Sabroso

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Associate Director of Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust, a charity focused on addressing low social mobility in the UK.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sabroso, and what were your goals?

We were launching a new campaign on improving childcare provision for parents on low incomes. We wanted branding for the campaign, a design template for publications, along with social media asset templates we could use in the campaign.

How did you select this vendor?

We approached several organisations with the spec. Sabroso were clearly the best option, with the skills and resources across the areas we needed work. We had worked with them previously and they had proved their ability to produce high quality work to tight deadlines.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

They produced a logo and branding elements for the 'A Fair Start?' campaign, which meshed with our existing logo, including, fonts a colour palette and other design elements. These elements cleverly evoked the early years and childhood theme of the campaign. These elements were then used in designing and formatting a substantial research report, which included the evidence and arguments that would form the basis of the campaign.

Finally, they created several social media image templates that we could use flexibly to adapt for different messages and formats that we wanted to use. The branding elements were also used for a series of videos we commissioned separately.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We mainly worked with Chris Morley (Director and Head of Design) and co-founder Joe Shervell.

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

The launch of the campaign was a success, with high levels of social media engagement and readership of the published report.

The organisation was very pleased with the quality of the outputs produced, and they contributed to a striking visual identity for the campaign, which complemented our existing Sutton Trust branding, while also being distinctive.

The branding has been very effective and distinctive, as well as useful and flexible for our purposes. The videos we subsequently produced look excellent as a consequence of that initial branding and design work.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Communication was mostly through email, but also regular check ins by phone or video call where necessary. Communication was positive, despite some delays and staff absences on our side which complicated the process. Sabroso were able to be flexible and adapt to changes in the timeline, which was very helpful.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We were impressed with their design experience and great understanding of data visualization. This suits our needs very well, and complements our internal comms and design resource.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

More flexible forms of communication beyond email (eg Slack or similar) could perhaps help smooth issues out as they arise, particularly if there are misunderstandings.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a company that does IT management services — we’re Microsoft specialists and a cloud technology house. We look after businesses in the SME market that have limited technical in-house experience. 

We have a broad spectrum of clients, including some with limited in-house IT experience, some with none, and some with their own internal IT team that we support.  

What challenge were you trying to address with Sabroso?

We had reached a point where we knew our website wasn’t performing as well as it should. We had several different entities in our outsourced marketing supply chain who weren’t working effectively, so we were looking to work with a new website design company. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an initial conversation with the Sabroso team to get an idea of what we wanted. We then had an in-depth discussion with our leadership team about our KPIs, frustrations with our current situation, and what we wanted out of working with Sabroso. 

When we started with Sabroso, we managed the process: we told them what they would spend, what they would spend money on, and the intended ROI. Then they built our website from the ground up — we worked closely with them to ensure it was exactly what we wanted. They had to learn our business, what we do, and our approach and transform it into a website while also implementing the customer journey we wanted. 

Sobroso focused on customers who may need more hand-holding to help them fully unlock the potential uses of our technology for their business. 

Their team showed us that there is some room to fill within our industry and marketing sector. So, they used outsourced vendors to do content writing to improve our SEO efforts and then introduced those teams to us to start our own partnerships. Our internal team is now assisting with assembling content for the website. 

We’ve begun to look at PPC and Sabroso is now a part of that process, which wasn’t originally within their scope of work. We’re currently working with another company on PPC that they recommended to us — Sabroso was also involved in the onboarding of that company. 

Now, we’re taking a phased approach to the final website launch. In the meantime, Sabroso is making some tweaks to the website and creating geographical landing pages to start our SEO journey as quickly as possible.

What is the team composition?

We regularly communicate with two teammates from Sabroso, but there are also 2–3 other team members.  

How did you come to work with Sabroso?

We looked to a procurement facilitator to find a company to help with website design. We were then introduced to Sabroso by a contact of ours who was doing some marketing consulting at my company and knew we were looking for a new website design company.

We asked Sabroso to put a quote and estimate together since sometimes the challenge of working with outsourced marketing companies is that they can’t always demonstrate a positive ROI. We also asked four other companies to do the same. 

Sabroso’s proposal stood out from all the other companies because it was very in-depth and showed us new ways of working that we weren’t aware of — it was a fresh approach to digital PR for SEO. They did an in-depth analysis of our marketplace, showing us gaps in our marketing, keyword search terms, and our current search rankings. 

Sabroso not only analyzed our company, but they also compared us to key competitors. They constructed it as a nationwide analysis, which was a more extensive analysis and proposal than the other companies we were examining. 

When we dug into the proposal, what Sabroso was offering was a far better process for us. From a cost perspective, they were a little costlier, but they were very transparent about pricing and they ended up being more cost-effective and efficient, so we ended up hiring Sabroso. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested £30,000 (approximately $41,300 USD) with Sabroso. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in July 2021 and our partnership is ongoing.

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

Even though our website launch is a few weeks away, we’ve seen a positive impact from the work they’ve been doing — there’s no question that we’ll achieve a positive ROI. They’ve improved our website speed, which was a real issue for us before.

We’ve also seen a phenomenal increase in our search rankings in certain geographical areas that we’re focusing our SEO efforts on — we’ve gone from page 12 to page 2 in our rankings just from some tweaks they made. 

Sabroso’s gotten us into some key journals with high-level thought leadership articles around cybersecurity, zero-trust, and digital optimization. From an industry perspective, this is great for us because it places us well in the industry and gives us a more extensive geographical reach even though we’re a local business.

What speaks volumes for me is that we’d often have customers who would ask for website designer recommendations, and I’ve never had someone that I’d be comfortable recommending. But now, I’d absolutely recommend Sabroso — I have already recommended them to others. I feel like we’ve finally found the right partner. 

How did Sabroso perform from a project management standpoint?

We work very closely with Sabroso and have fortnightly updates from their team. I’m not involved in all of it because we have an in-house digital marketing apprentice who works with them. 

Communication has been fantastic — it’s been second to none. They’re easy to contact and very open and transparent about the way they work. We communicate via Microsoft Teams and the Sabroso team is quick to get back to us if we have questions.

We’re in a very fast-paced industry and need to stay in constant communication to let Sabroso know of any industry updates, including new technologies and accreditations. And with Sabroso, they’re driving that communication and engagement so we don’t have to. 

They’ve set clear expectations, taking into account that there is more work than they initially thought. We’re still on target to match the timeline for our website launch. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sabroso is attentive and their digital PR approach is very unique. I haven’t seen or heard of the way they use different tools to produce positive results from other companies — it’s been a very fresh approach compared to the experiences we’ve had in the past. 

Our industry has a unique challenge: there has to be a lot of technical information on the website for SEO purposes, but the language also needs to be accessible to non-technical potential customers. And Sabroso’s done a great job of making all of that happen.

From an SEO perspective, our previous marketing companies have made very little headway considering the investments we've made. It was nice to be in the driver’s seat directing the entire project.

We also liked that we were able to retain ownership over the website — in the past, we’ve had no ownership over websites that we had built for us, which was challenging for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

At this point, I don’t think there are any areas for them to improve. Maybe once the website launches, I’ll feel differently, but I can’t come up with one critique right now. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

One of the past mistakes I’ve made is believing that I can hand over a project to an outsourcing company and it will get done. It’s essential to understand that to get the most out of a website design company, customers need to communicate. Sabroso drives communication very well and that’s the key to success. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run a small digital marketing company where i outsource various projects to various agencies. I am the director.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sabroso, and what were your goals?

Web development, Digital PR and Content Creation for one of my clients.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I asked around in my network and was introduced to Sabroso. I wanted to work with a supplier who matched my working style, and Sabroso were a great fit. They have a very sophisticated, but also very straight-talking approach. They also have a lot of experience with projects like this, so it was a very smooth process.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The work was carried out under an NDA, so I can’t disclose information about the client. I worked with Sabroso in the initial research stage. I had already carried out a good deal of the initial planning, and I worked with them to shape it into a design and dev project. After that, they built the website for the client, and carried out a lot of important optimisation for SEO / Organic during the build.

Following the launch, they have provided a mixture of website support (more or less continual tweaking and optimising for things like speed and security), content production (key service pages and editorial content) and Digital PR (targeting mainstream media for high authority links).

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I worked closely with the two owners, Joe and Chris. They separately manage the marketing and design sides of the business, but they’re both pretty heavily involved in all projects (the crossover in disciplines is what makes them good & is why I like working with them). They use contractors to support production and have an in-house Digital PR team, so I’ve also worked with them a little too. They’re all good people.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Rankings improved almost instantly after we launched the new site. The technical improvements seemed to be just what Google was looking for, and we’d removed some of the things that had been holding the site back. This led to an improvement in revenue and after a few months we found a positive ROI for the initial work. Ongoing, Sabroso has helped us to build out the site to find new markets, new products and more. It’s very forward-thinking and they are very proactive.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Everything is handled via Slack, Email or Google Docs / Google Drive. We work together in a very agile way – there are regular meetings, but they’re mostly just quick catch-ups and a chance for everyone to update on their responsibilities.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I really like how Chris and Joe have created a company which seems to solve the biggest problems of digital business in one hit. They are extremely commercially minded and can explain their rationale and ideas in a really straightforward way. They consider our ROI in basically every decision they make, which makes everything they do feel like a sensible business decision rather than the ‘fingers crossed’ approach some agencies have.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

None that I can think of. It has been a very smooth working relationship and one I hope will continue.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am co-founder of Coffee-Direct.co.uk, an online freshly roasted coffee supplier primarily targeting end users in the UK.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sabroso, and what were your goals?

Our SEO focus has always been secondary to our other marketing channels, so we engaged Sabroso to throughly review our starting position, advise short, medium and long term areas to focus on, and then work with us to build and publish compelling online content. We also used Sabroso's services to promote PR stories and target inbound links to our site.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We reviewed many different companies, and based our decision to engage Sabroso on their client portfolio and impressive results with other sites.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and campaigns.

Our key driver for our SEO project has always been long-term return on investment. During the initial stages Sabroso conducted a thorough audit of our site structure, links and external presence. Next, we identified key areas to target, and made technical changes to the site layout and url structure. Through the use of both Foundation and Authority activities, we enhanced both the site itself, and our backlink portfolio.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with two members of Sabroso's team, and also a number of third-party contractors and specialists brought in by them at various stages.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Since concluding the first 18-month period of activity, we're receiving a good level of targeted, organic traffic from both search engines and other websites with our content published. The return on investment has been steadily increasing, and has enabled us to reduce our dependance on paid for traffic.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Sabroso was relaxed and approachable, but fundamentally professional with their management style. Given the mixed roles our internal team tends to undertake, our preferred method of communication has always been email, which has always been supported by Sabroso in a timely fashion.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Sabroso's flexibility to work with our team, and actively offer support above and beyond the remit of 'standard' SEO activities has always been impressive. The analytical approach they take mirrors our own data-driven decision making, and works well in taking the often misleading 'gut feeling' element out of the equation. At the end of the day, results matter, and that's what they've delivered for us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Possibly the only aspect that in our opinion could do with revision (and during our project was addressed) was the reliance on live data presentation from third-party SEO tools. Invariably our meetings occurred during heavy use times of the day, and there were occasions when our collective thought process was interrupted somewhat waiting for complex queries to run. A small issue that was rectified, demonstrating Sabroso's willingness to learn and improve.

Please describe your company and your position there.

School-Home Support is a charity whose mission it is to get children back in school, ready to learn. Whatever it takes. I am the Senior Public Affairs and Campaign Manager

For what projects/services did your company hire Sabroso, and what were your goals?

We hired Sabroso to write and design our 2020/21 16 page Impact Report which showcases our work throughout the year and how we help vulnerable children, young people and their families get back to school and surviving.

How did you select this vendor?

One of our Board Trustees suggested Sabroso

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

We commissioned Sabroso to take our data and turn it into a readable 16 page document for stakeholders and potential supporters to read.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

3 - Founder, Designer and Writer

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

Sabroso took our notes and data documents and put them into a coherent, emotive and expressive readable document that our stakeholders enjoy reading.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Sabroso were great in coming back to us in good time with a fully costed proposal. When we reviewed and brought them on board the relationship has been seamless. Email communication has been good and constant and they have made themselves available for a call .

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They had a background in education work so they immediately understood our cause and our stakeholders.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I think an introduction to the team working on the report early doors and communication over email including the whole team would be helpful.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Project Coordinator at the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC); an industry-led member organisation focused on delivering a more sustainable built environment.

For what projects/services did your company hire Sabroso?

We solicited Sabroso to design an output of the IGNITION project that we partner on. The output was a written report, a guide for local authorities to invest in nature-based solutions to climate change. We hired Sabroso to design the report, taking it from a Word Document to a polished final article.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We considered a number of designers with whom we had worked previously, but decided on Sabroso due to the timeliness and quality of their service. They had some familiarity with the desired design specification (through working on a previous output), though it was the quality of their design that was the deciding factor.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We sent the first draft to Sabroso with a number of design pointers/ comments. A couple of UKGBC representatives met with Sabroso representatives to discuss the comments and the initial ideas for design. The process then followed a draft/review process, with a number meetings periodically to discuss any necessary revisions. Sabroso responded to comments and offered creative steer.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

In total we worked with 2 individuals. Initially we worked with the Founder to scope out the entire design, plan timelines, and commence the design process. We then also worked with another designer who assisted with the follow-up requests and revisions that were necessary.

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

The report has been very well recieved and the quality of design has been complimented on a number of occasions. As an organisation, we are immensely happy with the outcome.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There was a very good line of communication between teams. Emails were exchanged regularly and actioned promptly. Work was delivered in a timely fashion, despite some tight deadlines. When further clarification was deemed necessary, we were able to schedule a call no problem to progress the project.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I was most impressed by their willingness to collaborate and innovate. They were very happy to take on board all of our suggestions, as well as presenting their own where suitable or necessary. When it comes to elevating statistics and visualising graphics, they are amazing!

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No