Creative MMS

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder of a Greater Philadelphia based nonprofit, Gigi Project. We inspire others to help those that cannot help themselves. We are a resource that connects individuals, groups and companies with small Greater Philadelphia nonprofit organizations that support homeless, military, children, and the elderly.

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative MMS?

Our website launched two years ago, and since then, our nonprofit has evolved. We hired Creative MMS to update our website to create a user-friendly experience and tie it into our new CRM platform. Most of the content also had to be updated.

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

We used Creative MMS to launch our first website, and we had been using them as our website hosting company, so we didn't hesitate to continue our relationship with them. We have been happy with the customer service and the options provided. We had an excellent positive relationship, so it seemed like a natural next step.

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

Creative MMS started with a kick-off meeting, so all stakeholders were on the same page. We used a shared document for our project list to help keep track of feedback. The assigned team kept to deadlines and was very good at keeping things organized and staying on top of tasks.

They edited our site, created new content, uploaded new images, created donation pages, created new pages, updated webforms, and integrated our CRM platform into our donation forms. Once all design and development were complete, the site was tested and launched. We couldn't be happier.

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

There were two team members that I regularly worked with whenever I had trouble or needed to edit something outside my abilities. They were always incredibly responsive and quick to help if there were questions or problems. It was easy to set up a web meeting with them to go over questions or learn new things.

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

We've only been live with the new site for less than two months, and already, we've gotten some very positive input regarding usability. In addition, our online donations have increased. We can only attribute an increase in online donations to our new website updates. Our team members and volunteers are incredibly excited about the updates, especially how everyone can see our current/past events.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Everything was well organized from start to finish, and all communications were clear and helpful. My messages were responded to very quickly (almost always same-day), and I was never left to navigate anything alone or "in the dark."

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

Their customer service is excellent. When you’re a small team, and you’re working with Creative MMS, they’re like another department for your team. It always feels like we’re part of each other’s team. They allowed me to get more work done than ever before.

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

None!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a full-service HVAC service and construction company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative MMS?

We hired Creative MMS to redesign our website and create a digital marketing strategy.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completely overhauled how our website looked and provided on-site SEO services. They also worked closely with my team to conduct keyword research and support off-site SEO.

Then they created a social media strategy and content calendar to improve our profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

After that, we created a Google Ad campaign to increase traffic to our site. Now we meet monthly to adjust our marketing strategy as needed.

What is the team composition?

We worked with their CEO, and he introduced me to their team: Jennifer (Director of Marketing), Meg (Digital Account Manager), and David (Digital Optimization Strategist). There are also 2­–3 other people working on social media.

How did you come to work with Creative MMS?

I’ve known their CEO for about  20 years and I've always relied on him for this type of work.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial project cost about $50,000, and we’ve spent an additional $100,000 (approximately $150,000 in total).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around July 2018 and our partnership is ongoing.

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

I’ve definitely seen a return on my investment. Their work has increase traffic to our sites and engagement on social media. We recently earned a lead that would generate enough revenue to cover the entire cost of our engagement with Creative MMS.

How did Creative MMS perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re professional, attentive, and organized. We generally communicated over email and phone calls, but we also had monthly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very knowledgeable and have a lot of experience in their industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re in a very competitive space and there are cheaper service providers. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

New clients should trust their experience.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Reybold Group is a multifaceted company with its core competency in real estate development. We have a construction division and a construction technologies division. We also build communities.

We have several multi-family communities with available rental homes. We also have apartments, townhomes, single-family homes for rent. We have a new home sales division, commercial division, and a manufactured home division.

I’m the marketing director that oversees marketing efforts for all of the various divisions.

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative MMS?

Shortly before I came onboard, Creative MMS was brought on to redevelop a website. I further developed their role, and now they help us out with PPC efforts and continuing web initiatives.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started out by coming in and evaluating online resources, trying to understand our company. One of the most challenging aspects of that is understanding the relationship between all of the different divisions and their importance and pain points.

For example, our commercial division mostly runs itself. There hasn’t been a lot of need to spend time optimizing those particular assets. But, for our multi-family sector, we have a continuous need to bring new prospects in the door. The same also goes for our new homes division. We need an ongoing supply of new prospects to keep our sales funnels full.

Construction is also another division that isn’t self-sustaining. They are engaged in developing marketing relationships and working with government entities. Those marketing efforts need more of a personal touch, and that’s up to the managers’ responsibilities in those divisions.

What is the team composition?

They pull in as needed. I have a PPC representative, SEO specialists, and a project manager that I work with regularly. When we’re involved in strategic and writing efforts, they pull in a marketing manager and a writer. They also have web development folks that help us with special functions and features.

How did you come to work with Creative MMS?

That process was before I came on board.

How much have you invested with them?

By the time we finish everything, we’ll spend upwards of $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe our engagement with them started in October 2016.

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

We review the number of leads generated by the site and the amount generated by PPC efforts weekly. We’re continually looking to improve the records across all of our business lines.

I have a firm understanding of leads and views from Google Analytics. We’ve definitely installed a growth trend over the last three years, and we continue to keep our particular properties. Our leasing properties have been continuously growing in the number of leads we’ve received.

For new homes, we just had a banner month. We saw the most leads I’ve ever seen in a week.

How did Creative MMS perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they do a good job, but just like every other organization, leadership is required from the initiating source. Sometimes I’ll put things in front of them that will take them off task, and sometimes I need to remind them to push forward.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think with any engagement, everybody needs to work on listening skills and how they deliver new ideas when creating value.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Transparency is super important. When you’re working with this particular team, I think they do really well at looking at analytics and understanding where to go. But if you don’t have a good understanding of your own situation, enabling them to dig into the analytics to convert them into something your team understands is important. Clients should also strongly outline their wants and needs.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Digital Sales and Marketing Manager at Soom Foods, the leading purveyor of tahini and tahini products for celebrated chefs and home cooks.

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative MMS?

During the pandemic, because the cost per impressions were 1/3 of the price, we wanted to find a partner to help us with our digital ad strategy and campaign set up as it related to social. We weren't really running many (successful) ads beforehand.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to generate brand awareness with an aim to sell our products to a new and potentially already aware audience. We were hoping to also decrease the cost per result compared to our past campaigns that we had run in-house.

How did you select this vendor?

We became really familiar with Ben LeDonni and his work due to the Pyramid Club. We really appreciated all of his advice he's given us and figured he and his team would make a great and organic fit to our company. Considering the anecdotal success of others who work with him, we knew Creative was the right choice for us.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Campaign Setup and Strategy: 

• One kickoff call with both the Creative + Soom teams; Creative to provide an outline of what they deem fit Coordinate and work with us and our design team on ad sets needed
• Brainstorm different marketing messaging and collateral that we would sit well with the ad audience Set up paid ad campaigns on social media
• Targeting top of funnel (new audience) on Pinterest / Facebook
• Targeting lookalikes (new audience) on Facebook
• Targeting current audience on Facebook Provide brainstorm and strategy session through conversation on things Soom can do to help amplify conversion
• Influencer campaign ideas
• Content ideas (based on our insights) for Pinterest/Facebook/Instagram

Ongoing Management and Reporting:

• Manage campaigns daily/weekly according to budget, reallocating as needed and amplifying content around campaign success
• Monthly reporting on data points, engagement and sales (using promo codes)
• Data review / reporting check in after 4 weeks of campaigns being live (halfway) and again at 8 weeks (campaign completion)

What was the team composition?

The Soom team members involved included our CEO, Brand Manager, and Digital Sales and Marketing Manager. The Creative team members included its CEO, Director of Marketing (I believe), an Account Manager, and Digital Strategist

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

We were very happy with the work that Creative was able to do with us and our budget towards this project. We saw a 900% boost in our website traffic coming from social channels during our time working together in addition to a slight uptick in website sales and revenue through these ad campaigns.

In addition, we were able to get our cost per result within a $5-8.50 range for most of the campaigns, which is a critical improvement from the campaigns we ran in-house prior to working with Creative.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The account manager and digital strategist we worked with were wonderful and timely. Overall, they were easy to work and collaborate with, and took some of our suggestions into consideration when optimizing campaigns.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They made reporting incredibly simple and broke it down for novices to understand. They were patient and understanding as it related to the reporting and were able to deliver on all of the questions we had asked.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Although it wasn't in the contract, I would have appreciated additional updates on the performance of our ads every 2 weeks as we were still familiarizing ourselves with campaign set-up and reporting on our end. In addition, we would have appreciated reviewing copy for the social ads before the ads went live to make sure they fell within our brand voice.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Cardolite uses renewable, cashew nutshell liquid technology to provide innovative and sustainable solutions for a wide range of industrial markets. I am their vice president of marketing.

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative MMS?

Improve SEO and user interface experience on our website

What were your goals for this project?

Increase site traffic and keyword ranking, and optimize site content

How did you select this vendor?

Reference from co-worker

Describe the project in detail.

We had recently added a lot of new content to our site, but had not seen the increase in traffic we expected. We also noticed we were not ranked very high on web searches for some critical keywords. We hired Creative MMS to help improve our visibility online and optimize site content for better user experience. The Creative MMS team has identified target keywords, fixed some foundational SEO issues, optimized metadata, and provided suggestions to refine and present site content. They provide monthly updates for SEO related metrics and continue to optimize page design.

What was the team composition?

Our Cardolite marketing team works mostly with Brent (Account Manager) and David (Digital Optimization Strategist), but others from the Creative MMS team have helped us along the way as well. Everyone from Creative is very pleasant and responsive. Brent does a great job as project manager and he keeps us focused. David is also wonderful to work with. He is very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and willing to help beyond his scope of work.

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

Project has been very successful. We have seen close to 50% increase in impressions, and much higher ranking of top keywords. Overall site design and customer engagement has also improved.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. Open and frequent communication. They took the time to understand our business and challenges and were always available to answer questions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their high level of commitment, working with us as a team in order to achieve our goals. It felt as if they were part of Cardolite.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing comes to mind.

Please describe your company and your position there.

The company is a supply chain consulting company based in Reading, PA. At the company, I am responsible for all the Marketing activities, including: Website, Social Media, Outbound Communication, Content, Branding, etc.

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative MMS?

We are a Vaco Company, which has a long-standing relationship with Creative for many marketing-related projects. We used Creative MMS initially in April for a relaunch of a new website, with our updated brand, from a merger that happened in January of 2019. The website was a copy of one of the old companies' framework and did a quick refresh of our current site to launch our new brand name and services. Once that was completed, phase 2 of the project would be to completely update and refresh our site with the new service offerings and updated content. After reviewing our current site we decided to update our website framework to an exisiting Vaco template that would make website updates much easier in the future.

What were your goals for this project?

Go live with the initial update by April 2019 and then complete phase 2 before end of 2019 with all updated service offerings and new resources.

How did you select this vendor?

We selected Creative MMS for this project and did not involve another vendor. Creative knows our system and company and made it very easy for us to quickly move this process along - especially for the initial relaunch in April.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Creative MMS provided us with an initial website relaunch when we consolidated our brands. They created a plan and task-driven strategy to complete each initial phase of the project. We provided content and they were able to make all necessary website edits from design to functionality while adhering to our aggressive timelines. They also were able to make suggestions based on our current environment and help to move the template to a VACO framework which would make the process much easier for us in the future.

What was the team composition?

We initially had a few resources on the Creative MMS side for the initial launch. My main contact was Tyler for the entire project. Megan was our developer that would make our website changes for us during the redesign.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Consolidating the brands and launching one single site made our company presence stronger. Our new website featured our updated services and messaging well while still keeping everything clean and simple in appearance.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Tyler was the main project coordinator from the MMS side. Tyler was always super responsive and insightful while still being realistic when it came to our project and overall timelines. I joined the company while the 1st project was already underway and since Creative has a long-standing relationship with Vaco, this was super helpful. Tyler was very aware and immersed in the culture and expectations and was very familiar with the hierarchy and processes at Vaco.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Creative MMS is wonderful to work with. If I ever have questions I get a response almost immediately. They are also very knowledgable. There is never a question regarding project status because they are transparent with updates and if any issues arise are quick to share and provide resolution. Tyler is also great at telling you the cost implications and time before any changes are made.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Our phase 2 work was completed later than we had initially imagined but that was due to our side and having our content and messaging stalled.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are Park Power. We are a retail energy and natural gas supplier. I’m the VP.

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative MMS?

We needed a band new website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started by sitting down with Creative MMS and they asked all the necessary questions they needed to know our brand. There are a lot of energy companies out there and they wanted to know what was truly unique about us. They took that and ran with it, providing a few options along the way in terms of theme. We continued to follow that path until we had a complete product.

They built everything from the ground up. We had a previous website hosted on a different service and some of the technical stuff they remodeled.

The created the most important feature, allowing customers to sign up for services online. Beforehand, they were only able to view plans. Creative MMS built a platform where customers put in a zip code, which launches plans for them to select. After completing an electronic signature, they get put into a batch Excel file that’s automatically emailed to us at midnight every night.

Recently, they’ve worked on a promotional landing page that’s going to be a huge part of our business that launches on March 1st. We’re expecting to sign-up around 500 customers through that. They completed that site in about 20 days.

What is the team composition?

Meg (Digital Account Manager, Creative MMS) was our lead, and we worked with Ben (Founder & CEO, Creative MMS) as well. We also worked with their development team. There were at least six on that team.

How did you come to work with Creative MMS?

We were working with our social media company and told them we wanted a total redesigned, rebranded website, and they recommended us to Creative MMS.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $110,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since March 2017.

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

In the beginning, we had fantastic traction to the website. They were running SEO and different things to track people to the website. For about one month, we were getting 50­–100 customers daily from the website. Then, we had some budget cuts and reduced their role in SEO. We still send them things every now and then as a pay as you go plan. They’re really responsive.

How did Creative MMS perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re extremely thorough. One thing that was difficult for us was that none of us are too familiar with technology. We provided an idea and concept but had no idea to create. They did, though, and it turned out amazing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really hands-on and personal. We met on an ongoing basis and got to know each other personally. They got to know what we stood for and what our vision was.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have any complaints, but, if there is one thing — and this is for any company out there — it’s that when you give a scope of work, you have to explain your time estimates. In the beginning, they told us how many hours a certain task would take, and that was a bit confusing for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get to know them on a personal level. Explain whatever you’re envisioning in your mind and put in the time and you’ll come out with a great product.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the President and CEO of The Stratagem Group, Inc., a boutique software development company that provides purpose built software to the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative MMS?

As our company has grown over the past several years, we have identified the challenges of living in a modern, information-driven world in an industry that doesn't readily engage externally. We partnered with Creative MMS to help us forge a branding strategy and path that not only highlights our capabilities, but provides intimacy and insight into what we are building. This effort was targeted at improving customer engagement and recruiting.

How did you select Creative MMS?

We had a personal/professional connection with Ben. After our initial engagement, we didn't look further.

Describe the project in detail.

The goals were to establish a more mature virtual presence for Stratagem. This encompassed SEO and complete website buildout. It also incorporated some specific re-branding efforts. I expected this project to solidify our web presence for both customers and potential recruits.

What was the team composition?

Brent ran the effort for us from the Creative MMS's side, and was nothing short of exceptional. Megan was also exceptional and integral to us realizing our collective goals. They worked side by side with my team to ensure a badge-less, seamless effort was executed.

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

The site was just launched, so hard data is not yet available. However, verbal feedback, general response is that it is a significant improvement and an example to follow.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Exceptional. Brent was on point and engaged every step of the process. They collaborated well, and provided a unique and creative approach to our company, mission, and message. The Creative MMS team made our company branding, marketing, and external presence a great one!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Great people! Not only did I enjoy working with the Creative MMS Team, I fully intent to take them out for drinks when I am in Philly. They were great and fun to work with, and I hope to do so again soon!

Are there any areas for improvement?

None!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Director of Sales & Marketing for a Medical Device Manufacturer.

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative MMS, and what were your goals?

Our website was over 10-15 years old and needed a new face, complete overhaul. Also, help with SEO/PPC and other additional marketing initiatives.

How did you select Creative MMS and what were the deciding factors?

We conducted numerous searches along with giving our current marketing company a shot. We wanted a more intuitive online focused approach with the ever changing factors of technology today. Also, a better grip on where we needed to be positioned online for a better ROI.

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

We had an initial meeting that discussed a roadmap/action plan with with resources on the Creative side as well as my side. Ever since then we discuss monthly on action plans and results of SEO/PPC web information.

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

Pretty much the entire staff at Creative has worked with myself. My main point of contact is the Director of Accounts at Creative MMS.

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

End-user customers really like the newly designed website and we are already seeing an uptick on the E-commerce side of the website.

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

We have monthly recap calls for prior month performance that includes SEO and PPC and other campaigns. I also am pretty regularly in contact with the Director of Accounts.

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

They provided good professional resources such as adding Hubspot as a CRM.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Consumer Sales and Marketing Officer at HandsFree Health. We are the creators of WellBe, a voice-enabled virtual health assistant that can help users access medical information, receive medication reminders, appointment reminders, send caregiver notifications, track blood pressure, glucose, and more.

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative MMS, and what were your goals?

We hired Creative MMS to redesign our marketing website as we prepared to move into our July product launch.

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

We spoke with and received quotes from a number of web design companies. Creative is one that came highly recommended from our social media partners and after viewing their website, previous work we felt Creative offered the most complete packages of skills and services we needed.

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

We admittedly had a very short timeline for any company to fill. We needed a complete website redesign in a short window. Luckily, Creative not only delivered a great result but they kept the process moving along and on track.

Shortly after signing on with Creative, we received our mood board, after a few revisions our wireframe was ready and we quickly began creating content and fleshing out our site. Along the way our Project Manager at Creative kept the process moving from their side and ours.

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

We had a very collaborative approach in creating just the right tone for our website. Internally a number of people collaborated on the design including our co-founders Dan and Mike as well as our COO Kelly, and team members Rachel and Matan.

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

Though only being live for a short few weeks we can already see an impact the extensive SEO planning by Creative has had. We have improved our Google results and now rank on the first page for searches related to our company and product.

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

Communication and project management has been a strong point for Creative. Our Project Manager and his team have been very responsive and kept to all stated timelines.

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

The ability to reach our project manager and the senior team at creative for nay reason during the process has been great, that coupled with the great design and collaboration with their creative design teams.

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

None.