GoTo Marketers Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of Virima Technologies, a fast software company that specialized in IT management solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GoTo Marketers Inc.?

We needed more marketing resources to augment our small team, but we were struggling to find a partner who could produce great results. It became our goal to find a company with verified success within the tech industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GoTo Marketing was initially brought in to work alongside our in-house team, but we eventually decided to expand their role as our sole digital marketing provider. Their scope includes content creation, demand generation, and social media management. They also perform website support and maintenance.

What is the team composition?

Their president serves as our primary contact, but we often work with his partner as well.

How did you come to work with GoTo Marketers?

We were introduced to them through our former director of marketing. Their familiarity with the software industry majorly influenced our hiring decision.

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we’ve spent a little more than $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They became our official digital marketing vendor in January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The increased site traffic and conversion rate are a positive sign that our target audience is responding positively to their work. Our following across critical social media platforms has improved significantly, and our sales funnel is three times larger than last year’s records. Business has grown exponentially since GoTo Marketers came on board.

How did GoTo Marketers Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They followed through with their promise to lessen our workload. We have weekly calls to discuss completed tasks, outstanding items, and impending initiatives. Our two points of contact also correspond with us daily via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

No one understands how to navigate the software industry better than GoTo Marketers. Their knowledge often surpasses our own regarding competition and domain space. Their multitude of fresh perspectives supports our business growth.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only improvement that can be made to our partnership is increasing our budget for demand generation. Fortunately, GoTo Marketers knows how to work with our reality and allocate our funds in the key areas.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

A clearly defined vision is essential to every successful project, but flexibility is equally important. GoTo Marketers have a lot of brilliant ideas, so consider their suggestions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of sales and marketing for Valsoft Corporation, an ownership group that owns and manages numerous software companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GoTo Marketers?

We needed a full-service digital marketing partner for one of the companies we own.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GoTo Marketers worked on a variety of assignments: SEO, website optimization, social media, AdWords, blogs, keywords, case studies, and email marketing. They created better and more effective ads to increase conversion, improved our landing pages, and enhanced our social media engagement. Their insight has helped us change our landing pages and adjust the content on our website.

For SEO, they discovered 70–80 areas where we needed to dramatically update our website’s structure to enhance performance. They also sent a press release out to increase awareness and traffic to our site. They set up an automated email marketing tool called SharpSpring that more efficiently manages our sales process, customer database, and other aspects related to our email marketing campaigns. It allows us to better track and follow who we engage with and how well our efforts are working.

We’re currently going through a testing phase on AdWords. We run different types of advertisements to see which convert the best. As they’ve managed this process, we’re learning what gets clicks and how to improve our website and landing pages to get higher conversion rates.

What is the team composition?

They provide a full team. We interact with the president, vice president, senior partner, director of digital communications, and an animation associate.

How did you come to work with GoTo Marketers?

A friend recommended them. We also interviewed four other companies and reviewed their proposals. We felt GoTo Marketers understood our company the best and had the most experience, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

By the end of this project, we’ll have spent around $54,000. We plan to renew the partnership again, though.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen an increase in all of our numbers and analytics. Our social media has absolutely skyrocketed. A year ago, our company was floundering, but now we’re doing great: our impressions are up 6,900% on Twitter, 98% on Facebook, and 229% on LinkedIn. Our retweets on Twitter have increased by 35,000%. Everything is trending upward, and we’re thrilled with what GoTo Marketers has accomplished so far.

Whether it’s blog content or recommendations for the site, they’ve delivered a better understanding of our keywords and have optimized the content we post. They use the proper tags, structure, and writing to achieve the best results. Their SEO changes will have a significant impact on how we’re perceived, and the press releases make us much more accessible in the marketplace.

How did GoTo Marketers perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re a world class team. They use a Gantt chart and project management tool to track progress. We meet weekly with their whole team and review the project in their software tool for maximum transparency. They’re incredibly detailed and track which team member is responsible for which tasks. I also have numerous meetings throughout the week with their president and vice president.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They think long-term. They know you can’t change a company overnight, so they build a comprehensive strategy to accomplish your goals and sustained market growth. Unlike many other companies, GoTo Marketers is honest and straightforward about their limitations and how they fit into your overall plan.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Trust them and understand their work won’t improve your marketing right away. It will take time, but it will work. Do your due diligence and ask lots of questions about every category and deliverable you’re interested in them working on. Their capabilities and experience really stand out when you compare them to others.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the global vice president of innovation for a consulting and training company. We work across various industries, focusing on problem-solving, decision making, project execution, and improving the operational performance of businesses. I’m also responsible for one of our service lines.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GoTo Marketers?

We were going through a rebranding exercise and wanted to enhance our marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GoTo redesigned our website and built a more operational marketing engine to continuously develop new content. It allows us to effectively distribute content out into the market via digital, visual, social media, etc. They provide design, content creation, marketing, social media management, etc. Now, they’ve moved onto a more global and broader marketing support role.

What is the team composition?

We have a team of about 5–7 people.

How did you come to work with GoTo Marketers?

We’d already worked with GoTo in a smaller role, so when we began interviewing potential partners for this larger project, they were one of them. They developed a strategy concept, and we had several conversations about their plan. Based on our past experience with them, their strong digital content marketing expertise, and their proactive and responsive team, we chose them. We wanted a partner that could deliver results and not get caught up in the creative, and they seemed like the right fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership for this larger project began in January 2017 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ever since partnering with GoTo, we’ve produced vast amounts of content across various channels: blogs, white papers, videos, case studies, articles, etc. We’ve probably doubled our output from last year. All of these materials mark us as a thought leader in consulting and training.

Our web traffic is up by 10%, social media referrals have increased by 50%, and block page views are up about 30%. In our North American region, we’ve seen a large increase in revenue created from generated leads. That’s due to multiple factors, not just GoTo, but they’ve been instrumental in getting higher quality leads in North America.

How did GoTo Marketers perform from a project management standpoint?

GoTo manages the work well and is proactive. They’re responsive, responsible, and have an effective marketing engine to create content quickly.

We mainly communicate via phone or email. They use Tom’s Planner, which is a project management tool that provides a Gantt chart and other resources for communication and documentation.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re incredibly skilled in digital marketing; they have outstanding domain expertise. They understand the channels well and consistently produce good content. They move fast and get things done quickly, which is very much in line with any small to medium-sized business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We needed a bit of time and effort to sync up our long-term marketing plans/schedules as well as resources on both sides. That’s a learning curve with a new partner. Their design skills are solid, but I would say that they absolutely excel in digital marketing and content creation.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

GoTo will challenge your views and perspective, which is a strength. They’ll provide new insights that will help you build the best product, but be prepared for their pushback. They’re honest and direct, so be willing to engage with them in that form. Have a plan and don’t become the bottleneck. They act quickly, so give them the input they need to do their job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m co-founder and CEO of Navvia Inc., a software company that builds and markets a process design product. The product allows organizations to document business processes and publish them for others to see.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GoTo Marketers.

We wanted to improve our social media presence and generate leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided several services. The team develops content for our website and Twitter feed, which they also manage. GoTo Marketers’ content creators publish articles relevant to our industry space on the site. These creators work both independently and in collaboration with our team.

They also produce videos that feature me and others in the company, which are then used as collateral in various marketing campaigns. Additional marketing areas include landing page development, advertising, brochure development, and advisory services. More, recently they’ve assigned a dedicated specialist to do SEO and improve organic search results.

What is the team composition?

I interface with William, the president. My team works with his employees.

How did you come to work with GoTo Marketers?

William is a vocal thought leader in our industry. His innovative Twitter activity led me to follow him and eventually reach out about the services he provides.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend approximately $60,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work started April 2013 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our Twitter account attracts followers in the professional communities that we target. They do a great job managing that feed and our other social media accounts. Those results not only reflect William’s responsive leadership, but also his initiative to help us network at trade shows or with potential partners and clients.

While it’s hard to judge individual collateral, we are now better connected in our industry space. We can attribute their overall marketing efforts to the growing share of lead generations from our social space.

For a boutique firm like ours, they became an invaluable extension of our marketing department. Likewise, their SEO work is very exciting, but it’s too early in that process to have results yet.

How did GoTo Marketers perform from a project management standpoint?

William responds in minutes through text or phone calls; his team hasn’t missed a delivery deadline. Their performance is particularly impressive because they also juggle other clients’ needs. His ability to make us feel like their only client is an important aspect of our relationship. In addition to phone and texts, we use Asana to assign them tasks and track their progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service has a unique personal touch. William brings new technology to my attention when he believes it could save us money. Often, he doesn’t benefit financially from these recommendations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had a few avoidable course corrections. Although minor, these errors were preventable with a clearer understanding of our requirements. A little more preparation and clarity are needed to resolve this issue.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront and clear about goals and objectives, but also keep them engaged. It’s the client’s responsibility to make them an active partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Blazent is a data quality management applications developer. I was their VP of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GoTo Marketers?

We needed a full-service agency with domain expertise and writing ability. Our work was very specific and dense, with a broad range of content requirements at a high volume. We needed a team with detailed knowledge, who wouldn’t need much explanation of what we were trying to accomplish.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They covered the entire range of our marketing needs, including our website, content, social media management, PPC, events support, video production, and lead and demand generation, all at a very high quality.

They also went through our old marketing lead databases in Marketo and HubSpot. They hadn’t been touched in years, so they were padded with a lot of bad leads we were being charged for. They parsed through and reduced the databases to the 8,000 or so good leads, which saved us both time and money.

What is the team composition?

William Goddard [President, GoTo Marketers] and Terry Brown [Vice President, GoTo Marketers] were our two leads. They also have a stable of high-end IT experts who write well.

How did you come to work with GoTo Marketers?

I first connected with them at a previous company. I thought their work was awesome, so when I moved to Blazent, they were the first people I called. I told them my budget and the need, and it took them two or three weeks to get everything set up. They’ve been working nonstop since then.

How much have you invested with them?

We set a large portion of our marketing budget aside for their services. On average we spent about $15,000 per month, which was money well spent.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them early in 2015. I have since transitioned away from Blazent, but they are still working together on projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve really improved our lead volume. Their marketing operations are very strong, and they immediately began optimizing our operational execution. With their systematic approach to lead generation in Marketo, utilizing Salesforce and all the available technology platforms, we went from effectively zero leads to close to 1,000 leads per month. That’s a lot for a company our size.

How did GoTo Marketers perform from a project management standpoint?

We spoke with William sometimes twice a day or more, which we appreciated. Sometimes the principal will sell you on the partnership, but then disappear from the day-to-day work. That wasn’t the case here. We also had weekly updates with them as a matter of routine, mostly via Skype. William is very hands-on, and is determined to keep up with things, with full transparency. I sometimes spoke more with him than I did with my own employees.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This company is a gold mine. Their domain knowledge plus their writing capabilities were pretty close to perfect. It’s unusual to find a team who has their level of domain expertise who can also create operations and content to string the whole thing together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I’ve worked with agencies my whole career, and they are top-shelf. I never had any problems at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear definition of what you want to do. It’s easy to fall into scope creep, but if you align your teams ahead of time with realistic expectations, the process will run smoothly. I didn’t have problems with them, but the more specific you can be, the better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Around The Block

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Retail Consignment of household goods

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GoTo Marketers Inc. to accomplish?

• Development of e commerce
• Develeopment of social & web presence
• Increased traffic to bricks & mortar store

SOLUTION

How did you find GoTo Marketers Inc.?

Online Search

Why did you select GoTo Marketers Inc. over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from GoTo Marketers Inc. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Combining website content & development, SEO, and social on an ongoing basis to increase both in store and online sales, as well as develooping our consignment client base.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Increased traffic to site
• Increased traffic to store

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They usually meet deadlines. William's team are well coordinated and communicative. 

What was your primary form of communication with GoTo Marketers Inc.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• They're down to earth. No Schmaltz.
• Their data-driven approach was impressive 

Are there any areas for improvement or something GoTo Marketers Inc. could have done differently?

Being digital marketing neophytes, it would have helped us to have more face to face contact and hand holding in the beginning. Although, maybe their approach forced us to run to catch up, which is not a bad thing. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Manager of Handling Specialty

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a design/build firm for custom material handling equipment across multiple assembly, manufacturing, and MRO industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GoTo Marketers Inc. to accomplish?

• Website redesign
• Content planning
• SEO

SOLUTION

How did you find GoTo Marketers Inc.?

Online Search

Why did you select GoTo Marketers Inc. over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from GoTo Marketers Inc. were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Go To Marketers has been our website design, development and management company, having redesigned and migrated our massive website to an updated platform. They have also been a part of our Content planning, SEO implimenting, and trusted source for all things Marketing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Major uptick in qualified form fills, reducing SPAM and tire-kickers.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Excellent response time on queries and on-time deliverables.

What was your primary form of communication with GoTo Marketers Inc.?

Virtual Meeting

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

Go To Marketers Inc. holds itself accountable for its work and the outcomes.

Are there any areas for improvement or something GoTo Marketers Inc. could have done differently?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive of Tenantcube

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Property management software for DIY landlords.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GoTo Marketers Inc. to accomplish?

• GTM

SOLUTION

How did you find GoTo Marketers Inc.?

Referral

Why did you select GoTo Marketers Inc. over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Referred to me

How many teammates from GoTo Marketers Inc. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We required a total re-branding and GTM strategy. We were pivoting our business model and needed a full revamp of strategy and execution.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Better content to clearly articulate what we offer and increase web conversion. Acquire quality leads on a limited budget. Increased brand awareness.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Timely and proactive, their team pushed us to achieve more than what we expected, as it was a pivot, and we were unsure of the outcome.

What was your primary form of communication with GoTo Marketers Inc.?

Virtual Meeting

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

We appreciated their proactive consulting support and clear execution of their work.

Are there any areas for improvement or something GoTo Marketers Inc. could have done differently?

Can't think of any. We were limited with our resources, and wish we had provided them with more funds to push us even further.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

SmartBuild's construction management platform allows construction professionals to manage their projects from award to close-out. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GoTo Marketers Inc.?

We needed a new website.

What were your goals for this project?

The website needed to create awareness of our platform, provide details of its functionality, and give visitors an opportunity to sign up for a demo.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We received a recommendation.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The team developed a WordPress website.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and a developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Time will tell, but we are confident that the great WordPress site will have a transformational impact on our business.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project manager served as our single point of contact.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The project manager’s expert advice on best practices helped us make decisions about the project’s directions. The team was responsive to feedback and always willing to listen to us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Ink Strategy, a software and management consulting firm. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GoTo Marketers Inc.?

We have used GoTo Marketers multiple times in the past few years for website design and other marketing projects.

What were your goals for this project?

In this case, we wanted a modern WordPress design with full functionality and links to our software product. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have a good relationship with GoTo Marketers based on past collaboration.

Describe the project in detail.

They’d designed our company’s previous website. We modeled the design of the new site and all the components. Then, we worked together over two to three months on the redesign and launch. They also assisted with our social strategy.

What was the team composition?

We coordinated small teams on both sides. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our new website looks great and launched on time with no issues. GoTo Marketers really helped with filling resource gaps and directing us in areas where we aren’t as experienced.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow went smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciate their deep industry knowledge, client focus, and willingness to push us to think differently.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don’t have any specific suggestions.