Idea Marketing Group

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of City Lights Music Inc. We have been providing live and contracted musical services for the entertainment industry since 1974. Since 2011, we have worked significantly in the television industry.

For what projects/services did your company hire Idea Marketing Group, and what were your goals?

We needed a new web site that would focus strictly on the capabilities we have in the television and film industry coupled with the high-end national concert market. This was focused less on my long-time company and more on the institutional knowledge I bring to the industry while focusing in on my body of work specifically over the past 11 years.

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

Idea Marketing built our previous web site for my core business and we were very happy with the outcome from that experience. The price point played a role but their ability to access and execute my vision were paramount in bringing the business to them.

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

They built this new site from scratch including helping to position the necessary collateral materials (music & video segments) that show the real capabilities of what we have to offer. More so, the many delays we experienced on our end were met with understanding and the desire to do whatever they could to get us back on track (our account rep Taylor at Idea Marketing deserves a Purple Heart for putting up with my delays!).

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

This started with:

• their CEO as we crafted the deal
• a project manager,
• a designer and ultimately
• someone who showed us how to make the site run

Additionally there were IT people who told us what was possible. We also asked their team to work with my designer and a script writer who helped a bit with the message.

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

We released the site the first week of April 2022 (7 days ago) and the reaction has been overwhelming. We shared the new site under the guise of an initial blog post both through email and on social media. In the short time the site has been live, we have received hundreds of positive responses as well as great participation on the blog post.

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

Their project management style was simple. They helped to assess my needs and then put forth a plan to execute that shared vision. We did not want to overthink the site and there is not an e-commerce component currently (but that could change down the road). The site was created to drive interest in acquiring our services and I'm confident that is exactly what it will do.

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

The quick turn on all deliverables. They were highly responsive and the only impediment with getting this done quickly was 100% from our end. Every time we baited the hook, they immediately responded with the hope of trying to build momentum. They get the perseverance award!

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

No...they operated and functioned at a very high level using industry standards and a finetuned professional work ethic.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director for an investor relations and financial communication firm. We work with a wide range of public companies on their company narrative and how to communicate with investors

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Marketing Group?

We hired them to redesign and develop our two WordPress websites.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a marketing site and another for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and reporting metrics. They also provided some UI/UX design. Since the project ended, they also update and fix bugs on the platform.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Darren (President & Founder), Taylor (Account Manager), Haley (Frontend Developer), and a couple of developers.

How did you come to work with Idea Marketing Group?

There was a mutual connection between one of our partners and Idea Marketing Group.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in February and ended in October 2020.

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

We’re happy with the designs they’ve implemented on each of our websites. They accurately reflected our brand and the look and feel we discussed in our initial interview. Idea Marketing Group clearly conveyed the messages we were trying to get across.

How did Idea Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They met most of our deadlines. We generally used email to communicate with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Darren is very knowledgeable and communicates what they’re capable of well. Whenever we had questions or spoke with him, he provided several options that would meet our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We could have used more communication around our deadlines at the beginning of the project. However, this improved throughout the engagement and they’ve communicated very well over the last few months.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing coordinator at Robinson Resource Group. We’re a premier boutique executive search and coaching firm. We help organizations find, secure, and develop their current and future talent.

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Marketing Group?

We had been working off of the same website, making updates for a number of years, and had reached the limit of what we were able to do with it. We wanted to find a partner who could help us build a completely new website that would provide us with a visual rebrand. 

We wanted to bring in new fonts and a new color palette and incorporate a new tagline. We also wanted to provide a better UX for visitors to our website by creating more movement for a better visual impact, integrating a lot of new video content, and incorporating clear calls to action overall. 

Our organization felt that it was important to build a website that allowed us to have the flexibility for the future in terms of breaking out of the template that we were in, being able to get some longevity out of the website, and managing it ourselves on the backend from a content perspective.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idea Marketing Group did custom WordPress website design and development. They worked with us on brainstorming the site structure and content development. They then did UX work and SEO. They're hosting our website and training our team on how to manage the website on the backend.

We’ll continue working with them for ongoing support as well. We told them what our goals were and they helped us think through what would be the best to bring our vision to life.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, and we also have direct access to a designer and a creative director. We met more of their team members early on.

How did you come to work with Idea Marketing Group?

We knew we wanted to work with a local partner and had done our own online research to seek out potential partners. We did Zoom class with three potential partners, and Idea Marketing Group seemed like a good fit.

It was clear that they weren’t just out to make a sale. They listened to our ideas first, but they were also willing to push back on educating us on ideas that would work better. We knew that it was going to be a collaborative partnership. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off in August 2020. The site went live in January 2021, but we’re going to continuing working with them for ongoing support moving forward.

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

We had a really specific deadline we were working with and trying to get our website live in time for a specific event, and we achieved that. In terms of managing and meeting expectations, Idea Marketing Group hit all of the metrics that we laid out from the beginning.

How did Idea Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a really organized and detailed timeline when we signed on with them that outlined how the project would go phase by phase in terms of timing. We were either on time or ahead every step of the way. 

Idea Marketing Group used InVision, which allowed them to share the design phases of the website and  made everything really clear. They also used Content Snare, which is where we input a lot of the content for the website in different categories. It made it easy for us to visualize what we needed.

Those two tools were both new to us but they made the process so much more seamless than we could’ve imagine. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They came into the project as a true strategic partner who wanted to hear about our business, goals, and backstory. They weren’t just interested in providing the newest, flashiest website; they really wanted to understand what was going to be best for our business and to deliver according to what was important to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. It was a great experience. We’re recommending them to others and we’re continuing to partner with them moving forward.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat Idea Marketing Group as a partner and not a vendor. They have so much expertise and insight that they’re willing to give, so go to them as early as possible in your process, because they gave us a lot of advice that shaped what we ended up bringing to life.

Had we gone to them farther down the road with a vision of exactly what we wanted, we would’ve missed out on those insights upfront and having the team guide us down the path that would ultimately provide the best website.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing. I oversee all of the marketing programs and services.

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Marketing Group?

We wanted to launch a new website to really highlight our new branding.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We came to the table with the new branding that we wanted to launch a website with, and Idea Marketing Group really helped us refine and elevate that branding as we were relaunching. They developed the backend, and we worked collaboratively on the frontend. They really led with the overall layout and functionality. They also launched the site with SEO in mind. We’ve since done two other website projects with them. 

What is the team composition?

I had an account manager as my day-to-day contact. Behind the scenes, her whole team was very responsive. That included a programmer and the owner of the company.

How did you come to work with Idea Marketing Group?

When we were doing research, we came across them initially through Google. We read online reviews and narrowed our selection down to the three companies. We did an interview and contract process, and we chose Idea Marketing Group.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work on the first project was from January–April 2017. They continue to finetune our SEO.

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

We won an industry-wide award for our website, which really helped elevate our brand awareness. We’re very satisfied with their work. They’ve definitely helped us meet our SEO goals.

They had ahead-of-the-curve, trendy ideas. When our website launched, it looked like the next thing. They came to the table with a lot of innovative technology ideas.

How did Idea Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very receptive. Whether we ask for something done urgently or last minute, they’re always very responsive and timely. On our end, we primarily communicate via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The ease of working with them is impressive. They have really good pricing with high quality. All of their people are wonderful to work with. They always give us great service and a great product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to work with them. They’re very open, and they’ll collaborate with you to give you what you want and mire.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a distributor of custom printed promotional products and logo apparel. We started with one guy in a basement office and are now one of the top 10% of distributors in the country. I was the first guy in the basement in 1999. Paperwork says I'm the President.

For what projects/services did your company hire Idea Marketing Group, Inc.?

We built a website that ranked well on search engines before Google formally existed. We held on for a long time, but the algorithms and technology changed much faster than we could. Idea Marketing Group took over for us and allowed us to focus on our business instead of the demands of Google's algorithm.

What were your goals for this project?

Maintain our online advantages over the other 60,000 distributors in our industry by ranking higher in natural search results. Then, it expanded beyond SEO into creating, updating, and maintaining an online presence beyond the website and across the spectrum of social media and other outlets.

How did you select this vendor?

I met Darren as a web developer before he branched out and started Idea Marketing Group. He was and still is one of those individuals that would work through the night to figure out the best solution to a challenge. His dedication reflects in everyone I've met at Idea Marketing Group. Darren surrounded himself with the right people. Genius.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

My entire business was built on the back of an exceptionally well performing website.  Idea Marketing Group has designed, polished, optimized, redesigned, marketed, and managed our expanding online presence for the past decade.

What was the team composition?

Over the years, we worked primarily with with Darren and the front-end developer Len with his magic touch.  We have been paired with Holly to manage our account and she has been a joy to work with. Steven and Bill have also contributed greatly to our strategy conversations.

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

They built my online business, literally, and now I have a really nice boat.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Goals are clearly defined and discussed in advance. Communication was tremendous.  Fast responses, often when you don't expect others to be working, like late hours.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The questions they ask. They truly want to dig deep into the soul of your business and know about your values and what's important.  They care about your unique brand.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We should have lunch once in a while. We say it, but we all work too hard and don't make it happen.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and CEO of a consumer products company. We work with locally owned businesses, providing them impulse products for resale. We also have a division of our company that provides fulfillment services for growing e-commerce brands.

For what projects/services did your company hire Idea Marketing Group, Inc.?

We wanted to refresh our web presence and branding, and needed someone that was able to understand the challenges of our customer base.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a clean, simple, up-to date website that was user friendly. We wanted a classic look and feel to the site, and something that would be professionally done on time and on budget.

How did you select this vendor?

We've worked with Idea Marketing Group for years, and on several different projects. We've been consistently happy with their work and the professionalism of their team. It feels like they are truly an extension of ours.

Describe the project in detail.

We did a full site redesign using Wordpress, and will be working with Idea on a Marketing campaign as well. I liked the process of working with them, as we started with design iterations where I got to see our branding come to life. After we agreed on look and feel, they began coding, and allowing me to see the site grow every step of the way. I appreciated that they never pressured me with timeline, and were always eager to get my feedback. They were ready to work as quick as I was, which was nice.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with our project manager and designer initially. They have quite a few folks on their staff that jump in and out of the relationship depending on the stage of the project, but it was nice having one point of contact to work with throughout the process. Towards the end of the project, they provided us an overview of the backend of the Wordpress system-- some of it is pretty basic, but it's nice that they don't overlook the small stuff and don't take anything for granted.

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

It's nice to hear positive feedback from our customers and vendors, about the sites usability and flow, as well as the look of the site overall. Both existing customers and new prospects consistently talk about how great our site looks. Makes me feel great hearing that feedback-- a website is something that I wanted to be proud of and not hide behind. After all, it's the first interaction most people have with a company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Having one point of contact on both sides seemed to help. I could imagine things getting hectic if there were multiple people involved in the conversation daily-- so I made it a point to be point person on my team. They had their project manager coordinate theirs.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I found their culture and beliefs to be the best part. Idea Marketing is built with people that you want to work with. It's nice knowing that when I handed off a task or provided feedback, generally, the outcome/result would be what I wanted. And when I saw things going down a path that I didn't like, they didn't have an ego and try to sway me another way. They listen-- which was awesome.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I'm sure there are things that everyone can improve, but I've always enjoyed working with the folks at Idea. No real complaints here-- if I had them, I wouldn't have referred them to as many clients as I do.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Expressive Structures, a corporate scenery company that uses modular systems. We transform event spaces for shareholder meetings, investor meetings, financial analyst meetings, and internal awards ceremonies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Marketing Group?

Our initial challenges were to update our website, make it more accessible on mobile devices, and try to drive more leads and applications to our newsletter, through the website.

After we achieved those goals, we sought after their SEO feature to start driving traffic to the site.

We deal with the end client, but we’re dealing with one-layer back, as well, with project managers, audiovisual companies, and producers. A big challenge was to explain our offerings to them on a product basis, but also provide a solution-based presentation to everyone. We have a lot of technical information on the site, but we also needed to do it in a way that wasn’t overwhelming.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a brand-new WordPress site for us. The backend is built in a very organized way, which we like. We can go in and alter content whenever we need to. They also provided a lot of great ideas on how to handle our site’s navigation; they came up with this really great idea of doing accordions on the site for details about a product, without overloading a visitor.

In terms of SEO, the team works on our organic search results and manages our email on MailChimp, which also runs our email marketing campaigns. They create location pages for a lot of the major cities that we visit. Originally, we aimed our SEO efforts at different market segments; over time we realized it's better to aim it at different groups of people we serve within the market. Now, we’re able to evolve the site in the background, instead of letting things get outdated, like in the past.

Additionally, we do one blog every month, and they’ve been writing most of those for us. Finally, they handle the backups and security for our site. We run our domain through them, and we have backups in three different cities, so we don’t have to worry about a web hack situation.

What is the team composition?

During the website building process, we had 3-4 people working on the project. Now, we have just one point of contact that handles the blogging content. He also works with other team members in the company for SEO elements. We can always reach out to the owner if that person is ever unavailable.

How did you come to work with Idea Marketing Group?

I work in the event industry, and I go to a lot of networking meetings; I’ve never met any website people who specialize in the events industry. They seem to be the only company out there that took the time to learn our industry. They’ve also worked with a few other events companies that I’m familiar with.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $10,000–$25,000 in total so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2017 and our engagement is ongoing.

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

I’ve seen us come up on the first page, if you search “rental scenic walls in Chicago”, which is important because there’s a large contingent of professionals that prefer to get things in the city they’re coming to. I also noticed we started getting forms filled out, for both our newsletter and our questions form, which never used to happen with our past website. I can directly tie the number of people who fill out the forms to shows that we’ve won. It’s definitely generating specific contacts who are actually looking for our service.

How did Idea Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a fantastic process. They take something that’s overwhelming and they have a defined process on what the expectations are, within each stage. They’re very good at helping keep the projects focused; if at some point, during one of their steps, things look like they’re taking a new direction, they’re very good about noting that and making those changes to ensure the overall agreement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think their knowledge and understanding of the event industry is quite good. I also think they have great writers; we didn’t really have a voice for our blog, and with their help, we were able to narrow down the voice we’re trying to convey.

Since most of our sales are made via phone, email, and text, we like how easy it is to communicate to our prospective clients and refer them to the links on our site or walk them through different aspects of our offerings to get their questions answered efficiently.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. From my end, they’re doing everything they’re supposed to do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you can write down on paper what you’re trying to achieve, it’ll help you get to the desired end result.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the outreach coordinator at St. Mary’s Service. We’re a non-profit adoption agency and counseling center for women. I also work with technical support for the agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Marketing Group?

We needed a website redesign. Our team wanted to freshen up our look.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idea Marketing Group created a customized WordPress theme with a striking backend. Our team provided them with a sitemap and content. They did give us suggestions, but let us lead the way. I have experience with WordPress, but their team made it so simple that anybody on my team can work on the website.

As for design, we loved their main website designs and looked through other pages they’ve worked on. Going off that, we discussed what we liked. The way Idea Marketing Group set up the website was different than our previous. Their team found a way to incorporate all our services in a balanced way versus focusing one.

Now, they’re doing Google advertisements for us to drive traffic. Their team set everything up for us and helped us get in the right direction to update our website with fresh content.

What is the team composition?

Our primary contacts are Beka (Project Manager, Idea Marketing Group), Shannon (Business Development Manager, Idea Marketing Group), and Darren (Creative Marketing Leader, Idea Marketing Group). We worked with an all-female design team.

How did you come to work with Idea Marketing Group?

We did an online search of local companies then interviewed a few who were experienced in non-profits. Idea Marketing Group’s personalized approach and willingness to train our team stood out.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in July 2018 and is ongoing.

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

Since the website is new, it is still gaining traction. Our board of directors did comment on how much they liked it. That’s a huge deal. We’ve gotten great initial feedback from our employees.

I spearheaded this process, and everyone seems to be happy with it, so that is wonderful for me.

How did Idea Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Our team is expressive and passionate, and Idea Marketing Group was able to get an idea for what we wanted based on our personalities. Beka was quick to respond to any requests, and Shannon communicated our mission exceptionally well. Darren helps with the advertising aspect and is receptive in understanding what our agency is trying to achieve out of our advertisements.

We communicate through email and usually get a response within the same day, if not, within the hour. InVision helped us view the website at our office, so we could make comments and give feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I loved that they were willing to teach us the process so that we wouldn’t be dependent on them. The project came from more of a customer service standpoint than sales. Our team appreciated that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing really, I wish the timeline would’ve been quicker, but I know that’s within industry standards.

Any advice for potential customers?

Communication is number one. If we needed anything, we would always get a reply the same day. Communicating with their team is the biggest thing, and I think people tend to forget about that side of it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president at ATD Audio Visual. We provide audio visual services in New York City.

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Marketing Group, Inc.?

Our company had transitioned from being mainly a rental house to more of a service provider. We wanted to rebrand the website, the company, and streamline the checkout process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idea Marketing Group helped us build a WordPress website that will increase conversions using SEO. They based the design on extensive research we conducted together. They learned about our company in depth before starting. Currently, they’re hosting our site. The team’s copywriters wrote content to add.  We’re going to start working on Google AdWords soon.
 
What is the team composition? 

We are in contact with Beka (Project Manager, Idea Marketing Group, Inc.) and Dan (Frontend Developer, Idea Marketing Group, Inc.) on a daily basis. Shannon (Business Development Manager, Idea Marketing Group, Inc.) started off the process and passed it onto Beka.

How did you come to work with Idea Marketing Group, Inc.?

I found them through another website they had designed. We liked their work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $11,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017, and the work is ongoing.
 

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

Our website is at the top of our industry right now regarding appearance and functionality. The platform is everything we were hoping to achieve with Idea Marketing Group. They’ve over-delivered in every aspect. We’re pleased with their work.

How did Idea Marketing Group, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Idea Marketing Group performed very well with project management. We use phone and email to communicate. They use an external website to show the design and comments.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Idea Marketing Group stuck to their word. We paid what we agreed to, even when they had to make changes. The cost was never the main concern for them. Instead, they prioritized the experience and what they delivered.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Define the scope of work ahead of time. In our case, we made everything very clear about what we expected them to deliver. Make sure the design you approve is the design that you want.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the marketing manager at Plainfield Park District. We bring recreation services to over 100,000 people in Plainfield, Illinois.

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Marketing Group?

We wanted to make our website user-friendly for our patrons who range anywhere from grade school all the way to retirees and beyond. It also needed to be easy our staff to update on the backend.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completely redeveloped the website. We took down our old site to start fresh with Idea. They provided their opinions about the best platform to use and the best layout. They learned about the quirks of the parks and rec space and the rules that we have to abide by. They presented a plan for how to best go forward in publishing information to the public. They simplified the backend and provided training on how to use it for our staff. They’ve provided us a way to make changes to the site from wherever instead of having to be in the office at a computer station. They're also hosting the site.

What is the team composition?

I have one main contact, but also occasionally work with the owner and other account representatives.

How did you come to work with Idea Marketing Group?

We did a request for quotes and had approximately 13 companies reply. We narrowed it down to three and brought them in for interviews. A key selling point was they showed us the before and after of a large website project they were working on. They seemed very personable, which is important because we plan on this being an ongoing relationship. Idea was the only company that asked us what we wanted and didn’t just focus on what they've done.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work started in April 2017. The website launched about six weeks ago. They continue to help us update the site and provide ongoing maintenance.

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

They helped us set up Google Analytics. We don’t have them yet but soon we’ll be able to get insights into our website and be able to report that back to our board. We like the way our site looks and we have received a lot of compliments so far both internally and externally.

How did Idea Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is great. We never had any issues. We primarily communicated via phone and email, with the occasional in-person meeting. We’ve been to their office a few times, and they came to us to do website training.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very personable. They have a positive attitude. They're an incredibly talented group of people and they were wonderful in creating our website. They've been very helpful and patient with our staff. They've helped us navigate the whole project, and provided good feedback when we've asked for their opinion.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they're just really great to work with.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have trust in who you're hiring because they’re incredibly talented. They will help you get to where you want to be.