Lynton

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of marketing and events at Chicagoland Skydiving Center.  We're one of the busiest skydiving companies in the Midwest region, providing jumping opportunities full-time from April through October. In winter, we don't have any special events, so we do business development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with LyntonWeb?

We wanted to redesign our website and to start using HubSpot for our inbound marketing and email campaigns. We were looking for a company to help us with that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redesigned our website, focusing on the frontend, and helped us get comfortable with HubSpot. They introduced us to HubSpot marketing and CRM [Customer Relationship Management] and after that, we've been working with them continuously on our email and inbound marketing campaigns. They've also been helping us understand industry's best practices, create campaigns, and fully utilize HubSpot. In addition, they did a custom API project for us.

What is the team composition? 

We work with our account representative, who helps us access designers and developers.

How did you come to work with them?

We found them through a referral for HubSpot partners and they turned out to be the right mix of price and services. We talked to 4–5 different vendors, but LyntonWeb seemed to understand what we were looking for and could work with our price plan. We're a small business and don't have a big marketing budget, but they were able to offer us value for the money we could spend. We also liked their campaign and design ideas. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $36,000 a year on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with them in January 2013 and the relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They completely changed the way we do marketing. When I came on board, we had a website and a newsletter, but we needed to work on our mobile presence, SEO, and analytics. They gave a structure to everything we were doing and became a part of our team, helping us find other vendors when we needed them. About 80% of marketing we're currently doing is possible because of them.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

Initially, we talked to them almost every day. Now, we have weekly calls and go over monthly and seasonal reports with them. Our company has a Slack account, which is the basis of our internal communication, but we've also used email, text, and phone to get in touch with them. In winter, our team is usually smaller, but in summer, we often have over 60 team members and contractors. LyntonWeb has always been there for us when we needed them. Depending on the season, we have to adjust the number of hours they work, but they've let us be flexible with that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have a background in advertising, so I had high expectations for our account and budget management, reporting, and transparency – I wanted them to be open about how they use their hours. I've been very happy with them. They've demonstrated that they stay on track with marketing campaigns and keep us on track with our deadlines. Since we're a small company, their accountability is important to us. They've been a huge component of our marketing success for a long time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they give us everything we need. I would like us to be able to afford more of their services since we have many competitors in the industry.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear and upfront with them from the beginning. If you communicate to them what you're hoping to grow into, they'll do a great job helping you plan the timeframe and the budget.