Magnetude Consulting

BACKGROUND

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

• Project manage our rebrand
• Manage our corporate social media

SOLUTION

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

• Diligent project management overseeing every facet of the rebranding initiative, encompassing the transformation of over 1000 pieces of collateral to align with the new brand identity. 
• The meticulous reskinning of five individual websites, involving the nuanced integration of updated branding, messaging, and lead collection mechanisms. 
• Devising and implementing a strategic social media approach, transitioning from five disparate company profiles to a singular corporate profile strategically disseminated across multiple channels. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing for a caregiver support company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magnetude Consulting?

I’m our only in-house, full-time marketer, and I was looking for a full-service agency that could help me with all the different areas of our marketing, eliminating the need to manage multiple vendors.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a big discovery meeting where I gave them as much background as possible on our company and sales process, as well as our marketing and strategic goals. After that, Magnetude began thinking about what our highest priorities should be — we landed on content marketing, marketing operations, digital advertising, and lead generation.

I gave them our past materials to work off, and we’ll brainstorm ideas together. They also do content marketing and digital advertising, including through Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Facebook advertising. They also do SEO and SEM. We did keyword research beforehand ourselves and then passed that list on to them.

What is the team composition?

I work with four people: Cindy (VP of Client Strategy), who’s a strategist, Michele (Account Manager), who handles digital marketing and operations, Sandy (Copywriter), and a long-form content resource.

How did you come to work with Magnetude Consulting?

I actually used to work for them, so when we were looking for an agency, I knew to go there.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost has been about $35,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s still too early to share metrics, especially on the digital side, as we only kicked off the project a few weeks ago, but the content that Magnetude produces has been a huge time saver. It’s really helped our sales team.

How did Magnetude Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very organized, and I don’t have to manage them at all. Magnetude’s team sends me an agenda before every call detailing what they’ve been working on.

We communicate over email and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The two biggest highlights for me are that they’re a full-service team and that they’re filled with senior and strategic people. We’re not working with a bunch of junior people who are waiting around to be told what to do. Magnetude works independently and adds a lot of value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they could be a bit more independent in putting together a lead generation plan. We’ve been struggling to get this up and running a bit.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would absolutely recommend them if you’re a small marketing team and need more senior resources to support you. Magnetude can handle every to do with marketing, from planning through to execution.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a boutique technology consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magnetude Consulting?

We needed help expanding our brand and driving growth through marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our work has evolved over time. Their work has ranged from email marketing campaigns and content creation to web development and marketing collateral. They’ve also made templates for proposal presentations and developed blog posts. The team has experimented with different strategies with different ways to market our company over the years. They also manage our LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.

What is the team composition?

We work with an account manager and a content developer.

How did you come to work with Magnetude Consulting?

They were hired before I came on.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $60,000 per year. Because of COVID-19, we’re spending less than we have in the past.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2016, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Magnetude successfully tries various mechanisms to expand our reach and our name. We haven’t tried to equate their work to sales directly. The quality of their work has always been very good. They’ve done a great job for us on all accounts. Their content development for our site and white papers is exceptional.

How did Magnetude Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

We have ongoing weekly status meetings where they review any changes with myself and other members of our team. We also have monthly budget meetings to plan out the month. Their communication is very efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge of our business stands out. They’ve gotten to know our company, our culture, and our people. I believe they can help with our marketing activities effectively because they’re connected with who we are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think they’re doing a good job of the role we hired them for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to really take the time to create a relationship. Let them know who you are and what you do. There are some standards in marketing but there are always twists and turns with each particular company. If they understand you as a client, you’ll get a positive result in the end.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of Cyborg Security is focused on cyber threat hunting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magnetude Consulting?

We were looking for additional resources to augment our team. We specifically needed to find specialists who had the skills that we didn’t have in-house. At the time, we didn’t even have a website. Magnetude Consulting helped us establish our branding and positioning within the cybersecurity industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In our first conversation with them, we talked about our brand and positioning. We needed to quickly build an MVP for our website quickly, so they recommended that we used WordPress. It ended up being the right fit for us because it had all of the plugins and out-of-the-box capabilities we needed.

As they began development, there was a lot of back and forth between our team and theirs. I told them what pages to prioritize, such as a background page that covered who we are and what we do, and they delivered.

Recently, they helped us launch our product. They’ve been supporting marketing and PR. They’ve drafted an email campaign and helped us lead a webinar.

What is the team composition?

Cyndy (VP Client Strategy & Delivery, Messaging & Positioning) was the project leader, and I interfaced with her on a daily basis. I also spoke with Natalie (President, Marketing Strategy & Planning) semi-regularly. Then we started working with Lea (High tech Marketing & Content Development). A technical writer and content developer built out the content on the site, while a couple of people working on the imagery for the website. Eventually, we worked with a developer on the backend technical capabilities.

How did you come to work with Magnetude Consulting?

I spoke with a number of different firms that I found through referrals or through well-known companies that work in the cybersecurity space. I found them through a Google search. I was looking for marketing firms with a cybersecurity and startup focus. Based on the schedule and budget we had, Magnetude Consulting was the best fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2019 and the project lasted about 18 months. We wrapped up the last part of our project last month, in February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were exactly what our company needed at the time. They delivered everything that was within the scope of the project.   

How did Magnetude Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good at delivering things on time. Once we set a deadline, they worked backward to set milestones and plan the project.

We always saved some hours, so we could ask them for help when we needed something last minute. For example, if we had an event coming up and we needed white papers, landing pages, or documents created, they could help us. In that way, they were very flexible. They always responded quickly to implement what we were looking for. We were able to pay by the hour for that work too, so it wasn’t a huge additional cost.

To communicate, we had biweekly calls with Lea. The first call each week was to go over what their projects were and the second call was to go over implementation. We also used SharePoint and Dropbox to manage documents.

Whenever I emailed or called them, they got back to me even if it was after hours. I even heard from them on weekends. They were responsive and delivered on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They worked quickly and were able to deliver what we needed. They were able take our ideas and make them a reality.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I brought on a few additional people to augment my team internally. Unfortunately, that created some overlap between my team and theirs. As a result, we occasionally had duplicate work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Rely on the project manager. They were really good at keeping everything on track. At the same time, you should build a relationship with the rest of the team as well so you can reach out to them directly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the head of marketing for an executive search firm. We are based in Massachusetts, and we specialize in executive C-level roles, team expansions, and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) across life sciences, digital health, fintech, and software verticals. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magnetude Consulting?

We wanted to do a full revamp of our marketing strategy, and we needed someone to take a look at all of our messaging across our website and our collateral.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the start of our engagement, Magnetude Consulting helped us do a really comprehensive overhaul with regards to our go-to-marketing strategy, messaging, and positioning. We didn’t have a content strategy at that point either, so they helped us put that together. They are also HubSpot certified, so they were instrumental in helping us migrate over to the platform, and they continue to leverage that marketing automation software to help us. 

Now, they help us with developing and writing content, which is a significant part of our content strategy. Their work includes everything from thought leadership blogs, contributed articles, white papers, ebooks, and infographics to general quick hit SEO-driven blog posts. 

A few months before a new year, we host a kickoff brainstorm session where we develop our content ideas for the coming year. We also start to map out an editorial calendar together; we choose key pillar themes and we develop content ideas around those themes. Working in tandem with our thought leaders at the firm and our partners, the team will then flesh out and write the content for us. 

They help with the design elements as well. At the start of our partnership, their web development team worked with us to redesign our website, and they continue to refresh and update our website. Aside from that, they also help put together all of our marketing and sales collateral by creating design-oriented thought leadership pieces.

They have a PR team that collaborates with us in creating craft pitches. They assist in getting our content printed in industry publications by doing PR research — that’s how we decide which publications, reporters, and editors are worth building relationships with. Overall, they also help us with social media, paid advertising, email marketing campaigns, and strategy. 

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with an account manager, a content writer, a web developer, a designer, a PR expert, and an SEO expert. We’ve also worked on and off with high-level strategy consultants from their team.

How did you come to work with Magnetude Consulting?

I joined the company a year after the engagement started, so I wasn’t there at the beginning. Their CEO was actually the one who referred me to the firm for my current position. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent several hundred thousand dollars over the last few years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017, and we are still engaged with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of metrics, we mainly look at the amount of content that they're able to produce for us. We have seen a significant increase in our web traffic over time, and that's largely driven by the content that they’re producing and the campaigns that we've put together with their help.

Recently, we put a renewed focus on creating content for lead generation and we have seen a significant uptick in inbound leads that have converted into opportunities. Overall, they’ve been a great help.

How did Magnetude Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is terrific and they're really hands-on. I have been a marketing team of one since I started and they’ve really become an extension of my marketing team — whenever I find myself in a pinch, they are willing and available to help.

In terms of communication, I have a weekly alignment call with a few team members and it goes on for 30–60 minutes. Otherwise, we primarily correspond via email. I also text with a couple of them every so often.

The beauty of Magnetude Consulting is they’re so easy to collaborate with. In terms of design, we would have ideas in mind but we were also looking for guidance. Our account team works with one of their talented web developers — he has an eye for design, so he’s able to take some of our ideas and bring them to life from a developer’s perspective. He acts as a guide and lets us know which ideas can and can’t work in the context of our broader site.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m really impressed by the care they show us. They're not only a talented team, but they're also good people and this is what made our long-standing relationship possible.  They are true partners — they have our best interests in mind and they take feedback really well.

We aren’t a perfect market fit in terms of the verticals that they specialize in, but because we have been a client of theirs for so long, they dedicate a lot of time and resources to us. I don’t believe other agencies would have been willing to invest in a client that wasn’t a perfect market alignment. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

At this time, I can’t think of anything they could do better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be transparent and straightforward with your goals and priorities at the onset and if you want to get the most out of the partnership, continue to work with them to monitor KPIs and metrics.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of business development at Construction Consulting Associates. We're a forensic architecture and engineering construction consulting firm that specializes in forensic architecture investigations, building construction, and things of that nature.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magnetude Consulting?

When I came on as director of business development, I wasn't satisfied with the third-party marketing firm we were using. As a result, I reached out to Magnetude to supplement our outsourced marketing efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magnetude provides everything from website management to content management. They manage our social media, marketing campaigns, and account-based marketing plans. They also maintain our website and PPC campaigns. 

In terms of social media, we only use LinkedIn. We don’t use Twitter or anything else. As for the content, the creative process is a collaboration. First, we come up with an idea, and then they create the content. After that, we discuss the content, tweak it, and finally post it.

Magnetude also does a tremendous amount of work on SEO, something I didn’t even know about prior to working with them. They initially did an evaluation of where we were and then came up with recommendations on how we could make our SEO performance better. Back in the day, when we could attend conferences, they also helped us manage all of our social media and marketing efforts related to conferences. 

What is the team composition?

Kaitlyn (Director of Business Development & Marketing Consultant) was our initial contact. Now, our account manager is Michele (Digital Marketing & Marketing Programs Strategy). 

How did you come to work with Magnetude Consulting?

I’ve always known Kaitlyn, and I keep in touch with her. I reached out to her about the partnership and off we went. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $150,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in April 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The brand message that we’re putting out in the marketplace is much more consistent than it’s ever been. In our work, there’s a lot of things that we need to respond to immediately, but Magnetude has been a great partner in working off-hours to help us create content in response to our clients' needs. They’ve been great. 

How did Magnetude Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via phone and email, as well as text. They’re very responsive any time we need them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Magnetude has been fantastic in all aspects. They have great content writers and web managers. They do everything for us. They’re upfront and honest, and they tell us what we need to know and not what we want to know. It’s made our partnership great. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t. I don’t have anything in mind in that regard. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Call Kaitlyn. Potential customers should do an internal audit of where they are with their marketing needs and present those to Magnetude. The team will help them out. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the director of marketing at Bradford Networks when I employed Magnetude Consulting. Bradford Networks has since been acquired by Fortinet. It was a software company that provided next generation network access control software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magnetude Consulting?

We initially hired Magnetude for a digital strategy project, including updating content and messaging on our website to enhance SEO, improve our overall digital presence through increased cadence of social media posts and thought leadership articles.

As we began work, we realized how much more we could do as we joined forces. We expanded the original scope to include a website refresh, branding refresh, new content development, partner programs, refreshed messaging, and much more.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals were to drive more traffic to our website, and to improve our overall digital presence, demand generation and ultimately to increase market share.

SOLUTION

How did you select Magnetude Consulting?

We selected Magnetude because of their depth and breadth of expertise. They were able to pull together a team of experts across all the areas where we needed help.

As a very small marketing department, we needed to outsource instead of hire the talent we needed. Natalie and Cyndy impressed us with their proposal, and vision. We also knew that they had the experience in security and risk management to be able to hit the ground running.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After employing Magnetude, we began to set some goals about how we would measure our enhanced digital presence, and set up achievable monthly objectives to help us reach our goal.

We began building new content for our blog, developing a regular cadence on social media, and started fine-tuning web page content. We paid careful attention to a keyword list that we built together. We worked with the web team to modify our site nav, and refresh out brand.

Next we began to tackle 3rd party publications to help promote our thought leadership and drive more traffic to our website. We were measuring SEO, and tuning our page content to maximize core keywords.

We added additional content development to leverage use cases for our product. We revamped all of our core collateral.

What was the team composition?

We set a monthly budget, and the team worked against our monthly hours, prioritizing projects based on how many hours we had to left. We rarely ran out of time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our SEO rank improved. We were able to create a stronger presence in our markets, and our social media presence went from almost nothing to a considerable force with a growing list of followers. Our targets were largely influencers.

I think all the work we did, the content work and branding work ultimately positioned us well for the acquisition. It was a very positive development for the company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We worked so well together! Magnetude was an extension of our team. Our weekly meetings were well organized, which allowed us to keep projects on track. Communication was effective and beneficial.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Subject matter expertise, effective managers, great communicators...

Are there any areas for improvement?

Can't think of any.

BACKGROUND

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

• Lead generation through digital advertising
• HubSpot implementation

SOLUTION

• Digital demand generation assessment and plan
• Fractional marketing support focused on digital demand generation

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App