PBJ Marketing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for PrimeSuppliers.com. We are a nationwide e-commerce store that specializes in home maintenance and outdoor power equipment across all the top brand names. Our customers range from DIYers to small and medium sized businesses. I am a senior product manager, and I am in charge of product procurement and and determining monthly sales/marketing goals and strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing?

The majority of our sales were coming from direct offline sales tactics and word-of-mouth. We knew our competitors were actively marketing and selling online and making a killing and we wanted to do the same thing. We redesigned and launched a new website but you couldn't even find us if you tried. We started actively marketing ourselves through social media and paid ads but we were not seeing the return.

We just ended up spending a ton of money without much to show for it. We were driving SOME traffic, but hardly any customers. We need an agency who could come in and assess why our website was hard to find, why our ad campaigns weren't converting, and what our competitors were doing that we weren't.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted our website to appear in Google for certain product searches. At this point in time, our website wasn't even appearing when you Googled our name! We also wanted our ads to appear next to our competitors for certain searches, and we wanted to increase our social media following and ad performance.

The impact we hoped to see was a substantial increase in online sales, and continued increased/growth month over month. We were hoping to see around a 20-30% ROI on our online advertising efforts.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We did an online search for firms in the area. We found PBJ listed on Clutch and they had very good ratings and very good reviews from other clients so we decided to submit a contact form. As soon as we did, they immediately reached outscheduled a call which was nice.

It was that first call that impressed us. They asked us questions that no one else bothered to ask. They also really took the time to thoroughly explain the services they do and their approach. It almost felt like they were already hired and we were kicking things off. 

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After several conversations and them doing a little homework and coming back to us with a VERY detailed proposal (something else no other agency did), we decided to launch and SEO and PPC campaign.

For PPC, On the SEO side, they audited our website, cleaned up a bunch of technical errors and issues, made our website faster, created new content and optimized existing content, and started doing backlinking. They conintue to write blogs and build backlinks to help us improve our appearence for certain keyword searches. 

What was the team composition?

We've been assigend a dedicated account manager as our primacy point of contact, and then we have 2-3 folks on the SEO side and 2 folks on the PPC side. The two owners of the company were also very involved during our onboarding process to ensure a smooth kickoff. I mostly work directly with the account team, now, but the owners still periodically checkin which is very nice and comforting. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Well, there's no problem finding us when you Google our name, so that's good! On the PPC front, performance has been great, exceeded expectations out the gate. We immediately started seeing sales once our campaigns launched. We found our aids appearing side-by-side our competitors. Each monther, campaigns performe better and better.

We're seeing an average 30-40% increase in ROI from our marketing efforts month over month. On the SEO side, we understand these results take much more time, especially for a brand new website. We're starting to see ourselves rise in search rankings each month so we're heading in the right direction. We couldn't be happier. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Onboarding was a smooth as can be. They got up to speed very quickly and implemented communication and project managment tools to help keep us all orgnized. We always know what's on the to-do list each month and the status of projects/tasks. We have a dashboard that we can check any time for status as well as campaign performance. We also get an email at the end of every week with a progress/results summary and an EOM report that is a bit more in-depth. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They know their stuff, that's for sure. But what impresses me most is you know it's not all marketing fluff and buzzwords. Everything they do, say, recommend is always backed up but data and metrics. I truly feel they are looking out for the best interest of my company and not just another vendor trying to increase their fees. I really trust these guys.

I've also found myself learning more about digiital marketing and my data/metrics more than I ever thought I would. They really take the time to ensure I understand their reports and what the data is saying. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I can think of, nothing yet. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Ecommece Product Owner for our digital platform. We're a reseller of over 60K SKUs related to manufactured goods.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing?

Our business is in the mist of a digital transformation as we rely heavily on a call center operation. We are looking to shift the way we do business with our customers. We wanted to work with an agency to expand our marketing reach via search (SEO/PPC). We wanted to take advantage of a larger team without that internal headcount/cost. This was our first search agency we've worked with.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve search results; reduce monthly marketing spend in search; gain better ROAS; more SQL & MQL leads; increase online traffic; increase incoming calls.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We're a large company so we're required to follow a procurement process to source the best vendors possible for every area of the business. We sourced 8-10 agencies for the process via Cluth, online search, and word of mouth referrals. Though the process, we narrowed it down to 2 main contenders. We ended up selecting PBJ as we felt that they were more of a personality fit for our organization.

Describe the project in detail.

We started off transitioning the word from our current setup to PBJ. The initial month was a little rough since the transition was a bit difficult from our side. PBJ was flexible through the transition process, and stepped in. It was slightly hard for the company I work for to understand a process takes time, but PBJ was able to ease internal sentiment. They came onsite, met with the internal team, and really took an effort into making this a successful partnership.

What was the team composition?

Internally, we had 2 people involved with the initial process. Over time, we have added more managers to our weekly touch bases. PBJ has 3-5 people on their side involved with the project at any given time (depends on the work).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

- Increased calls from paid search - Increased website traffic - Lower marketing spend with higher ROAS - Lower CAC cost

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I was a little skeptical at first as I've had bad experiences working with agencies in the past. There was a part of the contract of "outside working hours" and an extra cost which made me a little nervous; however, it's been completely opposite of that in actually working with PBJ. We typically exchange communications via Slack or email. They prefer Slack over text message, but are extremely responsive in general. They've really integrated well with our team where they feel as "a part of the business". We truly see this as a partnership with them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I'd mirror my sentiment above. PBJ is a partner to us. They've integrated really well into our business and they feel just as committed to our business as we are internally. They are a part of our "team".

Are there any areas for improvement?

Initially, we had a speed bump along the path where we overspent the first month they managed the account, but we were able to bounce back quickly together as a team. We were able to add some quick checks-and-balances in place to prevent this in the future.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Respondent 1: Our organization is an interventional cardiology conference, and I’m the project director. I oversee the meeting logistics and review conference marketing. 

Respondent 2: I’m the medical writer and editor. I proofread materials and approve news-related content for social media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PBJ Marketing?

R1: We needed marketing for our conference as well as social media marketing for our news articles.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

R1: Among other services, PBJ Marketing provides a content calendar and news articles with images. From a conference marketing standpoint, we provide them with the materials and content to market regarding conference registration and hotel information. 

The team then puts it together and sends it back for our approval. They post on a daily basis on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

What is the team composition?

R1: Sam (Senior Manager, Social Media) is our liaison and project manager.

How did you come to work with PBJ Marketing?

R2: I was researching marketing firms to replace our previous vendor when I found PBJ Marketing. They impressed me because they had experience with other technical medical-related firms in their portfolio, as well as positive reviews.

How much have you invested with them?

R1: We spend $3,000 per month, which comes up to $21,000 in total so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

R1: We began with PBJ Marketing in September 2019, and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

R1: We’re learning that people like news articles more than they focus on conference posts or registration, so there is no direct correlation between social media marketing and registration. 

PBJ Marketing has opened our eyes to the unqualified users we had when we were working with our previous vendor in terms of engagement and activity on our social media platforms. We still have high user numbers, but they’ve helped us improve the number of qualified users.

R2: Although we had high users before, PBJ Marketing was able to pinpoint that our previous vendor was buying cheap likes to get user numbers up. So, our user-base included people from other countries who wouldn’t really be interested in our conferences.

How did PBJ Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

R1: Sam is great at keeping us on task, focusing on what needs to be done and when it needs to be done in order to keep social media accounts updated, especially as we approach conferences.

R2: He takes an active interest in our social media and asks probing questions to come up with ideas that can increase interest and engagement. He is very proactive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

R2: PBJ Marketing is engaged, responsive, and really listens to us. Unlike our previous vendor, we haven't had to change our liaison every few months. This means that there hasn’t been a repeated learning curve to get a new contact up to speed for our specialized industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

R2: It may be a function of the price point we had, but PBJ Marketing didn’t provide any of their own graphics. We had to provide all of them, which is understandable. However, it could add value if they did offer the option to have them design the graphics as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

R1: Know what you want in terms of your social media presence in order to guide the trajectory. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the product marketing manager at a company that sells diesel fuel injection components such as fuel injectors, fuel pumps, turbochargers, and electronic engine control modules.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing?

We hired PBJ Marketing to handle our Google Ads and e-commerce strategy.

What were your goals for this project?

Our ongoing goal is to be one of the leading online sources for diesel fuel components.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The owner of our company highly recommended PBJ Marketing. He had worked with them at a previous company and had great success.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

To start the engagement, PBJ Marketing’s team visited our plant where we manufacture our products so that they could learn more about what we offer. Once we outlined what we wanted to achieve, PBJ Marketing put together a strategic plan to enhance our brand and presence on the web. They present all of their research in great detail and provide us with monthly progress reports and KPIs. Every time we have a new part launch, we communicate product details to PBJ Marketing to include in online advertisements.

What was the team composition?

I have two primary points of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Once we send product details and the ads launch, it usually doesn’t take long for us to start getting phone calls about those products. More often than not, those customers find us through the ads that PBJ Marketing creates.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They have a competent management team. Their senior manager communicates with us daily or as needed. Our goal was clear, and he knew how to achieve what we wanted quickly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We are not just a number. They are very client-focused. They got to know us on a different level than other companies we’ve worked with. With PBJ Marketing, we’ve received a great one-on-one experience and feel like they made our goals their goals.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would only suggest that PBJ Marketing grows larger so that they can help other companies the way they’ve helped us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an Internet privacy service provider. We offer a VPN and browser combination as well as a curated search engine for kids. The latter allows kids to access about 800 screened sites, blocks ads, and prevents any user tracking.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PBJ Marketing?

We hired them to serve as our marketing team for our online publication and search engine for kids.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

PBJ Marketing initially came on board to promote our informational site, which sought to inform people about the ills of the Internet. Our goals were to generate more awareness about the site and improve its SEO. 

Their team did a great job making our site SEO-compliant, modifying the headers to ensure that our content was properly searchable. However, they should have focused on brand visibility beforehand so that prospective customers would know to search for us. Not getting our name out there first meant that our SEO efforts were useless.

Currently, PBJ Marketing is responsible for managing the SEO for our search engine. They’ve run an adequate survey through Facebook, which yielded fine results, and are marketing the engine minimally. We handle nearly all of the strategy, defining our keywords, establishing our direction, and identifying which audiences to target. 

What is the team composition? 

Philip (CEO, PBJ Marketing) took the lead in the beginning. Then, Kate (Account Manager, PBJ Marketing) stepped in as our coordinator, and David (Managing Partner, PBJ Marketing) took over our SEO.

How did you come to work with PBJ Marketing?

We found them through a communications company within our professional network.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $75,000 so far.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s a little premature to see any discernible impacts from their marketing. Although they’re good at the more technical aspects of SEO, they don’t seem to be a full PR and marketing group.

Not only did they market our informational site in reverse, but they also don’t have a clear handle on whom we should market our products to, at least for our business. It’s frustrating that we’ve had to come up with all of the target groups ourselves without much creative insight. 

Having said that, once we’ve pointed them in the right direction, they’ve performed well. It’s just the lack of creative input that hasn’t been useful.

How did PBJ Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily communicate over email and phone and have interacted about 5–8 times. It can be difficult to talk to them; we have to lead most of the discussion. They also seem a bit young in how they present the information that they use.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with their SEO work and ability to make our articles findable when searched.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would benefit them to set out a stronger game plan for their marketing strategy. As a person with some experience in the Internet world, I have some idea about our needs, but we still need a team that can provide useful marketing insights and help devise strategies. This might be difficult for them because we’re in an esoteric market. In which case, I would’ve appreciated it if they had informed me earlier that this wasn’t their forte.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you’re very clear about your needs to check if their group has the capacity to perform.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated on June 4, 2019 by the client. The original star ratings were: Overall – 3, Quality – 3, Schedule – 4, Cost – 2, NPS – 3.  New content is below.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of an Internet privacy service. We provide a unique VPN/browser combination and a children’s search engine.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with the vendor?

We needed support bringing a new product to market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were in charge of SEO and ad placement.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five members, all smart and dedicated.

How did you come to work with them?

It was through a recommendation from a provider.    

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re a startup, and they’ve met our expectations

How did the team perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their SEO was impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a great team that’s responsive and knowledgeable.

Any advice for potential customers?

Use them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and CEO of a florist company. We are a leading provider of fresh flowers, floral arrangements, and wedding flower arrangements in the Maryland, DC, and Virginia area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PBJ Marketing?

We're a small, mom-and-pop shop, but we've always been in direct competition with national floral providers on the local level. We needed a new website and a strong, locally-targeted marketing strategy that could help us compete with big-name brands without wasting our budget.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to completely revamp the website to showcase our hands-on approach to floral design. After launching the website, we wanted to launch digital marketing campaigns to drive new business leads within the Washington, DC metro area.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched on Google for digital marketing agencies that specialized in small to medium-sized businesses and had experience marketing at the local level. We interviewed PBJ Marketing and were impressed with the questions they asked and their seriousness.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They redesigned our website and currently provide digital marketing services. On the marketing front, we run both search engine and social ads (e.g., Facebook, Instagram), mostly targeting newlyweds and potential wedding clients.

What was the team composition?

The two owners kicked off our engagement, which was great because they didn’t just hand me off to the rest of their staff. There was also a web design team that redid my site, a paid media manager, and a dedicated account manager who was and still is my primary point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new website looks great. We immediately saw an increase in traffic—not just from anyone but from people in our area who were searching for flowers and wedding arrangements. Once the marketing campaigns launched, we received even more new leads and saw a huge increase in new appointments. At one point, I had to tell them to pause their marketing because I couldn't keep up with the business, which is a good problem to have.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were great to work with and very communicative. I knew from day one what to expect. If and when there were any delays, they were quick to give me a heads up.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They really took the time to learn our business and market. Not to mention, they understood that we had a limited budget and knew where to best spend our marketing money. They also were very patient and explained everything.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can't think of a single thing. They've been fantastic to me.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital and social media strategist for the clinical arm of a higher education organization. I work on increasing the brand and offering awareness of our clinical and medical departments in order to increase patients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PBJ Marketing?

We worked with a few larger agencies that didn’t mesh well with our culture, so we wanted a smaller firm that had solid digital marketing experience, especially in executing media spends.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

PBJ Marketing executes our digital marketing spend and provides monthly recommendations on how to improve our content and strategy. They also help with Google Analytics and establishing benchmarks that we can work toward. After conducting competitor research, they set up our digital campaigns for social media and native advertising for Google Ads and Bing. They’ve worked on various other campaigns, including several we plan to launch soon.

What is the team composition? 

We speak with the co-owners frequently and have daily interactions with the account and digital managers.

How did you come to work with PBJ Marketing?

We wanted a local partner and found PBJ Marketing through Google and Clutch. We met with them, had a great conversation and interview process, and decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $135,000, including media spend. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered in September 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We continually reach our benchmarks and have to set new ones. More people are reading our content, which has increased their time on page and also decreased the bounce rate. PBJ Marketing not only runs ads, but they also optimize them.

How did PBJ Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They always launch on time and never have any issues. We use project management tools to track campaigns and media spend, and we can see everything in real time. They provide monthly and quarterly reports on our website traffic and ad results, consistently suggesting ways to improve.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re affordable and achieve high-quality results. They don’t sugarcoat things but are straightforward and always have your back. They’re a great partner to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

 None that come to mind. We're satisfied. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

PBJ is small and nimble, which is exactly what we needed. They are incredible analytical thinkers who quickly adapt to solve problems, and we would recommend them to anyone interested in optimizing their digital spends.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a Senior Program/Policy Analyst in the Department of Human and Civil Rights in the Center for Social Justice at the National Education Association.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PBJ Marketing?

We offer training and professional development to our members, but not many members know about these services. Our website structure prevents our members from easily finding that information and requesting trainings to bring to their state and/or local affiliate). We lacked data on how many people our programs were reaching and what impact they had. We engaged PBJ Marketing to increase the accessibility and visibility of our professional development site for our members.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They first did comprehensive analytics of our site—on their own time and dollar—to how people were finding the information they wanted. The data revealed that people got lost easily and the site lacked the resources they were looking for in the first place.

During several months of discussion to develop the project’s scope and sequence, PBJ Marketing encouraged us to expand this internal-facing site into an external one that encompassed the whole center. We implemented a feedback program to follow each training session; we wanted to find out how our programs change policies and practices and where we can do better in for future workshops. We also wanted to collect testimonials and case studies that demonstrate our programs’ impact on the education community.

PBJ Marketing took the extra step of reaching out to members to assess what they need and where our site lacked. They compiled that data to inform final products that we’re still finishing. One product is a digitized training request portal where members can now sign up for training online and then fill out an evaluation. PBJ Marketing is now ensuring that these two data streams feed into one system. The team has also implemented SEO and PPC campaigns.

They’ve educated our staff to allow for a seamless transition from their team handling all site-related matters to our team handling it in-house. I’ve appreciated this service in particular.

What is the team composition?

For big-picture planning, I work directly with Phil (CEO, PBJ Marketing) and David (CMO, PBJ Marketing). I also have various points of contact in the departments that touch our project, such as Pranali (Digital Marketing Coordinator, PBJ Marketing).

How did you come to work with PBJ Marketing?

We completed an RFP process to find a digital design and marketing company. We vetted both local and national companies to complete the project. PBJ Marketing stood out from the competition, and continue to distinguish themselves from past vendors with their thorough follow-up.

How much have you invested in them?

Combining their completed work and our upcoming projects, we are spending upwards of $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2018, and it is an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We couldn’t be happier with their work. PBJ Marketing turned a simple, informational website into a larger source of data collection that we can use to justify our annual budget. People can easily find the site and the information they are looking for now without outside help. 

How did PBJ Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

They stayed on top of the project from start to finish. Whenever we had too many ideas, they helped reel our processes back and keep us on target at a good pace. We used Google Docs effectively to track progress and keep the entire team updated. Every team member knows what is going on and can answer questions within minutes as needed. They also met deadlines well in advance without sacrificing quality. Our collaboration has been seamless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Although they may be considered more expensive, the fact is PBJ Marketing delivers the best product possible in terms of quality. Their service outperforms the competition.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we are highly satisfied with their work. The team had us fill out a satisfaction survey at every stage to ensure the project is going in the right direction.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest and open about your goals and requirements. PBJ Marketing will help you refine your plans. If it takes six months to get your contract in order, their team will stick with you through the entire process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing for MPOWER Financing. We provide loans to international students studying in the U.S.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PBJ Marketing?

I entered this position to build MPOWER Financing’s marketing division, and my team had never done digital marketing before. I brought in PBJ Marketing to supplement that skill set and help us implement SEO, paid online advertising, and more.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their first action was to give our website an SEO audit. Our site had grown organically for three years and had never undergone an audit before. We lacked the human resources to clean up the site ourselves, so we gave the PBJ management team full access to our site and Google analytics to make tweaks and build us new analytical tools. PBJ Marketing then implemented our paid media campaigns—which comprised both search and social advertising—and has managed them for the past five months. Their responsibilities are growing as we grow; for example, we’ve recently bought a competitor website that we’re in the process of incorporating into our company. We’re also looking into new channels to expand our digital marketing efforts. We’ve doubled the PBJ Marketing team’s monthly hours to reflect this growth.

What is the team composition?

I first worked with the CEO and co-founder who managed the relationship through the proposal stage. Once we moved into the project itself, we dealt with the other co-founder—who handles all SEO and analytics—and a paid media manager. They lead a larger team that shifts around regularly, but those two points of contact have been permanently assigned to our account and make themselves available every week.

How did you come to work with PBJ Marketing?

We wanted a firm similarly sized to our company; that way, they’d have the scale of resources to handle our project, but also would treat us like an important client. I went to Clutch to look up medium-sized digital marketing agencies based in Washington, D.C. We used Clutch’s scorecards and assessments to narrow down the agencies, and PBJ Marketing came out tied with another agency. What tipped the scales in PBJ Marketing’s favor was its local presence, which made face-to-face meetings more feasible.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $15,000 a month on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2018, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All of our paid media campaigns wouldn’t exist without them. Their work in expanding and enhancing our presence in digital channels has directly translated to new leads and accounts. Our SEO rankings also increase slightly every month thanks to the cleanup they performed and the content they’ve created for our website.

How did PBJ Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Larger agencies I’ve worked with in the past administer project management via a playbook. They set up guidelines for regular meetings, designated points of contact, standard operating procedures, and so forth. Unfortunately, this approach falls short when a project requires special attention. PBJ Marketing, being a smaller firm, customized their approach to managing our project. While some ambiguities arose in our initial meetings, their style has ultimately worked well for us. They can work nimbly and change gears when issues arise.

What did you find most impressive about them?

From the get-go, PBJ Marketing took the time to get to know our business, our niche market, and our goals. They spent many hours to put together a 20-page report on cultural differences in how people think about student loans around the world, including where they go and what sites they visit. That level of preparation for a client engagement impressed me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The reports they send us don't always have summaries to explain what the numbers mean and how they can apply to future planning. If they could provide interpretation of the data more frequently, that'd be helpful.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have a solid brief that describes what drives the business’s bottom lines. This helps focus PBJ Marketing on measures and metrics that really matter to your company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Urban Libraries Council is a membership-based organization that has over 150 public library systems across the United States and Canada. I’m the director of communications, so I oversee our website, social media, marketing, and most of the member communication.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PBJ Marketing?

We had an outdated website, so we were looking for a company to help us develop a new site. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

PBJ redesigned our main website, which is a library template site. They added all the features we needed, such as search features and blog capabilities. In addition, they developed a marketing plan and helped us with our elevator pitch, social media, and all-around marketing conversations with external stakeholders, prospective customers, general public, and government leaders. Now, our libraries have the messages they can pitch to the mayor. PBJ is currently helping us develop our secondary website, which is a tool that people can use to subscribe to a library. It's a benchmarking tool, which they're working on in partnership with another firm we hired.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with their co-founder, a project manager, a design lead, and a handful of other people.

How did you come to work with them?

I knew their owners informally, so I knew about their company. After I looked into their work and talked to their previous clients, I decided they'd be a good fit for our project.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid them around $70,000–$80,000 for our main website. Our second project is more complicated, and cost us about $100,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The number of visitors to our website increased significantly and has remained fairly high. The site is visually appealing, user-friendly, and has great content. Also, the feedback from our internal team and our members has been very positive.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very responsive and doing a great job moving the project along. We use Google Docs and email to communicate. They're upfront about what they need from us, but  also very respectful. Any delay that happened was our fault.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. When we first started the project, we were a little concerned they might not understand our needs and the needs of our members. But they did a lot of research and knew exactly what we needed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know your target audience and PBJ can take it from there. Sometimes, they pushed back on the things we wanted, suggesting a better way, so be ready for some constructive feedback from them. However, if we insisted that we wanted to do something, they would do it. Aslo, they're always looking for feedback from us.