Weidert Group

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of engineering and marketing for a plunger pump manufacturer. We manufacture pumps for commercial cleaning for many industries. We sell mainly to equipment manufacturers and not directly to customers. We also target repeat buyers; once we land a customer, the relationship lasts a long time. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

We wanted to find customers and become an authority online about pumps and pump equipment, but we weren’t having any luck. Our team was a bit frustrated about that. Then, we heard about inbound marketing. At the same time, we realized our website was old and needed to be updated. On top of that, our marketing person left the company and I was handed the job, but I couldn’t do a lot so we knew we needed to outsource the marketing. With those reasons in mind, we hired Weidert as our marketing partner. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our first project with Weidert was a disinfecting-focused marketing campaign. We started working with them around March 2020 or roughly around when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. We were also in the disinfecting market, so we wanted people to know that we were still open for business; we could provide pumps if people needed them for disinfection. This was our first focus. 

After that, they created a brand new website and started the inbound program, which consisted of paid ads, content writing, SEO, and website maintenance. 

Our website is now integrated with HubSpot, including all of our content and campaigns. We’ve also integrated our CRM on HubSpot, so we can track customer relationships and pages there.

What is the team composition?

During the initial stages of onboarding, we worked with Greg (President). After we got into our monthly routine, Greg stepped back. 

Now, we work with Frank (Inbound Strategist). He takes part in our quarterly roadmap discussions, helping us with strategies. Apart from him, I also have two monthly contacts, namely Reid (Inbound Marketing Consultant) and Megan (Inbound Marketing Specialist). Meanwhile, Tammy (Content Manager) interviews me and others in our team. She then writes articles, which she sends to us to improve and make changes.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

I received vendor recommendations from our resigned marketing officer. One of them was inexpensive, but I wasn’t confident that they could give us what we needed. The second one was expensive, but they were in another country, and I didn’t feel comfortable about that. I believed somebody local would write about our product a bit better. 

As a result, I searched on Google and came across Weidert. I found their website and started looking around and downloading content. Their website taught me a lot about inbound marketing even before I started talking to them. They were practicing what they preached, and that was great; it would resonate well with our customers. Moreover, they were the most expensive option we had, which made me more confident about my decision to hire them. That was when we started working together. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and the partnership is ongoing. 

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

Our performance is up 20% year-over-year, and we’ve had a record month in August 2021. Overall, we’ve had steady growth with Weidert. Our business has some seasonality — some months are slower than others — but we’ve been seeing growth. The amazing part is that this didn’t happen before.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is great. Moreover, Tammy, Frank, Reid, and Megan are so funny; we have our little private jokes. It’s neat because we haven’t truly met other than through Zoom. Our teams have truly hit it off. 

On top of that, I’ve never thought a writer can write about pumps the way that Tammy does. These things are highly complicated, but Tammy takes pride in understanding them. She does her research and she’s great at it. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a team of experts working for us for the price of one and a half full-time employees. In other words, I could’ve hired somebody internally, but I’d rather have their team. They know what they’re doing, and they truly care about us. In fact, they get so happy when we have record months. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The only thing that will keep you from hitting project deadlines with Weidert is yourself. Their team is great at keeping track of everything and being on task. However, they must get your approval first. In other words, you must be clear from the beginning about your wants; don’t change your mind a lot — get your approvals done. 

Moreover, certain types of companies aren’t a good fit for Weidert. For instance, our products aren’t easy to specify to customers, and each customer is worth much money in terms of business. Simply put, if you’re selling directly to customers, you won’t have to go to Weidert. However, if you have a few large customers and need to nurture each one, then Weidert can help you. As a result, you must do your homework and follow their guidance. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing at Falcon Structures. We build modular work and living spaces using repurposed shipping containers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

We were looking for a partner that could redesign our website and take our inbound marketing to the next level.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Weidert Group started by analyzing our former site, going over more than 130 pages, and taking into account its performance. Then they looked at our growth goals and determined the best way to lay out the website from both navigational and experiential perspectives. In the end, they provided a beautiful, much more functional website that is easier for customers to navigate.

We still engage with them on a monthly basis with inbound work and content development to continue growing our site.

What is the team composition?

My primary point of contact was Stephen (Consultant, Weidert Group) who acts as our account manager, but we’ve also worked with Frank (Inbound Strategist, Weidert Group) who helped us through the web design process. Justin (Web Development Manager & Associate Creative Director, Weidert Group) led web development, Meg (VP of Creative & Operations, Weirdert) made sure the site’s content was up to par, and Nicole (Director of Business Development & VP of Client Services and Business Development, Weidert Group) was my initial point of contact and helped form our relationship with Weidert Group.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

I reached out to them after doing some online research and discovering a very informative e-book about the group. Based on that information, they had a solid understanding of the type of company we are and how to market to our customers. We noticed they are a premier HubSpot partner with the ability to create functional and appealing sites. The fact that we reached out to them meant that they were really doing inbound the right way. That’s what we wanted for our company, too.  

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in January 2019 and is ongoing.  

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

The website went live two weeks ago, so it’s difficult to evaluate the true effectiveness of incoming leads. But, all of our metrics are trending up: Google organic traffic has increased, time on the site has increased, page views have increased, and bounce rate has decreased.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

I couldn't have asked for a smoother process for our website launch. They are extremely responsive and communicate very well. Milestones were communicated both on paper and verbally. They didn’t miss a deadline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their overall knowledge of our expectations and ability to set good milestones was a comfort to us. The team’s strong understanding of our process and effective communication skills were stellar. I couldn't imagine another company being as forthright about their process as they were. It was impeccable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The website redesign process is quick. The more attention you can give to Weidert Group, the more successful the project will be.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the continuous improvement manager at Stecker Machine, a company that takes cast parts and cuts them to spec for manufacturing companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

Our website was outdated, so we needed a partner to update it. After that, we then had Weidert Group help with our inbounding marketing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Weidert Group designed and developed the new site, hosting it on HubSpot and allowing us to easily make changes to it. We added lots of new pages and content, including a careers page and online job application. They develop content to enhance our searchability and attract new customers and potential employees. So far, they’ve done three blog posts, one case study, and we’re currently working on an e-book and more posts. They even shot some videos and put them on our site, along with pictures.

For the inbound marketing project, they interviewed some of our customers to better identify who we’re marketing to. We then took that feedback to inform our marketing strategy and to draft a letter to the customers.

What is the team composition?

We have one main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

Our vice president found them. We compared them to another web dev company, and Weidert Group was actually more expensive, but they had a better pitch and plan, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

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

The new website is much better than our old version and provides a more transparent look into our company. Our traffic went from virtually zero to about 100 visits a week. We’ve also seen our job applications go from about none to 10–20 a month.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re easy to work with and communicate well. We’ve had a few issues with deadlines, but that’s more our fault. They push our team and follow up to keep us on track. We mainly communicate via email, phone, and Zoom meetings, but we have met in person a few times.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a fun team to work with that consistently provides high-quality service. We rarely have to revise their work, and they’ve gone above and beyond to meet our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more flexible in some current project details we’re trying to work out, but they’re already pretty accommodating.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I don’t have any advice.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the market development director for HUI, a contract manufacturer specializing in industrial and medical products, specifically custom medical carts. I am part of our medical division, which is where we began our relationship with Weidert. We’re headquartered in Kiel, Wisconsin, and have one facility.

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

I’ve been in my current role for five years. In my first year, I trained with the person I was replacing. My background was not in sales or marketing. I’d spent most of my 13-year career with HUI in human resources. I understood our business operations and goals, but didn’t grasp the sales side. When I started training with my counterpart, she told me to do 20-30 shows, do your prospecting and PPC work, manage the budget, and exhibit at a few shows each year.

After a year, I realized that was not an effective way to find new opportunities. I needed a different strategy that would deliver results.

For six months, Weidert Group gave me information, taught me, and built my confidence in inbound marketing as the correct path. I looked at three inbound marketing agencies and chose Weidert Group because their philosophy and goals aligned best with our business.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We could have used several marketing automation tools, but Weidert Group is a HubSpot partner. They convinced me that HubSpot was the best tool. After my own research, I came to that conclusion as well. The collaboration has combined HubSpot work, contact organization, and content writing.

Getting our website code—whether it was Flash, HTML, or something else—and converting it to HubSpot templates was one of the biggest challenges. Weidert Group took our current website and migrated it to HubSpot, which was key to its launch.

They also broke my database of 12,000 contacts into an A group, a B group, and a C group. The initial plan was to launch our A group into HubSpot and start communicating with them. The A group had dialogue with HUI.

I was sending monthly email blasts through MailChimp before using HubSpot. I could see who was active, who clicked on things, who visited our landing pages, and who went to our website. That was the first group of people that Weidert Group helped me load into the system.

After that, they taught us how to create content. To drive people to the website, we needed videos and written content. They taught us how to blog, helped us create e-books, and assisted us in creating or changing blog posts. That was another big tool that got our inbound strategy off the ground. We mainly did email blasts before that, rather than creating blogs, white papers, or e-books. 

We had very good SEO when migrating into HubSpot, which reduced our budget. A third party already managed our PPC effectively, so we chose to stay with that plan. Weidert Group could have provided this service, but they didn’t try to take it over. They knew that some areas of our inbound strategy needed more help than others, and focused on the code-red ones.

Social media was part of the backlog. They wanted us to start creating content for social media and pushed us to do more on LinkedIn.

What is the team composition?

I communicate with their senior inbound marketing consultant 95 percent of the time. I speak with their client operations manager as well, but he mostly interacts with one of my internal marketing colleagues.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

Their president walked up to us while we were exhibiting at an event called Manufacturing First. He asked about our current marketing strategy, and wondered whether we wanted to approach prospects in a different way. He proposed a tool that would drive more prospects to our website. We discussed possibilities, which is when he started talking about inbound marketing and HubSpot. I understood those and realized that we had a common interest in learning more about this subject. I could tell that he was passionate about it and wanted to help.

Just a few months later, I reached out to him and asked to meet. I was interested in seeing what they had to offer. 

Our situation might be a bit different, in the sense that I was already educated about HubSpot, marketing automation, and inbound marketing. It was just a matter of putting it all together and finding a partner.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work is $35,000–$45,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Weidert Group in February 2016. The collaboration is ongoing.

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

When we started, Weidert Group came to the table with an intriguing playbook. They had a detailed outline of deliverables, dates, and responsibilities. They asked me to do some work to launch the inbound marketing strategy.

Our company has less than $20 million in sales and 100 employees. I don’t have a large staff or an enormous marketing budget. At the time, I was the only person handling inbound marketing. While managing my budget and time, I needed to balance a fine line to align my capabilities with my budget.

Weidert Group did a great job coming alongside me and explaining how I could save money, despite my lack of experience. The playbook was a key component of the product launch.

After the first year of inbound marketing, we increased our funnel by $4 million. The use of HubSpot has definitely helped with our efficiency. It’s been a fabulous tool.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their owner is extremely accessible. If we have any problems, questions, or issues, I can access him directly.

Inbound marketing entails a significant initial investment. It can plateau out to the length we’re willing to go, and can be more or less expensive depending on how much work you’re willing to do, but there’s a large investment. We obviously want to make sure that everyone is doing what they said they would do and fulfilling their agreements.

I never feel that I'm not getting my money’s worth or that they aren't fulfilling their obligations. At the beginning, they were very good about having weekly calls. When we moved to monthly calls, they made sure that we were looking at the playbook and checking off what we had accomplished.

They have a staff, but I just have myself. They make sure that I give them what they need to hit our planned timeline. I never feel that Weidert Group isn't moving us forward. They don't try to retain my business without providing what we need.

Our inbound marketing consultant does a good job of prompting me to go to the next level, telling me what’s coming next or what’s changing. He puts together proposals so we can migrate onto the right path.

I can refuse and stay on the same strategy, or I can take those suggestions and move forward. It’s been a breath of fresh air. I’m never stuck. I can end the partnership if I want, but they always want to move us forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really enjoy the team I have at Weidert Group. I like their responsiveness and forward, out-of-the-box thinking. They’re easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our marketing consultant asked me this question in a survey the Weidert Group does every two months. I suggested partnering companies that would benefit from each other, but that wasn’t a deal breaker. I'm really pleased with the relationship and with what Weidert Group has done for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If someone pursues inbound marketing for the first time, they will undoubtedly need to do some heavy lifting. They should be prepared to learn how inbound works, how they will implement it, and how they will make it work for their company.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for Gordon Flesch Company. Our company provides office equipment, managed IT services, managed print services, and a long list of office technologies. We manage all of that for companies in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

When I joined the company in January of 2016, our website was lacking in content, and we had problems being found online. Everyone was disappointed with the results of what we had, so I was charged with building a new site.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We built a completely new website from the ground up. We based it on a HubSpot platform. In the background is our inbound software, and that runs continuously. We’re constantly getting leads from the website, and that was the goal. We never had that opportunity before to capture potential customers and be able to reach out to them.

Weidert provided both design and development of the site. They contributed content as well. We pulled some of the copy over, but we completely rewrote almost everything so that it was more concise and approachable. They had their hand in doing all of that. Landing pages were a focus for this. SEO [search engine optimization] was also a key part of the strategy.

Weidert Group also helps us with our social media schedules, and then posting on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We just launched an email campaign last month that was very successful, and we’ll carry through on a monthly basis from now on.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

I knew about inbound marketing and HubSpot, so I looked for the best in Wisconsin to work with, and Weidert came up as one of the best agencies. I went to HubSpot and asked who their gold partners were and the agencies with whom they worked most successfully. HubSpot recommended Weidert and another company in Ohio.

I met with Weidert and found out that they’re one of our clients. They’d been doing business with Gordon Flesch for quite some time, so it seemed like a perfect fit. They knew who we were, and they were one of the best in Wisconsin, if not the Midwest.

How much have you invested with Weidert Group?

This information is confidential, but we stuck to the budget and got the site done on time. We have an ongoing monthly fee now for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May of 2016, and the work is ongoing.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Before the new site, we were on the fifth page in a Google search. With the new site and all the content we brought to it, we’re now found much easier. We’re on the front page. The results speak for themselves with the number of leads we get monthly. It’s tremendous.

In the first month, we had 10 to 15 qualified leads for our sales team, and they were ecstatic because they’d never gotten those before. We set a goal to be at a certain amount of traffic and qualified leads within six months. Five months into it, we’re three times the amount we had projected. We’re very happy with the results.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Weidert Group is very organized and methodical, which I really appreciate. They keep everything on task, have a schedule, and follow through. When we ask them to do something that may be different or an addition to the work, they were very accommodating. The project management has been excellent. The level of communication has been very good. We mainly communicated by email. We do have a Google Stackdriver that we incorporate, but that’s been more recently.

What did you find most impressive about Weidert Group?

The personal relationship we’ve established over time is great. We’ve gotten to know Weidert Gropu's staff. They’re very accommodating and helpful when we ask for a last-minute change. They’re very agile in that way. We’ve developed a level of mutual trust.

Are there any areas Weidert Group could improve?

No, I have nothing to recommend.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Kaysun is in the business of manufacturing plastic components for a wide variety of verticals - automotive, military, medical, consumer, and industrial. I am the IT and marketing manager. My focus on the marketing side is purely digital.

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

Our business challenge was inbound marketing. I have been a longtime Hubspot proponent, so I’ve taken Kaysun a long way with regard to inbound marketing. It’s the only way to do it in today’s world. I took it as far as I can take it. IT is my primary role; marketing is something I fell into. I didn’t have the time that I needed to do everything I could on the inbound marketing side.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Weidert Group handles Hubspot and is the expert with the platform. They do a lot of marketing automation and lead nurturing - all the automated strategies to help a client through the sales funnel. In our business, we have an extremely long sales cycle - 18 months to 2 years from initial contact to the start of production. Because of that, implementing strategies to help move this process along is crucial. The second biggest reason we went to them is because we could not find anybody that was able to produce content for us that was ready to go without a lot of internal hands on. They have been able to do that. We continue to be impressed by the content that comes out of their group. They write for blogs and white papers or e-books. That’s what we needed. We have a group meeting and we go through each vertical, and we brainstorm as a team for things to write about. That planning stage is what allows them to produce content that’s relevant and of top quality, because we give them ideas and tell them where to research, and they’re able to turn it around.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

We had a good writer but he wasn’t very structured. Weidert brought a structured approach where they lay out an editorial calendar. I wanted to find a firm that had the same ideals that I had. Weidert Group was that agency.

How much have you invested with Weidert Group?

We spend $5,000 to $10,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking in October of 2015. We kicked it off in January.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Our website traffic has increased and the quality of leads have been better overall. Our customers really like the content, and we’re building an audience. Our sales team is changing too. Our sales manager has said that Weidert Group and Kaysun has made being a sales person a lot easier, and it’s more structured too. Weidert doesn’t just stop at marketing. They are closing our loop between marketing and sales, which is very rare. Our next meeting is going to be about sales.

Finding somebody to write blogs is easy, but finding somebody to write white papers is not. They’ve been amazing and it has been a collaborative effort. Our owner said he’s really impressed with their structure.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Phenomenal. If they say something’s going to be done, it’s done. They are waiting on us. They have polite reminders for us when we’re delayed.

What did you find most impressive about Weidert Group?

We were with a different marketing firm out of Milwaukee that was stuck in the traditional days. They are way ahead of the times and very experienced. Sitting with Weidert Group is a breath of fresh air. Every company needs to be in this game, and Weidert is.

Are there any areas Weidert Group could improve?

I’m very impressed. I can’t think of anything. They do what’s needed. They take my feedback with open arms. They’re great at trying things again when it failed the first time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an insurance company. I am the Director of Marketing Communications.

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

We wanted them to provide marketing innovation that would differentiate us from other insurance agencies. Also to generate leads for our insurance agency partners.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They helped us with marketing automation. We used them to design and launch our marketing automation program. They also provided project management services to keep the program moving once we launched. They provided content development for all of our high-value content associated with the marketing automation program. They were creating things like tip sheets, eBooks, and evaluation tools. Those tools were being used on our web landing pages and for our email marketing campaigns.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

I was working on a non-profit board with Weidert Group’s owner. I was describing some of my business challenges and he felt that it was something they could help with. What sold me was that their approach was innovative and it was directly connected to lead generation.

How much have you invested with Weidert Group?

The project was over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The projects are complete.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

One of the biggest results that we saw was an increase in conversion rate. Our average was consistently around 40%.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Weidert Group was a natural extension of our organization. It was really seamless. The regular cadence of reports and communication was perfect, and they were very responsive when we had specific needs that would develop.

What did you find most impressive about Weidert Group?

Weidert Group’s ability to understand my business and help create content that was impactful was a big deal. They learned quickly and created content that added value.

Are there any areas Weidert Group could improve?

Not that comes to mind. It was a fun, innovative project that we worked on together.

Please introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a food manufacturer in the Midwest. We make primarily pizza crusts, flatbreads, and dough balls. I am the company president.

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

We needed a re-work of our website, which had become pretty old, stagnant, and stale. We also had acquired a company that had a very large, disorganized website. In acquiring that company, we acquired a part of our business that was new to us. That was going to require us to appeal to a different market than we had in the past. We needed to tie all these things together.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our website was seriously outdated and we had no mobile presence at all. We were doing nothing with the site, which was maybe eight pages in total, and all of them were just flat panels. The website for the company we acquired was almost like an encyclopedia of all of their products, categories, and tools that a potential customer could use. We needed everything pulled together and a total graphic overhaul. We needed a different mobile-compatible platform. We needed to be on social media—Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We needed everything that could be done as an online presence.

We gave Weidert Group an outline of what we thought was important. Beyond that, most of the creative work came from them. We had artwork already, nice high-quality photos that we used in handouts, mailers, and things like that. What we did not have was a way of combining all of that into a website in a meaningful way, something in different categories for potential customers to look at. Weidert Group came up with the form and format in which anyone can come to our site to find the things we offer.

We had no social media presence, but Weidert Group is now creating content and managing that for us. They really consolidated, cleaned up, and created everything that we were doing in the social media space. They’ve got a copywriter who is coming up with a concept for what the blog is going to be, defining a topic, doing a little bit of research, then turning the work over to us for editing and final approval before posting. That’s happening on a weekly basis.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

I interviewed three different firms that were in our local area. I wanted someone we would be able to have face-to-face contact with since this was a big venture for us, unlike anything we had ever done before.

I had a couple of meetings with them and three other firms in this area. Weidert Group very clearly knew their stuff regarding inbound marketing and seemed to have a pretty good grasp on how we would explain ourselves to somebody coming in the door. I just had a better comfort level with them than with the other firms.

How much have you invested with Weidert Group?

We’re spending about $5,000 to $10,000 a month working with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We are approaching the end of our first year with them, so the relationship is ongoing.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work or the impact of the engagement?

Our target for website visits was about 3,200 website visits a quarter. In the first quarter, we were at about 5,200 visits. In the second quarter—basically six months after we began the new website—we were at about 8,500 visits. That’s been very nice. We certainly have a much more commanding presence online than we used to have.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Weidert Group is very good in terms of consistent communication. I would say that I hear from them a couple of times a week on average.

What did you find most impressive about Weidert Group?

I don’t know how many people are in their company, but when it comes down to finding somebody to manage these projects, they seem to have a very deep bench. If they don’t have somebody in-house, they find a firm in which they’re very confident. That has been very welcome to see.

Are there any areas Weidert Group could improve?

From my experience, no, not so far.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is DfR Solutions. We’re the global leader in electronics for liability consulting and software for high-reliability applications. I’m Senior Vice President.

What challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

There were a few of them. Primarily, it was the implementation of the HubSpot marketing automation platform. They’re a HubSpot value-added reseller, but they’re an inbound marketing firm. We wanted Hubspot implemented, content development, and lead nurturing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did content for the website, social media, and blogging. They helped us develop content and graphics for a new website for a software we’re offering. They’ve also helped us do blog writing and social media posts for LinkedIn and Twitter. They run two blog posts a month and work very closely with our senior team. I think we probably do four other social media posts monthly.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

They were referred to me three or four years ago by HubSpot as a HubSpot partner at a previous company. They were at the top of my mind when we decided that we were going to implement the comprehensive inbound marketing program in 2015. Weidert Group was one of three companies that we put through a really rigorous evaluation process, and they came out on top.

How much have you invested with Weidert Group?

Without being terribly specific, our expense with them over the course of this year will wind up between $150,000 and $200,000 for a 12-month period.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have a month-to-month arrangement for content, and then there is a relatively long list of other things that we have them do for us that are all on a project-by-project basis.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’ve seen an increase of about 14% on site visits to our Sherlock site, which is significant. Our conversion metrics are all higher than they were before we had Weidert Group on board. It’s directionally positive in terms of visitors to the Sherlock site, and positive in terms of conversion rates at every stage of the funnel. We’ve also seen a pretty dramatic increase in bookings and revenue in our business this year. We’re confident that it is, in large measure, due to the work that they’ve done.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Weidert Group has done very well from a project management standpoint. They are extremely well-organized and follow-up consistently at the right time. We get intermittent non-scheduled emails from our project leader and from the senior consultant, and we also have a regularly scheduled weekly catch-up call. We’re never more than six days away from knowing exactly what’s going on.

What did you find most impressive about Weidert Group?

Weidert Group’s quality of work is always really high. The creativity they provide, in how we can modify things to improve, has all been great and proactive. I also think that they’re one of those rare firms that genuinely cares about the outcomes, not just for their own statistics but in terms of the outcomes for our business, its typical metrics, and for the people who work here. It’s a level of care that we think is frequently missing in businesses we deal with these days.

Are there any areas Weidert Group could improve?

The only thing I wish is that they were a little bit less busy sometimes. I don’t always get my calls responded as quickly as I would like, but that’s probably more a function of my impatience and their success as a business.

Please describe your organization.

I work for Continental Properties. We are a national real estate developer that builds, owns, and operates 38 apartment communities throughout the United States. We also do some retail development and some hotel development.

What is your position?

I am the marketing manager.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Weidert Group?

We were in need of content marketing services from an agency. Additionally, last December [2015], we used Weidert Group to rebuild our corporate website.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We started just doing the blogging and social media posting all guided and downloadable content pieces with the guidance of Weidert. We did a test on a couple of communities, and we're pleased with the results, so we've been growing ever since.

How did you come to work with Weidert Group?

Several years ago, we started because the owner of Weidert Group asked me to speak to him about what they do as a marketing agency. They were a natural fit for us to use them for content marketing for our apartment communities.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We're spending close to $15,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched our efforts with them in 2013 and have grown what we've done with them.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Right now, we're producing about 30 blog articles a week for several different blogs. I have 10 active blogs that they're helping produce content for. It is definitely getting visibility for our apartment brand throughout the United States. I probably have 30 leads a week directly attributed to our content marketing efforts with the downloadable pieces and the blogging.

We built the corporate website on HubSpot and has been tremendous in how much more visible it has made us. The important keywords that we want to rank for we've gone from being not visible at all to being on the first page in six months. This is a testament to what a great site that Weidert Group helped us rebuild.

It was a great experience, and it continues to be just because every day we're finding new ways to use it to achieve our corporate goals. One of the most important things we use the website for since we're growing so fast is attracting talent.

How did Weidert Group perform from a project management standpoint?

When I first spoke to them, I didn't know what content marketing was. They taught me a ton about what it is and how to employ it for our company's benefit. They're always a phone call away and very responsive by email. I don't feel like I have to wait to hear back from them if I have a question. They're always open about project timelines and estimated costs. If there's something that comes up that's going to cost extra, they're the first to pick up the phone and say this is what's going on. They're patient and very hands on in helping me explain what we were trying to achieve.

What distinguishes Weidert Group from other providers?

I've spoken to many companies that don't feel right. I've always felt that Weidert Group is being honest with me. They're excited about what they do, and they like what they do. I never had problems voicing my concerns either. They're down to earth and easy to work with.

Is there anything Weidert Group could have improved or done differently?

Not that I can think of.