What was the scope of their involvement?
We work closely with them to promote special events at our destination. They’re very involved in our convention and group sales operations. They support the salespeople with website tools. They came to us with a lot of recommendations, and wireframes. Eventually, we had a document that practically stretched the length of our office with the wireframe and what it was going to look like. They were very involved in every step along the way with that and took our input throughout.
They've redone our entire WordPress website. There are also some different widget addons. We had an old website than in excess of 12,000 pages and it was on a proprietary platform. We scrapped that and started fresh which was a huge project.
We have several online forms (subscription, RFP, and general contracts) and have also utilized CAPTCHA. On our visitor planner requests form, we have the opportunity for people to request a hard copy of our visitor planner, but they can also subscribe to our emails. By doing that, it's automatically integrated with Campaign Monitor—our email marketing service. It automatically adds information to that database. This has streamlined everything and reduced manual work.
With personalization, they have a few different iterations on the site with VWO. Some are based on location. The newer personalization efforts concern users' behavior on the website. If they are returning, their experience is personalized based on the type of pages that they visited previously so they get tailored content. We also used personalization for our PPC. For example, if someone clicks on a banner ad, the content is in line with what they have seen on the banner ad. If they were to visit that page organically navigating to it through the site, it might be a little bit different. Overall, the content is the same, but we want to make sure that the user experience is aligned, and see what they are expecting to see.
Additionally, they've taken care of SEO and search engine marketing (SEM). This helps us with digital advertising. We are constantly doing page optimizations to improve our SEO which is something we work really closely with them on. We've also expanded that into our video channels so that people using YouTube can also find our content, so we have expanded beyond the website.
We work with a media buying agency that handles all of our paid banner ads. In conjunction with them, we work very closely with Noble Studios to make sure that the content is aligned and that pages are delivering the experience that the user is expecting. They really are a partner in our marketing efforts.
What is the team composition?
We primarily work with Shyla (Client Success Manager, Noble Studios). We meet with three to four team members on a monthly basis, but I know there are several others behind the scenes. The staff depends on what the project is and if it is more of a design or development project. Jarrod (CEO/Co-Founder, Noble Studios) and Kimberly (VP of Client Services, Noble Studios) are always available.
How did you come to work with Noble Studios?
We sent out an RFP and had quite a few companies submit proposals. Their work was very polished and sophisticated and they really understood the market. One of the principals had actually worked at the Convention Authority, so they were very familiar with what our goals were and what we were trying to do. They were really able to reflect that attitude and personality of the destination. Ultimately, we chose them because of their work history, and I was familiar with the principals in their company.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working with them in July 2016, and the work is still ongoing.
Beyond a stark aesthetic improvement, the website has seen marked growth in traffic and leads. Noble Studios has provided attentive customer service and engaged in deep collaboration with the client. Customers can expect a responsive partner that’s flexible and open to suggestions.