Onit Digital, Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m senior vice president of innovation for North America for Momentum Worldwide, a company that helps clients create meaning and connections for their brand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onit Digital, Inc.?

We needed help building WordPress site for two of our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked together to build the fully responsive websites on a WordPress platform. It was built on a content management system (CMS) in the background, which is normal for global brands. The sites were also multi-language for different regions.

One client’s site was large and complex; plus, we had to coordinate with an Italian IT team.

What is the team composition?

There’s probably around 10–15 people on the team, although we don’t interface with many of them.

How did you come to work with Onit Digital, Inc.?

I know the owner; we worked at a different company together. Onit had done projects for us before, so I knew we could trust them. They do quality work, are great communicators, and aim to exceed expectations, so I decided to hire them again for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project lasted from 2016–2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our client was happy with the final product. We delivered a platform that they could grow on their end, which was the goal. The CMS made it so they didn’t need to rely on us to make updates or changes.

How did Onit Digital, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We used project management tools, and Onit’s communication was crystal clear. They were proactive and solved potential risks before they even happened. They worked alongside our own producers and project managers here at the agency. They put us in a position to be well-versed, manage our own clients, and stay on time and budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

From the very beginning, they asked smart and intuitive questions that showed they were invested in our project. They care about the details and do their best to make a superb product. As a business partner, they make great recommendations that better the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of marketing technology at a university.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OnIt Digital?

The university hired them to build a new website and update branding. The engagement started three months before I joined the school.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a customized WordPress site with the Shrinkwrap theme. The team also created a port of legacy content for the new site. We discussed SEO, but used another primary vendor for those services. OnIt Digital included some features to achieve those goals.

What is the team composition?

We interacted with a project manager and a technical specialist at least once a week. I served as our team’s project manager.

How did you come to work with OnIt Digital?

We found them through a referral. Price was a big factor.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them between February–August 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They improved the UX design and increased engagement levels. From a branding and aesthetic perspective, they delivered for those metrics.

How did OnIt Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We weren’t happy with the project manager. The technical specialist acted as supplemental support to complete outstanding issues; we enjoyed working with him.

Delays occurred because they didn’t use firm schedules or milestones. The technical specialist had to work remotely while he was abroad or on vacation.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They get the job done for high-value projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Project management skills, clean timelines, and milestones are important for any project. I don’t know how they would fare on projects with several moving parts.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CMO for ZINIO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onit Digital, Inc.?

We were looking to launch some paid media programs to increase our demand generation sales, as well as help to build our brand. We needed a digital partner for that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a kickoff meeting to share our business goals. The team came back with an approach that we spent some time going back and forth validating and customizing. We identified a timeline, KPIs, and a project roadmap, then started to implement a pilot or testing plan, expanding from there.

We’re a startup so funds were very tight. We collaborated closely to make sure our board and our investors were happy with the results. We worked very closely together to build a strategic digital marketing plan to increase sales for our startup. We were focused on maintaining brand language and making sure that it appealed to key stakeholders’ visions.

They undertook a number of initiatives, from media planning and execution for online media to landing page optimization and website consultation. They had a comprehensive strategy that looked at placements of call to action, integration around elements, and affiliation with our top buyer data that we had from our analytics and insights.

What is the team composition?

There were five or six people on the team. It was a comprehensive team from support, client services, and planning, down to strategy implementation and executive representation. They assigned a project manager and worked in our offices.

How did you come to work with Onit Digital, Inc.?

I had worked with their founder when I was with another company. I was very aware of his level of skill and capability. Our president had also worked with him a few times before with very good results. We were looking for a vendor that we could trust from a strategic standpoint and who had proven results.

We’d done testing with a number of smaller partners that were more channel specific in the past. They all claimed to be able to expand into the other areas where we needed help. However, we weren’t seeing the level of results that we needed to make an impact. We knew Onit Digital would be able to come through comprehensively.

How much have you invested with them?

Over $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2014 until January 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As it was the first time that we brought in a comprehensive media agency, the early days involved a lot of learning opportunities and optimization. The results weren’t incredible in the beginning of the project. However, their support, focused service, and in-person collaboration over the next few months enabled us to test and learn what made sense. We ended up with the ROI that we needed. They quality of the deliverables got up to par.

How did Onit Digital, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well. The project manager was based in our offices.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re committed to success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It was a tough assignment for them because we’re unlike most media companies. Being a startup, the funds were minimal. In many large B2C brands, you can afford to put forward cash and because the brand is well known, there is a baseline ROI that can be optimized. We were unfortunately not in a luxurious position to be able to take advantage of something like that. That caught the team off guard a little bit when they didn’t see the results right away.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Invest a significant amount of time and work upfront to clearly define deliverables, goals, and workflow. A vendor’s plan might look really great until you try and operationalize it. Based on different challenges within the organization, the plans may need adapting. It’s always good to know that before the launch, rather than after going live and having to adjust expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was CTO for True Action, a digital agency that’s part of GSI Commerce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onit Digital?

We needed to develop the frontends of various e-commerce sites. Each of the sites had to represent its brand while ensuring a quality user experience within the platform from product display and content through to checkout. For one site, the product display needed a dynamic search wherein users could add search terms to limit the number of products displayed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Onit improved the design and user experience of the multiple platforms. They provided mockup stylesheets and JavaScript code for a proprietary Java-based platform we used.

Our creative designers produced mockups from which Onit Digital created live pages. They conducted QA testing, making sure that the designs and functionalities met our expectations. Our QA team performed the same checks after the handoff and if they found any discrepancies, they sent the work back to Onit’s team. On some occasions, we also realized that our initial specs no longer met our needs and required changes.

What is the team composition?

The team varied across the multiyear engagement and was modified based on our needs. On average, we worked with 8–10 people to a maximum of 15. I had regular contact with the CEO, an account manager, and their developers.

How did you come to work with Onit Digital?

We were growing fast and couldn’t hire quickly enough. We started looking for a partner with availability to provide quality work at reasonable costs.

Onit Digital was introduced by a colleague. They showed us previous work and we interviewed their past clients. The team demonstrated strong skills and made us comfortable with our choice.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000 and $1 million overall on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Onit Digital in 2010. The collaboration was ongoing when I left the company two years later.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At the time, all the e-commerce platforms we deployed were designed as required. From a business perspective, all the sites were successful and we were benefiting from the revenue associated with those activities.

How did Onit Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We had daily check-ins with the development team. They were dedicated to getting things done, tracked their work closely to the plans, and provided good estimates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most valuable trait from our point of view was Onit Digital’s flexibility. From month to month, different projects demanded different degrees of resources. The fact that people could be applied or backed off the work as needed was extremely helpful for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At times, quality suffered in the name of hitting schedules. There were no major defects but the work was rushed. I respect their effort to meet time commitments but, in hindsight, I would have preferred to hear that the work would take longer but would be done right. We ended up spending extra time cleaning things up.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The key is to give Onit Digital clear requirements and allow them to own the project. On some occasions, our internal people worked with their team. While this model worked, Onit Digital was more effective when they owned bigger pieces of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former VP of e-commerce for Cenveo, a $2-billion-in-sales multiregional organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onit Digital?

We needed to increase our client engagement and popularize our products and services. Customers had been dropping off inexplicably as they browsed our online store. Our previous e-commerce site had been built internally. It required significant frontend and backend improvements. Our strategy focused on professionalizing the design and improving the scalability, aesthetic, and workflow.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Onit Digital executed a complete redesign of our substantial e-commerce platform. We used a collaborative in-depth process to define the scope. They considered our requirements from both a design and functionality perspective. The designers created different skin options and used wireframes to simulate and refine the product’s flow. After finalizing the layout, we progressed to the technical parts of the site. The team also executes all of our digital marketing. They built five additional websites and several landing pages. SEO and search engine marketing (SEM) efforts included email campaigns for three of our four distinct brands.

What is the team composition?

Marc [CEO, Onit Digital] was our primary contact on a daily basis. I’ve also worked with the development team and 10 additional resources.

How did you come to work with Onit Digital?

My highly-respected former business partner gave me a referral and I trust her judgment. I interviewed 12 firms during my search. We requested work samples from each candidate. Onit Digital’s creativity was clearly apparent from their first design submission. Their effort and talent went well beyond any other firm in consideration. I was impressed by their CEO’s business acumen. He clearly understood our technical and digital marketing needs. They had strong references and offered a full breadth of services.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $3 million on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Onit Digital in 2012. The engagement continued after I left the company in 2015. Since then, Cenveo has brought much of that work in-house.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Onit Digital improved our workflow tremendously. An effective SEO strategy significantly bolstered site traffic. Retention rates improved across all our digital marketing campaigns. The new e-commerce site effectively links our specific products with the inventory. This critical attribution indicates which items are available for purchase. A significantly improved shopping cart and checkout process drastically increased click-through rates. The streamlined search feature lets users easily locate what they’re looking for. Products are clearly organized and easy to sort.

How did Onit Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Cenvo has multiple operational sites. The sales, e-commerce, manufacturing and IT teams are all located in different offices. Onit Digital mastered the difficult task of coordination. They gathered technical and user requirements from each department and disseminated information as needed. The team managed the entire process, including user testing and the eventual product launch. Our company’s sheer size made it challenging to reach a consensus. Nonetheless, they did an outstanding job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Onit Digital fostered a deep understanding of our company, industry, and objectives. Their involvement went beyond simply providing technical deliverables. Business-minded digital agencies are few and far between. They’re highly proficient in both fields. We’ve hired them for countless projects, and I’ve referred them to several new clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t continue hiring and recommending Onit Digital to new clients if I wasn’t completely satisfied.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

My advice to potential clients would be to go for it. I’ve never had a bad experience with Onit Digital. They’re thoughtful and willing to go the extra mile. Those are important qualities to look for in a business partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former chief strategy officer of IPG Beauty Village.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onit Digital, Inc.?

We were working on a corporate communications project that’s purpose was to inspire young girls to pursue careers centered on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). We had a team of brand creatives in-house but lacked a robust digital production department. Onit Digital worked collaboratively with our existing creative team to produce digital assets for the campaign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before bringing in Onit Digital, we conducted market research to discover what motivated the target demographic and I created a strategy document based on the findings. Marc (CEO, Onit Digital, Inc.) was involved early in the ideation process and helped with content strategy. We collaborated to come up with experience ideas that could feasibly be implemented from a utility and technology point of view. Marc had input into what was involved from a labor, cost, and even an infrastructure perspective. He also advised best practices for producing designs and gave feedback on information architecture. Working alongside our creative team, Onit designed the campaign’s destination website and created advertising materials to drive traffic. They utilized advanced technology to streamline processes whenever possible. For example, they automatically resized creative designs for various purposes. This was much more efficient than having to resize everything manually.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Marc and a lead executive producer. Once the project went into the development stage, I didn’t interact with Onit’s project managers or designers.

How did you come to work with Onit Digital, Inc.?

I considered an internal agency and one other outside vendor. However, I hired Onit Digital because of my familiarity with Marc. I’ve known Marc since 2000 when I interviewed and hired him for another company. I knew he’d deliver results and reflect well on me.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project took place from January 2013–December 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I left the agency before the project was complete, so I wasn’t involved in post-launch analytics. Onit Digital strategically developed assets to inspire and be positively attributed to the brand. Marc provided significant input on creating utility components that would constitute success. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to see everything fully executed.

How did Onit Digital, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Marc was very involved and really cared about the success of the project. He efficiently utilizes forms and templates to facilitate smooth processes. Our team has never seen such a multitude of templates be employed effectively. The amount we communicated varied relative to the needs of the project as most of my oversight involved strategy. Sometimes we spoke every day while other times he’d work directly with our team. They were always available for troubleshooting.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had team members that weren’t as experienced in technology and digital production, but Marc never made anyone feel stupid. He’s very easy to work with and has a positive attitude. Optimistic perhaps to a fault, he wouldn’t let barriers hold him back from contributing ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they performed excellently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t treat them like a vendor. That’s not the best way to optimize working with Marc because he’s got an array of expertise at his disposal. He’s solutions-oriented and can be a valuable contributor.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the senior director of digital marketing for an online regionally accredited university. We offer degrees at the bachelor’s, master's, and Ph.D. levels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Onit Digital?

We wanted to modernize our standard HTML site. It wasn’t mobile optimized and the outdated layout was below current standards. It required a dedicated technical resource for support and maintenance. Our previous agency used a laborious process that hampered our efficiency. We’d been paying them for countless hours of work we could handle internally. Onit Digital was a flexible and affordable alternative. We knew it was time for a change so we hired them to execute a complete redesign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

During our interview, Onit Digital assessed our existing site in the context of the current education industry. Our five-year plan necessitated an easily modifiable platform. They built an autonomous, mobile responsive site that lets us independently add plugins. We considered a variety of platforms like Drupal but decided WordPress was the best option. The redesign streamlined cumbersome navigation and improved the overall aesthetic. A flexible new backend system replaced the old site’s ineffective CMS. The developers also built independent microsites for our partnership agreements. These contracts provide education services to corporate employees.

We crafted the proposal using ADA compliance as our development baseline. Using a research perspective, they pinpointed potential liabilities. It involved significantly more factors than general maintenance. Many organizations and schools never really consider ADA policy. Education is a highly regulated environment in terms of accessibility. This significant scrutiny made it critical to develop a strategy to preempt lawsuits. We needed to have numerous controls in place to react quickly to change.

As a small university with limited resources, many of our competitors have much larger budgets. Bolstering web traffic and visibility is one of our primary objectives. A targeted campaign used impactful keywords to expand our reach and become more Google-friendly. The copywriters had a challenging task. Writing sophisticated copy for a university is quite different than automotive site content. The team’s SEO services included link building, writing articles, and managing several landing and partner support pages. They host our site on their multiple servers with redundancies for backup purposes. Multiple microsites are driving our current goal to improve our .edu site's Google ranking.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with a talented primary project manager for several years, and our technical lead is extremely skilled. They give clients invaluable access to their executive leadership. Mark (CEO, Onit Digital) is a jack of all trades who can accomplish virtually anything. It's not uncommon for me to call him on a Sunday about pressing issues. He'll immediately turn on his computer and fix them.

We started off with a large development team. It’s much smaller now that we've taken most web efforts in-house. They work directly with our user experience and copywriting staff. More resources are dedicated to SEO because it's a sophisticated, important, and demanding daily effort. That team of 5-6 members includes copywriters and overarching management that provide strategic perspective. Using a relatively streamlined team keeps the cost down and maximizes our efficiency.

How did you come to work with Onit Digital?

Onit Digital had built websites, developed digital strategies, and consulted for three companies where I'd previously worked. We sent out an RFP to several agencies, held interviews, and requested quotes. Ultimately, we selected them based on cost, background, history, and ability.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent a little under $100,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for four years and have an ongoing web support and maintenance agreement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Investing $1,000 in Onit Digital is worth $10,000 to our company. The value they offer goes above and beyond just delivering a product. With a different agency, that same $1,000 might only yield a $1,200 value. They've come up with daring ideas most people would turn down. Taking those risks helped us achieve major success.

The new site keeps our costs stabilized. We can make changes quickly and easily, which used to take weeks of effort and incremental hourly fees. Mobile optimization has improved the uptime, visit length, and lead conversion rates. Our SEO strategy bolstered organic traffic and doubled our visibility scores in several categories, notably the military demographic.

How did Onit Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

The beauty of working with Onit Digital is their strong baseline of support. I can rely on them 24 hours a day. The process was fantastic. Mark and I develop new strategies and statements of work, and he takes an active role in our long-term strategy discussions. We've had the same two project managers since we've launched the new site, which is a sign of success. I work with them both daily. The entire team is highly responsive and has built a great relationship with our staff. The quality of their service means they never get questioned like our other vendors.

Our technical lead has been on our account for four years now. I recently turned site management over to an internal team member. She works with him on a regular basis and has never had any complaints. Our vice president of IT actually relies on Onit Digital's team to support our backend.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their speed is definitely their best asset. They rapidly isolate and resolve problems. Onit Digital is reliable, responsive, and communicates positively. When a project requires additional hours, they’ll often move things around to accommodate our budget. We rarely see unexpected charges. Working with their decision makers and leadership has been excellent. Both Mark and his partner are extremely knowledgeable and supportive. They excelled at their main task, making me and my team look great for our clients. The team’s flexibility, knowledge, and quality of service are second to none. That's why I’ve brought them in to work with three different companies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As with most agencies, there's always the opportunity for more micromanagement and ideas. I'd love for them to pitch new items to improve the mobile site's look and feel. Since we do much design internally now, they often focus exclusively on the technical aspect. It's always nice to have another set of eyes, so I welcome their creative input.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Onit Digital is highly communicative and never sells me smoke and mirrors. They speak the truth and live by their word. There’s a trickle-down effect from their amazing leadership. Avoid second-guessing their recommendations for your site rebuild. I rarely need to adjust their direction. The team is a talented and well-oiled machine that excels at their job.