Atlas Marketing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Wohlsen Construction is a Construction Management firm operating along the east coast from the DC Metro area to southern New England and all points in between. I am a VP focused on our Marketing, Technology, and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Atlas Marketing, and what were your goals?

Redevelopment of our corporate website. We wanted to develop the website to be focused on value we deliver for our clients, represent the benefit we have to offer current and future employees, and demonstrate our expertise and history.

SOLUTION

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

We have partnered with Atlas for other Marketing Agency projects and they provided a compelling approach and solution.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We collaborated to identify the problems that we were trying to solve and brought samples to the table during the kickoff. A project schedule was provided which would have turned the site around more quickly, but that was not the fault of Atlas. Once we identified the goals of the site, Atlas begin design work and provided us with a few options to select from. We were impressed with the options and worked with Atlas to select features from each that we wanted to see presented. Once this was agreed upon, Atlas engaged their writer with subject matter experts across Wohlsen and conducted interviews. During this time, they began development of the site, engaging our Marketing Team along the way.

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

A Project Manager, a Design Lead, a Website Host/Developer, and a writer. Atlas's CEO stayed engaged along the way.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Following launch of the site, we have noticed that our bounce rate is much lower and we have impressive engagement on the home page.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We utilized a shared collaborative space in Microsoft Teams to coordinate the exchange of messages and files. This helped keep things organized.

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

They have a real desire to work with you as a client to meet your needs. They worked to draw our goals out of us even if we were not entirely sure of every angle that we wanted to hit.

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

Tracking of task throughout the project can be handled better. We went through three or four different tools to track work to be completed as we charged towards the launch of the site.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

A nonprofit organization, the Parks Conservancy has worked closely with the City of Pittsburgh since 1998 under an official public interest partnership agreement to restore the city's parks. To date, the Parks Conservancy has raised more than $130 million for parks and has completed 22 major improvement projects. Currently active in 22 of the city's 165 parks, the Parks Conservancy has expanded into community and neighborhood parks throughout Pittsburgh.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Atlas Marketing?

We hired Atlas Marketing to help us make our website more accessible.

SOLUTION

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

Atlas Marketing was selected after our organization went through an extensive RFP process. The team members at Atlas Marketing provided our team with assurance that they had the professional skills and knowledge to lead this complex web project.

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

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy's ADA website compliance project required a full audit prior to beginning the work. After the audit was completed, Atlas laid out a six month plan for project implementation and post-project best practices to ensure compliance longevity.

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

We worked with two consistent team members from Atlas Marketing throughout the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Today, our website is ADA compliant thanks to the guidance from Atlas Marketing. We went from having significant compliance challenges to now being a fully accessible web source for park visitors.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication process was seamless. We met bi-weekly through virtual calls and emailed often regarding the project status.

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

They were not only a solid professional core, but incredibly personable as well, which is certainly a positive given the intense nature of this project.

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

No. They were a solid team, and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing of a group of companies that perform construction in the mid-Atlantic region.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atlas Marketing?

We were trying to roll out the new website we were developing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was a collaborative process. They helped us with the creative writing for a couple of the website pages, summarizing our family companies in a couple of paragraphs.

What is the team composition?

We only worked with Chris (President).

How did you come to work with Atlas Marketing?

Chris came to us and pitched us a proposal to develop our website. We ended up going with a different agency, but we later needed help with writing, so he stepped in to finish that up.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested under $5,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–February 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was happy with the results, and the messaging was on brand with what we wanted. 

How did Atlas Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated through phone and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great at ensuring that their client’s needs are taken care of. They’re able to think strategically and creatively to tell a good story; they captured the best attributes of our company to communicate to the market we were aiming for. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s something they can improve on. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a commercial furniture manufacturer representative group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atlas Marketing?

Our website was very outdated and was lacking image-rich content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redesigned and rebuilt our website from scratch. First, they created a wireframe of the website. We provided some feedback and they made some changes. Once we approved it, they began developing the site. We supplied the content, images, and links that we wanted on our website and their programmer implemented that.  

What is the team composition?

We worked with Chris (President) and Susan (VP) but two other people supported them.

How did you come to work with Atlas Marketing?

Chris and I were both members of the same executive peer group.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial bill was around $8,500 and there’s a fee for hosting the site.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first meeting was in November 2020 and we launched the website in February 2021

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My team was very pleased with the upgrade. All of the feedback we’ve received from our clients has been positive as well.

How did Atlas Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

We had review calls with them every 2–3 weeks to go over how things were coming together. Typically, we communicated via email or Zoom calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Chris was able to ascertain the nature of our business and what we were trying to achieve with our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Before the project began, we found another website that we wanted to emulate and I showed that to their team. For example, they linked one part of our website to another part of our website. Unfortunately, that led to a little extra work on our end and delays. Then they did some extra work that we didn’t need.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would tell them to keep Chris involved in the project as long as possible. He really understood our project, but I think some of that was lost between when we signed the contract and when the team executed it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing and communication for InVision Human Services. We provide support services for adults with intellectual disabilities and autism, through residential and employment support programs and behavioral health services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atlas Marketing?

Prior to joining the company, it didn’t have a wholly-defined marketing and communications function. I was the first person brought in for this position and my objective was to help develop the discipline and build out some things. One thing I realized is that we had no formalized process or approach to deal with a communications crisis. I brought in Atlas Marketing to help with this.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Atlas Marketing helped us develop and formalize a crisis communications plan. During that process, we had two incidents occur which could’ve created potential issues for our organization from a PR and perception standpoint.

As we were developing the plan, Atlas Marketing helped us create response plans and did media training for our senior leadership team. That was something that hadn’t occurred before and was done in case we needed spokespersons for responses to media inquiries.

As we worked through the response plans, Atlas Marketing worked on an ongoing consulting basis on specific details, as it related not only to the crisis communications plan development but also the two ongoing incidents.

What is the team composition?

Chris (President) was my sole point of contact and there were two people working with him.

How did you come to work with Atlas Marketing?

I have a background in advertising and PR on the agency side. Chris and I worked together on several occasions, at different firms in the area. We stayed in contact over the years. I trusted his experience and expertise so I reached out to him when I realized I had this problem. It was an easy selection for me to make.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost was $30,000–$35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from February–December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Chris is very thorough. He’s direct and forceful, but in a way that comes off as being kind and empathetic. Especially when working with people with no experience in PR and crisis communications, it’s essential to have the ability to think at a strategic level and help train on the fundamentals of the area.

How did Atlas Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

The project was prior to the pandemic, so we had in-person meetings along with email and phone communication. There were no situations where Atlas Marketing lagged behind. In actuality, they were always ahead of the curve with deadlines. While these projects were significant for us, they didn’t have a level of minutia that would require project management tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was the level of collaboration. Chris puts people at ease, especially in situations like the one we had, which can be very emotionally-charged. He has a calming effect on people. We’d known each other for a long time, so I was accustomed to that.

However, his ability to walk into a room with a bunch of people who didn’t know him and had great concerns, and then put them at ease and gain their trust was my favorite part of working with Chris. He’s levelheaded and doesn’t get excited. He sees the problem and attacks it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not at all. This was a long process, and we were working with senior-level leadership. All of them felt confident in Chris’ abilities and valued his participation. He achieved everything we set out to achieve. Thinking back on it, there’s nothing that I wish had a different outcome.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

There were no challenges or issues raised during this project. My advice is simply for clients to be as transparent as possible, especially in situations like crisis management. That’ll allow Chris to do his job much better. We want to make sure he knows of any potential issues or landmines that may exist.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the shareholders at Thrash Commercial Contractors, a general contractor. We mainly do government and commercial building construction. We primarily work in Mississippi, but we’re trying to grow our presence around the Southeast. We’ve been in business for about 20 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atlas Marketing?

We wanted to work with a new marketing company that had more experience in our line of work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was a little slow getting started because we started working together right as the pandemic hit. They’ve mainly focused on digital marketing for us. They helped us to get all of our social media accounts more organized. They’ve helped us schedule the postings to Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn in a more coordinated fashion. They’ve been helping us a lot with our website by improving it, compressing files, and helping do updates.

What is the team composition?

We work mainly with two people. We work with Chris (President) and Beth (Marketing Manager). We have a business development person on our side and he’s been working really closely with both of them. We also worked with 1-2 other people from their office that are more into the technical side of things with the website.

How did you come to work with Atlas Marketing?

I went to an Associated General Contractor’s National Convention in 2019. Chris gave a couple of presentations. We were using another marketing advertising company at the time. A few months later, we felt we needed a marketing company that had more experience with general contractors and construction. I called Chris, and we ended up putting a contract together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $11,000. It’s an average of $1,800/month. There were also some additional charges because they had to help us compress some files on our website. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They deliver quality solutions. They really helped us to improve our social media marketing and optimize our website. I think in another couple of months, we’ll have a website that we’re very proud of and will really portray who we are. So far, it’s been a very good relationship.

How did Atlas Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Our business development person does most of the communication with Chris and Beth on a weekly basis. We have a larger meeting once a month via Microsoft Teams. We generally talk for about 45-60 minutes about what’s going well, where we need to improve, etc. Chris checks to see if we had any issues or problems. It’s something that really helps with communication. 

They have a pretty strict scheduling system. We know at the beginning of the month what days of the week they’re going to be posting. We know when we have to submit information to them. They then put the information together in a post, we check it, and then they post it. It’s worked very well. It’s been very organized. They stay on top of it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They communicate well. They let you know that they’re taking care of you and that they’re doing what you pay them to do. If we have an issue with a post, we just call them and work it out. We work together. We correct it quickly and move on. I like working with people like that. We’ve been very pleased so far.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Check them out. They’re very good at telling stories. Contractors typically aren’t sales and marketing people. What Chris has taught us is you have to do more. You have to tell a story about the project. You have to tell a story about the people involved in the project. That’s what they’re good at. Chris is the owner but he’s very available and easy to talk to. I encourage people to not be intimidated. Just give him a call.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business development manager at a management company for bigger construction projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atlas Marketing?

We were working with a local marketing agency that helped us get our social media off the ground, and created our website. As we went along, the process was very slow and it would take 2–3 weeks to get something updated or corrected on the website. There were a lot of typos in the social media posts too, so we started moving elsewhere for a more efficient company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chris (President), drives our strategy for business development, whether that’s reaching out to architects or engineers to help to try our business as best as possible. Their team also runs the operations of marketing, which means that they keep track of all of the photos we gather for projects and create social media posts. Then, I’ll do a simple review, and they’re ready to be posted. They help keep things consistent, with our posts, messaging, and images, too. Additionally, the team updates our website with projects that we’ve just completed, and format the site based on photos that we take.

What is the team composition?

We work with Chris as our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Atlas Marketing?

I met with Chris at an agency event. We chatted and got the relationship going. Eventually, we dropped our local marketing firm and picked up Atlas. Chris was very available to us, even before we hired him. He gave us feedback on what we were doing and how far we could take it. It was an added bonus that they worked specifically with contract engineers, which means they know what our service is and how to communicate the professionalism of it.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $1,800 per month, with an additional rate for business development consulting.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our target audience is starting to see our content more often. At this point, there’s no one in the state of Mississippi who hasn’t heard about us, especially if they’re in the construction world. For example, we’re doing work for a small local bank. They reached out to us and decided that they wanted to work with us, and it’s been going very well. We’ve been posting about that project, and their social media account shares everything that we post. That exposure has created a good relationship with them, and they all respond to it well. It’s probably going to lead to a new branch down the road.

How did Atlas Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. The team is timely, responsive, and mindful of my time, which I really appreciate. The marketing side is an ancillary role, that’s a little lower on the priorities, but they still give me updates and action items each week.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They consider marketing as something that we’re heading towards, not something that we have to do. With our previous marketing agency, it seemed like we didn’t have any clear goals. With Atlas, they give us good options of what we can do, want to do, and should be doing, based on the results we’ve been seeing. They promote intentional progress towards the goals that we want to hit.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes the social media posts could be more creative. I’d like them to have a little more “wow” factor to them. That could be on the graphic design end since construction isn’t that visually appealing. Going forward it could be a creative video or the way they format a picture, but they could make things pop a bit more.

On the website side, we’ve had some issues that have lingered for a while. They were working diligently to get them solved, but it might have been an impression issue with the images. They hire an IT person when they need to do a project that’s above their heads, but I wish they had that in-house so they could internally solve technical issues like that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you give Chris a call on the frontend, it’ll be more than worth your time to see that they really know what they’re talking about. They generally cared about our business for free, before we started working with them. It won’t take long for you to understand they’re serious about growing your business

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of an outdoor recreation nonprofit. We work to remove barriers and create access for individuals of diverse backgrounds for outdoor experiences.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address Atlas Marketing?   

Earlier this year, we were heading into our major fundraising event, but we were short on staff. We originally hired Atlas Marketing to provide PR support for the event.

However, our fundraiser was canceled due to COVID-19, but we transitioned our contract with them into developing a COVID-19 communication plan for the organization.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the event, they were helping us with branding and marketing. The team was running all our social media, sending newsletters, and drafting press releases. Once the event was cancelled, they continued to manage our social media and newsletter activity, but the content and tone changed.  

What is the team composition?

I believe there were two people assigned. Chris was the project manager, and Beth worked on communications. 

How did you come to work with Atlas Marketing?

I’ve known about the company for years. They’ve worked with other nonprofits, and our children go to school together.    

How much have you invested in them?

We spent between $10,000-$15,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We brought them on in late-February 2020. We’re wrapping up the project at the end of May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Before working with them, our external communications were non-existent. They got us back out there and elevated our presence. The team enhanced our image by using a well-rounded and complete communication strategy. We got a lot of positive feedback from volunteers who liked our increased engagement on Linkedin and Facebook. 

How did Atlas Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they did a great job managing the tasks. It was well-organized and they provided a streamlined process for the internal staff to participate. We had weekly check-ins. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were well-rounded. I’ve worked with other communications and PR firms that had a specific focus or slant. They understood how to develop a communications strategy that is respectful of our diverse audience. 

I’ve worked with other companies where there was a lot of confusion and balls dropped. That wasn’t the case with Atlas Marketing. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Some of my staff commented that they wished some of Atlas Marketing’s content writing paid a little bit more attention to the homage of what we had developed over the past couple of years. Sometimes, the tone of their work was too different. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Keeping clear lines of communication, and setting goals is important.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Hanco, Ltd. We manufacture, service, and repair equipment for the metals, mining, and energy markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atlas Marketing?

We wanted to improve our marketing efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, our old website needed to be reworked. We kept a fair amount of our old content, but Atlas helped us come up with new wording where it was appropriate. In general, the message, delivery, and landscape of how the website worked was totally different.

Currently, the team is working on some marketing collateral, including brochures and some social media. Specifically, they’ve helped us with our Linkedin and Instagram posts.

What is the team composition?

Chris (President) is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Atlas Marketing?

I met Chris at a conference, and we got to talking about our struggles at a roundtable. A few weeks later, we identified a marketing need, so I decided to reach out to Chris.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in July 2019 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t been tracking specific metrics, but the website has definitely had a positive impact. Our staff is working remotely, and the pages are proving to be an excellent sales resource. In general, our business has been able to thrive in this new environment because Atlas taught us the skills to be successful digitally. We’ve updated our homepage to display our COVID-19 notice, and we can effectively let our customers know we’re open on social media.

Recently, one of our LinkedIn posts reached 1900 views, which is more engagement than we’ve ever seen. 

If I have another website that needs to be built, I’ll absolutely go to Atlas.

How did Atlas Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They were perfect. If anything, I held them up. The team has been a reliable, patient resource, always accepting my calls and taking time to explain digital marketing concepts to me. We’ve kept in touch over email and phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Chris is an exceptional colleague. He makes working with Atlas a really enjoyable experience. Further, the entire team is quite timely and provided consistent follow up and clear communication. Their values met our values.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them the time they deserve—if you can, designate someone on your side who can give the project as much attention as possible. If you do, the engagement will go very quickly.