Crossbridge Marketing & Media, Inc.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of a company called Triad Building Components. We're located in Victor, Montana, and we manufacture metal roofing and citing, as well as laminate columns for the post-frame building industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Crossbridge Marketing & Media?

When we moved from Ohio to Montana, we had made a pretty big investment. We were rolling out a new product that was unknown to the western market, but not to the eastern market. Our biggest challenge was that nobody knew of the product, and we needed to build some credibility up around the brand.

Moreover, not only were we a new product to the Pacific Northwest, but we personally were an unknown company, as we had just started out. That’s why we relied heavily on Crossbridge to build a nice and cohesive brand for us, both in appearance and in making sure that everything looked professional. This encompassed everything, from building the website to social media marketing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our collaboration with Crossbridge started with a brainstorming session. We sat down and did an in-depth case study, and over the span of a couple of weeks, we were able to identify who we were and what we believed in, as well as our core principles and values. Afterward, we identified what products we were trying to market and what markets were we going to hit. It took a while, but we got a good process down. 

We had the business name picked out for the most part, and we created the logos from there. We did a lot of different things to figure out what worked. They helped us create the catchphrases and jingles, and we did a lot of flyers the first couple of years, too.

Later on, we worked on infiltrating different markets, including the Spokane Valley region, Salt Lake City, the Utah region, and Cody, Wyoming. They’d typically come back with 3–4 elements to consider, with maybe 1–2 being most important for them in terms of how to reach the market and how we could infiltrate it. We’d typically work on a budget, and then we’d do the implementations to try it out.

It wasn't always a home run, but we were always very happy with the end result. They did studies on the markets based on the criteria and clientele we were trying to target, so we could focus on marketing a certain way with a certain media. They were usually pretty accurate, and maybe once or twice we had to readjust based on what we were finding. However, we were very pleased with their work. They helped us launch and become credible very quickly, which was a game-changer for us. 

Currently, they host our site. In the building industry, especially the past 8–10 months, we've been growing so much that we really don't spend a lot in terms of content creation. They do all of that work. We're growing at a rate of about 40%–50% a year, and it's really hard for us to maintain that level of business.

We don't have any sales reps on the road. Luckily, we’re growing fast. Once people tried the product, we got it in their hands. The rest has taken care of itself. The word spread, and we don’t have a big need for additional sales reps or additional marketing, so we now focus on top-of-mind awareness. 

What is the team composition?

That would vary from project to project. We’ve always had a project manager and an account manager, and then we’d work with various members of different teams, depending on what we were working on. On average, they’d be three people working with us. 

For example, if we were doing web design, there would be two different people with their team to help us. If we were working on social media branding for a certain area, then we’d work with two others. For us, it didn’t matter who we worked with. We just wanted to achieve the goal, and they were usually able to hit that.

How did you come to work with Crossbridge Marketing & Media?

When I launched my business, I looked at a couple of different options. The founder of Crossbridge had worked for a company that my previous employer had hired. I didn’t work that closely with them, but we’d worked on building and rebranding a website, so I had a little bit of history with him. We’d worked together enough for me to know that there was an advantage because of that relationship. I felt like I knew him well enough to see what he was capable of doing, which also helped us feel confident from the start.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We brought them on board early to help us with the branding, before we had the company founded. We had gotten the funding and the investment, and we had filed for permits and other procedures. Our company started in December 2016, but they started working with us around October 2016.

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

We had a big sit-down session and explained to them we didn’t have a $70,000–$80,000 budget. We told them what we were looking to do within our budget, and they stayed in line with that, which worked phenomenally well for us. They were capable of guiding us on what to do. We put a lot of confidence in them, and it paid off. Crossbridge really helps us launch these products and get them into potential customers' hands. The first year was a rough start, but in the second year, we grew by almost 400%. In the third year, we grew by 110%, which really surprised us, and the next year, we grew by 45%.

In the beginning, the whole process was that we'd constantly monitor what was working and where we had to spend a little bit of money, like a beta test. We’d then get feedback to transition from there, which was one of our biggest advantages as a company. They were willing and flexible with us. If we invested $1,000–$2,000 on a trial or a beta test, or launching a product with a certain social media app in a certain area and it didn’t work, we were able to quickly recalibrate and determine what we were doing. That role in how we worked and the flexibility was a huge part of our success early on. 

We have a company with a good moral compass and ethical code of conduct. Crossbridge was able to tell our story in the best possible way, which led to tremendous feedback from customers that were dealing with us for about a year, and who’d come and look at our facility. They were impressed and could see us as a big corporation, and we weren’t; we were just a small company at the time. However, Crossbridge was able to give us that impact and make us feel we had the ability to represent what we do and who we are.

How did Crossbridge Marketing & Media perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication has been done 80% by emails, and the remaining 20% by the phone. As far as reporting, we’d have monthly reports on our SEO performance, focusing on the targeting areas and how to get there.

In the last 8–10 months, we haven't put a lot of money or effort into the project. We’ve mainly been focused on growing at a certain pace, which has been a little hard to maintain. Our goal today has changed a lot from our goal four years ago. Our current goal is to maintain and improve on what we’re doing. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Prior to them, I’d dealt with other companies who had more of a cookie-cutter approach; we’d have to buy a $2,000 package for the website to later on buy an additional $150 package for the logo. We didn’t want that. When we hired Crossbridge, we were pretty upfront with them, letting them know we were willing to pay a little bit more to have it reflect what we wanted. Moreover, we wanted it to be customizable. Crossbridge stood out in their ability to hear our story and create a strategy that reflected it. Their customization skills and the ability they had to take our vision and run with it was huge for us.

I would be hesitant to recommend them to my competitors — I felt like they were the secret sauce for us. We had what seemed like an insurmountable goal to accomplish. Crossbridge was one of the biggest reasons that we succeeded. They created the right material to get us in front of the right customer and see our story right away. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m sure that, as with every company, there are shortcomings. In our case, we’re a company that prides ourselves in always doing the right thing for the customers and employees. I’d have to really force myself to think of something Crossbridge could improve on. 

We did have certain small issues regarding some changes we wanted to maket. However, their communication and ability to meet timelines have been excellent, so we’ve addressed challenges with absolute vigor, and we haven’t had to deal with them again. I can’t say that I’ve been unhappy at any time. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Sit down and be as transparent as possible with what you want to achieve. We found that sitting down with our team any time we launched a project or product into different areas allowed us to be more transparent in terms of information, terminology, and everything else. Then, we felt better about the end product. If you do that, I feel absolutely confident you’ll be happy with it, too.