NoFrames Ltd.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a personal business coach.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NoFrames Ltd.?

My first challenge was establishing my digital presence.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NoFrames Ltd. created a strategy and handled positioning on digital platforms like Facebook and Instagram. For Instagram, it was a strategy. A copywriter created the monthly content. I had my own hashtag identification. I also had photographs taken by professional photographers.

In the beginning, we went through the briefing from the positioning and brand awareness. We focused on brand building such as colors we would use for the platforms. NoFrames Ltd. helped me identify style and topics they could build content around. They helped me position myself among the other coaches. Their team did competitive checks and a little bit of research. We also filmed a video of my coaching business.

The brand was engaged with three platforms. LinkedIn was made more for professionals, so it was for executive coaching and had all the topics and articles that were designed around professionals. Instagram was a little more relaxed but still on the same professional side. On Facebook, we specifically targeted people who are now going through a transition change in their career or want to find a new career. They created pages as well and were managing them.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was Irina (Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with NoFrames Ltd.?

I came across a lot of companies that promised this and that. By accident, I met Irina’s business partner Ana (Co-Founder). I was aware of their company and looked through all of the cases they did. Ultimately, I chose them because it was personal, I knew Ana. But more importantly, it was because I could see evidence of the work they did. I really liked the way they positioned themselves professionally.

I knew it would cost a little more than the market price with other media companies, but I really liked their style and trusted them. NoFrames Ltd. had a clear explanation as to what they could offer me. I went with my gut and in the end, they did a great job.

How much have you invested in them?

I spent less than £3,000 (approximately $4,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement was from October 2020–January 2021. I ended it because of my financial situation. I’m taking a little break to rearrange the brand, but then I’ll be back working with them in March–April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I looked through the analytics and all the clients I’ve been engaging with through my platforms. NoFrames Ltd. has built such a solid digital presence for me. I’ve had 10–20 clients on a trial basis. In two months, I had gained about 350 followers who don’t belong to my network.

How did NoFrames Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was great. I believe they used some internal scheduling and posting tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s the trust and how they position themselves, their transparency, and the efficiency of the service. I can definitely say that by reading their case studies, it’s all true. I pay a little bit more, but I know that the job will be done right. There was no failure at any stage. The deliverables were on time and spot-on, and I experienced no issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

With marketing, there’s always room for improvement. NoFrames Ltd. did well and stayed on top of trends. They’ve advised me on a lot of things as well. I follow them on social media and see that they’re constantly improving. That’s a good sign for a company like that. They’re constantly trying something new.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d strongly recommend them to anyone who wants to take their project from zero. They’re flexible and can customize any sort of package for anyone’s budget. If you want to have strong positioning for yourself in social media, I recommend NoFrames Ltd.; it doesn’t matter whether you’re a personal brand like myself or a company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for SwarmOnline Ltd, a software company based in the central part of Scotland. We build enterprise software applications for other organizations. Our clients range from startups looking for a prototype to Scottish-produced shale oil for London, including global multinationals and everything in between. 

I’m the general manager that was responsible for hiring NoFrames. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NoFrames Ltd.?

We used to have marketing capabilities, but we had a restructuring in 2018–2019, so we lost that resource. Rather than hire another marketing executive, we wanted to explore other avenues. 

After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we could no longer do the networking that we were used to doing. Normally, I would go out to events to meet potential customers. That had to stop. 

We knew that digital marketing would be a more important channel to generate sales deals and build our profile and brand. That’s why we thought of engaging a company like NoFrames. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NoFrames was primarily concerned with digital and social media strategies. Their team created the content for different channels, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. They provided the schedule and monitored all interactions. We gave them access to our social media accounts, which they managed for this project. 

NoFrames provided some videos as well. They had video resources, did some interviews, and contacted some of our customers to get feedback. Irina (Co-Founder) had experience in photography and videography, and she did the interviews. 

They did all the time-consuming elements but none of the actual technical areas. Our skill set includes web design, so we didn’t need any of those services. We didn’t provide any documentation apart from what was already on the website, such as case studies. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with Irina and Ana (Co-Founder). At that time, they were the only people on the team. Towards the end of our engagement with them, they hired new people and divided the tasks up appropriately.

How did you come to work with NoFrames Ltd.?

I came across them through networking. They are based in Strathclyde University and Technology Incubator and studied there when they set the business up. 

I’m part of Strathclyde University’s enterprise partnership. For several years, people who have been in business have a connection to the university and advise fledgling companies that employ students or staff.

I chose NoFrames because they focused on understanding what the business was about and who our target market should be. Others seemed to be boilerplates and generic, one-size-fits-all vendors. Because NoFrames was a small business, I also knew we were getting their A-team. 

How much have you invested with them?

We paid around £500 (approximately $600 USD) each month. Because we were an early customer, we got a very good deal, and it was heavily discounted. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from June–August 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m aware that projects like this usually continue over a long period of time. However, for internal reasons within the company, it no longer became possible for me to continue the engagement with NoFrames. 

As a result, the success metrics in place were short-term. We looked at increased traffic to our website, contact from potential customers and followers on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and responses to calls to action. 

At the end of one month, we saw more success on LinkedIn than we expected. However, we were not doing so well on Facebook. The team was doing what exactly was right, but we had to change some of the content for the next set. They did some trial and error to respond to the market as the market reacted to what they were putting out. 

Did we have more communication with potential customers? Have we raised the brand awareness within the marketplace that we went into? They exceeded our expectations based on those metrics. We got a great discount in terms of investment, but the value we got was significantly higher. 

How did NoFrames Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

When we met at the start of the year, NoFrames spent quite a lot of time getting to know our business, the people that we work with, the people that work for us, the target market, and the kinds of persona that we should be targeting for our online content. 

Their team then came up with a strategy of what the schedule would look like and the content itself, the tone and the personality we should be using, and the topics we should be covering. They put the schedule in place and delivered it on a month-by-month basis with reports at the end of each month. 

NoFrames also asked me to write a couple of blog posts. They came up with ideas, but they wanted them to be authentic and come from someone's perspective in my position. They helped and guided me through editing the posts to make them suitable for the channels. 

The communication was great, and was always flexible with my schedule, which is a bit manic. We used Slack to communicate, so I invited them to our Slack channel. We had video calls regularly. We also did occasional phone calls and emails where things had to be documented. If there was anything that needed to be recorded, they sent reports attached to emails. 

We had meetings online because of the lockdown. They were regular meetings not just to see what we’ve done but also to review its impact. Because we were their only client, we communicated to the bosses, which was great. They were also very proactive and hit all the deadlines. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by their work quality and their motivation and enthusiasm to get to know us and the kinds of customers we wanted to get. NoFrames had the motivation to research relevant content topics and produce great content, even though that was not their domain of expertise. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing that was a problem with them was that they were small. They didn’t have enough people to take on larger projects. I know they’re growing now, so I look forward to working with them in the future. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to work with NoFrames at the beginning of your project. Make sure that they help you understand what your target market is and what your objectives are. They’re good at saying what they can do and what metrics they can measure. Have that kind of planning session, devote time to it, and understand that you can’t just hand over the project to them and leave them to do all the work. You have to be involved.