Colagrossi Media

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Digital Marketing Manager that leads strategy for an online marketplace for real estate listings.

For what projects/services did your company hire Colagrossi Media, and what were your goals?

We hired Colagrossi Media to expand/optimize our current email and CRM marketing program. Our company needed to create ongoing campaigns for existing customers and shorten buying time for leads with additional contact touchpoints through email marketing. We've struggled to manage email marketing in house for many years. We knew we were missing out on a profitable digital channel by not having a properly managed email program. When we started working with Colagrossi Media on setting up major email automations, we had instant success. Our goals have always been to increase sales and revenue via email and improve our overall digital strategy.

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

We had lengthy interviews with several similar agencies and found most agencies didn’t go beyond giving us a flat rate with minimal explanation as to what our service package would entail. Colagrossi Media won us over with a very detailed proposal, personable founder and now proven expertise in the email marketing space.

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

Created original email templates and completed campaigns, while coding the email templates and managing the campaign send schedule. Utilized a very process-oriented management that was always a few steps ahead of us when it came to upcoming promotions. We saw the agency’s “Design-to-Deploy” process in action. After one of our usual weekly meetings where we’d talk about a campaign we wanted to run, within the next week we would have a creative mock-up with original design to review and then see it perfectly rendered on our email platform and ready to send. All we had to do was to approve the messaging and it was done. Afterwards, without even asking we’d have a detailed results report sent to us with even more strategy and professional advice.

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

Strategist, Email Developer, Designer

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

Our email channel has grown tremendously since we started working with Colagrossi Media. Revenue tied to email has been up approximately 95% YoY. Nearly our entire channel is run and managed by the agency. We receive a constant stream of updates and new improvements to the channel.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Again, they’re very process-oriented and there was seamless communication with the team at every crucial point. They onboarded us into their unique and efficient way of doing this. There seems to be an internal process for everything. If I post something that needs attention, they spring right into action. Couldn't be happier with their overall workflow.

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

They really understand your business and fits in email marketing to larger revenue goals at the company. Not only a great creative agency that delivers on its initial promises, but acts as an expert consultant giving both practical and high-level advice and instruction.

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

I've found no issues or concerns that need to be improved. Their team is very competent.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Head of Creative for a lifestyle eCommerce business.

For what projects/services did your company hire Colagrossi Media?

Email marketing and cross-channel digital development strategies. Primarily, we needed complete creative development and management for our new email campaigns. We needed to jumpstart our channel on a new email service provider and required help with workflow management and ESP migration.

We were looking for an agency that could setup and design ongoing promotional campaigns and important triggered email automation flows such as cart abandonment and welcome series campaigns.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals for this project was to grow revenue from the email channel, grow our email list and increase customer retention.

How did you select this vendor?

Colagrossi Media was referenced by our CEO as a great agency to work with.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Colagrossi Media was a critical partner in developing and managing our email channel. They:

• Consulted in weekly meetings on overall email strategy.
• Handled migration between ESPs
• Kept an email schedule and planner for ongoing promotional and seasonal campaigns
• Took an active role in managing email deliverability and reporting results
• Setup unique automated lifecycle email series.
• Worked well with a number of our internal and cross-agency stakeholders to build a strong email marketing channel that aligned with other aspects and strategies of the brand.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with their lead strategist as a main point of contact who led strategy calls, consulted with us and was backed up by their creative and tech team.

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

Colagrossi Media created new email automated series developed where there were none before, which included our segmented welcome series, cart abandonment and re-engagement campaigns. They successfully developed a multichannel strategy around blog content and video content that aligned with our overall brand promotions.

We also had successful outcomes with our retention strategy as our blog content was repurposed for ongoing content email campaigns. Where there was no revenue before, we now had an additional revenue stream from successful automated series that were continually optimized along with a steady flow of new promotional campaigns.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was fantastic. We communicated through a mix of the conferencing app Zoom, Slack and project management Trello. Responses were nearly instant also through either email or phone calls and they had clear guidelines and transparency on communication protocols.

Presentations and reports kept us updated and on course. They have great management documentation so nothing slips through the cracks.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re incredibly knowledgeable about email marketing and were able to align their creative work with our unique brand’s voice.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that come to mind.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing editor at Big Think, the leading platform for big ideas. We produce videos and articles with the world's top thinkers and our content reaches 32 million people each month.

For what projects/services did your company hire Colagrossi Media?

We engage Colagrossi Media to manage our email marketing strategy and implementation.

What were your goals for this project?

To increase engagement and send out a consistent newsletter.

How did you select this vendor?

Previously worked with the founder as a columnist/contributor to the website.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Colagrossi Media creates, manages, and deploys multiple newsletters for the Big Think brand.

What was the team composition?

Big Think's editorial team works closely with the lead strategist who doubled as the newsletter editor.

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

Increased engagement, increased monetization of the newsletter, consistent sending on a scheduled basis.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective—Mike is available frequently and is a fast and clear communicator who is there when you need him.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Colagrossi Media is highly responsive and rises to the challenge of new requests and adjustments to the workflow. Very committed and great to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at this time.