FSC Interactive

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a bottled water delivery service company.

What challenge were you trying to address with FSC Interactive?

In order to stay competitive, we needed to redesign our website to make it more modern. After we’d created a new landing page, we wanted to drive traffic there, and so decided to implement a paid search advertising campaign.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged with FSC to help us redesign and launch our website. Their team and our collaborated to create the appropriate format and functionality for our content.

Since we had a new landing page, we wanted to start driving traffic there with paid advertising, in addition to the organic search position we already had. We began a paid search campaign with FSC that used a B2B approach.

Because we're in a market where we only have one main competitor, we've gained prominence and maintained the number one position for an extended period of time. Last year alone we were able to get 250 new customers who found us online through the paid search advertising.

What is the team composition?

We worked mostly with our project manager and a company rep.

How did you come to work with FSC Interactive?

I had an introductory meeting with their operations manager in 2011, but it took me a few years to convince our owners to invest in social media and advertising. We eventually reached back out to FSC in 2015 after we’d had a chance to grow our company.

How much have you invested with them?

Not including our advertising fees, which we pay directly to Google, we invest about $18,000 annually.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since 2015, and they currently manage our paid advertising.

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

We track how certain keywords and types of ads perform monthly, and make adjustments as needed. Within the industry, our results have always been positive. Last year we added 250 new customers as a result of our online presence, which is the metric that most concerns us and that we’re most happy with.

How did FSC Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager is in daily contact with us. As with any company, they’ve experienced changes in personnel and structure, but they’ve continued to produce high quality work and maintain consistent communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In addition to their professionalism the responsiveness, they’re also considerate team members. Partnerships like this don’t always involve thoughtful people, so we really value their kindness.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I would change about FSC is their phone system. Other than that, I can’t fault them for anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a casino in New Orleans and I serve as the senior marketing manager. One of our locations features a horse racing track and a slot machine gaming area. We also have remote locations throughout southeast Louisiana that feature video poker and off-track betting (OTB) capabilities.

What challenge were you trying to address with FSC Interactive?

We wanted to shift some of our advertising budget away from print and enter the social media realm. We wanted to drive online ticket sales for racing events, promote new member sign-ups for our slots facility and our casinos, and create a new platform for our OTB in casino locations. Before FSC, we had no formal social media presence from a paid perspective. Historically, we had focused only on our slots facility and the racetrack. Right now, we are launching the main page for the OTB business and child pages for each of our locations.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handle our creative and video content. Mostly, this revolves around Instagram and Facebook. We still handle all of our organic postings, while they handle most of our design, video content, carousel ads, and all paid ads. Also, they handle our SEO work.

What is the team composition?

I work with our account representative on a daily basis through calls and emails. We have a monthly review where we break down our analytics and look at which ads are performing, what needs to be improved upon, what our ad spend was, what our click-through rates were and the like. At the same time, we take a look at future months and I let her know the kinds of promotions we’re laying out the following month - what our focus is going to be - so that they can work on building things out for the future.

How did you come to work with FSC Interactive?

We began with three social media and digital firms we thought would be a good fit for our business based on their past clients and references within the New Orleans market. Because we are centrally located in New Orleans, it was important to us to find someone familiar with this market, who understands gaming in Louisiana and have experience with entertainment venues. FSC’s experience doing things for the Super Bowl and for New Orleans tourism gave them the advantage over other vendors that came in and pitched us.

How much have you invested with them?

It was right around $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in May 2017 and it is an ongoing engagement based on an annual contract.

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

We’ve seen a lot of additional traffic on our Web site and Facebook interactions are up. We haven’t had a single month where those numbers have fallen off, we just continue to see them climb each month while our click-through rate cost decreases. During last year’s racing season, two of our major events saw a level of engagement with customers and impressions on Facebook which far exceeded any of our prior events that we’ve held in previous years.

How did FSC Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. They’ll respond within a couple hours on an email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creative capabilities in crafting a message, creating content, their use of imagery, and their ability to create awesome interactive video carousels is their strongest suit. Comparing what we have to other paid advertisers in the market, I think ours looks the strongest by far. I can tell the customers that they work for because those are the type of ads that I value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think they’re pretty strong. They’re doing a good job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clearly lay out all expected deliverables in advance. Make sure you know exactly what you want to receive and make sure FSC knows exactly how they are going to deliver and measure against those deliverables that you want to see. If you go in unknowing, you’re probably not going to hit a lot of what your goals are. Everything needs to be clearly laid out. Make sure that the advertiser reviews their business in detail with FSC to make sure that there is a clear understanding of their business needs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies in Kansas City, Missouri. I oversee all the administrative, fiscal, and evaluation programs at the school.

What challenge were you trying to address with FSC Interactive?

We needed help with social media marketing campaigns to spread awareness about our programs to potential students. We had been working with another media firm previously but weren't happy with their results, so we terminated their contract and began searching for a new vendor.

What was the scope of their involvement?

FSC created, planned, and executed a social media marketing campaign for our school, working with all of our program directors to ensure the content appropriately reflected our school. They guided us on how to feature photographs and commission artwork and provided analytics of our performance along the way. We've since rehired them for a second and third year. 

What is the team composition?

I mainly work with a project director on their team.

How did you come to work with FSC Interactive?

I had worked with FSC on a campaign in another position and remembered that they produced great work. I invited them to bid on our new program and they ended up winning the contract.

How much have you invested with them?

Our total commitment so far has been about $300,000 over the course of two years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since June 2016 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

We've seen a 50% increase in audience engagement since beginning our work with FSC. We've also seen an increase in enrollment by 116 people in the second year—that's huge. They've delivered beyond our expectations.

Each year we evaluate our relationship with them and overall ROI. We were so pleased by their progress in the first year that we decided to hire them again for a second and third year.

How did FSC Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They're excellent communicators. They not only meet deadlines, but are quick to provide feedback and answer our questions.

We meet with them in person a few times a year but generally stay in touch by email and phone. They've also given us access to their internal dashboards, so we can look at the work that's being done in real time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm most impressed by their ability to rapidly respond and provide recommendations. I feel that they use our money well and that their administrative expenses are very reasonable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. FSC is by far the best vendor I've worked with. I have no complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate a lot with their team up front, so they understand your product and what you hope to achieve. Take advantage of their willingness to talk through everything and be clear about your timelines—they'll be honest with you about whether or not they'll be able to meet them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation serves as the City of New Orleans’ official travel promotion agency. I’m the marketing manager and oversee editorial content and calendars.

For what projects/services did your company hire FSC Interactive?

Initially, we wanted FSC Interactive to manage one of our blogs before we brought the work in-house. Since then, we've needed resources to augment our social media marketing efforts for two of our Instagram accounts.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase social visibility and follower engagement as well attract tourism.

How did you select this vendor?

We sought a collaborative local vendor with talented employees.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They’ve overseen our social media marketing campaign, which involved developing and implementing digital strategies. In addition to establishing our two Instagram accounts, they’ve also executed social strategies for our various promotional campaigns. Currently, they support our editorial team by providing event coverage.

What was the team composition?

We worked closely with an account manager, two digital marketing strategists, and a creative director.

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

Their efforts have established our company as the local and national authority for New Orleans tourism. The strategic campaign has led to exponential growth in our Instagram accounts, with approximately 263,000 followers combined. Both continue to remain proven tools to engage potential travelers and encourage returning visitors.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We communicate through Slack and our shared channels to facilitate effective collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their reliability has completely earned our trust. We know that they will accommodate any request.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing comes to mind. They continue to satisfy our project needs.