The Content Bureau

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager for the client-facing work at Catalyst Strategies. I also help with our business development, which requires routine maintenance and updates to our website and marketing materials.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

The Content Bureau has been a long partner of ours. For this project, we brought them in to help us with our long overdue website redesign and redevelopment; we required their expertise and partnership.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Content Bureau helped us conceptualize the process from start to finish and brought their expertise to the table to help us redesign our website completely — it was a full overhaul. Initially, they created a detailed project plan to keep us abreast of their progress.

After the design phase, they built our site on WordPress so that we could manage its backend ourselves. Throughout the process, they also helped us think strategically about our site’s copy, service areas, structure, site map, and SEO. Additionally, the project included QA before the delivery.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Stacy (Owner), Todd (Lead Designer), Allison (Content Strategist), who acted as the project manager and worked closely with our team, Ruth (Writer), a support copywriter, and an SEO specialist.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

We’ve had a long working relationship with The Content Bureau — we’ve been partnering with them and recommending them as a third-party specialist for the last 15 years. This project was the first opportunity we had to hire them for an internal project, and we brought them in to do what they do best: redevelop our website.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–June 2022.

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

Before this project, our website was basically in the Dark Ages, and The Content Bureau brought it up to date, creating something we’re very proud of. They delivered above and beyond their line of duty, ensuring that all the elements we set out to build were properly built and QAd; we were very happy with the outcome.

We now can market our services with it to prove that we’re a legit company, and referrals and clients can use it to take a look at our work. We’ve been able also to showcase some case studies, which we couldn’t do in the past. They also had an amazing approach to how to present our site without overwhelming our visitors, and we’re really happy with how it ultimately turned out.

The most immediate improvement we saw was an increase in our website traffic and all of our social media channels that reflected our new website, which was wonderful. Our internal team was so happy with the result that they shared the new site widely.

We knew that SEO wouldn’t be a real game-changer for our type of business, but we deferred to The Content Bureau’s recommendations. As a result, they gave us very clear guidance on the best practices around it, ultimately streamlining our site and presenting the right information in the clearest way possible.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

The Content Bureau brought in an expert team to do the work; their service was amazing. They were very flexible and worked hard to get things done as quickly as possible. Additionally, their price was really fair considering the quality of the work they delivered.

The Content Bureau also offered top-notch communication and a really robust and clear project management approach. We had weekly conversations, and they gave us clear visibility of their assignments at each step of the process. Whenever we provided them feedback, they took our comments and immediately turned them into tangible results.

The roles of their team members were clearly defined, and we knew who to go to for each need. Allison and I worked very closely together. She was extremely responsive and open to suggestions, and I felt like I could ask her questions and get in touch with her at any time. We felt very taken care of, and she reported the progress of her team weekly, discussing open items and next steps.

Something we really appreciated about them is that we asked them to deliver on a very short timeline, and they worked within it. Additionally, we worked very collaboratively with them, which we really appreciated. As far as the project management tools used, we used Google Docs to share documents, including our copy deck and our Gantt charts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Content Bureau’s unmatched professionalism, knowledge, and experience were impressive, as was their highly skilled and coordinated team. Overall, they’re an amazing partner for helping companies like ours show their value proposition on their website. They took the time to understand our business, so we really trusted their advice — it was spot on.

After this project, The Content Bureau has become a real trusted partner for us, so I would recommend their services to anyone. They’re extremely efficient and collaborative, willingly working hard to ensure the work gets done. Additionally, they’re very nice and fun to work with, and they know what they’re doing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although I didn’t feel that they needed vast improvements, it would be very beneficial for both sides if they tried to understand deeply the projects they work on. However, given the accelerated timeline of our project, it wasn’t possible for them to do it. Still, that aspect only affected a little bit in the phrasing they used on the content. For less tight deadlines on future projects, I would encourage them to spend some time understanding the client’s business so that they could translate it into excellent content.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hire them! Their work is unbelievable, and they will take care of your success; nothing can go wrong.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a former executive at a business consulting and services company.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We needed help writing published papers and a book focused on business strategy for CEOs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Content Bureau has been developing content for us according to our paper and book publishing needs during this project. Regarding the process, we start with an interview, and then we provide them with raw content and researched-based findings so they can draft up an outline that we agree with — the material they give us afterward includes graphics and print. 

Overall, they ghostwrote three published papers, each about 13 pages long. After that, they drafted the complete book, which is eight chapters.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Stacy (CEO), a writer, and a content editor.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

It was an internal referral; they worked with our company on a previous project.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $250,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2016, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

They succeeded in how well I needed them to write the content. They’ve also always been on time with deliveries. In addition, they’ve given us a solid collaborative approach along the way.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management has been excellent; they meet deadlines and stay on budget. Regarding tools, we use video conference calls and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge of the tech industry and its trends is outstanding because our book is focused on digital technologies, so for them to be able to do a good job, they had to be tech-savvy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — they’re consistent with the writers they provide, which gives us a continuity feel. We feel like they’re growing and evolving with us over the years of our partnership.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to collaborating with them; that’s how you’ll produce high-quality content with their team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the interim head of marketing for a software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with the Content Bureau?

Our writing team was quite understaffed, so we needed an external resource to handle our content development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The partnership with the Content Bureau started with an SEO evaluation and recommendation, but they’re mostly providing us with content creation and strategic consultation.

What is the team composition?

We’re primarily in contact with the project manager, but Stacy (Owner) checks in with us from time to time. We also have about six writers working with us.

How did you come to work with the Content Bureau?

Our CEO already had a prior working relationship with the Content Bureau so when we decided we needed content marketing services, she recommended them to our team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $300,000 to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in August 2021.

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

We’re using the content they’ve developed for different marketing strategies and we’ve seen an overall increase in traffic and engagement as a result.

How did the Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

The Content Bureau has an excellent approach to project management, as they’re very detail-oriented and excellent communicators. We mainly interact using Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that they’ve been able to adapt very well to our writing style and guidelines, so they create content for us with agility. We also like that they’re very thoughtful about the feedback we provide them and if they don’t understand something about the project, they ask us for more information to make sure they fully understand the strategy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on catching issues on the first drafts of their content, but they’re usually able to resolve them quickly whenever I bring them up.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say be very explicit and detailed in what you’re looking for with each piece of content.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief communications officer at a company that works across a variety of sectors to provide proprietary data, technology, and insights in the area of risk governance and growth. We operate in over 140 countries across six continents. Some of our capabilities include valuation, advisory, corporate finance and M&A, cybersecurity, and crisis management services. We also deal with disputes, corporate restructuring, and forensic investigations. 

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We work with Content Bureau on our messaging for our service offerings and business groups. Our primary goal is to identify our business’ key differentiator to help people know why they should use our company for their business challenges.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Content Bureau works on our value proposition messaging. They’ve crafted client-facing content for our website and emails. Overall, they handle our marketing, messaging, and content creation efforts. 

What is the team composition?

We work with four people from their team, including an account manager. I also work closely with their CEO. A number of teammates also work behind the scenes to help us. 

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

I heard about Content Bureau through a referral from a friend with a similar business. I also interviewed other providers. I chose their team because I liked that they were a small business that could give us a more specialized focus and time. 

We also liked their background since they’d worked for similar companies to ours. The team worked on financial services-related engagements, consulting, and compliance. Overall, they were a good fit for us in terms of understanding our business and translating that into good messaging. As a result, we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $124,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

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

We don’t have quantitative metrics yet, but the Content Bureau team has a positive attitude, and they’re eager and excited about working on additional projects with us to continue the partnership. 

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

Content Bureau’s project management skills are excellent, and they have great communication. The team is well-organized, and they manage the project well in terms of timelines, progress, and deliverables. They even remind us of our own deadlines as we review content and give them feedback.

To communicate, we use emails and regular check-in meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to the client is impressive. They regularly follow up and check in on how the project is going. In fact, their CEO herself checks in to see how the team is performing and to know what they can do differently to help us stay on budget. Moreover, Content Bureau is timely with their deliverables and in meeting our timelines. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. We’ve had a great partnership. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with your goals and objectives, and be open to the ideas that Content Bureau can bring to the table.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior content marketing manager at a software company. We create 3D modeling and engineering software.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We needed help with content marketing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Content Bureau helps us write customer stories, messaging documents, print articles, and social media copy. Their social media work includes writing tweets and captions and creating images to go along with them.

The team also fulfills some of our design needs for things like posters and brochures. Additionally, they’ve provided some consultancy to help us with some of our research projects and our social media strategy.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Stacy (Owner) and a writer.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

Our other departments were already working with The Content Bureau, so I decided to work with them, too.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $220,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in February 2013 and is ongoing.

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

The Content Bureau’s work has been highly beneficial to us — the content they deliver is consistently well-written and compelling. They also produce amazing designs and layouts.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is where they really shine — The Content Bureau is amazing to work with because they keep track of everything. The team always meets their deadlines, and they’re great at nudging me to provide feedback so they could keep things on schedule. We value The Content Bureau; they genuinely feel like an extension of our internal team.

In terms of communication, we use email, and they do a fantastic job of being responsive. Additionally, we have an annual meeting where we talk about future projects and brainstorm for new strategies we could pursue.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Content Bureau acts like a true partner and not just a vendor. Stacy has really taken the time to understand our company and connect with our team. The support she’s given us is tremendous.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It could be interesting if we could work with various writers instead of having one assigned to us. However, it’s more of a suggestion — we don’t really have any issues with the team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend reaching out to The Content Bureau.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at Okta, the leading identity access management provider. We have cloud-based technology solutions.

I lead our named accounts marketing team. We specialize in account-based marketing and targeting the largest enterprise customers.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

When we do account-based marketing, we need to speak to our prospective customers in their own voice. We do a lot of content customization and write pieces of content specifically for the account we’re targeting.

The Content Bureau helped us build a standardized set of content around some of our primary business solutions that we could then use to customize in a way that would be meaningful to our target accounts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team provides content creation, copywriting consultation, and design services. We provided them with a standard template, but they were able to take that template and add design elements to make that content much more meaningful and interesting.

From there, they worked with our subject matter experts to ensure that the content was impactful and relevant. They’ll then work with our marketers and sales organizations to customize those core pieces for a specific account.

We use all of the content pieces they help us create in our campaigns and programs.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with four people on their staff, including their owner, copywriters, creative director, and design managers.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

The team was recommended by another organization that was doing similar marketing and content creation. I had a great conversation with their owner, and they were enthusiastic and well-versed in the things we needed.

They had the depth and breadth of services that we knew if we began this project with them, they would have the ability to continue expanding with us. As we got started, they were a joy to work with.

How much have you invested with them?

It was right around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020.

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

Their work has made our interaction with our target accounts more meaningful to the people receiving the information. It’s easy to follow the creation process. They’re great collaborators, and we enjoy working with them.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they’re excellent. We tend to communicate through email or conference calls. A lot of what we do is dependent on the availability of our subject matter experts. We’ve had a couple of concurrent pieces going simultaneously, so we would check in with them weekly.

There are project management tools on the backend. It’s a personal engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Content Bureau has a genuine interest in our success. Their collaborative approach helped with that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I’ve come across yet.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of what you need. Be able to articulate that to the team. They have a clear idea of where to start but also be willing to chat collaboratively with them. Take advantage of their advice and guidance. They’re very experienced.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product marketing at Nintex. The company is the global standard in process management and automation. We think about how we can map and manage clients’ everyday business processes and find ways to automate parts of those processes, allowing people to focus on more strategic endeavors.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We’re a relatively small company within the business world. We’re making our name broader within the process management and automation space, but we’re still not super well-known. One of the challenges we were trying to resolve was getting people to know more about us, and that led us to believe that we need some good content to drive leads. People wouldn’t know who we are without doing some research. We went to The Content Bureau to create that top-of-the-funnel content, namely e-books.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The initial scope of work was to identify some key industries that we could market to. We went down the path of creating what I consider to be industry e-books, settling on the top-five business processes that were ripe for automation: banking, credit unions, healthcare, pharma, and government. Based on the initial scope of work, we honed in on seven business processes within those industries.

We were going to ask The Content Bureau to start drafting these e-books but had to put a pause on it because of COVID-19. We had to make some changes within our organization, and the focus wasn’t there for this project during that tumultuous time.

We reengaged The Content Bureau about a month ago, to start drafting the e-books. They send the e-books back to me for review then make the edits I request, and we go back and forth like this. We’ve finished five e-books, we’re drafting three more, and I can see two more coming down the pipes.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with around three people from The Content Bureau. I have a primary content writer helping me out, a relationship manager, and someone in charge of logistics and billing.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

My manager had a previous working relationship with The Content Bureau, and he found them to be excellent. I chatted with them and saw some of their previous work. Their writing style fit our needs, and they had a quick response time.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial SOW was for $30,000. The three e-books we’re working on now will cost another $14,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with The Content Bureau in February 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. We had to put a pause on the project after COVID-19 struck.

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

I don’t have anything quantifiable right now. The Content Bureau writes the content, we give final approval on it, and everybody feels good about it. The next step for me is to work with our in-house designer to actually put the e-books together.

I can’t speak in terms of leads generated, but the qualitative comments from our internal professionals are resoundingly positive. The processes that The Content Bureau identified to resonate within the industry make sense, the way they wrote was concise, and the delivery method was fantastic. These qualitative comments convinced me to write even more e-books with them.

When working with any vendor, I’ll judge them based on turnaround time and on how much attention they pay to me. If their response time is rather slow, it’ll put a bad taste in my mouth. With The Content Bureau, their methodology has made me comfortable working with them.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re on top of every single one of my communications. When I ask for edits, they take feedback really well. I feel like their project management is superb, and I have nothing negative to say.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their delivery speed has been really impressive. I expect a fast response time to questions and edit requests, and The Content Bureau is the fastest agency I’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

With content, there are two routes we can take: we know what we want that content to look like and we just need someone to write it for us or we want someone to actually go out and do research and brainstorm ideas. It really depends on who’s looking for content. If the client has some ideas already, and they need The Content Bureau to write those in a manner that resonates with how the brand should be perceived, they’re really good at that.

On the opposite side, if someone’s looking for them to actually do the research and legwork, The Content Bureau may not be the right choice. That’s not a knock on them. We already had some ideas on what we wanted to do when we started the engagement. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 I work for an accounting and consulting firm. I’m the marketing director, and I’m responsible for our creative services as a whole. 

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We’re in an in-house marketing team, and we generally don’t do a lot of outsourcing. However, as our requests from clients evolved, we needed to build a list of vendors that we could work with on some marketing projects. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They create an assortment of different content assets. This includes editorial work ranging from webpage copy to thought leadership pieces and article marketing to social media posts. Their work in this regard varies depending on what our clients need. 

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of 3–4 people. My primary contact is Stacy (Owner), but I’ve also worked with Ruth (Writer & Consultant) and one editor. 

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

Another member of our marketing team had worked with The Content Bureau previously, and she referred me to them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $125,000 so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them once in 2015 or 2016. However, we didn’t engage with them on an ongoing basis until June 2020. 

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

Their team is engaging and responsive. They’re knowledgeable about the topics we’re asking them to cover. We’ve seen promising analytical results. 

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re amazing. Ruth and Stacy are very responsive. I always here back within 24 hours. Everything is quick and organized. They’ve helped us streamline some of our processes. They’re very precise and deliberate. 

We primarily communicate with them over the phone and via email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management and communication are the most impressive. I also appreciate the expertise and qualifications of the team. We don’t have to make a lot of edits to their work, they nail it the first time around. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I wouldn’t call this an area for improvement, but I have noticed that their pricing is a bit higher than other vendors in the industry. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re relatable and easy to work with. If you’re looking for a personable team to partner with, then they’re great.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for NetApp. We’re a global data management and services company. We’re focused mostly in the hybrid cloud space, selling to enterprise accounts. I’m a senior manager of business value marketing. This is about what programs and services we can offer to give our customers additional value. I do go-to-market strategy, as well as execution.

What challenge were you trying to address with the Content Bureau?

We launched all those initiatives in the fall and needed customer-facing and sales materials to educate our sales teams and partner communities, as well as our customers. We contacted the Content Bureau to help us write all the content.

What was the scope of their involvement?

This was all brand new content. We had multiple briefings with them to describe the initiatives and product offerings. We had some internal content, but they helped us start out with the copy blocks and messaging. I’m a very technical person that can get into the weeds easily, but Content Bureau made it more customer-friendly. It was easier to understand the value for the customer thanks to Content Bureau.

What is the team composition?

My primary contact was my content writer Ruth, (Creative). She stayed with me throughout the entire project, continuing to do some additional content creation. Brooke handled all the money, logistics, cost, and fees associated with the different content deliverables.

How did you come to work with the Content Bureau?

I came on board in July, and we were already working with Content Bureau. They’d had numerous initiatives copywriting in the company.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $55,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together on this project since July 2019.

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

They were the writer for the blog that introduced the new service offerings and initiatives, and the piece got a lot of traction. The content on the web pages received 4500 views in the first month. Internally, the content has been viewed over 12,000 times since late October. Their content was very heavily viewed by our sales and partner teams internally and customers externally.

How did the Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really great to work with. They’re very professional, keeping me up to date on things and hitting their deadlines. They’ve even come in under budget on some of the content initiatives. We communicate over email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of creativity is amazing. We’ve brought them a couple of assignments where some of the slides we’d created just weren’t resonating with our internal or external folks, and they brought back really creative ideas. Additionally, their writing capabilities are amazing. They excel at taking complex ideas and making them simple and easy to understand and use.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. I wish we’d used them a little bit more on design because their work was very high quality when we did ask for design work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The briefings we had, which were basically brainstorming sessions, helped get them involved at the start. Have those sessions and describe the technology. They’ll grasp it quickly and come back with ideas to present. They’re solid on both content creation and design.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and managing partner of a healthcare-focused venture and growth equity fund. We invest in high-growth, commercial-stage healthcare businesses.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Content Bureau?

We were in the process of raising our next fund, which we do every few years so that we can invest. As part of that effort, we have to put together a private placement memorandum (PPM), which is a vital document in the fundraising process. The Content Bureau helped us create that PPM.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We collaborated back and forth on the initial outline of the PPM. The Content Bureau’s team interviewed several members of our team about our strategy, our focus, and our portfolio companies. They presented a first draft of the PPM, which we iterated multiple times. The Content Bureau filled out the PPM with graphics and ultimately proofread and produced a document that was close to 30 pages.

What is the team composition?

We worked closely with Lauren (Copywriter, The Content Bureau) and Stacy (Owner, The Content Bureau). They worked with a graphic designer, as well, but we did not interact with that person directly.

How did you come to work with The Content Bureau?

We had worked with them on a previous PPM, so we had a history with them. We chose to go back to them because we had a positive experience the first time.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $35,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October–December 2018.

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

The quality was excellent and as we hoped. The proof is in the pudding: We put out the PPM, and our fund was meaningfully oversubscribed in just a few months. There are a lot of components to that, but having a good PPM is undoubtedly one of them.

How did The Content Bureau perform from a project management standpoint?

They iterated on our timeline and produced the PPM on schedule. There were turns along the way, but pretty much everything went according to plan. They did a great job of understanding our strategy and reflecting that in an easy-to-read document.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a nuanced strategy because healthcare is a complicated sector. People can play and invest in a lot of different parts of the industry. Coming from an organization that presumably writes about a lot of different things, they were able to grasp the complexities of our business exceptionally well and enunciated that in the content.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They provided excellent graphics for us, but we did explore pushing them on fancier graphics, which seemed to be a bridge too far in their skill set.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’ve been very supportive of our efforts. It speaks to the quality of their work that we’ve returned to them for our needs. We’d work with them again, no question.