

The lead flow and the uptick in the SERPS (search engine results page) are the two things that I measure. They’re making a difference and are committed to the partnership. They’re always good about the ancillary things, like being responsive and on time to meetings. There was a situation two months ago when COVID-19 hit, and we needed to pivot our strategy a bit, since companies are working remotely now and need remote IT setups. I asked Straight North to prioritize some different keywords and make a dedicated ‘remote work’ page on our website. Ann and her team were on it and were responsive. I asked them to drop everything for me and get it done, and they were able to deliver.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

The nice thing about Straight North is that they have everything in a portal called GoNorth Reporting, which I can log into. I can see the rankings and monthly breakdowns. Ann puts together monthly reports that she uploads to the portal, and we review those collaboratively and go through the progress that was made. We also have bi-monthly calls to chat about any strategy direction, changes we want to make, etc. The project management is really what has set them apart in my eyes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I think distinguishes Straight North from any other SEO provider I’ve worked with is the fact that they communicate, they’re accountable to their results, and they truly have our business’s best interest in mind. Having worked with a lot of digital marketing companies, I know this is uncommon, so finding that in a business partner is really valuable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have been really happy with the partnership. I don’t really have anything. 

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s really about setting expectations. When you start any new partnership with an outside vendor, if they don’t know what you expect of them when the partnership starts, how can they possibly achieve anything? That was one thing I took very seriously at the beginning of our partnership: setting my expectations on what I expected of them, which was an increase in rankings and more lead flow, both of which we’ve gotten.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is Storm Educational Enterprises, Inc. We do professional development consulting for kindergarten–12th-grade schools, and our emphasis being English language acquisition. We travel to schools across the country and instruct teachers on classroom strategies, which cover anything from classroom management to strengthening English as a second language. I’m the director of operations. I handle all day-to-day business, and the owner handles all of the content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

I’m relatively new to our company; I joined in 2011, whereas the company has been around since the 1990s and survived solely on word of mouth. That was how we got all of our business, and it sustained things but didn’t provide the growth we were looking for. We had great data with our existing clients and felt like we had a good opportunity to expand. However, in today’s digital age, a professional and detailed website was a really important part of the growth that we wanted to see.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North filled the gap that we’d had in the past. We had tried to rework our website a couple of times with private independent developers that were mostly into the programming side. They had wanted to be told what needed to be done; for instance, they expected the text to be delivered to them exactly as we wanted it to appear on the site. Providing thoughtful content created a lot of work for us, and we didn’t know anything about keywords or those kinds of things.

One of the reasons we decided to go with Straight North is that they did provide that content side; we gave them our information through a really detailed questionnaire, and then they provided the content in a professional, edited, and thoughtful manner. The content included the keywords that were important to getting the business we were looking for.

We just launched the site and plan to use Straight North for SEO and PPC.

What is the team composition?

We just worked with Natalie (Project Manager)

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I believe I found them based on reviews. I Googled the best website companies, but for me, it comes down to customer experience. When I read Straight North’s reviews and testimonials, it really sounded like they would fill that gap we’d had in the past. 

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we spent around $11,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Straight North from March 2018–March 2020. That timeline was definitely on our end; they were very prompt and diligent about their work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Internally, the site has given our team a sense of pride and professionalism that we hadn’t had in the past. We’re a family-run company that was working out of a small home office, and in the last two years, we’ve expanded and built warehouse and office facilities. Part of that growth is having a professional website that we can share with potential customers. The site much more accurately reflects our company than our past companies did.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

As a family-run company, we didn’t have the time or focus to put toward completing the tasks that were necessary to get everything done. Straight North was amazingly understanding and gave us gentle reminders to make sure we hadn’t forgotten about things, but they weren’t pushy when we explained it wasn’t the right time. They were exceptional in customer service.

Natalie definitely went above and beyond. She would send little reminders, especially if something was changing on their end; for instance, she was great about letting us know when they had other projects coming up and what they could get done if we provided the necessary materials beforehand. That heads up was really helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In comparison to our experiences with other developers in the past, communication is definitely one aspect that Straight North excelled in. Trying to communicate with past developers was like pulling teeth, and working with Straight North was a dramatically better experience. I can’t emphasize enough how exceptional their communication was and how helpful it was to the whole process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. They were super flexible and helpful, and they really came through on the requests that we had for our website. I was worried that our requests were too vague, but they came back with concrete ideas that really helped us out.

Any advice for potential customers?

My advice for any new client would be to really think about what you want. Look at other websites and see what you like about those sites and what tools might be useful for your own. Think it through better than we did before you start; we hadn’t really thought some of those questions through.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of technology at a national kitchen franchise system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We worked with another company for 5–10 years but it was time for a change.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North manages our national PPC and national display campaigns that we run for all of our franchises. They updated our approach to digital marketing, combining AI technology with their expertise.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a few different project managers. I’ve worked with Courtney (Account Manager) for the longest period of time.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We researched different companies and felt the most comfortable with Straight North. Their sales representative and the information provided made us feel at ease. They provided great reports, and we read about their past successes.

How much have you invested with them?

We usually spend between $10,000–$12,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2017 and our engagement's ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We beat our number of leads every single month during the first quarter of 2020. We broke records every month.

We’ve seen quality leads from Straight North. They implemented a technology that shot up our leads and improved their quality too. We’re a higher-ticket item, so the quality of our leads is important to us.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

We talk every other week. If I have any questions, I send Courtney an email and she replies right away. We update our campaigns seasonally and the whole process is seamless. We send them text and images that we like and their team gives us feedback because they’re the experts. She works with her team and we can see different designs quickly. It’s easy to work with Straight North.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate their communication. If I have a question in between, I can talk to Courtney. The communication’s wide open. If I need to pull a report for my company’s president, I can email them and have a report within a day or so. Their team’s always advancing their technologies. Courtney always has something to share with us, which is important to us. I trust Courtney. I know that she and her team are doing the best work for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not right now. They’re doing a good job. I trust that they’re working in our best interest.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be active in your campaign. You can just give them the money and not think about it. But I think it’s valuable to communicate with them and ask questions. Let them know what’s going on with your business. Keep them informed about your needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for a company in Chicago that provides solutions for accounts payable. We automate invoice capturing and processing as well as payment processing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We thought that there was potential to grow our organic and paid search initiatives. We operate in a saturated market and our competitors have huge marketing budgets. We thought that it would make sense to bring in an agency with years of experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team mainly helped with our SEO efforts. They also helped us with optimizing our website, which involved improving its structure and editing content. Their team built links and suggested keywords for us too.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 people from Straight North. Our main point of contact was Courtney (Account Manager).

How did you come to work with Straight North?

Straight North’s CEO had a connection with our previous CEO, so their team reached out to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $5,000 per month on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in October 2019 and it wrapped up in March 2020, which was 100% a budget decision.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measured their success by website traffic, and they did an amazing job. It was a short-term engagement but it had a lot of potential. If we continued for the long term, we would’ve seen a really good ROI.

Their team accommodated any comments that we had. In the beginning, we needed to change the tone of the content to align with our brand. They were responsive and made the changes.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Before we started the work, we had a point of contact who did an incredible job of facilitating the whole process. Their team created a project plan. Courtney was our main point of contact and in charge of our account. We had bi-weekly calls to talk about updates. She was responsive to any questions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Across the board, their team’s communication skills are phenomenal. They’re excellent communicators not just in terms of responsiveness but also in terms of clarity and providing additional details. If I had to make that decision again, we would go with Straight North.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I cannot think of anything for them to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re receptive and responsive to feedback, so don’t keep anything to yourself. Ask them questions and give them comments because they’ll act on it. Also, make sure that you have the right address for their headquarters. We were appreciative and sent them a thank you basket to their downtown office but the majority of them are in their suburban office.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a company called Agri Services International. We’re a contractor and wholesaler that deals in irrigation. I’m now the marketing and operations manager.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

I was coming into an organization with little to know digital footprint. I needed a proof of concept to demonstrate that a functioning website with digital marketing would affect the bottom line. At the same time, we didn’t want to go in on a custom website with a huge budget and big marketing agency. I wanted a solution that would improve our digital presence without breaking the bank.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went back and forth to get them up to speed on our company. We provided a lot of research and filled out forms to give them some more background information. Then they scaled it down for content and conducted further research.

As far as building the website, it was pretty straight forward with the platform they used. It was a proprietary CMS that cuts down development time into about a third of what it would be on a custom site. I gave them information and they would insert it on the website, then design accordingly.

They’ve also provided digital marketing work, like SEO.

What is the team composition?

I worked with someone throughout the sales process. Then, once we reached an agreement, we had a project manager. Then we worked with a marketing manager.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I was looking for an agency that could provide an affordable solution that specialized in B2B. They really stood out in that niche.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $18,000–$22,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the development process in March 2018 and the site launched in March 2019. Then we worked on SEO through February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website and their SEO efforts has paid for itself many times over. Over the course of the last year, we received a few more qualified leads. They also accomplished the proof of concept as well. We’re getting leads we’ve never received before. A contract can be pretty hefty in our industry, so just one lead makes the deal worth it. We probably receive 3–5 leads per month that translate into new business. We also receive more inquiries.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a very good system and it was designed to be launched quickly. It was rather formulaic, which works well for what we’re trying to do. So, I was pretty happy with it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of their specialties is helping businesses without a digital marketing presence and helping them level up in an affordable way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Every B2B business gets pretty technical, but I did think some of the copy was a bit generic. It was such a quick time to launch, so it wasn’t worth addressing right away. I’m not exactly sure how they could have improved it, though.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have your ducks in a row. Know your company’s goals, because you can’t expect Straight North to do everything on their own.