Expertise You Can Measure
Born out of insatiable passion for marketing and technology, Maven Collective Marketing is a multi-award-winning digital marketing agency, specializing in B2B technology marketing and Microsoft Partner Marketing. We work with Microsoft Partners, including Microsoft CSPs, MSPs, VARs, ISVs, and SIs as well as several SaaS-based organizations to deliver measurable expertise to both enhance their marketing strategy and exceed their business goals.
Founded in 2012, Maven Collective Marketing has worked with numerous B2B software organizations and B2B companies to transform their marketing, including the Microsoft Corporation and Microsoft Partner organizations, such as JIVE, PowerObjects, NexTec Group, 1ClickFactory, Gestisoft, BSM Technologies, EFOQUS, Catapult, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), and many more.
If you are a Microsoft CSP, Microsoft ISV, Microsoft MSP, Microsoft SIs, and/or Microsoft Resellers interested in working with an award-winning B2B marketing agency that not only delivers measurable digital marketing results but also can help you leverage the Microsoft Partner ecosystem for greater exposure of your business and solutions, look no further.
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Recommended Providers
Portfolio
1ClickFactory, IntranetPro, Codesigned, Steeves and Associates, EFOQUS, and Orchestry.
Client Case Story: Steeves and Associates
The Client:
Established in 1992, Steeves and Associates is Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Cloud Productivity, Data Center, Cloud Platform and Enterprise Mobility Management. As the 1st Microsoft Cloud Partner in Canada Steeves and Associates stands as an early adopter and implementer of Microsoft technologies with a reputation for innovation, quality, and seasoned expertise.
Steeves and Associates engaged Maven Collective Marketing to help them define their digital marketing strategy and establish a rhythmic marketing cadence to deliver valuable information, resources and tools to their existing customers while informing prospective customers of their skills and expertise.
The Challenge:
Steeves and Associates was stuck in a commodity market with stale growth and unclear brand differentiation.
Steeves and Associates have vast experience and credibility as an organization, but were struggling to communicate this effectively to establish themselves as a market leader for Enterprise Technology Services.
Steeves and Associates were ready to grow their business and knew they needed a robust marketing strategy to do so effectively.
The Solution:
Steeves and Associates engage Maven Collective Marketing to help them define a structured digital marketing strategy that would help them deliver valuable and informative content to their clients while attracting prospective customers with a strong SEO content marketing strategy.
Concurrently, Steeves and Associates wanted to stay credible and authoritative as Microsoft 1st Cloud Partner in Canada, which Maven Collective Marketing has helped materialize through consistent partner channel marketing communications, event marketing, social media marketing, and email nurture marketing.
Today, Steeves and Associates has boosted their website traffic, strengthened their brand messaging and consistently attracts and nurtures clients to enhance their many years of brand loyalty.
Client Case Story: Catapult ERP
The Client:
Catapult ERP provides managed services and long-term support for Microsoft Dynamics and Acumatica ERP and CRM solutions to midsized organizations. Catapult specializes in implementation, upgrades, cloud migration and support, to keep capabilities, users, and processes aligned.
Catapult ERP engaged Maven Collective Marketing as they were struggling to generate leads and effectively nurture them through the sales cycle.
The Challenge:
Catapult ERP realized that their weakness lay in generating leads and they were lacking an effective strategy to nurture leads along the buying process. Catapult ERP needed expert help with SEO content development in order to attract prospective customers to their website. A nurture campaign strategy was also required so that leads could be adequately educated on Catapult ERP’s offering and encouraged down through the sales funnel.
The Solution:
Catapult ERP engaged Maven Collective Marketing to help them develop a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that would attract new leads to the website, nurture buyers through the initial buying stages as well as cross-sell/upsell current clients with new service offerings and subscription services.
Maven Collective Marketing devised and implemented an effective SEO strategy. Thought-leadership and online events were part of the services delivered to establish Catapult ERP as an industry thought leader.
The new marketing strategy rounded off with new conversion landing pages to drive conversions, a long-term website evolution strategy, and an email nurture campaign to encourage leads along the buying process.
Client Case Story: Intranet Connections
The Client:
Established in 1999, Intranet Connections provides digital workplaces to facilitate corporate communication, cultural change, streamline processes and give businesses a competitive advantage.
Intranet Connections were struggling with growth and had hit a revenue plateau after a decade in business, so employed Erica Hakonson, Founder of Maven Collective Marketing, as Marketing Director, to redefine the brand and establish a robust marketing strategy.
The Challenge:
Intranet Connections needed to enhance their existing brand and conduct marketing activities to inject momentum and drive sales to offset a revenue plateau. Along with this, a website update was required to ensure the website accurately reflected the brand and service offering. A pricing strategy redesign was needed to better service customer segments and enhance revenue. Intranet Connections were missing out on the benefits of having a customer relationship management system integrated with a marketing automation system.
The Solution:
Intranet Connections hired Erica Hakonson, Founder of Maven Collective Marketing, to identify strategic marketing issues and subsequently implement a strategy to address existing concerns. With Hakonson spearheading the brand refresh, the brand was augmented and a new website was created to accurately reflect the updated branding and better encapsulate Intranet Connections’ product information to increase website traffic and attract qualified leads. By integrating the customer relationship management system and marketing automation system, Intranet Connections have reaped the benefits of having an increased level of synergy.
Client Case Story: EFOQUS
The Client:
EFOQUS, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Partner, founded in 2000 as a Denmark-based company, commenced its work with Maven Collective Marketing to position their company and product in the oversaturated B2B software market in Canada. Working with Maven Collective Marketing over the years, EFOQUS claimed their category of one to 'Exhale Deeply, Achieve More' with a new brand, new website, new virtual event series, and new SEO content marketing cadence as well as continued work on marketing strategy & planning with the Mavens.
The Challenge:
The EFOQUS business model evolved over the years and was transitioning from a service-first model to an application-first one. This pivot required a shift in marketing strategy to convey the new course and attract the right customers. The modification demanded a rebrand to restate the new purpose which would need a more intuitive design and user-friendly website to sustain it.
The Solution:
The Mavens led a complete brand and website overhaul by introducing a new logo and brand colors for EFOQUS. The logo is a clear picture of the company's new micro-focus – application development, while the colors are telling of the calming experience of working with EFOQUS. The Mavens went on to create a responsive information architecture for EFOQUS' website and successfully provide users with a more informative interface with new SEO content and virtual event series.
In addition, the rebrand was presented by a soft launch to all internal members, followed by a much larger launch campaign with a series of desk-stretching videos promoting workplace wellness and the EFOQUS mantra ‘Exhale Deeply, Achieve More’ across social media channels. By procuring new brand merchandise, Maven Collective was able to further demonstrate the new look and spread awareness. The revived web interface boosted EFOQUS' online presence and performance and with ongoing planning and strategy with the Mavens, EFOQUS is all set to continue attracting quality leads.
Client Case Story: BONZAI Intranet
The Client:
BONZAI, an intranet software product founded in 2014 by Dynamic Owl Consulting, was acquired by Skyvera to join their portfolio of enterprise software solutions, adding to the growing portfolio of ESW Capital Companies.
BONZAI engaged Maven Collective Marketing to redefine their digital marketing strategy, brand positioning, go-to-market messaging, lead generation strategy and overall buyer journey. This was just the beginning as Maven Collective worked side-by-side BONZAI to define and market an award-winning digital workplace solution.
The Challenge:
BONZAI quickly identified that both marketing and growth strategy differed for a product company than a consulting service company. Bonzai Intranet was struggling to effectively define their marketing strategy and position their brand in a crowded marketplace.
What’s more, BONZAI Intranet needed a robust lead generation strategy to attract and nurture qualified large SMB and Enterprise sized prospective customers consistently.
BONZAI Intranet were ready to establish themselves as a market leader in the intranet space but didn’t know how to position and promote themselves to do so.
The Solution:
BONZAI Intranet hired Maven Collective Marketing to identify strategic marketing issues and devise and implement a strategy to address these brand positioning, lead generation, SEO/SEM, team alignment, website performance, and buyer journey tracking/architecture.
First, identifying the priority issues through a proprietary Digital Marketing / Buyer Journey Audit, Maven Collective Marketing was able to formulate a plan, strategies and long-term vision to help BONZAI achieve their goal of positioning themselves as an Intranet & Digital Workplace Thought Leadership Hub while consistently attracting Enterprise-Level Qualified Prospective Buyers and successfully nurturing these buyers from lead to new customer.
Reviews
the project
Digital Marketing & Advertising for IT Consulting Firm
"The value in working with them is their deep knowledge of the Microsoft partner channel."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I lead sales and marketing for a Microsoft-focused systems integration firm. We provide consulting, implementation, and support services for Microsoft Dynamics, their business applications, CRM, ERP, and other IT products.
What challenge were you trying to address with Maven Collective Marketing?
We wanted to work with a technically inclined organization. We had a lot of strong technical people who did excellent work but did not always have the time or skillset to produce solid marketing communications. We knew there was an opportunity to improve our digital marketing footprint and grow our business. Therefore, we were looking for a complementary skill set to articulate our value proposition to the market.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We’ve worked with Maven Collective Marketing on a few different projects. They’ve helped us analyze our web and social properties, applied to awards for various industry-specific awards, boosted our profile in the marketplace, helped us with customer case studies, and written content for our marketing teams.
They work on the assessments by leveraging their domain expertise. They work with similar organizations, so it has helped close the gap quickly of what we don’t know. Often, it’s difficult to articulate what we don’t know, but working with a group with a keen sense of what we’re trying to achieve has made it quick and easy.
Additionally, they’ve made some recommendations on SEO, but we haven’t engaged them for those services.
What is the team composition?
We have a few people on the team, but we work more closely with Erica (Principal & Founder) and Cathy (Senior B2B Marketing Strategist). Our team works with people from their team, but Erica is our primary contact point.
How did you come to work with Maven Collective Marketing?
We found them through word of mouth in the Microsoft partner channel.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began our partnership in July 2019, and we’re working actively on something right now.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We contracted them to do case studies, award applications, and content. Those deliverables have been pretty straightforward; we see the output materials and are happy with them. As far as web traffic goes, I don’t have anything on the top of my head, but they’ve provided some recommendations on a path to improve our website and content optimization. We’ve been working our way through that list, and it has converted into a better path for our website.
How did Maven Collective Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
We have no concerns; they’re professionals. They stay on schedule and are clear on the timeline and deliverables. We collaborate on Teams and the built-in task manager functionality.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The value in working with them is their deep knowledge of the Microsoft partner channel.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t have anything at the top of my mind. We work together as much as we can, and I know the team is capable of helping us more. It’s just a matter of time, practicality, and prioritization.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Just define clearly where you want their expertise; they’ll be able to help. You just need to understand your goals and what you want to see as outcomes.
the project
Digital Marketing for Collaboration Tech Company
“They’re able to speak our language and understand the kind of products and services that we provide for our customers."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We are a Microsoft partner focused on making modern collaborative toolsets. We basically provide ongoing consulting services to organizations within North America. I’m the director of business development.
What challenge were you trying to address with Maven Collective Marketing?
We leveraged Maven Collective as our ad agency and web development firm.
What was the scope of their involvement?
When our internal marketing resource left the company, we decided to take a step back and look at our overall marketing strategy. We brought in Maven Collective to do an initial audit of our different marketing activities and channels. They identified areas that need to be improved and proposed solutions that we hadn’t even thought of.
Currently, we’re having their team manage our content marketing strategy, which our junior-level marketing associate helps execute. They also create optimized content, manage and update our website, conduct email marketing, and carry out social media marketing activities. In this regard, they’re acting like an outsourced CMO.
What is the team composition?
We work with three people from Maven Collective: their CEO and two content marketing strategists.
How did you come to work with Maven Collective Marketing?
Orchestry, a Microsoft-related platform that we also have a relationship with, has had a lot of success with Maven Collective. We decided to work with them because, unlike the other ad agencies that I’ve worked with over the years, they understood the specific marketing needs of a technology company like ours.
How much have you invested with them?
Thus far, we’ve invested around $25,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in March 2021 and it’s an ongoing partnership.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We measure the success of the engagement based on the results of the lead-generation activities. Since working with Maven Collective, we’ve noticed a substantial increase in our web traffic and leads, and that can be owed to our blog writing and SEO efforts.
What we like about Maven Collective is that they’re good at developing and executing marketing strategies specifically for tech companies. They’re able to speak our language and understand the kind of products and services that we provide for our customers.
How did Maven Collective Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re excellent from a project management standpoint. It feels as if they're part of our own company. We use Microsoft Teams to communicate and manage tasks.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their ability to fill in the gap in our internal marketing resources stands out. We see the benefit of having a full-time external resource like Maven Collective because we can trust them to be accountable to the plan and we can rely on them to guide us through everything.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, there’s none that I can think of.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
My advice to future customers of Maven Collective is to hold yourself accountable and to follow through on your obligations. Make sure to provide the team with everything they will need so that they can help you be successful.
the project
Market Research & Content for Digital Workspace Developer
"Their work successfully enhanced our webinar series."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the senior manager of marketing and sales of PixelMill. We design and develop employee experiences and digital workspaces powered by Microsoft 365.
What challenge were you trying to address with Maven Collective Marketing?
We needed help with reimagining our webinar to be more accessible to a specific audience.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Maven Collective Marketing helped us rebuild our series of webinars. We’d been doing the webinars for several years. However, our content was very technical, so our loyal audience was limited to development experts. It wasn’t resonating with our new stakeholders, who wanted our webinars to focus more on corporate communications. Maven Collective Marketing basically helped us address this new audience and pivot our highly technical series into a high-level business series. First, they interviewed some of our stakeholders to get feedback on what they wanted to see on our webinars. Afterward, the team created content for a new set of decks for us. Furthermore, they modified our marketing strategies to help us reach our new target audience.
What is the team composition?
We mainly worked with Cathy (Senior Marketing Strategist), who was instrumental in the deck creation process. We also collaborated with Erica (Principal & B2B Marketing Maven), who set up our marketing strategy.
How did you come to work with Maven Collective Marketing?
Erica worked on a webinar for one of our partners, so we had seen her work in action. We were very impressed, so it felt natural to reach out to her afterward.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent $4,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from April–May 2021. We’re still engaged with them on another project.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We didn’t get a lot of new registrations, which we expected because we were catering to a new audience. However, we hit our critical metrics — we got quite a few new clients, which included a very significant lead. Furthermore, everyone loved our new deck, which really helped us present material in a new way. Overall, their work successfully enhanced our webinar series.
How did Maven Collective Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
The Maven Collective Marketing team did a fantastic job managing the project. They did a great job of pulling us in and reaching out to us only when necessary. Additionally, the team was very transparent about their progress.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I’m impressed with how easily they integrated into our team. Maven Collective Marketing was quick to learn our processes, core messaging, and culture. Eventually, they just felt like an extension of our team.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I honestly can’t think of anything they could’ve done better.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be candid about your expectations, and make sure to give detailed feedback.
the project
Copywriting for Solutions Provider
"They executed everything very well."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the owner of Gestisoft, a solutions provider.
What challenge were you trying to address with Maven Collective Marketing?
We decided to apply for a Microsoft IMPACT Award, which is granted to partners who develop innovative solutions. To help us get a nomination, we needed help with creating a concise written entry.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We started the process by identifying what award we wanted to apply for. Once we decided on the three awards we were fit for, Maven Collective Marketing came in to look at the rules and identify the requirements. We gathered the needed information and sent it to the team. They used these particulars to write copy for the submission. There were some things we were missing that the team requested from us. With their help, we were able to come out with a final product.
What is the team composition?
We worked with two people.
How did you come to work with Maven Collective Marketing?
I was looking for a firm that knew the award well. Maven Collective Marketing specialized in the Microsoft ecosystem, and I knew the principal, so I reached out to them. They had the relevant experience, so I didn’t shop around anymore.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent $12,000 CAD (approximately $10,000 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from March–April 2021.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They did an excellent job and really aligned with us on writing the submissions. Overall, I’m happy with the results.
How did Maven Collective Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
They managed to finish it in a very short time. It was a challenge to come out with it in just a month. We were lucky Maven Collective Marketing was able to make space within their schedules — next year, we’ll start three months in advance. Despite the limited timeframe, the team was accommodating and worked over the weekends to help us beat the deadline. We used a website to exchange documents, such as those we needed to fill out. To communicate, we used Microsoft Teams.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I’m happy that they were able to meet the deadline.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They executed everything very well — it was a straightforward assignment that wasn’t highly complicated.
the project
Webinar Dev & Marketing for IT Company
"The results they produced were excellent, and their process worked because it was very methodical."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CEO of VisualSP. In a nutshell, we offer a fast SaaS that goes on top of Microsoft web applications. Our product is geared towards helping users of the application to use it more efficiently and have the help they need.
What challenge were you trying to address with Maven Collective Marketing?
We hired them for a few different projects, but one of the things they did was to hold a webinar for us. The webinar’s topic circled around the new functionality that was released by Microsoft recently.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Our company heavily leaned on Maven Collective’s expertise within the Microsft market since they were well-versed in working with Microsoft customers. Most importantly, their team had many connections, learnings, successes, and failures which we used as references on what we should be focusing on. Their knowledge also served as a basis on how we devised the webinar, what kind of panelists we should have, and more.
After that, the Maven Collective team started with formulating the strategy for the webinar. Then, they identified our customer base and where they were, and they used our lists that we collected for many years. They also used other innovative ways to do some paid and email marketing. Moreover, Maven Collective helped decide on what social media channels we were going to use.
What is the team composition?
Our team worked with Erica (Principal) and Cathy (Senior Marketing Strategist).
How did you come to work with Maven Collective Marketing?
Maven Collective was highly recommended by CEOs and my colleagues. I also knew Erica because we worked with her team on a different project. As a result, we went ahead and partnered with them.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent less than $10,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked with them from February–March 2021.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Maven Collective was detailed-oriented, organized, and focused. We definitely appreciated all the qualities they had because they helped us to accomplish everything. We were also grateful for Erica’s leadership in assisting us to finish the project. With their support, the lists of all attendees were divided up properly within the internal and Maven Collective’s team.
For the metrics, our engagement and registrations more than doubled. We highly appreciated that as a result of our marketing campaigns, we were able to get a good amount of people interested in the webinar and even afterward as well. Overall, the results they produced were excellent, and their process worked because it was very methodical.
How did Maven Collective Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
We communicated through email and Zoom meetings, nothing else.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their organizational skills and strategic thinking were impressive.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, there was nothing that they could improve.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Look forward to working with Erica and her team because they’re professionals. If you have specific goals in mind and if you’re looking for a strategy and particular execution of that strategy, Maven Collective is really good at helping you take that next step.
the project
Digital Strategy Roadmap for Advisory Consulting Client
"She’s professional and patient, willing to do what it takes regardless of how much effort it needs."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the practice lead for business innovation and technology for a business advisory bank. It’s a bank dedicated to entrepreneurs.
What challenge were you trying to address with Maven Collective Marketing?
We needed someone to work on a project with one of our clients. The challenge we were trying to help the client with was around digital marketing and customer engagement.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Erica (Principal) created a roadmap for our client. It was basically giving them a path to pursue how to provide a better customer experience using online technologies. It involved digital marketing strategies and website work.
What is the team composition?
We only worked directly with Erica.
How did you come to work with Maven Collective Marketing?
I had worked with Erica on a previous project for one of our other clients. I felt that what we needed was Erica’s strong suit and that’s why we asked her to work on the project with us.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together on this project from February–June 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The client is very happy with the outcome. When we started the project with the client, a number of participants were not completely sure what to expect of the project. By the end of it, they were certainly very impressed with the outcome and got more out of it than they expected.
How did Maven Collective Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
Erica did a great job. She definitely helped make sure the clients did what they needed to do on the timeline that we were working on.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I can only speak to my experience in working with Erica. For a project locally, it fits well with her area of expertise. I definitely will be reaching out to her again to see if she’s available for other projects.
She’s professional and patient, willing to do what it takes regardless of how much effort it needs. She was patient in terms of working with a client and being focused on outcomes.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I’d love for her to be more available to me for projects. Other than that, I have nothing negative to say about the work Erica has done.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Trust Erica’s expertise and experience. Give her the room to do what she needs to do.
the project
WordPress Web Dev for Lighting Company
“The process was enjoyable from start to finish — they are fantastic to work with!"
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the region manager for a decorative light installation company based in British Columbia. We mostly offer Christmas lighting services but also do weddings and events.
What challenge were you trying to address with Maven Collective Marketing?
It’d been a few years since we’d designed our website, so it was time for a change. One of our main goals was to restructure our site’s layout to make our offerings clearer to our customers.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Maven Collective Marketing led us through a full web redesign, building a new WordPress site from start to finish. We knew that we wanted the final product to be photo-centric while still making clear distinctions between our three main services: commercial, residential, and event lighting.
Beyond that, their team made sure the site was SEO-friendly, and they still support us, today. Every once in a while, they make sure that our blogs have the right keywords in them so that they rate frequently.
What is the team composition?
I mostly worked with Erica (Principal) and Ella (Consultant).
How did you come to work with Maven Collective Marketing?
One of my colleagues had worked with Erica before on another project and wanted to work with her again.
How much have you invested with them?
It was about $20,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
This project lasted between July 2019–April 2020. It was a long process because we paused it from September–December during our busy season.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
While the site looks better than our previous version, it doesn’t look quite how I imagined it to be. We’ve definitely run into some issues due to the theme that we chose. There were certain functions that we wanted for the site that seemed to stretch the parameters of our theme, and other things just couldn’t be done. We ended up having to work within those constraints.
How did Maven Collective Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
The process itself was enjoyable from start to finish. Erica and Ella were fantastic to work with, and we would communicate via emails and the occasional call. As for project management software, they used BugHerd.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The biggest thing for me was that they were a full-service agency. It was really nice to be able to centralize our needs — we didn’t have to go somewhere else for our SEO or for the website design. The process was enjoyable from start to finish — they are fantastic to work with!
I also think it’s awesome that they’re mostly a female-run organization. Everyone is a total powerhouse.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There were moments when there were some obvious mistakes in the design — things like having two fonts in different areas that should be the same. We ended up having to go through and find all of those discrepancies. It was a time-consuming process that felt like it shouldn’t have been on our plate.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Erica moves really fast, so you need to be on top of it. We fell off the wagon because our season got really busy, and it took a while to get back on. You should also take advantage of the things they offer.
the project
Marketing, Branding & SEO for Microsoft Solution Company
"I think their understanding of our line of business and the challenges we have is impressive."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm one of the owners of the E Foqus Canada. We’re a small Microsoft reseller company. Microsoft develops software for a slew of different businesses, and we implement solutions on their behalf.
What challenge were you trying to address with Maven Collective Marketing?
We needed someone to help us with digital marketing, branding, and SEO for our company. We have been lucky that leads have been coming more or less by themselves, but I think it is a dangerous assumption to assume that will continue.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They did digital marketing, branding, and they provided us SEO services. We are just about to start email marketing.
They have provided a little bit of a mix of everything. They started out by interviewing our clients to make sure that we understood our brand and our value proposition. That was the starting point that led to the revamp.
We are spun out of an old Danish company, so we inherited a homepage that was more typical of what they did in Denmark than what we do over here. Maven helped us reshape, reform, and redesign the homepage and we just went live with it about a month ago. They were part of that.
We really wanted to try and see if we could make the transition from being a project-based company to being a product-based company. It isn’t an easy task for people like us that have been in the business for a long time. Maven is helping us make that transition.
What is the team composition?
We work with Erica (Founder) and Cathy (Digital Marketing Maven).
How did you come to work with Maven Collective Marketing?
A guy that I used to work with had used Erica before. Maven Marketing helped them position themselves to be sold to a larger company, so they came highly recommended by my friend.
We had a conversation with her. She had a solid foundation for understanding the issues and challenges in our line of business.
How much have you invested in them?
We’ve spent around $30,000. Right now, we are running at around $3,500 a month.
What is the status of this engagement?
We have been working with them since August 2019. It is an ongoing engagement where we as a company are trying to take on as much as we can when we feel like it is inside our level of understanding, and then when it reaches outside of that, Maven Marketing helps us out.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’ve had positive feedback on the revamp that they did on the homepage. It is still relatively early in the process, meaning that we haven’t really made it out of the lab with a lot of the projects, but that isn’t a reflection of the quality of the service they have been giving us and it is more of a reflection of where we are in our journey.
How did Maven Collective Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?
Erica is on a retainer with us right now and we have about 20 hours of services every month that we use on an ongoing basis. I communicate with them at least once a week.
Like any other small company, a lot sits on Erica’s shoulders. She is an essential person and is typically very busy. Sometimes for all the right and the wrong reasons in the world, it ends up taking a little longer than she expected. She communicates well about it and lets us know when there is an issue. Overall, I would say that her communication skills are good.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I think their understanding of our line of business and the challenges we have is impressive. They’re also able to combine that with the right marketing tools and techniques.
Quite often, vendors are very generic in the way they approach things. That’s not the case with Erica. Her approach is much more individualized.
Are there any areas they could improve?
The only concern I would have is Erica’s workload and making sure that she builds enough power around her so that she can keep on being as good as she is to all of her clients. She has to make sure that if she wants to grow and continues to grow, she has a model in place for being able to deliver the same high-quality service that she is today. It isn’t a criticism, it is just the nature of the beast.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I would highly recommend them and would just say to people to not expect Maven Marketing to do it all for you. Work with them and engage in a good meaningful discussion as that is what we benefited from. It’s the same that I say to my clients, “I can’t do the project for you, I can do it with you,” and I think Erica would say the same.
the project
Web Dev for Brand Strategy Company
"Their no-nonsense collaborative approach stands out."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
President & Creative Director for Creative Engine Brand Strategy, Ltd. We are a digital agency in Vancouver BC. We have been in business for the last 15 years with clients in many sectors and industries.
For what projects/services did your company hire Maven Collective Marketing?
We have collaborated with them on a wide variety of projects for our clients that are in thee tech industry for the last several years. Maven Collective's work has always allowed us to deliver superior results to our clients, and have led to award winning work.
What were your goals for this project?
Collaborating with Maven Collective and Erica for our work has allowed our clients to have a seamless integration between the marketing efforts and the brand strategy and implementation.
How did you select this vendor?
Originally we met by an introduction from a client, and have been collaborated since then on many projects for many clients. When the opportunity arises to recommend or collaborate with a marketing firm, they are always our first choice.
Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.
B2B Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing, Content and SEO
What was the team composition?
Erica Hakonson as the principal, and the rest of her team: Cathy, Andrea, Fadi, just to name a few.
Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?
Just in thee last year it has lead to award-winning work: 2019 Gold Winner - Dot Comm Awards - Best B2B Website 2019 Gold Winner - DotComm Awards - B2B Website Creativity/Copy 2019 Gold Winner - MarCom Awards - Best B2B Website 2019 Bronze Winner - Summit Creative Awards - Best B2B Website 2019 Web Marketing Association’s Award For Outstanding Achievement in Web Development But more importantly, our clients being able to achieve their objectives, and grow their businesses.
How was project management arranged and how effective was it?
It really depended on the client and project. Each firm manages their own internal work, and when presented to the client it is always jointly managed by Erica and myself.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
The no non-sense collaborative approach.
Are there any areas for improvement?
Can't think of any.
the project
Copywriting & Proofreading for Global Computer Software Co.
"The thing that always makes me happy is their effort to give you more value than you expected."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am Senior Channel Marketing Manager at a Microsoft Dynamics Partner company delivering services worldwide.
1ClickFactory is a Microsoft appointed ISV Development Center that helps Dynamics Partners scale their businesses, building upon our vast experience upgrading 600+ Dynamics solutions at a fixed price, provisioning 13,000 users on Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 Business Central on Azure and developing ISV solutions as Extensions.
For what projects/services did your company hire Maven Collective Marketing?
Our Global office with administrative employees is located in Europe (Vilnius, Lithuania to be exact), which means our global marketing content was/is being created by specialists, whose English is not a native language. We needed somebody whose mother tongue language is American English that they could do the proofreading or copywriting for us.
What were your goals for this project?
We wanted to increase the quality of our content and get help with the text creation, when our hands are full. We were looking for somebody who had experience in the Microsoft Dynamics market, or IT at least.
How did you select this vendor?
We got a recommendation to use their services from our colleagues in the US.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
The scope differs with every task. Sometimes we provide the text for social media posts, video scripts, PowerPoint presentations, webinar descriptions, email marketing messages, blog posts, various documents or event materials to proforead.
And there are cases when we have a topic and ask them to create an article by themselves having only value proposition of the service and short description given by us.
If we give them the task to proofread the text we use in our website or blog, we always get it back optimized for search engines (links, meta titles, alt tags for pictures and etc.) with the additional recommendations based on best practices.
What was the team composition?
Usually, there is one person from our team coordinating all proofreading related projects.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
We do not have any specific number to give, because content marketing results depend on the number of components, like design, message, offer value, channels used and etc. But we do hear good feedback from the market on our communication, which means we are doing it the right way.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
It was always easy to communicate with each other no matter if it is related to some simple project or specific urgent tasks. One of our biggest issues is a time difference, but we manage to coordinate the tasks well despite that because of good planning.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
The thing that always makes me happy is their effort to give you more value than you expected. We always receive tips and recommendations on top of the service we agreed to get. This just shows how much they care for your business and your results.
Are there any areas for improvement?
Due to the time difference we have, we don't always get a response as fast as we would, if we worked in the same time zone. But since we are happy about the service we get, we try to overcome this inconvenience simply by better planning in advance.
Maven Collective Marketing delivers quality work; the client is happy with the output materials. Also, their recommendations have shown how to improve the website, and the client is working on it. The team is professional and efficient in project management, and they collaborate well on Teams.