Grant Marketing

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of AVO Fence & Supply. We’re a specialty lumber supplier for the fence industry. We provide both wholesale and retail, supplying landscapers, fence installers, and retail customers with specialty fence panels as well as all that comes with the construction of a fence. Our materials are composed of wood, vinyl, metal, aluminum, or chainlink.

What challenge were you trying to address with Grant Marketing?

They serve as our outsourced marketing department.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve focused on advertising and reputation management for us. They manage our website, handling both design and development, and they’re currently in the process of revamping it.

They manage our outgoing communications to both contractors and residential or retail customers. They communicate regularly with 4000 contacts, either through blogs or general announcements. The team has also tracked our web presence through SEO efforts.

On the reputation management side, they’ve focused on the different sites we have and ensured that photographs of our work and positive reviews are both visible to potential customers.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked directly with Bob (Principal and Founder, Brand Strategist) along with Inda (Marketing Communications Specialist). I’ve also interfaced with two others who have mostly provide digital development.

How did you come to work with Grant Marketing?

The contract with Grant Marketing was already in place when I purchased this company. I decided to stay with them despite a change in scope of work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent a little more than $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership began in October 2019 and is ongoing.

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

Everything’s going great. While we’re a seasonal business whose business capacity fluctuates by time of year, we’ve seen a general growth in our number of incoming inquiries and digital presence. We’ve continued to see incremental improvements in our digital reputation, as well.

How did Grant Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been very good on this front. Most if not all delays are on our side. They’re always on top of their tasks and getting things done. We used to have in-person meetings but now primarily communicate via phone call.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re attentive to what we need. They listen carefully to what I’m saying and don’t push their own agenda on us. They certainly guide and consult with me in terms of what we should and shouldn’t do, but they’re also sensitive to the industry-specific constraints of our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have anything substantive to say here. I’ve been very happy with them so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Over the course of multiple meetings, put together an outline of what your objectives are.  You don’t have to tell them how to accomplish your goals, but you should provide them with what needs to be accomplished. They’re very good at sticking to a plan, which they’ll construct around your specific goals.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and owner of Fourstar Connections, Inc., a contract manufacturer. We sell wire and cable products, and we do more sophisticated work like electromechanical box build. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Grant Marketing?

We were looking for a marketing agency to help us grow our business.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Grant Marketing came in and evaluated our current situation. They confirmed we didn’t have marketing capability, and said our website was minimally effective and needed to be replaced completely. The team also interviewed my senior management to understand more about our business and goals, and developed a profile and marketing plan for moving forward.  

The website build, which was totally from scratch, was the first action item. Grant Marketing was responsible for both the design and development. After the site was finished, we worked on sales collateral. We updated our logo and changed some of our messaging, so the team built a lot of materials around it. We’ve also done a few videos together. 

What is the team composition?

Bob (Principal & Founder) is my primary contact, but throughout the engagement he’s delegated out several tasks. For instance, Cam (Communications Director) handles a lot of the creative, like editing our business blogs for SEO. Madina (Inbound Marketing Specialist) handles everything with HubSpot. We work with more team members for specific things like artwork. 

How did you come to work with Grant Marketing?

Grant Marketing was referred to me. I talked to a number of different marketing groups, but I ultimately felt they were the best fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We usually spend between $60,000–$70,000 per year. We typically work on an annual contract with monthly billing, and every year we renegotiate depending on what services we want.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2016.

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

We’re not as focused on the volume of leads we get, but rather the quality. We typically aim for one or two really highly qualified leads per month. Grant Marketing has adjusted our strategies based on those goals, and they’ve done an excellent job of adapting to it.

Since we’ve partnered with the team, our business has grown nicely. We get a lot of inquiries from our blogs, many of which turn out to be high-quality leads. People come to us with purchase orders ready to go because they’re confident we’re the right vendor for them. That’s the exact goal we had when we started with Grant Marketing.

How did Grant Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty good. We meet on a monthly basis, either in person or virtually. Once we establish a goal or set a project, we’ll deal directly with the person on their staff in that area of expertise. From there, we make progress pretty quickly. If anything, they push us when we miss deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very current. The marketing capabilities they have in their portfolio have put us ahead of many of our competitors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have a marketing expert on my board of advisors, and he suggested Bob start spending more time with our senior management team going over analytics. We went to him with that advice, and ever since, he’s stepped up and done a lot more of that. That was the only real area for improvement we’ve had, and Bob handled it really well. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I feel very comfortable referring them to anyone who might need marketing help.

Please describe your company and your position there.

i am VP of Sales and Marketing for a company providing coating coating solutions to a wide range of medical customers, we have locations in USA and Costa Rica

For what projects/services did your company hire Grant Marketing?

promoting proprietary services and business expansion to medical industry

What were your goals for this project?

grow new patented product sales, expand sales at new Costa Rica facility

How did you select Grant Marketing?

both research and recommendations

Describe the project in detail.

ongoing promotion of our services and businesses

What was the team composition?

full access to the grant Marketing team for all projects

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

double-digit growth in sales of new patented products, the exponential increase in leads generated from website call to actions

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Both face-to-face and remote engagement are effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Genuine buy into company objectives, finger on the pulse of new technology to aid in exposure to the market, and key metrics to assess the effectiveness of campaigns