Comrade Digital Marketing Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

At the William Bee Ririe Hospital, our mission is to provide quality healthcare in a compassionate, safe and secure environment that supports the dignity of individuals and families. I am the Public Relations Director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Comrade Digital Marketing Agency, and what were your goals?

Our old website was developed over 15 years ago. We hired Comrade Digital to design a new website for us. Our goals were to modernize the website, provide information to our community and potential new staff members.

SOLUTION

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

We searched and interviewed several companies. Comrade Digital fit our budget and did an excellent job of listening and providing the product that we specified. They were referred to us by a larger digital company.

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

We had a kick off meeting which discussed goals and needs of our hospital. I worked with them through the months on conference calls and email providing information for the wireframes. They did an excellent job of creating pages in Webflow that I can easily edit.

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

I worked primarily with two people from the vendor's team. Reed Adler as the Business Growth Expert and Anna Vasilyeva as the Project Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just launched a couple of weeks ago, so the traffic is not yet measurable. We received many compliments from our department managers and patients regarding the new design.

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

I work part-time so they had to communicate with me as my schedule allowed. They did a wonderful job with project creation in spite of my limited time.

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

They gave us a beautiful site that was easy to update. I had not worked with Webflow previously and it was simple for me to learn to edit as needed.

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

When we first launched, we had to change the method of accepting employment applications and resumes. It was our change, not their lack of design. They quickly worked with us on a solution that was cost-effective for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founding partner and sole member of Sequoia Legal, a law firm. We provide corporate and commercial services, as well as advice and assistance on international trade matters.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Comrade Digital Marketing Agency? 

Our top goal was developing a professional and effective website for SEO and Google Ads marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a whole new website for us, taking over responsibility from our previous vendor. The site is built on Webflow with SEO principles front of mind. 

Comrade also handles our online marketing efforts. They’re also doing a lot of copywriting for blog posts and creating landing pages. We’re building the site out over time. 

What is the team composition?

I was originally brought on by Sasha (Partner & VP of Solutions). I’ve primarily been dealing with Julia (Account Manager) throughout the project, though I do communicate with Maria (Marketing Manager) as well. 

How did you come to work with Comrade Digital Marketing Agency? 

I was at a conference in Chicago in the fall of 2019, and Sasha presented there. I was impressed with him, and then I heard about Comrade further through my business coach. 

How much have you invested with them?

The website development cost $3,000, and the monthly SEO costs $2,500 per month. The total investment is around $7,000–$8,000 at the moment. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The general feedback from my community is that the website is far more professional and functional than it used to be. 

We’re still gathering the metrics, but in the two months that we’ve been working together, the quality of the leads we’ve gotten has been very good. This has driven up convertible opportunities. The raw number of leads we receive has also increased. 

How did Comrade Digital Marketing Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great with project management. I’m old-school, so we communicate over email and have a bi-weekly update call with Julia. Comrade has also recommended various add-ons to the website. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Comrade’s ability to take in the information and run with it stands out. They don’t require excessive feedback from me. Rather, their team takes the business story I provide and delivers good copy and website material. They’re always on-point, which is important from a time perspective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, as I’m very happy thus far. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Comrade has been 100% professional and extremely responsive. They have a good team; there’s always someone there to help you. Comrade should be in the ring if you’re looking at getting an SEO provider. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a public library located in Tinley Park, Illinois. We serve a patron population of about 65,000 people, and we have been standing in the current building that we are in since 2004.

I’m the marketing and PR manager of the library, so, among other responsibilities, I’m in charge of our website and social media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Comrade Digital Marketing Agency?

We were trying to assess the needs of our community in terms of what they needed out of our website and what they were looking for. We wanted to give our existing website an updated and fresh look, and we wanted to migrate it from Drupal 7 to WordPress for better longevity and usability for our staff.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Comrade did some research and comparisons on library websites. Then, they analyzed our site and made recommendations based on the heat maps. They also saw where people were clicking on and where they were trying to get to.

Additionally, they helped us conduct a survey to get feedback from our users on the website. As a result, we collected information about the pain points and problems that the users were experiencing with our old website.

We provided Comrade with some wireframes, and they created others on their own. We worked together on reorganizing the information in a more intuitive way, and then they did all the design work.

We’ve been able to copy some of the text content from the old website, but Comrade has been developing the new site completely from scratch.

What is the team composition?

We’ve only met with Anton (Account Manager). 

How did you come to work with Comrade Digital Marketing Agency?

We interviewed some developers, and all of them told us that the project that we wanted to embark on would be in the range of thousands of dollars, which was out of our budget as a public library.

Comrade, however, was local to Chicago, so when it came to the pricing, they were right on our budget. We were really excited to work with them, and the fact that they were locals was helpful. We were also impressed with the portfolio on their website.

Comrade was really flexible and able to adapt to a new type of client. When we first reached out to them, we were trying to get budgetary information. Since we were budgeting for the upcoming fiscal year, we wanted to make sure that we could budget the website redesign.

They were very helpful in scoping the project out and flexible in how they described certain elements of the billing. They could break apart the project requirements, so it was a very transparent process, which was fabulous.

I don’t think that they’d worked with another library before, and it’s needless to say that libraries are somewhat complicated. However, they were able to adapt to this new type of clientele.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around May 2019, a couple of years back, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the things that we’re excited about having on our website is online card registration, which is done through a third-party vendor. We’ve seen 3–4 people signing up for it every day, so the calls to action that Comrade has strategically placed on our website for getting the library card have had great results.

How did Comrade Digital Marketing Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Comrade has performed wonderfully. They’ve kept track of a lot of requests, and they’ve worked very closely with us. I’m really impressed with their team and with the research that they did on library websites — I really value that collaboration.

We’ve had weekly calls with them, and we’ve had many face-to-face meetings with Anton. He has been incredibly effective in communicating between the developers and us and understanding our needs.

We communicate via Zoom, Google Hangouts, and email. They also use tools like Whimsical for wire-framing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Comrade’s dedication to their work distinguishes them from other providers. They work at all hours, and they’re very communicative and flexible in understanding our needs. In addition, their customer service is outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It might have been helpful to have some direct conversations with developers because we have a person on our team who is knowledgeable about technology. However, I think they did exchange emails to some extent.

That’s the only suggestion I have for them. Otherwise, I’ve had an outstanding experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Comrade is a great company to work with, so keep an open mind about engaging in a collaborative process — it is for the better. Being a library, we tend to come into projects over-prepared with our own ideas of how things should work. However, through the collaborative process with Comrade and assessing our needs, we discovered that the assumptions we were making weren’t entirely correct.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an Account Manager at Experiences For Mankind, a small creative consultancy agency based in San Diego, CA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Comrade Digital Marketing Agency, and what were your goals?

My agency submitted for a website RFP sent out by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, a Native American tribe located in Southern California. The request was to design and develop a new website that had not been updated in over 10 years.

The goal was to provide San Manuel with a best-in-class, scalable website that can grow and adapt as the tribal government grows. We wanted to give them the tools to create new pages and microsites leveraging the Drupal framework.

SOLUTION

How did you select Comrade Digital Marketing Agency and what were the deciding factors?

We knew we wanted to partner with Comrade Digital Marketing Agency as soon as we read the RFP supplied by San Manuel. Having worked together with Comrade for about 3 years, it was a no brainer to bring them into the RFP as i knew they would go above and beyond to make sure this is a winning experience for San Manuel.

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

We kicked off the project by bringing in all stakeholders into a conference call we were able to ask any questions about desired functionality, limitations and business requirements.

Knowing that the scale of the website was near 50 pages, we wanted to be sure that all parties start on the right foot. EFM spent the next 2.5 months producing all the website copy and website designs of the tribal government website.

Once all copy and designs were approved, we moved into a phased development approach. Phase 1 included the front end development of the site based on the approved designs.

Once the the front end development was in place, Comrade Digital Marketing Agency moved into Phase 2, which consisted of backend development of this very custom site, using Drupal page builder functionality which increased the level of complexity of development.

Phase 3 consisted of QA updates spotted by me and the client. Comrade Digital Marketing Agency was in constant communication with me throughout the development process and was always available to answer any questions or fix any issues that came up.

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

We initially worked with Ivan who assisted me with the RFP response which lead to us ultimately winning the RFP. Once the project was awarded to us, i worked hand in hand with Anna, Vasilyeva, a very thorough Project Manager at Comrade Digital Marketing Agency.

Having worked with both Ivan and Anna, in past projects, I knew we were set for another successful project together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Once we launched the site we received many emails and phone calls from many grateful tribal government members who are thrilled to have an updated site that is a better reflection of who the tribe is and allows them to tell their story better.

Below is one example of a message received from the client. "The website is wonderful! One of the best…and certainly the BEST I’ve ever seen for a tribal government. We owe much of these accolades to our agency partnerships." - San Manuel Chief of Staff to the Business Committee

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

The project management at Comrade is second to none. Anna is a very organized project manager with attention to detail and provides constant communication and status updates as needed.

She is the first to stand up shared Google Drive docs with timelines, access information, progress tracker and QA templates. I love working with Anna because she is always on top of it.

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

It's impressive how easy it is to work with Comrade Digital Marketing Agency. I've worked with many developers in my career who did not provide the level of service, professionalism, and attention to detail that Comrade provides.

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

Not really. Comrade has been a constantly good parter with Experiences For Mankind. We experienced virtually zero issues with development during this entire project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner and president of a leading countertop installation company in the Illinois area. We are manufacturers and fabricators, provide design consultations and installation services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Comrade Digital Marketing Agency?

Social media presence, advice on paid ads and SEO promotion, website design and development, online marketing strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to keep the business at the same level but improve our customer service. Also, win the competition and have a good online rating.

SOLUTION

How did you select Comrade Digital Marketing Agency?

It was an occasional meeting with Comrade's co-owner in an informal setting.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Comrade designed and developed the website and are currently providing maintenance and marketing services: marketing strategy, Paid advertising, and SEO.

What was the team composition?

CEO, copywriter, designer, developers, project manager, customer relationship manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They provide a sustainable flow of prospects which take about 30% of all jobs.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Project management was arranged quite well. Most of the delays accrue due to Granite Selection's lack of time to cooperate.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their team was flexible with clients and able to work with minimum client involvement. Everything went smoothly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As a client, Granite Selection should be more demanding. As for now, there are not any crucial failures.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business development manager of an organization that manufactures precision machine components and assembly systems made from those components.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Comrade Digital Marketing Agency?

We retained Comrade Digital Marketing Agency to redesign our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

My time with Comrade Digital was limited to the last four months of the project, so I can only speak to that timeframe. They’d recommended some improvements to our website, which we undertook along with some other maintenance activities. 

What is the team composition? 

I worked with Reed (Senior Account Executive) and Anna (Project Manager) who worked on our design.

How did you come to work with Comrade Digital Marketing Agency?

I wasn’t at my company when we made the decision, but I understand that we solicited bids from several website designers and found Comrade Digital to be the most attractive.

How much have you invested with them?

It was less than $5,000. The project costs weren’t high since we were just doing site maintenance and minor improvements.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from July–November 2020 before we switched to a different agency. The only reason stopped working with Comrade Digital was that we wanted someone local to us (their design team was in Russia). Location aside, we were pleased with Comrade Digital’s work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team was always responsive and helpful. We told them what we wanted to be done, and they reacted quickly to do it. They did a good job at executing our requests.

How did Comrade Digital Marketing Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They were generally prompt at meeting deadlines, though we faced some difficulty with the nine-hour time difference. Because their design team was in Russia, we had to wait a day or so to get an answer overnight.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their overall knowledge about web design was impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’d be helpful if they staffed local designers and technical support to mitigate the nine-hour time difference. That was the only downside for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior consultant for a financial consultancy and software provider. We provide balance sheet risk management services for commercial banks, credit unions, insurance companies, mortgage banks, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Comrade Web Agency?

Our sales cycle is usually around nine months or longer. In that timeframe, we need to provide them with a lot of information, which requires a lot of back and forth, conference calls, and web demonstrations of our app.

We realized we could provide more information online, so we needed a partner to develop a website.  needed a web site that provided a good balance of mystery and making sure that the visitor felt like they're in the right landing spot to start with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built our site from scratch using HTML5 and WordPress They did all the technical work, but I had a solid idea of what I wanted to do ahead of time. I envisioned a parallax view with continuous scrolling and a monochromatic color scheme. I didn’t want a lot of other fluff because I didn’t want users to be distracted from the message.

Comrade Web Agency executed based on our creative ideas; we wanted our website to be a little mysterious but ensure that the visitor was confident that they found the right landing page. I asked them to solve some creative design problems and they hashed out different approaches. They provided their own creative feedback

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Reed (Senior Account Executive) and Andy (Software Engineer).

How did you come to work with Comrade Web Agency?

I found them while searching on Google and Yelp. I liked that they were local.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project spanned between April 2018 — September 2020, but we paused the project here and there. They probably spent about three months working on the project altogether.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They actualized what I wanted to see on screen, which can be difficult to accomplish. Feedback on their work has been universally positive.

How did Comrade Web Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They laid out their plans and stuck to the timeline. We communicated through phone and email depending on what made sense. If there were screenshots or artwork we needed to discuss, we used email. They also did a few web demos.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their desire to deliver what we needed. It was clear that they were dedicated to delivering quality work. If something didn’t work out, they went back to the drawing board and came up with new approaches.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend them because they pay attention to detail and invest in learning about their customers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I own a law practice that handles civil litigation and real estate transactions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Comrade Web Agency?

I needed help promoting our plaintiff oriented civil litigation practice.

What were your goals for this project?

Provide a web presence, an access point for prospective and current clients, and relevant / useful information for the public.

SOLUTION

How did you select Comrade Web Agency?

Comrade Web Agency is a trusted source of web tech that I have been familiar with for several years. I have has several successful projects with the agency.

Describe the project in detail.

Upgrade my firm's website. Update the information and access portal. Hosting.

What was the team composition?

I dealt with Reed Adler, the sales consultant who guided me through the design and upgrade process. Reed was backed up by a team of designers and techs who kept the project on time and on budget. i was very satisfied with the outcome.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I track the website views. Those numbers have gone up. I have pride in the site and often direct prospective clients to it to learn more about my practice and my results.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication as easy and effective. No waiting for hours or days for a response. Often response times where within 15 minutes. Work product was quality and there were no issues asking for tweaks or changes to the design or functionality of the site.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Comrade Web Agency cares about doing a good job each and every time it undertakes a job. And if something isn't quite perfect, the agency has willingly and effectively made every effort to satisfy my expectations. I would definitely work with agency again.

Are there any areas for improvement?

While there is always room for improvement, my expectations and needs were satisfied with Comrade Web Agency's work product. I think being reasonable and realistic are important. Getting to the point where everyone is one the same page takes time and effort, but once there, all ran very smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of a company that sends technicians to the homes of families that have head lice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Comrade Web Agency?

We wanted to improve our rankings on Google, so we hired them for SEO, PPC, and a website revamp.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing website and kept the basic design. They stepped in to reconfigure it to make it more user friendly, adjusting the content for SEO purposes. In that process, we also moved the site from Drupal to Webflow. They also handled SEO and PPC efforts for us. 

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Julia (Marketing & Web Development Account Manager).

How did you come to work with Comrade Web Agency?

My husband got their name from a colleague. We spoke with them and one other firm about the work, and they were more eager and comfortable with the scope of the project.  

How much have you invested with them?

We pay them about $3,000 each month for SEO work. The website cost about $12,000–$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on the website from March–October 2020. They continue to manage PPC and SEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Each month, we receive reports that document the number of hits on our site and Google Ads campaigns. We’re happy with what we’ve seen from them so far. It’s still early in our relationship with them, so we don’t have metrics on how successful their work will be for us.   

How did Comrade Web Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

The overall communication is very good. We communicate over the phone once each week. If I have additional questions, I call or email her. They generally meet our deadlines, but a few have slipped in the past. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The website is now more attractive and moves faster. Eventually, we’ll be able to update the site ourselves, rather than relying on their services for quick updates. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s too early to tell at this point. I wish that they could move a little more quickly, but I think there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved that I don’t see. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t expect an overnight change in SEO. Time will tell whether your investment is paying off in the SEO world.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an independent insurance broker.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Comrade Web Agency?

We needed a website to promote our services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built me a WordPress website with plenty of functionality. We were replacing my old, templated website with something that would better reflect what my business does. They brought us into the 21st century with new features and graphics.  

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people, including Reed (Senior Account Executive) and Anna (Project Manager).

How did you come to work with Comrade Web Agency?

Through a trusted advisor, they and a few other companies were referred to me. I selected them through a process of elimination.  

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of the project was about $20,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We collaborated from January 2018–August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was very happy with the quality of service. They met our expectations.  

How did Comrade Web Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through email, phone, and video conferences. There were delays on both sides of the project, but they did a good job of meeting deadlines. They were willing to work at my pace, completing the project as I had time to devote to the effort. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The end product was sufficient in quality. They were patient, creative, and flexible. I was happy when we reached the final product. In order to satisfy me, Reed took on a lot of work. That was appreciated.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project took a good deal of work on my part. All of the work was worth it.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

While some of their services are a little expensive, you can trust Reed and Comrade to deliver quality work. Still, do your homework and clearly define what you will be responsible for and what they will actually do. You must understand that once you start this project, you as a customer need to commit time to it on a monthly, if not weekly basis.