Straight North

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a board and strategic advisor for private-equity-backed companies. I am a board director and partner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We were looking to build a new website for strategic value proposition rebranding and digital marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North took part in a full marketing and rebranding strategy process for our company. They also built our website and handled its SEO.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I went through a due diligence process based on the scope of service, their timelines, and pricing. We also looked at the account management team working on the provider's end.

How much have you invested with Straight North?

The cost of Straight North's services for the first year will be around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Straight North around May 2016. Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website won't be live until next week, so it's too early to provide any metrics for it.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project came in on budget and on time, which are 2 important statistics.

What did you find most impressive about Straight North?

Straight North has a very good process, but it is very regimented.

Are there any areas Straight North could improve?

Filling out forms in order to provide feedback takes out some of the human element needed for collaboration across functional teams. It would be a big help in the future to have more interaction between Straight North's team and the client.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Straight North?

Clients have to have their marketing strategy, branding, and direction for the value proposition fully completed beforehand.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We manufacture custom cabinets. The business is entirely brick-and-mortar. I am providing help to the family business, on the website front.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We wanted to increase traffic to the website, thereby increasing our revenue.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North has provided web design and SEO [search engine optimization] services to our company. We're not running pay-per-click advertising.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I have a couple of contacts in Chicago from larger web design companies, whose opinions I value, and who referred me to Straight North.

How much have you invested with Straight North?

The cost of Straight North's SEO services will be $24,000 for the first year. The web design had a cost of $5,000, plus miscellaneous photography costs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the process in May 2016, and worked through the summer designing and developing the website. There were a few delays from our side, but the site went live in August. Our SEO campaign with Straight North is currently underway.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's a little early to gauge the SEO campaign, but I've been very satisfied with Straight North's level of service, responsiveness, and with the quality of their team. Straight North has met and exceeded expectations in this regard.

The informal feedback I've received for the site's aesthetics and design has been positive. We've had a kick-off party in connection with the 50th anniversary of the business. Clients, as well as consultants, have all had good things to say about the site.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

I've appreciated Straight North's level of responsiveness. They created an action plan and executed on it.

What did you find most impressive about Straight North?

Straight North has a good level of industry expertise, as well as a quality team.

Are there any areas Straight North could improve?

Straight North's main expertise is in SEO. Because of the price point, there were some limitations in our web design. I'd like to see more ability to customize as necessary, although I don't necessarily see this as something negative.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Straight North?

Clients should be as informative as possible in terms of goals and elements they want to be included in the websites. Straight North will likely have a plan for attacking and achieving those goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company offers powder and liquid coating for assemblies, including CARC military painting. I am the marketing and web manager. I am also in charge of internal company auditing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

Our website was built 13 to 14 years ago, but we hadn't done anything significant with it. We were coming from having no online presence, and the goal was to increase sales, not only regionally, but nationally, and grow as a company.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North designed and developed our website. We're now in the middle of a pay-per-click campaign and are getting ready to start SEO [search engine optimization] work. Given that we didn't have a presence on the internet initially, we ran a pay-per-click campaign first to boost our presence. This has significantly increased traffic to our website, and it has been very productive.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I interviewed many different companies, obtained referrals, and found that everyone was happy about Straight North's services. We felt that their services encompassed everything we needed, and we really liked Straight North's team, especially our account manager.

How much have you invested with Straight North?

The cost of Straight North's services has been around $40,000 for marketing, website design and pay-per-click advertising, for our first year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our project with Straight North in February 2016, and have been working together since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We didn't have a presence on any pages, while our competition for powder and military coating was ranking high. We've come to have a position between the 1st and 5th pages for the keywords we're targeting. The website works fantastically. Customers are happy, and we've signed up many new ones. Because Straight North setup our site for SEO from the start, it still works in our favor, even though we're not running an SEO campaign, technically.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Straight North has done a very good job, and the team has been responsive to any questions I had, usually answering within a couple of minutes. Straight North's account manager kept in touch with me constantly when we were setting up the site's design.

What did you find most impressive about Straight North?

Straight North has comprehensively looked at our whole company and made relevant recommendations. Many of the other candidates simply gave us pricing lists and focused our conversations around this area. Straight North told me what they felt would work for our company.

Are there any areas Straight North could improve?

I would much rather have conference calls with Straight North's team, than simply receiving monthly reports. It would allow me to have a conversation, instead of simply reading data from a sheet.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with RNF Technologies?

I advise clients to trust Straight North. I feel that the company has our best interests at heart, and they haven't tried to sell us on services we didn't really need, just to boost their bottom line.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a manufacturer of high-shear fluid processors primarily used in the pharmaceutical industry. We work within a niche market, producing high-end equipment for a small number of customers that rely on our expertise. I am the vice president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

The primary purpose of our website is an information tool for current customers, allowing them to use our tools more efficiently. Our old site was out of date, and we needed a version that would synchronize with our SEO [search engine optimization] efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North designed and launched our website, also providing SEO work for it. We're not using pay-per-click advertising at the moment.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We received a few quotes and selected Straight North mainly because they'd been in charge of our SEO prior to developing our site as part of their work with our parent company. We were able to get a better deal in this way, and Straight North came highly recommended.

How much have you invested with Straight North?

The development cost of our website was $30,000. We spend another $20,000 per year on SEO.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Straight North for 2 years [since 2014] and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's still a bit early to gauge the full impact of our website. It will take a while for the SEO to take effect, but Straight North's work during the last 2 years have essentially doubled our incoming web leads.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

We are currently looking at improving our own project management skills and plan to use Straight North's approach as a model for our own processes. This speaks highly of how they were able to guide us through the collaboration.

Are there any areas Straight North could improve?

The communication wasn't flawless. Many of Straight North's processes hinge on personal tasks, rather than the bigger scope. A few things were missed, but this didn't impact our deliverables or experience very much.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Straight North?

Not particularly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of sales and marketing for a foundry located in Northwest Indiana. Our company pours gray, ductile, and white iron through a shell-mold casting process.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

As with most foundries, we employ an old process and technology. Our website was around 10 years old and hadn't been updated for a while. We didn't have a strategic process for our online presence at the time, but we knew that we needed to improve our site. We wanted to get more information on it, as well as make it faster and mobile-friendly. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North has redeveloped our website. They also made a presentation detailing where we stood with our current website and what opportunities there were for it. They showed us the need for SEO but we didn't find it necessary at this point. We're within the beginning stages of understanding the organic search field. A part of this decision had to do with the traffic volume our business has, compared to someone selling t-shirts, for example. It may not make 100% sense to have SEO services in our market, but we will consider it in the future.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We had considered a couple of other options, but Straight North took an interest in what we did as a company and had good follow-up. We wanted to choose a partner that had worked with many company types, not just online ones. It made sense for us to go forward with a company that has worked out very well professionally.

How much have you invested with Straight North?

The cost of our project with Straight North has been between $3,000 and $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first discussed the project with Straight North in early December of 2015. We made a proposal relatively quickly and started the work in January 2016. The site was launched in April. The project is complete, but, as with anything online, the site is always changing. Whenever have the need, we contact Straight North and they're usually quick to respond and get us up-to-date.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The nice thing about Straight North's approach was that they understood that we didn't want the full gamut of a website. We will eventually get there, but we just want to be up-to-date with the 2016 timeframe, instead of having a turn-of-the-century type of website.

We were very satisfied with how everything went about. Quite a few internal members have mentioned how much they enjoy the website. A number of customers have also commented on how well the site is organized. They're now able to find information quickly. By looking at Google Analytics, we've seen that there is a nice flow from the homepage to the directions and locations page, or to general information about out products' tolerances.

A handful of leads have come up through our website, mainly due to the mobile-friendly version we currently have. People are educating themselves on our site before making a purchase, so it was imperative for our company to get to this point.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Straight North has been appreciative of the information we've provided from our end. It's been a good relationship, from the initial process to the final launch.

What did you find most impressive about Straight North?

Straight North is a very professional company to work with. They've done a good job of requesting feedback and improving the process. We could tell that this was an important issue to Straight North. I made a point of notifying their management team on what a good job our developer did.

Are there any areas Straight North could improve?

Anything I could mention would be nitpicky. Everything has worked out well with Straight North.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Straight North?

Clients shouldn't hesitate to ask for help. Straight North has been overall helpful and usually found the most economical way to solve an issue. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a contract manufacturer in the food industry, specializing in ingredients for companies which either sell them or further use them in the processing of their products and brands.

I am the Vice President of Marketing for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

Obtaining sales leads is crucial to us, as well as building visibility, credibility, and messaging. We wanted to ensure that we would be getting inbound sales leads by becoming increasingly visible to our customers in the marketplace. There is a lot of unique messaging which we send out through our website and email using Straight North.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North has provided SEO-focused [Search Engine Optimization] digital marketing. Our website was created by another company, but Straight North optimized meta tags, title tags, and keywords within it, only as it relates to SEO. They also work hard to generate relevant back links and blogs for other sites which is key to driving our success in SEO. Straight North also works with us on the development and execution of customer emails, which we send out about 18 times per year. We take care of social media in-house and don't engage in pay-per-click work using Straight North, although they could do this. We do employ a paid Google Ad Words remarketing tactic with the help of Straight North, but this isn't really pay-per-click.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We were working with an agency which didn't do a great job reporting, although they had a good strategy and messaging. I vetted the best Chicago-based agencies, wanting to work with a local one. We came up with 3 options for digital marketing since this is the only field I wanted to work on. We have around 25 million dollars in sales and 350 employees, so I was looking for a more middle-market firm, one which understood and valued mid-sized companies. The vendor also needed to understand the business-to-business sector, since this is what we do. I vetted the best options online and Straight North popped up, I have also worked with them in the past and they provided excellent execution.. They're client-focused and do a very good job of reporting and laying out plans, allocating resources in order to make sure that plans are executed. I feel confident that Straight North will do the work that they set out to achieve.

How much have you invested with Straight North?

The cost of Straight North's services is around $100,000 per year. It's not a huge sum, but this is a comfortable level for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Straight North almost 5 years ago and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Straight North optimized our website and we've seen organic traffic and leads grow. It all has to do with SEO efforts. Straight North instituted a new reporting system called GoNorth, which categorizes all our calls and qualifies them as online forms. I am able to go in and look up leads in real time, qualifying them myself on top of what Straight North has already done.

We receive a full report from our account manager once a month, allowing us to know exactly what's going on and what Straight North is allocating against. At the end of the day, I've seen our organic traffic and leads grow. Our page visibility is heading in the right direction as well. These are the 3 key areas which we've addressed with Straight North, and every one of them is improving and doing better. Straight North's team has their eyes on the ball.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

We have an account manager as a key contact. She has access to all our resources and directs items to where they need to go when we want it. Another account manager from Straight North is focused more on any changes which we need to make on the website, as well as customer emails. Straight North is dialed into our business, and there isn't much that they don't understand. Straight North is always looking for new learnings about what we do which would allow them to do their job better.

What did you find most impressive about Straight North?

Senior management access is unique to Straight North. I know one of their owners, and almost the entire management team, which matters to me. Straight North's team is familiar with the accounts and stays close to the business.

Are there any areas Straight North could improve?

The only area that comes to mind that would be to establish key goals specific to our business during up front planning.  This was completed after we began execution of the tactics.  Everything done by Straight North has aligned with our goals, but I like to know that, in the case of any hurdles, everyone will have their eyes on the target. Other than this, I can't think of anything that Straight North could do better on a day-to-day basis. Social media isn't one of their services, and we've taken it in-house, but social media is not a part of Straight North's offering and that has worked out fine for us.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Straight North?

My advice for companies choosing a digital advertising agency is to be sure they are a fit for the agencies core competency.  Straight North will vet this as well because they want to work on what they do best and ensure that they have satisfied customers.  Straight North is SEO and digital-marketing-driven, without delving into social media.  They are middle market and B2B focused.  If a company is looking for an agency with these areas of expertise and emphasis, Straight North will very likely be a great fit.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I sell commercial real estate, including office buildings, shopping centers, industrial buildings and car dealerships. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

I wanted to create a new, state-of-the-art website which would reflect a bigger company than my company actually is. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North provided web design for me. I don't rely a lot on search engine optimization, so I didn't request this.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

Straight North's owner is a good friend of mine and he told me about a new platform for small business websites he was developing. I'd been bugging him to help me for some time, but he told me to wait until a new platform that Straight North was working on would be rolled out.

How much have you invested with Straight North?

The total cost of my project with Straight North was between $3,500 and $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Straight North in early-July 2016. The site was launched in August, but I plan on making some tweaks to it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I've told several people about Straight North and their new platform already. The site is straight, simple, and very well-organized.

I have gotten extremely positive feedback. The site is still new, so it hasn't made an impact on my business yet, and it's difficult to gauge its impact in general. The purpose of having a website was to have my name online. More importantly, I can include a web address on for lease or for sale signs, which allows clients on my website to obtain information on the property they are interseted in.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Straight North had good response time and I only had to answer their questionnaires and follow-up on the designs. The process developed by Straight North is efficient and simple to operate.

What did you find most impressive about Straight North?

Straight North's team was dynamite. They went beyond what I thought would be done. The design process was simple, which was important to me. Every time that Straight North came up with something, it was very good.

I was shown samples of the new platform, but Straight North hadn't worked in commercial real estate until that point. I was a little skeptical, but Straight North managed to pull it off. Looking at my site, someone would think it was made for a big company.

Are there any areas Straight North could improve?

I don't think so. I'm sure that I'd be giving the exact same feedback if I didn't know Straight North's owner.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Straight North?

I would confirm to any client that they made a good choice in working with Straight North.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of sales and marketing for a payment processing consulting firm. We specialize in medium to high-risk businesses. For the past 15 years, we’ve worked with merchants from all over the globe, assisting them with securing a quality payment processor.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

Our website was a bit clunky, slow-moving, and outdated. We wanted to improve the reception that our website was getting from people who found us. We’ve worked with design and marketing firms over the years, but we did not have a great experience with some of them. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Straight North developed a new homepage for our site. Among other things, they cleaned up the submission forms, improved some of our text, and added reputational items. We may start using Straight North for pay-per-click management later on in our relationship, but not at the moment.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I'd known Straight North for a while and knew that they were experts in the business. The company is located in my area. I liked having the ability to sit down and have things explained to me.

How much have you invested with Straight North?

Our website project has cost us around $7,500 so far. I can see us spending several thousand more on additional work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Straight North in May 2016 and have an ongoing relationship. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, Straight North has been great. It feels as though they're a part of my own team. I wear many hats within my business so I can't really concentrate on everything. They're ridiculously responsive and walk me through issues.

The reception of the site has been great among our colleagues. I attend many trade shows and conferences. It’s been great to able to give out new cards, tell everyone to check the page out, and hear positive feedback. The site is sexy, fast, and cutting-edge. We also want it to result in an increase in traffic, which I believe it will.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

Everyone from Straight North's team has been great. I receive several emails from each one along with daily calls. The wheels are always turning and things that I don't think about are being brought up all the time. Straight North has a great tech specialist as well as people running each department.

What did you find most impressive about Straight North?

It always felt like our account was a priority with Straight North. Other firms I've used in the past shuffled us down the line after the contract was signed. While some other firms I've worked with may have had 1 to 2 people on the case, Straight North has 4 to 5. It's been a great experience and I'm excited about continuing to work with Straight North for the long-term.

Are there any areas Straight North could improve?

I can't say anything bad about them. Straight North provided exactly what I wanted from a marketing, design, and development team. They're also local, which is a great thing for me. The ROI has been much better than with other firms that I've used. I know that Straight North is growing fast, which is hard for any company. I haven't seen any issues yet, but I would advise them to keep the solid customer support up. They need to make sure that their whole team works just as great as the people I've been working with.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Straight North?

When working with any agency like Straight North, the client needs to be active. They're paying for the provider to work for them, so it can be easy to brush aside emails coming in and not make them a priority. This will lead to less of an impact on the project. It's up to the client to teach the agency about their business. My business can be a bit complicated for people to understand at times, so I've had to explain it in detail. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

RevPart is a contract manufacturer. We offer quick-turn manufacturing services for our customers, including prototyping and short-run productions. We primarily work in the plastic injection-molding industry.

What is your position?

I am a co-owner and project manager of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We wanted to increase our presence SEO-wise. The intermediary goal is to rank higher within Google, but the ultimate one is to get new customers. RevPart has been developed as an online e-commerce solution, and this is how we primarily get contacts for the business. We're looking for customers that have a need for our type of service.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Straight North offers us organic SEO services and also manages our pay-per-click advertising. The goal of that campaign is to get new, validated leads. It applies to our SEO work as well, but with a different timeline.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

We found them online, through research.

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

The cost of Straight North's services for 2016 is expected to be around $10,000, including our Google AdWords campaign.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with Straight North for one year. We have no plans to stop the collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

All around, we've seen our website traffic go up, along with our validated leads. We receive inquiries from buying customers, so we have good-quality leads. Our business has seen a steady increase of around 30% per month. We're a relatively small company which was started from zero, but we're doing very well now thanks to the help of Straight North.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

I liked working with our project manager from Straight North. I appreciated that the project was funneled through one person, not requiring me to contact 10 different people in their company.

What distinguishes Straight North from other providers?

Even though I don't have a point of comparison, I am pleased with Straight North's services. Our business keeps growing and we're planning to increase our spending budget.

Is there anything Straight North could have improved or done differently?

Even more customers would be a good thing. So far, I've been very happy with Straight North. I don't have any comparisons for their company, but I'm happy with the service, and as long as I see the leads and traffic grow, I will continue to be happy with Straight North.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for a professional sports team in Chicago that is very high profile and popular among fans and people who buy sports paraphernalia.

What is your position?

I am the E-Commerce Manager for the retail arm of my organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Straight North?

We wanted to increase brand awareness and visibility within a very competitive market.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Straight North has offered pay-per-click, affiliate channels, and email marketing, as well as retargeting and remarketing services for us.

How did you come to work with Straight North?

I inherited their company. I compared Straight North to two other service providers, ultimately deciding to work with them.

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

The annual budget for our work is around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with them for the past four years. The work is completely ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I am generally very happy with Straight North's results. We've set a target of 20 cents on the dollar in terms of marketing investments. Straight North has been able to maintain it for several years running, while still increasing sales.

How did Straight North perform from a project management standpoint?

They're accessible. We have a regular update call every two weeks, during which we go over data.

What distinguishes Straight North from other providers?

Straight North provides suggestions and is very engaged in our work. They've been very transparent as well.

Is there anything Straight North could have improved or done differently?

No. I am pleased with their overall performance.