Big Water Media

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the brand manager at Thermotron Industries, a mid-sized manufacturer of environmental test chambers and vibration systems. We’re located in Holland, Michigan, and I’m in charge of brand communications.

What challenge were you trying to address with Big Water Media?

We hired Big Water Media to help us develop the backend of our website. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Big Water Media has developed the backend of our website, which we use for marketing purposes. The main platform they use is WordPress. We create the content, and then they transfer it to the website. Occasionally, they use placeholder content, which we then replace with our own content. They also provide general site maintenance and hosting.

What is the team composition?

We work with one person from their team. 

How did you come to work with Big Water Media?

The company was already engaged with Big Water Media when I started working here. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2016, and the engagement is ongoing. 

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

Our website analytics climb up every day and continue to improve as far as our traffic and reach are concerned. Moreover, our search ranking has also gotten better. Overall, our key metrics have seen significant improvements over the last 3–4 years. The Big Water Media team has exceeded our expectations. 

How did Big Water Media perform from a project management standpoint?

Big Water Media’s project management is good. I can simply pick up the phone or send an email to contact them — they’re highly responsive. I usually hear back from them within a couple of hours. Since the team is a one-man show, I can talk to him directly and he understands what we want. He’s smart, so he does everything right. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their response time is highly impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get a hold of Big Water Media, and go through your project goals. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Executive Assistant and Communications Specialist at Safety Net, an IT Managed Service Provider serving organizations throughout Michigan. We have offices in Farmington Hills and Traverse City.

For what projects/services did your company hire Big Water Media?

Our website was created by a local marketing firm. While we were able to handle some basic updates in-house, we needed someone with more experience to tackle larger scale updates and changes. We also wanted a resource that would keep WordPress and plug-ins up-to-date without our constant monitoring.

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

We looked for a vendor that would treat our partnership as important to them. Not a large firm working with hundreds or thousands of companies. We wanted someone who was interested in what we do and who could help us convey that through our site.

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

We've contracted with Big Water Media for ongoing updates to our site. Some are behind the scenes and others are front and center on our homepage. They've helped to refresh some of the layout and content that was initially put into place with a site relaunch in 2017.

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

We've worked exclusively with Rob Smuck.

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

We asked Rob to put some of our service contract supplements on our website. They needed to be pages that were only accessible by links, and that needed to be replaced as new versions were created. Rob's work on this particular project has helped us bring our client agreement processes to a much more efficient place.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Rob is always quick to respond to emails and never hesitates to connect on a video call to walk through requests. He's also been very helpful in teaching me how to make changes to some things that are much more simple than I realized.

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

The responsiveness, creativity, and accuracy of their work. The friendly rapport that we've built is remarkable.

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

I've been impressed by the speed, quality, and knowledge Big Water Media offers in all of our interactions.