Imarc

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior designer on the marketing team at Sana. We’re a health technology startup; we offer insurance for small businesses between 5–200 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imarc?

We needed to replace our old development agency. We don’t have any developers, so we outsource that service.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have Imarc on retainer for website support. Initially, Imarc started by doing a website audit. They looked at our website and made some recommendations on optimization and ongoing support. They put together a statement of work, and we both agreed to it. From there, we kicked off the monthly retainer for 30 hours.

Last year, Imarc did a separate website redesign project. They took care of all the design, and we did the development. We’ve launched the site, and Imarc continues to support us with maintenance.

The website is a simple marketing site; we use it mainly as a lead tool. We use WordPress as the CMS, and the site is hosted on Pantheon. We also have a lot of external landing pages that we host in Marketo.

What is the team composition?

We have a main project manager, and another rotates during outages. We also have two developers on the team.

How did you come to work with Imarc?

They were a referral. When we were trying to find a new agency to work with, a big incentive was to find someone with experience working and designing with Marketo. At the time, it was a crucial point for us because we were spending a lot of time and money to get stuff done in Marketo. We wanted an agency that was well-versed in it and could help speed up those processes. Ultimately, it came down to 2–3 agencies, but Imarc’s quality of work was the best.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $200,000 between the retainer and the separate website project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our partnership with them in January 2022, and it’s still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website’s navigation, functionality, and overall experience have improved. We’re not a metrics-based business, so it’s hard to track the impact of the website redesign. However, the site is definitely easier to use. The whole point of redoing the website was to make it more functional for the employees so they could go in the back and edit things without needing a development agency. All in all, many of our processes have improved thanks to Imarc’s help.

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve changed project managers a couple of times, but every project manager we’ve had has been great regarding communication and sticking to timelines. In fact, everyone we’ve worked with has done a good job of communicating the necessary changes or estimates.

For the most part, they deliver on time and budget. We’ve had edge cases with scope creep, which slightly increases the budget. However, nothing we haven’t agreed to. Overall, Imarc has been really accommodating and flexible with the hours or when there’s been a mix-up.

Our primary project management tool is Asana, and we mostly communicate via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with many developers throughout my career, but I’d never worked with anyone that could translate my designs in a live environment so accurately. The website is 95% close to my mock-ups. Imarc does a seamless job translating those things, and we really appreciate that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes they don’t quote us high enough for the hours, and they have to come back and ask for more. They could estimate the projects a bit tighter.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re being overly communicative with them about what you need, what you’re expecting as the outcome, and what the roadmap looks like.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a digital media specialist at a credit union.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imarc?

We needed help to design and develop our company’s new website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Imarc has designed and developed our website from scratch using different programming languages, including JavaScript, PHP, HTML, CSS, and Ruby. We initially showed Imarc the previous site we had, and Imarc has designed the new site based on our feedback. We’ve asked Imarc to update our website and make it compatible with different devices by simplifying its design and general UX. We can edit the site’s information using Craft CMS.

Our site has a lot of information about checking and savings accounts. Users can also find any deposit and loan products, including mortgages, credit cards, and secured loans. 

Additionally, Imarc manages our digital marketing strategy, including search engine marketing (SEM) on Google Ads and social media marketing (SMM) on Facebook and Instagram. Imarc also offers us SEO services and works on improving our site’s search ranking through keywords and backlinking. 

Imarc doesn’t host our website, but they’re in contact with our hosting service provider to update the site as needed. Imarc is also available to help and assist with troubleshooting. 

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Alex (Senior Project Manager), whose former title was project coordinator.

How did you come to work with Imarc?

We conducted a bid between local digital organizations in Boston, and Imarc won the bid.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $1 million–$5 million with Imarc, including web development and digital marketing budget. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re very happy with Imarc’s work. We monitor the site’s metrics through an analytics portal, and we’ve seen a general improvement in our site’s performance. Imarc has recently conducted an SEM campaign for our 19 locations, which means creating ads for 19 different Google Business Profiles. Thanks to that campaign, our local Google Business Profile’s impressions have increased from 10,000 to 17,000–18,000. 

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

Imarc’s project management is good — they’re knowledgeable in this field. Imarc listens to my requests, and whenever we’ve had issues, we've come to Imarc, who sets up a meeting in the next few days. Imarc is transparent and upfront about our budget. They're also responsive through email and phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed by Imarc’s transparency about their services and our ad spend, which is uncommon in this industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything for Imarc to improve. They’ve been on task and on queue throughout our project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend being responsive to Imarc because you’ll work better this way. Imarc is so good at communication that you’ll have to put in an effort to respond back. Don’t be afraid to discuss any issue with Imarc — they’re professional and will listen to you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing manager at myOrthos. We’re an orthodontic service organization that partners with orthodontic practices across the US to help them manage their operational needs, including HR, finance, and IT.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imarc?

We needed web development services. We were founded in 2019 and had a basic WordPress site that wasn’t functional and didn’t reflect our brand. We sought out a web partner that could enhance our brand story, and also conduct user persona research on our audience, and then build a site based on that research.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Imarc has helped us with several projects, including branding, UI/UX design, and website development. Imarc has recommended enhancing our branding and expanding our UI/UX design. 

With the branding strategy Imarc has created, we’ve updated our marketing materials, including conference materials, paper goods, and onboarding materials for new employees. Imarc has also researched our target audience, which is orthodontists, to help us understand more about their motivations. 

Imarc has used Figma for design and Adobe XD to share the site’s wireframes with us. Imarc has built our site on Craft CMS, trained us on this platform, and implemented it on the site. Imarc has also implemented HubSpot as a CRM tracking service. 

Moreover, Imarc offers us digital marketing services too and gives us monthly reports on our website’s performance. Imarc monitors our site’s SEO strategy and offers web maintenance. We plan to keep working with them on optimization projects for our website, including A/B testing and SEO strategy. 

What is the team composition?

We work with 7–8 teammates from Imarc. We’re primarily in contact with the project manager and interact with the rest of Imarc’s team. Imarc’s team also includes an art director, UX director, strategist specialist, and web developers.

How did you come to work with Imarc?

I had worked with Imarc at my previous company, and when I was looking for development partners, I contacted Imarc. I already knew their reputation and work.

We initially provided Imarc with an RFP and requested a proposal from them. On our RFP, we told Imarc about our company’s background, budget guidance, project goals, and possible roadblocks. Imarc conducted initial research about our company and recommended services based on their analysis. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $200,000 with Imarc.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Imarc in October 2021, and the official website launched in November 2021. We still continue to work with Imarc.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Imarc has helped us in three key ways. First, they’ve been able to bring our company’s values to life with their branding expertise. Imarc’s branding has elevated our company’s look and feel, helped our company form better relationships with our audience, and closed better deals. 

Lastly, the website Imarc has developed now reflects our company better and is a true representation of who we are. The site allows us to do data captures and better operate our business as a whole. 

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

Imarc has delivered all the requested work on time and on budget. Imarc has met every deadline, and if there is a change to the project’s scope, they’ve been transparent about it. Imarc has given us a full explanation as to why there would be any delay. We worked with Imarc’s account manager for the whole project, and it was clear that they had a strong grasp of the work before they started. Imarc is in constant communication with us to ensure everything is completed on time. 

Imarc’s communication is excellent, and they respond quickly to my inquiries. If Imarc doesn’t have the information I need, they work diligently to find it. We used Miro to collaborate.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with Imarc’s expertise. They have strong subject matter experts on their team who also can communicate clearly and effectively with people who aren’t experts in their area. — I find this to be extremely valuable. 

On top of that, Imarc’s communication is extremely strong. I always feel like they have our best interests in mind.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I believe it would be great if Imarc could expand their team and make it larger since they’re hindered by the amount of work they can take at a certain period of time. If they had a larger staff, they could take on more projects at the time and have shorter timelines. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have very clear goals and project scope when you approach Imarc since they rely heavily on the information you provide as a client. This will avoid budget surprises down the road. I also recommend trusting the process. When companies are personal with us is important to trust their opinion. Imarc has taken a step back and looked at our company with a complete view, they’re the experts in the field, and I trust they’ll get us to a place of success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Marketing of AACSB International

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

AACSB International (AACSB), a global nonprofit association, connects educators, students, and business to achieve a common goal: to create the next generation of great leaders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Imarc to accomplish?

Complete website redesign and restructure

SOLUTION

How did you find Imarc?

Online Search

Why did you select Imarc over others?

High ratings, Great culture fit, Good value for cost, Company values aligned

What was the size of Imarc’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

Complete restructure of our website including content, member and accredited school listings, tools, informational pages, and departmental support pages. Deliverables included strategy, comp and wireframe development, web development, content migration, and full implementation of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• SIgnificant decrease in number of pages
• Increase in quality of user experience
• Better alignment with our brand

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

Excellent project management in terms of engagement with our team and external vendors. It was clear that Imarc understood our complicated and nuanced business and was able to provide solutions that clarified the user experience while meeting our outlined goals.

What was your primary form of communication with Imarc?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

Complete understanding of our business, which is nuanced and takes a while to onboard to. The Imarc team in a short time was able to clarify our goals and make strategic improvements to the way we were using our website to achieve them.

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

I don't have any complaints about Imarc, our main issues with the project came from another partner that Imarc was aligned with, but no longer is.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing manager at a cybersecurity company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imarc?

Our company was rebranding, so we needed someone to help us develop a new website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Imarc is building our website from scratch using Craft CMS. We initially gave the new brand assets and guidelines that they can utilize in their design, and they’ve also been helping us transition from our old website to the new one.

Our website includes a resource page where users can download copies of our e-books and register for our webinars and a products page.

What is the team composition?

I mainly work with a lead designer, a project manager, and a project coordinator.

How did you come to work with Imarc?

Some of our colleagues who worked with them at a previous company referred them to us based on their good experience.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in February 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have specific metrics, but we’ve seen increased organic traffic on our website. Overall, the website looks incredible and much more user-friendly than before.

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform very well from a project management perspective. They take our needs seriously and deliver on any request consistently, no matter how big or small they are.

We typically communicate over Slack and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that they’re always eager to get in touch — overall, they’re great communicators.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve because I’ve been pleased with what they’ve done for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a marketing manager at Beacon Hill Staffing Group; we're a US-based staffing company with over 60 offices. We also have eight specialty divisions covering administrative staffing services, life sciences, and fintech.

We’re a combination of staffing and workforce solutions such as managed services, recruitment process outsourcing, professional services and statement of work, and project consulting. We work with both job seekers in placing them and client companies in filling their hiring needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imarc?

We hired Imarc to redesign our company website because we revamp it every three years, and we also leveraged their digital marketing services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Imarc has been doing website redesign for us. Our original 2018 design was done by a different agency, and we wanted to change that model with Imarc. The goal was to develop a new CMS that we could leverage since the previous one was getting very dated.

The past ones were much more copy and paste because we were sticking to the same CMS, but Imarc built this site from scratch. We tried to touch every piece of content versus in the past, and we would've just brought it over with the next version of the site. The GM calculator that we just worked on this past week is an example of an existing code being carried over.

There were a few elements that we focused on in 2018, such as a brand new logo and a new color theme. We purposely did not want to change those elements because it took us a few years to update all our materials internally and get a lot of adoption across the company. However, they were open to doing a full overhaul.

We also came up with a brand new strategy for presenting our business; our website is broken into two main audiences, one is the client company, and the other is a job seeker. They helped us rethink how we attract those audiences, message them, and even explain our business to them. We were previously trying to explain to both groups how our business runs behind the scenes, and it missed the mark on how somebody new to our site would think about us. Imarc helped us understand that our internal hierarchy doesn't mean much to the average site visitor, so we need to discuss what we can do for them.

In addition, they now officially handle all of our paid searches, so our Google and Bing ads from copywriting, strategy, bids, and budget. They also help us with consulting on optimizing our SEO better so that we're being turned up on the organic search on Google.

Currently, we're looking more closely at our Google business listings and how better to optimize them and make sure we're showing up. We just signed a contract the last week with them to start a brand new project in which they will build an intranet. Probably for the next year and a half, they’re going to design for us a custom application. Our 1100 plus employees can use it as their go-to dashboard when they log in and see everything they need that's specific to them and their role here.

What is the team composition?

We keep being introduced to new teams as we bring on new services. We probably have crossed paths with about 30 people from their end, including designers, developers, a salesperson, and a digital marketing team. Still, our main point of contact was an account manager who’s followed us through the whole thing, and he's on every call.

How did you come to work with Imarc?

We found them through an internet search. I was looking across the country for an agency that could fit our needs, and it was coincidental that Imarc is just North of our Boston HQs. It was a nice fit because they are local to where we all physically sat at one point. I also chose them because I was impressed by their website and they had a section in it dedicated to the fact that they built a JetBlue intranet and won an award in 2019. That might have been what got me to their site, and I was very pleased with everything I read.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $362,600 with them so far.

What is the status of the engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since launching two months ago, we've had immense success with the site; aside from the look and feel, and how our internal population and visitors perceive it, it's also performing better. We also see over 130,000 more page views and applicants every month, with an average time on each page increasing by 31%.

In addition, Imarc has been flexible and open in collaborating with other companies that we bring in.

Overall, the project's success is seeing that we've received so many more optimized job applications, and there's a huge improvement.

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

Any missing deadlines or overage on hours is on us, not them. In terms of our expectations on how long it would take to complete this project, we were well within our expectations based on our experience of doing website redesign projects and their estimations. Also, knowing how many additional services like the scope of work snowballed as we continued down the road. We were rethinking so many interrelated processes of what we have to do with getting information in and out of the website — they did well on that end.

They're very clear about tracking their hours every week and updating us overall, and they're proactive on that front. Their team also provided us with a custom project site where both teams could access and upload documents, updates, and timelines. They were also using Adobe XD to present wireframes and initial designs. We also used Zoom and Email for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everybody we've come across has been incredibly knowledgeable in whatever team they're a part of. They're all experts on specific subject matters that we can tap into, which has been great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is nothing they can improve because they deliver beyond our expectations.

Any advice for potential customers?

Knowing how full service this agency is and how many things they can assist the business with would be helpful going into an engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for ASC Engineered Solutions, a manufacturer of pipe joining systems such as pipe fittings, valves, hangars, support, and others. I’m the company’s digital content manager, so I’m responsible for the content seen on our website. I also handle our digital marketing efforts on social media, digital ads, and other channels. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imarc?

We didn’t have internal IT resources to manage our website. As a result, we hired Imarc to host it, support us with troubleshooting, and help us in development projects. Moreover, we’ve recently rebranded; we were two organizations that came together in 2019 and officially rebranded as one company in March 2021. We needed their help in this project, too. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’ve mostly worked with Imarc on our company’s rebranding project. Prior to the rebranding, we needed to prepare our website. As a first step, we consolidated our company's legacy brand materials and websites. For context, our firm used to acquire various businesses semi-regularly, and sometimes those businesses had websites. Up until 2020, we let all legacy sites exist. 

Once we decided we’d officially rebrand with a new name, we wanted to close existing legacy sites. Imarc transferred all legacy information from those brands to the new website. To that end, they did a massive data importation and worked on the new site’s structure to accommodate all content. Their team also helped redirect legacy URLs to our official domain while guiding us through the process. Overall, Imarc ensured that products from other websites showed up on the rebranded site with the correct information and necessary images.

After the consolidation effort, the next step was to do the actual site rebranding. We used a third-party agency to design mock-ups, while Imarc executed them. They made a couple of test sites and applied the designs we wanted. The team also reorganized information and created new site sections based on the third-party agency’s recommendations, bringing the site to life. On top of that, we had plenty of talks about the things that we wanted for the site’s UX. 

Apart from this rebranding campaign, we’ve also recently completed an API portal with Imarc’s help, and it’s been a huge project. So far, they’ve taken on various other projects with us and advised us on development best practices. 

What is the team composition?

We work most often with Jenny (Senior Project Manager & Team Lead), Lily (Project Coordinator), and Bill (Lead Web Engineer). Sometimes, we also work with Christian (Art Director) and other engineers, including Tristan (Senior Frontend Engineer). Linnea (Web Engineer) has recently taken on some design work, too. Overall, we’ve worked with a lot of people in their organization. 

How did you come to work with Imarc?

I wasn’t involved in the process of hiring Imarc, and they were already working for our company when I joined. For context, our marketing leadership team originally selected Imarc.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested more than $250,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To measure success, we check whether we hit all the marks and scope of work that we set. So far, Imarc has met our requirements. They continue to take on projects, and they’re always available to communicate, making sure that we’re informed about any developments or issues that arise. Likewise, our leaders are pleased with Imarc’s work. We’ve continued working with them because we’re truly happy with how they manage our website while working closely with us.

For the rebranding project, a lot of people from their team have worked to make it happen, and they’ve met our deadlines. The team has implemented all of our highest-priority items prior to the site’s launch. 

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

Imarc is always on top of everything, and they resolve most issues within 24 hours. I email them almost every day to ask what’s going on with the site and to check if something’s not working. Based on that, their communication skills are great; they’re responsive to our emails and willing to let us track projects. 

The Imarc team uses Google Spreadsheets to take our feedback in real-time, and their resources use that to assign tickets to their team. Speaking of assignments, they make tickets visible to us so we can see the status of their work any time we want. They also send us emails about where things stand to make the communication process easier. Moreover, we meet with them once a week to go over our projects and issues. This way, we have the chance to talk about anything that we need. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Imarc makes things happen quickly, and they’re readily available to take on challenges. In fact, we throw a lot at them, and they never say no — they always find ways to accommodate our projects. They also always have great recommendations. Overall, the team is truly solution-oriented, and they want the website to function well and be as good as it possibly can. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, we feel that things hinge so much on Bill since he’s the lead engineer. However, he has to take vacations and personal days. When that happens, we sometimes have to wait for him to come back. If something goes wrong and he’s not present, more problems arise because he’s the only one who knows how to fix things. In other words, having more backup or people who can step in and service our account will be an improvement.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re organized; ensure that your priorities and needs are as clear as possible. This helps Imarc know the order of importance of the things they must do. Their team plans their time, how they’re going to do projects, and who they’ll assign to do tasks. As a result, being clear about your end goals is crucial. 

Similarly, give them as much information as possible when you encounter an issue. If something goes wrong on your side, provide as much background as possible so that they’ll know what to do. When you do that, they can start working right away and won’t have to do any background research on their own. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager at an environmental engineering and consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imarc?

We wanted a new and modern website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Imarc developed a template and worked on Craft CMS to build our website from scratch. The team did web design and copy editing work. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a lead designer and an assigned project manager who was our main point of contact. I can’t recall all the team members, but there were more than four people. 

How did you come to work with Imarc?

I contacted Imarc many years ago and kept in touch with one of their employees. Once I had the approval to redo the website, we had to decide between them and another agency. Imarc’s interview process went much better, and the team had already done a website for another environmental consulting firm, so we decided to go with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our company invested around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from January 2020–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to Imarc’s efforts, the website looks nicer, has a more polished look, and is much more mobile-friendly.

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

The team performed pretty well. Deadlines were tight because of COVID-19, but we met them as best as both parties could. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with the way they designed and set up the backend on Craft CMS. It’s very user-friendly — and that has been very helpful for me. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be have been more upfront and have better communication about where the project stood budget-wise. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise them to be more proactive. Ask the team about the project’s status because you may not hear about them until it’s too late, and you might have already gone over budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a 15-person private equity investment firm. I’m one of the six partners. We manage money for college endowments, insurance companies, state and corporate pension funds. We invest $20 million–$60 million apiece in private companies, help them grow, sell them, and hopefully make gains for our limited partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Imarc?

We were very nascent when it comes to marketing. We were founded 16 years ago and we had two websites. They were both pretty pedestrian, and we really needed a bit of a brand refresh as part of doing a website refresh. As a result, we hired Imarc to tear it all the way down and build everything from scratch. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team provided a whole new look and feel, color schemes, and more. They also helped us change and upgrade our messaging in terms of how we go to market, how we explain ourselves to our audience, and so on. 

We explained to them at a very basic level what we do, who goes to our website, and what we were trying to tell them since they were not familiar with our business. They presented different strawman ideas and from there, we chose our preferred message, look, and feel. Essentially, the content was really on us. After the website was launched, we just had a few things we needed to modify.

What is the team composition?

For the most part, we worked with five people from Imarc.

How did you come to work with Imarc?

They were referred to us. We called some investment funds that we were friends with after looking at their website. We just asked them who created their website. Then, we interviewed three vendors from Boston and Atlanta. In the end, we chose Imarc.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $65,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them from July 2020–January 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When they helped us send the email blast containing the link to our new website, around 6,000–7,000 people received it. After that, we had off-the-charts positive feedback, both solicited and unsolicited. A lot of people had complimented our platform. 

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a collaborative partnership. Every week we used to review items such as wireframes, pictures, and colors. Above all, they were very prompt. 

They were really good listeners and communicators. Even if they didn’t really know our business, they really explored the persona we were going for. They were also very clear on budget. They let us know if we would go over budget, and if it ended up close to the budget we have — around 2%–5% — that wasn’t a problem for us at all. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creativity in developing the website’s look and feel really helped us nail the persona we were going for. We were really impressed with the ideas they presented. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

This is a tough question, but the only thing that comes to mind was the fact that they didn’t know what we do for a living, so we had to teach them from the ground up. I’m not sure if I could fault them for that because they’re a generalist digital agency. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

What enabled them to do such a good job was their listening skills and how we communicated to them. If you’re going to partner with them, assume they know nothing and introduce your business well.

That way, they can really understand who you’re talking to and what you’re trying to convey. Don’t just take for granted that they know what to do. Start from the very beginning. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re one of the leading providers of childcare centers and in-home backup care services. We work directly with parents and through employer benefits programs. I’m the vice president of digital and marketing services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Imarc?

We hired them to provided ongoing development and maintenance services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They act as an extension of our team. We have a developer on our in-house team that works directly with Imarc. We use Sitecore as our CMS, and we’re in the process of a major infrastructure update and design refresh.

They look at our site analytics to determine where we’re performing well and where we could use improvement. They then make recommendations to help us achieve our goals. We work collaboratively to generate content on the site. They will give us guidelines, but we provide photos, illustrations, and copywriting. 

How did you come to work with Imarc?

I’ve been a longtime client of Imarc. I started working with them at my previous organization. 

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent several hundred thousand dollars. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2018, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They serve as an extension of our team. They’re always available to us and are constantly looking for ways they can help us. They keep us abreast of WCAG and make sure that our requests are in line with best practices. They challenge us to be better. 

How did Imarc perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re easy to get in touch with, even outside of normal business hours. Their estimates are pretty concrete as well which is extremely helpful. They’re very transparent. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The people that make up their team are the greatest highlight. They’re experts in their field but are also personable and fun to work with. Their turnover is very low, so I’ve worked with many of the same people for over a decade. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, overall, I’m very pleased. They’re a great partner. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Don’t worry about hiding your weaknesses from them. Have them tell you what they truly think as opposed to what you might want to hear. That’s how I’ve always worked with them; we value their counsel.