Brain Bytes Creative

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of digital marketing for Hachette Book Group. My position extends to any level of digital or social marketing, including websites, email lists, and the development of ads for special projects.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

We’ve worked with them numerous times, but in this case, we were looking to develop a mobile app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Brain Bytes Creative developed a mobile app for us. They built both an iOS and Android version of the platform, which focuses on promoting age-appropriate literature to children. Their team was responsible for wireframes, creative meetings, and regular app updates, everything from the beginning of the project to the final deliverable.

What is the team composition?

We worked with six different members of the Brain Bytes Creative team, including Jason (Founder & Partner), Belle (Director of Creative Services), and Stephanie (Director of Project Management). 

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

I already had a working relationship with Jason, who also runs a successful production company. I had done extensive work with them in the past, so when we expanded into the digital space, I knew that he would be a trusted partner.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Brain Bytes Creative ran from June – September 2020.

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

We were very pleased with the work done by Brain Bytes Creative. The entire internal team was very happy with the app.

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Brain Bytes Creative met every deadline. They were committed at all times and always in our corner. Their team was happy to discuss the details of the project with us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Not only were they extremely professional and detail-oriented, but they were also fantastic communicators. They made sure I understood every stage of the process and were reliable in their delivery.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would highly recommend working with Brain Bytes Creative, especially if you are new to the digital space or want someone you can really trust. They are completely transparent and work to ensure you are happy and at ease.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Porter Novelli, a public relations agency. We consult for clients across a variety of industries, from healthcare to consumer brands.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

Most recently, we needed web and mobile app development to support our client projects.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have done multiple projects, mainly revolving around design and development.

They helped create a web-based training app for a client, doing the design and development.

They also collaborated with us to create a mobile app for one of our clients. They did the coding and analytics and worked collaboratively with us on the creative and design.

They’re currently working on updating the look and feel of the mobile app.

What is the team composition?

We usually work with 2–3 people on a project, including the project manager, who coordinates with their team, the owner, and one or two of the developers. Stephanie (Director of Project Management) is our current project manager and our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

I believe they were recommended to us. I liked that they were relationship-driven and collaborative. They showed a strong desire to understand and meet the needs of us, and of our clients.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around January 2017, and the relationship is ongoing.

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

The app is beautiful. There have been over 600,000 downloads to date. The feedback from users is favorable. Our clients are also quite happy and find the product to be valuable to them, so we’re happy. Even when things aren’t going smoothly, Brain Bytes is a great partner, always willing to think through and find solutions to get the job done right.

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Stephanie keeps things on track and moving forward. She also does a good job to meet all the demands and requests of the client. We use a platform for sharing presentations and communicate mainly via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re service-oriented and collaborative. They strive to understand what we want, what the client wants, and to meet those needs. While the work they do meets the industry standards for excellence, more than that, they’re a team that is enjoyable to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would like them not to hesitate to share any challenges they face during projects. Communication has improved, but can always be improved upon more.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate clearly about your long-term goals and expectations. They will help guide you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager of Hodges-Mace. It’s a benefits enrollment and technology solution company that helped provide services to employers to help their employees enroll in benefits and manage their HR. We recently went through an acquisition.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

We didn’t have the marketing headcount or budget to cover the full scope of a marketing team. We brought in Brain Bytes Creative to help us carry the weight of a lot of the things we didn’t have solutions for. They handled our SEO, helped with content creation, and managed the website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve helped us revamp our website multiple times and build out new pages. Their team redeveloped and optimized our SEO, creating a content and news blog section. They’ve helped us manage our website in many aspects. We dabbled in PPC but didn’t have a budget for it. We use tools like Katara that helped create some brand recognition but it was very minimal. Before the acquisition, the website was on WordPress.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 5–6 people in total but with 2–3 individuals on a regular basis.

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

Our marketing CMO hired Brain Bytes Creative because she had worked with them in the past. She knew they’d be a good fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from January 2015–May 2020.

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

They were always looking for ways to help either optimize different pages or make sure they understood the full market scope. They jumped in and helped in more ways than I can count. Brain Bytes Creative took the time to explain things to me. SEO isn’t in my expertise, and they were very helpful in allowing me to understand. When I brought in high stakeholders, they held those conversations. Their team was eager to learn our business and that resulted in their ability to write better content and insightful ideas.

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We held productive biweekly calls. Their team always met deadlines. If there was something being held up, I was always made aware of it. Communication was great. I had a project coordinator I consistently collaborated with. I’d reach out to her and then she’d put me in touch with whoever I needed to talk to. We’d have a lot of Zooms calls and emails and we used Google Docs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a great attitude. Their team was always willing to think outside the box. It helped a lot that they took the time to understand what we did. There were times when we pivoted and the fact that they always had a good attitude about it was refreshing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We went through a lot of turnover with our main contacts on their team during the last two years of the engagement. These new team members always did a good job, but having to relearn with a new person wasn’t ideal.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to give Brain Bytes Creative the time they need to learn about your business.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing manager of a personal injury law practice.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

We have a multifaceted engagement. We engage with them for website design and SEO services. The law firm partners have had trouble in the past with SEO vendors. Our objective is to get our average position to be higher, ideally in the number-one spot, but if not between 1–3. We want to optimize our site to achieve those position rankings.

Originally, we brought on Brain Bytes Creative to analyze a then-new SEO vendor we had. Their team conducted audits of that vendor’s work and provided optimization and suggestions. The information that Brain Bytes Creative provided — on-site SEO, technical SEO, page speed, and other things of that manner — was phenomenal. They provided great insights so we got rid of our old vendor and brought Brain Bytes Creative on as our full-time web developer and SEO company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Brain Bytes Creative knew they were coming to a huge mess because they’d already been auditing the site. Their team implemented and resolved the issues they found. For example, we started with a heavy URL restructuring project. They rebuilt all of the URLs and put redirects on everything. Additionally, we started building out location content hubs. We built out new location pages for each of our 16 offices.

Those were the two big projects we started with but from there, they’ve handled ongoing reorganization of our content. They’re reallocating it to the content that’s open to the homepage. The Brain Bytes Creative team has been reorganizing content and building out new hubs across the site.

Also, they’ve been adding breadcrumbs for tracking. We redid our whole tracking analytics so all of our analytics are clean. The goals are properly set up. We’ve redesigned templates and pages so the pages load faster and better.

Currently, we’re working on a big mobile speed optimization project where we’re trying to go through and decrease the loading time of our overall site, particularly on mobile.

What is the team composition?

I work primarily with Stephanie (Director of Project Management) and Katie (Junior Account Manager). I interact with them, and they push everything out to the team. I also talk to Jason (Founder & Partner) and Savvy (Founder & Partner) quite often.

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

They were recommended by a company that built our website.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $600,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in July 2018. They came on as our full-time vendor in February 2020.

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

It’s been great to track analytics and see the improvements they’ve made. One of our issues was trying to increase rankings for terms like ‘car accident lawyer’ and things of that nature. Since Brain Bytes Creative has fully taken over our site, we’re at a 40% increase in nonbranded sessions to the website. We’ve seen lots of success with different metrics including sessions, bounce rate, page load time, calls from the website, and conversion methods.

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re one of the most organized agencies I’ve ever worked with. We have biweekly calls where we go over status updates. However, we communicate pretty much every day through email about projects and updates. We have a document that encompasses everything Brain Bytes Creative has done for us in the history of our partnership. It’s really nice to be able to refer to it.

Brain Bytes Creative is thorough. They proactively plan and successfully follow through on timelines; for example, right now we’re planned out for six months. We had one project that was delayed but it was because I had a hard time getting all of the assets we needed to complete the project. Their team was great at checking in and letting me know we were running late. They’re great with open communication and setting expectations of when things will be done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The openness of communication has been excellent. With past vendors, we haven’t had such transparency. I always know what Brain Bytes Creative is working on; they get my approval before they do anything new. If I have any ideas, they help me vet them out to ensure it’s the right decision. We have a great two-way relationship.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’d be great if they could produce more. Our partners don’t know patience at all, which is a tough game with SEO. They always want more, more, more, and quickly. It’d be nice if Brain Bytes Creative could produce more content faster. This is something we’re scoping out with them right now. It’s in the works and has been discussed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be willing to work with them because they can only produce so much without the help of your company. They rely on us to approve everything. You must be willing to put time aside to achieve your objectives.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing executive of FitnessBank, which is a division of Affinity Bank and Newton Federal Bank.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

We wanted to raise general awareness of our fitness bank solution. It’s an app that allows users to sync the platform with their activity tracker. We provide the ability to have the highest interest rate on a savings account based on your monthly activity.

Our objective with Brain Bytes Creative was to build our website and a marketing solution around social advertising that complemented internal email advertising efforts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we analyzed many similar solutions in the industry from activity tracking to banking websites. Then, we specked out strong design elements for our brand’s digital channels. We created a short version that was 8–9 pages of our website and spent a few weeks tracking UX activity.

Our teams also looked at ads, posts, and emails to see how effective they were in terms of engagement. We even talked to several people who matched certain personas. We discussed tactics to better communicate with each one of those groups. Then, we modified our content and updated our SEO activity.

We ran some Facebook and Instagram ads targeting individuals who live an active lifestyle, wore activity tracks, and tracked their steps on their phones. We ran an evergreen campaign as well as very specific activity campaigns around some promotions.

What is the team composition?

I worked with the president, the CEO, two project managers, a web and interactive designer, an internet marketing strategist, and a branding and messaging strategist.

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

I conducted a web search for local vendors. We didn’t have a big budget and wanted to work face-to-face so we could discuss things. I sat down with their team, and they were very open to my approach.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in April 2019. With COVID-19, we’ve paused a couple of campaigns. However, we’re taking on several new projects right now for other products.

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

We tracked access to the form users fill out to open an account, and we hit our expectation and ROI within the first month. Every month, we were in a position where we were getting the same numbers but were cutting back on the budget because my team wasn’t ready to amp it up and do more. We know the marketing and our algorithms are working.

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great, everything was professional and realistic. We had discussions with lots of follow up and activity to check things off the list. There were a lot of reminders because I was pulled in many directions at times, and Brain Bytes Creative checked in every couple of days to make sure I still knew what was needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t want tons of information; I want a curator that’ll filter and tell me what is considerable and will work for me; Brain Bytes Creative has this talent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their controls of billing could use some improvement. I’d get emails about that and they probably weren’t as necessary. If there were any discussions about billing, we handled it really well as a team. There were no issues.

On certain ventures and junctures, I would have liked the strategy team to sit down with us and do a brown bag lunch where we talked about marketing in general and where my industry is; it’d be more like an update.

It shouldn’t just be project work-based. It should be a partnership where we’re developing opportunities together. When we did do it, it worked really well, I just felt like I was the one leading it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They collectively and cohesively know how to impact your business. I’d recommend meeting with them one-on-one. You don’t need to meet every week or even every month. You can meet with them once or twice a year and it’ll last because everything is so digital. I like them because they’re really good at what they do.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer of erwin, Inc. and we are a data governance software company. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

We were looking for a new digital marketing solutions partner. The scope of our search was somebody who could do SEO and PPC optimization, content management, and consulting — basically, the overall website journey optimization. More often than not, we also give them smaller and more boutique-intensive projects.

What was the scope of their involvement?

For SEO, they take care of our on-page and off-page efforts. They've been building organic content that can help us with Google and other search engines, targeting keywords that are most important to our business and helping to bring the right visitors at the right time.

At the same time, Brain Bytes Creative has also been providing PPC activity services so at the end of the day for critical key terms such as data governance solutions, we can get the leads we want to generate. They also create compelling ads that bring traffic and conversion to the company. Currently, we are actually talking to them about expanding their services to email marketing.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager and content people. We also collaborate with those in charge of PPC and SEO. Lastly, we also have people working on analytics and other technical related work. 

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

We did an RFP and Brain Bytes Creative was recommended to us by somebody that we know. Five vendors responded to our RFP and just after reading the vendor's proposal, we thought we needed to shortlist them because they really understood our project.

They demonstrated immediately that they know our business and that they did a great job of interpreting the RFP. They didn’t simply respond to it but they showed us how it would be like when we work with them. In the end, when we met at the initial meeting, we immediately knew in the first 15 minutes that they were the ones that we wanted.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started collaborating in September 2019 and since then we have been working on an ongoing basis.

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

The team’s successes are measured in a number of different areas including keyword rankings, overall visibility, website traffic, average visitor engagement, new traffic compared to returning traffic, and conversion rates.

Currently, I could say that my team is extremely happy with them as all their results have been positively trending upwards. Since coming on board, they have helped us significantly optimize the website in terms of the navigation of the website and the UX flow.

Brain Bytes Creative's really big contribution to our overall marketing presence has been helping us dramatically increase search engine rankings for key terms. That's why, for us, the biggest win is our SEO results where we have addressed important keywords that were not there before. We consider Brain Bytes Creative as our strategic perspective as they give us insights on how we should be positioning the company. 

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a weekly meeting with them where they go through the prioritization of projects. At that meeting, we talk about who can deliver things on specific dates. Additionally, we also tell Brain Bytes Creative what we need from them and in exchange, they tell us what they need from us — that’s our core methodology.

We also have a quarterly meeting where they present a series of results which is driven by Google Analytics and other things. They also use Google Docs, Google Sheets, and other similar tools to share things about our project.

We've also got an overall project manager who is amazing, who does a great job of both understanding and marshaling the forces on our team as well as theirs. They also have an employee who lives and breathes the PPC world and another who really is focused on SEO, ensuring a smooth workflow in the engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a tremendous ability to understand a customer’s business and be able to make recommendations for growth. Though that’s what every company should do, that’s not what always happens. There are a lot of agencies that really take a long time to grasp what a certain business is all about, especially for an enterprise software company like us. Brain Bytes Creative's methodology for learning a business is awesome. 

Further, they have a great sense of urgency. They are fast on their feet, they think quickly, and they discuss things immediately. When they say that they’re going to do something, they overdeliver. Overall, Brain Bytes Creative always does what’s best for us and they show their capabilities well because they know it helps us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Early on, we already knew that they are a well-run shop and they have diligent project managers. As such, they have a solid methodology in their company. However, as a software business, things can quickly change for us and at the start, Brain Bytes Creative struggled with our changing priorities because they already had an action plan for a particular direction.

Knowing how to navigate that shift can definitely help them when they work with other big software clients in the future.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing director at Resurgens Orthopaedics. We're the largest orthopedic provider in the Southeast region.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes?

We were rebranding our practice, so we were looking for a company to lead a full media campaign and manage digital marketing for us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They oversee both our traditional and digital marketing efforts. On the digital side, they’ve created custom videos meant for our client distribution and provided SEO, graphic design, and copywriting services. In addition, they managed conversion optimization programs for our website. They help us with both strategy development and execution.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with their CMO and one strategist.

How did you come to work with them?

We were referred to Brain Bytes by our other partner and they were ready to jump in and tackle the project head-on. We saw that they could be a real partner to us, so we gave them a chance.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

We've seen an increase in appointment requests, which was our primary objective. The traffic to our website and our call volume are also on the rise. Both our internal team and our patients love the videos, which are creative and visually appealing.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They're incredibly smart, flexible, and easy to work with. They worked with our tight turnaround times and haven't missed a deadline. Also, they're very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They surpassed some of the best agencies in the world I had worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could develop their account management skills a little bit better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them as much information about your company as possible. The more information you provide, the better the final product will be.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the chief marketing officer of North Plains. It is a company that specializes in the manufacture of digital asset management software. We help clients create, organize, and distribute visual content assets for global marketing purposes.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

Brain Bytes handles content creation, helps manage our website, and does our outbound marketing. That entails creating content and updating our website with that content. They also distribute new content to social media and engage in paid advertising with folks like Google AdWords. They also coordinate with Capterra, a software ranking company that's similar to what you do. They help us in those areas.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We collaborate with Brain Bytes on the development of campaigns. They interview our subject matter experts. Using this information, they then write everything from e-books to white papers to case studies. BBC will then load that content into our website and distribute that information across social media for us. The effectiveness of the campaigns is measured through Google Analytics and Act-On. That's our marketing automation platform. BBC will also verify that the analytical information on customer engagement flows to our CRM [customer relationship management] – Salesforce. That way, our sales team can act upon the data and nurture leads into actual customers.

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

They were hired by my predecessor at the firm. When I came on, I elected to stay with them. I had no previous awareness of Brain Bytes but quickly grew to like them and their level of commitment to my business. I needed somebody that knew their way around the market sector, so I elected to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with Brain Bytes Creative?

We have invested $250,000 with Brain Bytes in the last two years.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe Brain Bytes has been working with North Plains for about two years. In contrast, I've only started with the company in the end of April of this year [2016]. I've only been about 100 days into the job.

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

We get a quantitative report every month from Brain Bytes. It takes Google Analytics and other analytical data and distills the effectiveness of the engagement. The report tracks what content engaged successfully with visitors to our website. If we sent out an email campaign, the report also shows how people engaged with it and the specific content that they were interested in. Then, they measure that information against our spending on AdWords. This lets us determine the effective cost per lead. Brain Bytes also counts all the leads. They determine who's engaging with the company, the company they're from, and their job title. They also tell us what topics the lead is specifically interested in. This information lets our sales team tailor the conversation to the customer's interest level.

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I think Brain Bytes does well in terms of project management. They like to engage on a regular basis and they take copious notes. They listen very well. They don't mind pushing back when they disagree, which is something I always appreciate. They've managed to meet deadlines, so I would say that the project management has been a positive experience.

What did you find most impressive about Brain Bytes Creative?

One of the nice things about Brain Bytes is that I've got good access to the most senior people, including one of the owners of the company. That gives me comfort knowing that I have access to the best minds of the company. I've only spent a very limited amount of time at their space. But, I think Brain Bytes is highly collaborative, even though we are not in the same location. They get the right people in the room, and we talk about the pertinent items. They have great attention to detail. The Brain Bytes team captures your ideas and translates them into marketable content. They're super enthusiastic and have proven to be a good partner. They are dedicated to what we do and they've been flexible.

Are there any areas Brain Bytes Creative could improve?

I would like to see Brain Bytes expand their strategic offering. They tend to focus on the execution and the implementation, which I think are their strengths. If they expand their services in the strategic area, that would drive an even higher level of execution and implementation. That would benefit them. It's a positive cycle that I think that they need to take to get to the next level. It's an evolutionary process, and they are a young, energetic group. I believe they will get there.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the president and CEO of Theravent, Inc. We make an over-the-counter medical device that treats snoring. Our device is sold online as well as in retailers like CVS and Walgreens.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

The first thing we were trying to address was our direct response in e-commerce synergy. We had an e-commerce website up. We were using television advertising to create more awareness. We were trying to drive customers to the site, but our conversion rates were not optimized. We went to Brain Bytes for better traffic generation opportunities. We also needed help with converting that opportunity into more business.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Brain Bytes works on tasks that complement our strategic objectives, which change over time. We started as a direct-response e-commerce company. Eventually, we've expanded into retail and other channels of operation. It's a bit difficult to say they do this one thing because they've done a number of things for us. Brain Bytes has redesigned the website and optimized user experience. They've handled content generation to address specific objectives for search, SEO [search engine optimization], and organic. Brain Bytes has conducted test-and-learns in social media to bring more quality traffic to the site. They've also done e-commerce, conversion metrics, and ideation on various Internet marketing strategies.

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

I was introduced to Brain Bytes through Jason Sirotin. I think he's their CMO. He also works in the media industry. We were introduced to him during our first television commercial. We chose Brain Bytes because of that conversation and the work that they did in the commercial.

How much have you invested with Brain Bytes Creative?

We engaged Brain Bytes on a monthly retainer basis. We have probably spent $50,000 to $200,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Brain Bytes in Q3 or Q4 of 2013.

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

Overall, we've been very happy with the results. I don't have anything right off the top of my head. I would actually have to go back and look, but I can give you high-level numbers. Our reporting is focused on month-to-month metrics or month versus the previous year. We've significantly increased traffic during the last two and a half years. We've certainly grown the business overall from a revenue perspective. The feedback from my board of directors has been very positive in terms of the enhancements to the website and user experience. All of those things have been very positive. Most importantly, Brain Bytes is very accountable. If there are situations where the results are not meeting expectations, they don't just walk away from that. In fact, they will take accountability for it and try to work through that.

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Brain Bytes has been more structured during the last couple of years. I think when we first started working together, they were still a new shop. Many things were going through a single point of contact, and there may have been some challenges of how information was disseminated. Now, they've got the team on Slack. We have a monthly meeting, at a minimum, to review the plan. At the end of the month, we get back together to review how we performed against that plan. I think they've definitely made steps to work with us, try to understand what our needs are, and then deliver those things.

What did you find most impressive about Brain Bytes Creative?

For me, one thing that differentiates Brain Bytes from many of the other vendors that I've worked with is that they don't look at our device as just a widget. They take the product and look at it as if it were their product. They own it, no matter how the product is doing in the marketplace or how it's being received. That's both from an Internet marketing or a digital footprint perspective. I think that's very unique.

In many cases, you can end up with organizations that have many clients and lots of diversity. They look at each project as, "Which template can we apply to this?" I never feel that way with Brain Bytes. They are invested in the success of the product, and they believe in it. Brain Bytes acted as if they were my internal digital marketing team versus being an external vendor. That is certainly what I look for in my vendor relationships. That's definitely an impressive quality.

Are there any areas Brain Bytes Creative could improve?

It's hard to say since we have open communication with Brain Bytes. When there are things that I'm frustrated with or need to be changed, they are addressed quickly. There's not anything at a high level that I would like to see them change. I think that's probably it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My current company is called ControlScan. We're a cybersecurity company. I'm the senior product marketing manager, and I work with a team of four. I own the strategy whenever we launch a new product or do any kind of win-loss review. I figure out better ways to do things that our customers are going to respond to, such as different kinds of positioning and breaking into new markets.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brain Bytes Creative?

We're a small company, so we find ways to utilize agencies and contractors to expand our team and our reach of knowledge. When I came to this company, they had an agency that they were very unhappy with. They were supposed to be an SEO [search engine optimization] agency. Because my experience has led me to realize what a full digital agency is, I knew why it wasn't working. They were calling themselves an SEO agency when SEO was all about digital, optimizing keywords, understanding a business, taking content, and finding ways to repurpose and reposition. That's where product marketing comes in.

The problem we were trying to solve was how to continue to grow our website, which was launched a year ago. The current agency projected a 2 percent annual growth. We didn't think that was acceptable, given where we were. We're a cybersecurity company, so there was really no reason why we wouldn't be able to play better than that. I was like, "Look, we need to call Brain Bytes. Let's talk to them about digital marketing. They offer a full marketing solution. They have everything from graphic designers to whatever it is that we're going to need. I've got a good relationship there."

We had Brain Bytes come in and do a pitch for us. What was cool about it was they did a lot of research about our company and our site. They pointed out things that we could quickly fix on our own. This was before we signed a contract with them, which was a show of good faith and lots of candor. We had them come in and look deeper into our website once we signed with them.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Brain Bytes worked with us on the analytics side of our business. They strategically looked at where we were in the digital marketing area. They analyzed how we were promoting our website and our services on search engines. They also provided direction on pay per click, and they worked with us to create a full-spectrum program. The program would, of course, include many different kinds of campaigns. We would take one of our products and say, "OK, this month we're going to focus on this product." Brain Bytes would then give different kinds of strategic campaigns, from social to content to email marketing to web marketing to PPC. The campaign would be multipronged. Then, we would work closely with them, using our internal resources as well. They were driving the strategy because that's something my team didn't have. They just have a lot of know-how and strategy. Brain Bytes also helped us with technical fixes for our website. For example, they helped us increase page speeds and understand Google Analytics. This allowed us to look at our web pages, optimize them and position them differently. They also offered much more strategy around social sharing and boosting.

How did you come to work with Brain Bytes Creative?

I worked with Brain Bytes at a company before this. They handled all of the digital marketing there.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with Brain Bytes for about three or four months now [as of August 2016]. Our retainer allowed us a certain number of hours for whatever we needed. We could customize depending on how our business changed throughout each month. We may want to run one program one month and then run something different next month.

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

Since we've started working with Brain Bytes, we've seen a huge increase in our page speed as well as the number of leads that have come in. That's not just from a paid perspective. It's from a full digital scope, so it could be content and all the other items I've talked with you about. It's increased significantly enough that we brought it in front of our executive leadership team and that they were pleased with it.

I've had many agencies miss a deadline and not let me know until the next day. I had to follow up with them. Keep in mind, I'm paying them hourly based on the retainer that we decided. Brain Bytes does not do that. We decide together on what we think is a good deadline for things. In contrast, our contact person at Brain Bytes makes sure that he has all the resources possible to meet deadlines. If it looks like the deadlines are going to shift for whatever reason, we get notified way ahead of time. That seldom happens. They usually deliver on what they say they're going to deliver, when they say they're going to deliver on it. That's huge for me.

In the past, other agencies I've worked with would say they're creative. But, they were not. They would just re-churn the exact same thing that one of their other clients did. They would spin it to suit whatever company I work for, but it's the same thing. It's churning out something that's not unique. I like that the output from Brain Bytes is unique. They are always trying to up it and make it better. We're in the cybersecurity world, so that is very complex. They've been able to pick things up so quickly to help us in that space. I've been here about nine months now, and I am just now figuring it out. The fact that they've been able to come in after three months and perform well is a huge plus.

How did Brain Bytes Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I'm very pleased with the project management. I always feel like things are very organized with Brain Bytes. There's a lot of that kind of communication with them, which is great because I've worked with other agencies that just suck. I hate when I feel like our agency is in this vacuum, and we're not able to communicate with them. I was very skeptical about working with an agency at all because of my horrible experience with another agency. Brain Bytes will be the fifth agency that I've worked with, and they are fantastic.

Brain Bytes has a sharing platform called Slack, which allows us to have constant communication during a project. We are able to ping each other and share all the things that we're doing on our end and on their end. This way, we know what they're working on. They're very good about reporting. There's a lot of transparency with this company, which I love. We also do weekly meetings, which are kind of like our stand ups. We know what projects we've been working on because we've been talking all week via Slack, and email. We often collaborate in Google Docs just to make sure we're focused on the program. In our weekly meetings, we'll bring up what we've decided to do for the current month and what we were planning for the previous month. We would also discuss the things that are within the scope of those programs, who was assigned to them and where they are. They're quick meetings because we talk all week long. We have an account manager from Brain Bytes, and we have someone who takes care of the minutes just so everybody is on the same page. Anytime we have a meeting and there are next steps from either side, that person emails us and lets us know what we need to do.

What did you find most impressive about Brain Bytes Creative?

I love working with the people from Brain Bytes. I feel like they have a nice mix of different generations, anywhere from millennials and up, which is great. It's a full scope of experience. The younger generation that works there is savvy, quick, and smart. Then, they've got the Generation X people who are really experienced. They know how to utilize and take advantage of the skills that the millennials are coming out of school with. It's very different than when I was in school. They know so much. It's good because it's a full-spectrum agency, which I love.

I also love that they are very accommodating. We can shift easily. They're very agile. We can say, "This isn't working," or, "There are changes in the company and we need to refocus this month." Not only are they accommodating, but they also provide strategy when we need to refocus. It's not like we're flying blind. They would say, "OK, we'll do whatever you need us to do. But, based on what you're saying, here's what we recommend. Here's what we think we can provide, where we could fit and help you succeed." It's a nice, tight relationship.

Even though we work with them a lot digitally, they do come into our office and allow us the opportunity to get face-to-face time. That cements our relationship with them. Trust is important when working with an agency, so you have to get going with them and have them earn it. We have to earn their trust as well. They have to know that we're going to pay them on time, give them the right information, and provide feedback. I think those qualities are what make them special.

Are there any areas Brain Bytes Creative could improve?

There are certain items that Brain Bytes could probably report better. But, that depends on the company, what the stakeholders and the executive leadership want to see and how they want to see it. Again, because they're agile, they'll figure it out as long as we're honest with them.

I think there are times when – I hate to say this because it's not even a problem – but Brain Bytes want to please us so much that they do whatever we say. When I worked with Brain Bytes in my previous company, this was not an issue because we had already established trust. There was much more, "Listen, there are things you are doing wrong. We can help you." Before, they were more candid because we had worked together for several months. Now, we've been collaborating for three months and we're just starting to get to that level of trust. I can't even say that there's a fault. I love working with them.