he whole notion of Data is the New Oil has been
T very famous across the modern era of the Internet and TV. Even though data in its raw form is ineffectual as it is just the binary of a bunch of 0’s and 1’s; but yet it did compete with the most potent resource of the world—Oil, leaving many amused.
Well, we all know the rise of Artificial Intelligence; everyone is accustomed to the digital economy, and that is precisely where the whole connotation of ‘Data is the new oil of the digital economy’ lies.
Speaking further about the digital economy and the internet world, one of the biggest contenders to challenge data has taken up the throne. I know, I exactly know, the much-used phrase is coming up. But none of us can deny this; CONTENT IS THE KING!
Content not just in the past but in contemporary times backed by Search Engine Optimization has been preeminent in its own way, having surpassed the most powerful resources of the world. With the democratization of the media, data has gained a free hand of its own and thus has evolved itself like never before. Content in itself has opened itself so much that the branches of it don’t just lie in the form of text but in diverse states that are in the form of audio-visual content.
Bhushan Bhad Managing Editor
From written blogs and articles to videos and podcasts, the scope of creative development has seen no limitations, thus, justifying the throne it achieved in the digital era.
Hence, we at Insights Success thought of bringing into the picture the various key players of the digital kingdom who have helped the netizens with flourishing content. By launching our newly introduced edition, “Most Promising Content Creation Companies,” we strive to bring into the limelight the organizations that have helped the ecosystem of digital marketing shine.
On the cover is Instinctive Solutions, a marketing enabler focused on providing real-world marketing expertise and consultancy to businesses in the areas that make a difference.
In order to learn more about the cover and how content has transformed the digital world, we urge you to meticulously go through the profiles.
While flipping through the pages, glance at the articles written by our in-house editorial team and gain perspective about the current content trends. Delve in to enjoy an insightful read!
, -Shrutika Khedekar
,The practice of creating insightful and creative content has helped business bloom like never before in the contemporary times.
Digital is a
agency with a
providing SEO, SEM, paid and managed social, analytics, creative, influencer marketing, and web design
development services to a wide range of industries. It works to create holistic, cross-channel campaigns that drivenot just traffic, but purchases, by targeting the right prospects at the right time.
is a B2B Marketplace for Finding Agencies. They analyze and rank hundreds of agencies to help brands find top full-service agencies, web design companies, digital marketing firms & top technology companies.
is a growth marketing agency based in Lagos, Ghana and London. It was started by ateam of growth engineers, marketing experts, storytellers and brand strategists with combined experience of up to two decades.
solution as a market enabler provides marketing enablement services for your business. They provide highly tailored marketing for teams and are a marketing enablement agency focused on delivering innovative marketing to B2B companies around the world.
Studios is a marketing intelligence agency based out of Atlanta, Georgia. They go beyond traditional placing a strong emphasis on relationship building.
Instinctive Solutions lls a vital gap for software vendors. It bridges the chasm between the technical side of their business and the marketing side of their business.
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Content Crea on Companies
Marketing is a powerful tool that imprints a longterm impression on consumers' psyche, and strategized marketing activities can skyrocket business rapidly.
As attractive as marketing is, it still needs thorough planning. For this, a company has to create marketing content that is appealing and creative while being accurate and specific about the product. To do so, a content marketer has to have expertise in the nitty-gritty of the product in detail.
Many companies manage to sail through their product promotion by applying tried-and-tested strategies. However, the same approach to technology product marketing is not always a good idea. Due to their complex and technical nature, creating effective plans and collaterals for tech products is a whole different task.
The better you understand the product, the simpler you can make it for others to understand. That is why technology marketing can give better results when tech experts create communication content.
With the help of its technology marketing experts, Instinctive Solutions Ltd. enables technology companies to build content that is simpler yet more engaging.
Instinctive provide strategic and content marketing services that create innovative, informative, and engaging promotional materials. Clients can plug it directly into their existing marketing and sales efforts to get better outcomes.
Instinctive was established by the ambitious marketing industry expert Dave Jones ( Founder and CEO ). He is empowering tech companies to enhance their product communication using years of his industry expertise and innovative ideas at the agency.
Let's explore some interesting insights about Instinctive's pioneering marketing content services.
Instinctive Solutions is a content marketing agency that facilitates its marketing expertise for technology vendors.
Instinctive's team have worked in information technology marketing for many years. Their understanding of technical concepts, language and drivers enables them to easily grasp complex technological concepts and convert them into simpler and more appealing concepts for consumers to understand.
Dave says, “We're able to use that expertise to take complex, technical information and use it to create innovative, informative, and engaging materials that can plug directly into our clients' existing marketing and sales efforts.”
Instinctive Solutions fills a vital gap for software vendors. It bridges the chasm between the technical side of their business and the marketing side of their business.
Most technology companies are full of deeply knowledgeable experts. They know their subject matter ins and outs and create incredibly innovative products that can deliver huge benefits to their customer base. However, this genius does not always mean they can explain these benefits in layman's terms.
Of course, those companies typically also have great marketing teams. They are experts in areas like campaigns, events, and social media. Most of the time, however, they are not technically minded.
We help organizations translate their technical brilliance into tangible vision, messaging, and assets, and then pass these on to the marketing team that can use them to promote the business.
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Dave Jones is the Founder and CEO of Ins nc ve Solu ons Ltd. He has spent more than two decades working with some of the industry's leading vendors. But, around 18 months into each role, he o en found himself ge ng frustrated.
Expanding on this, he quotes, “What became clear to me is that I need to make an impact. I want to make big changes and steer the strategy—all things that typically happen in the first 18 months of a new role.”
A er that, much of the ac vity in a role is related to finetuning and refining opera ons —areas that did not really interest Dave.
“There seemed to be only one way to ensure that I would never get bored – to start my own business,” marks Dave.
This approach has helped him posi on Ins nc ve Solu ons within the market. The way the company operates allows Dave to experience the pleasure of helping mul ple companies at once and seeing them experience the power of effec ve marke ng.
Ins nc ve works with organiza ons in specific areas where they most need it: strategy, messaging, and content crea on. It helps client companies to envision and create and then lets them get on with the execu on and finetuning parts of the work.
This symbio c rela onship allows Ins nc ve Solu ons to work in harmony with senior execu ves and marke ng teams. “Our clients recognize that we're there to help, not take over. It seems to be working so far,” says Dave.
Therein lies the challenge. "There's a huge gap between product experts and marketing experts. This often ends up with the company putting out sub-optimal marketing messages and the wrong leads being generated. There's frustration all around, and nobody is happy," asserts Dave.
This is where Instinctive comes in.
Speaking about the focused efficiency brought by Instinctive Solutions to technology marketing, Dave marks,
"We help organizations translate their technical brilliance into tangible vision, messaging, and assets, and then pass these on to the marketing team that can use them and promotes the business."
The rapid rate of advancement in the marketing technology stack makes it both easier and harder, in different ways, to deliver high-quality marketing solutions. Speaking about
various marketing technology tools that exist these days, Dave shares, “There's so much choice out there that for a lot of agencies—and a lot of clients—identifying which tools they need to use for content creation, social media, email distribution, hosting their website, and so on is quite complex.”
He further adds, “What we try to do at Instinctive is to sanitize that conversation. We take the complexity out of it.”
Dave puts, “We have worked with a number of digital marketing systems over the years. Some are good. Some are bad. What we have learned is which ones work well together – which ones you need for a minimal configuration, which ones you need for more advanced projects.”
The COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges for every organization in carrying out its daily operations. The digital technology proved to be a huge relief in keeping the work activities going in remote mode. Dave felt that it was a great time to launch his company since the technology industry and specifically information management products for remote working were becoming a great deal of priority for many enterprises.
“Instinctive was born during and as a result of the pandemic,” says Dave.
Elaborating further, he puts, “In the beginning, there was just me, working 100% remotely, and the business was formed to support organizations that were suffering from COVID much more than we were.”
During the pandemic, companies were losing key parts of their marketing teams but still had a job to do. Instinctive Solutions stepped in to help and deliver focused activities that would get them over the COVID hump from a distance.
“Since then, we have grown as a remote team, taking on staff all over the world. As we are now coming out of the pandemic, we have taken physical office space. We are starting to create a center of excellence – a hub for all our staff, as and when it works for them,” states Dave.
As far as the fundamentals go, Instinctive Solutions is looking to foster strong, sustained, and organic growth. So far, the company has not taken any external funding, and Dave plans to keep it that way going forward. Dave says, “Instinctive's team is growing alongside our projects, and we are managing our incomings against our outgoings to ensure that we stay strong and stable.”
When asked about Dave's plans for the expansion of his company in the days to come, he says, “If we are talking more esoterically, the goal is for Instinctive to be somewhere my team can hone and refine their craft. We are building a team of highly skilled marketers, a team that could work for any of the leading technology companies.”
“Honestly, I hope that many will go on to work for those companies! At the same time, though, I also want to create an environment where they want to stay and work with me and their teammates,” notes Dave.
Dave has immense expertise in the technology marketing arena. His 20 years of experience in the industry and his innovative approaches have enabled him to successfully establish his company.
When asked Dave about the advice he would like to give to those entrepreneurs who wish to make a career in the
We are starting to create a center of excellence – a hub for all our staff, as and when it works for them.
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"Marketing and messaging is an ever-evolving thing for a company, so it is never finished". However, you need to feel comfortable explaining who you are as a product and company. Dave assisted us in reaching that comfort level.
“Startups like Grapl only have so many resources. Dave really helped bridge the gap for Grapl to get the team unified and on the same page as to what Grapl is.”
"Communication between our teams has been effortless and seamless. We see them as an extension of our own team.
“The most impressive thing was how quickly they got to grips with our technology and the personas within our customer base. Accessibility can be a tricky discipline to master, but this presented no problems at all.”
marketing industry, Dave said, “You need to find a niche. Find where you have the expertise, and use it to develop a track record (and your personal brand) in that niche.”
Adding to this, he notes, “Of course, what you'll find is that you won't just have clients in that niche, whatever it might be. But, that niche will help to serve up referrals and repeat business based on your credibility and reputation.”
“Essentially, find that niche, run as fast as you can in that groove, but don't be afraid to jump out of that groove if the situation calls for it,” concluded Dave.
We are building a team of highly skilled marketers, a team that could work for any of the leading technology companies.
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nline presence has become the most significant
O factor for business growth in today’s times. Day in and day out organizations are forming strategies and developing content to enhance their online platforms and attract maximum attention from the desired customers.
Managing websites effectively while keeping productivity intact requires a productive Content Management System that plays a key role. With a system to manage content, it gives an edge over others for the betterment of the business.
When a company has content for a business webpage, it comes crucial to manage it efficiently. That’s where a Content Management System comes into the spotlight. It gives the access to rectify content on a website without much background in the technical aspects of doing that.
Let’s take a dive into content management and enlighten on how it works.
Does a system allow to make all changes that exist on the website? Yes, that’s a content management system. A Content Management System is software that allows users to create, modify and, collaborate on various digital platforms. Changes could be made without the need to write
code from the scratch. These systems usually help with Enterprises Content Management (ECM) and Web Content Management (WCM)
The Content Management system constitutes two parts, like Content Management Application (CMA) and Content Delivery Application (CDA). Each one of them works on its designated functions. Management Application has a graphic interface that enables users to design, modify and remove content from a website without HTML knowledge. On the other hand, the Delivery Application supplies the back-end services that support the management, and delivery of content.
The term website may seem like a small term, but it contains a lot of aspects that lead to full business orientation. It includes giving an insight into its digital presence altogether. Whenever a problem arises in a business sector, it needs a unique solution to one. To help solve problems, and in return provide smart solutions to most of them.
When a website is backed with the benefits of technology. It brings a lot of ease to make changes when and where they are required to be done. Let’s go through some of the major roles technology plays in content management.
Workflow is an essential part of any content management system. It helps every team member to have access to a set of areas and limits some particular areas for updating code by the specialists. It provides authority to create change, update and publish content that remains on the draft until a check has been done. The management makes sure the content goes live only when changes are done entirely.
The best part about the CMS is that it gives an overall view and status of the content in a single window. It also shows the changes made and what is yet to be published.
When a business website does not provide a guarantee of a secured website, it thereby needs a sound content management system. That provides regular upgradation with specific issues. CMS like Marketpath offers a managed infrastructure that takes of all the support and security along with its availability. It monitors downtime and troubleshoots hosting, and other issues related to their business, on which the users can fully focus on their business without worrying about infrastructure.
When we speak about business and its management, speed is a crucial factor to it. The exponential growth of the website in terms of upgradation also depends on it. Business owners and customers expect a quick publishing platform that is easy to use to publish valuable content and does not consume time. An excellent content management system gives a window to make changes and speed up the process of publishing.
Instant updates mean, quick removal of published content that is already out of date and updating it with the latest one. With this access it is possible to unpublish content immediately after the season end or when it no longer implies current offers of the website. The automated update gets published offering a good site experience to customers.
With technology giving us ease to perform tasks and functions, none likes something difficult to use. Whenever there’s a new update to phones or any other electronic device there’s always something new to explore that may or may not like to expect.
So having user-friendly software makes everything a lot easier than trying to figure out things and wasting time guessing how it works with trial and error. A user-friendly allows making changes without a deep technical knowledge with more accessible usage. This makes it easier for any member of staff or a web developer to make any website in content creation changes without the hassle.
Making changes throughout the website would turn problematic when done on an ordinary static site. Without the presence of the CMS, one might need to trawl through several pages to make small changes but it is bound to expose the website to the vulnerability of the entire site.
To avoid mishaps to the website, the system provides a website with one, centralized dashboard where the company can rewrite and modify the changes and also add components throughout the website at once. Doesn’t that ease company’s work to make changes on the entire website? Definitely. Changes can be done without breaking the website while maintaining the consistency of the site.
With the help of the above-mentioned technology updates, business websites are reaping to web presence while driving more traffic to their online portal. A Content Management System gives full control over the website and keeps business in the driving seat with its management. This allows a supreme impact on companies with handling vast content, videos, and other documents as well. It simplifies the management of information by building a website that is easily operatable. It is easier to use a content system where the website doesn’t have to a tech-savvy and yet make the changes according to requirements.
Sometimes, despite taking every measure, it is harder to break the limits and achieve growth for businesses. This is the result of the unpredictable nature of any or every business market.
Every global market is a crowded place today. To gain target consumers’ attention and convert them into loyal customers in such a marketplace of cutthroat competition, one needs an outstanding marketing strategy that can deliver the needed growth as and when asked.
Where do such outstanding marketing strategies come from that can deliver maximum results in the quickest possible way?
The simple answer is that it comes from those marketing leaders who possess not only the experience but also the passion for taking on challenges to guarantee success. In our quest to find such a genius marketing leader, we crossed paths with Damilare Fakorede. He is a Marketing & Growth Leader, Brand Engineer, and Youth Advocacy professional based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Damilare is a passionate marketing leader with a reputation for delivering maximum growth to his client’s businesses. With his super brilliant team at GrowthMax Africa, he has managed projects in the IT, Retail, Fintech, Agric-Tech, EdTech, Logistics & Supply Chain, Healthcare, Non-profit, and Real Estate sectors in two continents - Africa and North America.
We had the opportunity to interview Damilare, in which he sheds light on his successful and flourishing career, his passions, and much more.
Let’s know Damilare through the following interview excerpts.
Damilare, kindly tell our readers about yourself and your professional journey so far.
My name is Damilare Fakorede. Most people know me professionally as the Brand Engineer.
Driving revenue growth for businesses through performance marketing, consulting for corporations and governments on brand and strategy; building new and highly effective customer acquisition channels for exponential results are some of the things that excite me the most.
I’ve been active in the brand marketing and communications space for about seven years now, and it’s been quite an exciting journey.
What was your inspiration to step into the marketing profession?
I’ve always loved building and tinkering with things. As a child, I loved reading, and I got really curious about making things better.
I really admire great brands, and I’ve always loved helping customers discover remarkable products built for them.
Damilare Fakorede Marke ng Leader | Brands & Growth Expert | Youth Advocacy
Interview With Insightssuccess
Damilare and the team received the Nelson Mandela Leadership Award of Excellence and Integrity, awarded by the ECOWAS Youth Council. This came for their contribu ons in working with governments to empower youths in ci es across Africa with tech skills.
So, when I grew older, I realized I wanted to be in consulting or something like that. I wanted to be able to solve practical business problems with my insights. That’s really how it all started.I really admire great brands, and I’ve always loved helping customers discover remarkable products built for them.
I was quite fortunate to start early enough, and I decided to focus on Brand and Marketing as a discipline. It’s the best decision I’ve made.
Tell us about the various organizations to which you provide your services. And how do they benefit from your services and expertise?
Our company, GrowthMax Africa, has worked with over a 100 brands locally and outside Africa. Some of the notable names include Cordros Capital, Coven Works, Inc., Azapay, Meristem Nigeria and a host of other businesses.
Some of the services we provide for our diverse clients often include managing full marketing campaigns, product launches and Goto Market projects, brand activation campaigns, digital transformation campaigns, amongst others.
The results we’ve helped our clients achieve are truly astounding. For some, we’ve grown revenue by more than 50% year on year. For some, we’ve also achieved customer acquisition growth of more than 2000%. We’ve also managed some high-impact brand and tech empowerment projects for Oyo State and Plateau State Governments.
Damilare, in your opinion, what are the current challenges that start-up’s are facing in the African region? And how do you think the start-up market will shape up in the coming years?
Great question. There are many challenges African startup’s have to deal with. I’ll try to focus on just two of these.
First, there’s a huge talent problem in Africa currently. I understand that both established businesses and startups are confronted by this, but the impact is felt mostly by startups that desperately need the talent to grow. This is especially true in the core technology and product marketing spectrums.
The second and perhaps most critical challenge most African startups face is what we describe as the “ProductMarket-Fit” problem. This is super important because you can’t successfully scale a product, no matter how great it is, beyond a certain level if you don’t achieve PMF. One of the ways this can be solved is by building a brand that resonates with the audience your product is built for, such that you’re able to attract them to your product as effortlessly as possible. Think about organic growth at an exponential level.
And about how the start-up market will shape up in the coming years? We should anticipate massive market expansion. There are several industries that will be disrupted by unprecedented technology, from healthcare to finance and transportation. We’re in exciting times, and Africa is ready.
In your view, how is modern technology enabling African businesses to reach and provide for the worldwide industry efficiently? And in what ways is technology helping your current organizations?
Technology is enabling businesses in Africa to scale more efficiently than ever before. From providing a viable source of tech talent for the global tech economy, to increasingly democratizing access to finance and venture capital, technology is helping African startups in ways we’ve never imagined.
Most of our clients are fully tech-driven businesses in diverse sectors. We’re able to help some of our clients’ scale and reach new markets through e-commerce solutions. For some others, we collaboratively build and launch products with teams halfway across the world. In fact, our entire business is mostly powered and driven by proprietary tech tools and resources.
Share with us the major professional challenges you have faced in your professional journey. And what lesson did you learn from them to become an influential leader?
This is very insightful. A major challenge I had to work through earlier on was getting African businesses to see the value of building a brand. Most people think that all there is to branding is logos and colors. But there’s so much more.
When I started out many years ago, there were very few brand experts in Nigeria. So, it was tough to really get businesses to see value in the services we provided. But over time, from our efforts at educating the entire business community through diverse means, the situation improved, and it’s much better today as we’re fully maximizing the benefits of the knowledge economy. An important lesson I learned from this is being able to understand that markets mature overtime. And this is true for most industries.
As an experienced leader, what advice would you like to give to aspiring entrepreneurs and enthusiasts who wish to venture into the competitive industry that you are serving?
Do your homework. Get some success under your belt early enough. Iterate and improve faster than the industry. That’s how you win!
The results we’ve helped our clients achieve are truly astounding. For some, we’ve grown revenue by more than 50% year on year. For some, we’ve also achieved customer acquisi on growth of more than 2000%.
Where do you see yourself in the future? Also, how do you envision scaling your business operations and outreach in the coming years?
We hope to be able to build GrowthMax Africa into a leading full-service digital agency that serves clients across the globe. Our mission is simple: to help our clients win in cluttered markets. We hope to do this for the biggest brands in Africa and beyond in the coming years.
I’m also personally interested in the future of marketing, especially leveraging future tech. We have a handful of new products in the works that we hope to launch soon to help brands win in super competitive markets. So, let’s keep our fingers crossed.
n the recent times of the digital age, technology has
I been a boom in every industry. Businesses get more audiences by paving a different path to get attention through relatable engagement, which aids in increasing the communal interactivity of the brand. Thus, to initiate a brand, it is important to have a well thought setting up of brand identity. Having user-friendly content makes the brand more prominent among the other brands in a unique way.
With emerging times, the necessity of branding has become an extensive reaching point for brand identity. The evolution of the brand along with digital platforms has taken a hype holding for the bigger piece of the slice.
Let’s slide through some of the hacks which contribute to evolving into a better version and showcase a solitary identity of the brand:
A Brand logo unwraps obvious visual cues about its identity. It allows people to make a receptive judgment about the brand and its products. It broadcasts the brand’s transparency, reliability, and even more in exchange for the generalized belief of its services and offerings.
A customized logo gives the brand a recognizable presence amidst the competition. Creating a personalized logo
portrays a specified identification throughout the digital platform. Thus, making a user-friendly logo is a must while working on enhancing brand identity.
People consider a brand seriously when the founders try to picture their brand with its founders or feature a person in the spotlight. To do that, the brand needs to get professional headshots.
Be it the brand’s social media display picture, guest post, author bio, or brand bio, do invest time and money into it. The quality of the photo isn’t what people consider, but it revamps how the company has positioned the brand in a picture.
When it comes to branding, the first impression is the last. It does make a difference in how the consumers perceive it as a brand. If a brand wants to win the hearts of its customers, it does amply how approachable and friendly it appears. A picture with a smile does work wonders than a frown or a poker face anytime. Professionally shot photos do hold an impact when it comes to brand identity.
Many personal brands do make a presentable approach without a specific tagline, but it does not work with
professional brands. Coming up with a catchy tagline does have a memorable impact on its consumers. Brands do pioneer and manage to set themselves apart early on with an upbeat tagline.
Given the competition in the digital world, the tagline needs to have a personal touch with its relevant and honest connection with its audience based on the interests, expertise, and values it throws light on. Take extra effort to make it self-explanatory and simple for people to remember thoroughly.
Along with headshots and taglines, well-researched content is another crucial aspect of a brand. The level of professionalism a brand provides to the respective clients with its valuable information in the form of content is equally important.
Offering well-researched and organized content is an important part of the marketing process while swaying decisions in the brand’s favor. It is crucial because a study suggests 81% of decision-makers consider research conducted by the vendor to discuss the project. Also, it needs to be presented in bite-sized information delivered through infographics and videos rather than detailed blogs.
One way to convey the message of your brand could be done effectively through an emotional connection with the audience. Connect can be established through storytelling involving a personal story of the brand’s foundation. Narrate how the brand got where it is and why the brand does things a certain way. Throw light on a turning point that leads the brand to the way it is currently.
The challenges and struggles the brand faced before it came into existence and testimonials of people who have been a part of the struggle and paved the brand’s way through it. Engagingly convey that journey with additional social proof that to win people’s trust
It is nearly impossible to grow a brand organically without social media, and efforts were taken with a ton of patience. To impose a bigger impact, investing in advertising would do it. Social media serve the best to do the same while
targeting high campaigns to go through and reach the right type of audience.
People who see the adverts are probably the ones who are most likely interested in the services. Promoting some posts on Facebook and running ad shares. One can even remarket people who have already shown interest in similar brands and engage with your content or by diverting people to visit the brand’s website.
With the aid of technology and social media, people have changed the way they appreciate and expand their networks. The social media platforms like Twitter have achieved more exposure than other platforms. The chat feature provides an incredible channel to network with its corresponding audience to cater to influential experts in the industry. It strengthens the brand and its mission to gain more audience. Take initiative to introduce a specific hashtag and let others follow and promote it socially. Participate in chats that are relevant to a brand’s niche and interests.
These are the creative hacks that help grow a brand’s identity and grow exponentially. These hacks need time and effort, while others require a financial investment. Proper and careful planning can help you take your brand to new heights with the help of technology and its advancements, making a user-friendly impact.
Bconsistent need to find the most relevant partnerships to grow their business. The Internet is the best and quickest way to fulfill these collaboration requirements. Therefore, having a carefully built digital presence is a must for every business to be open to the world of opportunities.
e it a brand, an agency, or an individual, all have a
search for projects, how companies send RFPs, and how people consume online content. The global surge in remote work and the digital transformation made B2B marketplaces like ours become more than just a trend – they became a necessity.”
The best strategy to get quickly found in the crowded online marketplace is to get the business or agency listed on a digital platform that is credible, honours quality, and consistently works towards connecting clients with one another as and when needed. One digital platform that has it all to help clients create their unique identities in order to effectively collaborate with one another is DesignRush .
It is a B2B marketplace that connects brands with agencies. The platform has fifteen thousand plus verified listings of full-service agencies, web designers, digital marketing firms, and tech companies. Along with listings, DesignRush also provides content that is currently trending in the market or relevant to your consumers’ needs in text and video formats.
We had the opportunity to interview DesignRush’s growthfocused General Manager, Gianluca Ferruggia, where he discussed with us detailed insights about the company’s services. Along with this, he also shared his views on the changing trends in the digital content market.
Let’s get to know more about DesignRush, its specialized offerings, and more about the content industry through the following story.
DesignRush is a B2B Marketplace connecting businesses with agencies. Speaking about the inspiration behind the foundation of the company, Mr. Ferruggia shares, “Since our inception in 2017, we have seen a shift in how agencies
“We decided to cater to this growing need by offering more services to provide what we call ‘a digital community’ for agencies and businesses worldwide.”
DesignRush produces diverse content to support various features and services on the website, primarily:
Agency Directory: Businesses looking for the right agency partner can browse the list of service providers expertly curated by DesignRush. They can filter them by location and area of expertise or sort them by reviews, team size, budget, and hourly rates.
QuickSights: Video is taking over the content space, and DesignRush is aware of this trend. That’s why it has created QuickSights videos — bite-sized content that features exclusive interviews or information available on its platform.
Online content gets more personalized and targeted by the day. It is, therefore, the most effec ve way to build a connec on with customers.
Mr. Gianluca Ferruggia, the General Manager of DesignRush, entered the digital marketing industry after studying Business Management with Marketing at a British university. His career started at a leading marketing agency in the UK before venturing on his own. After that, he had the opportunity to work on DesignRush and has been with the team since then.
According to Mr. Ferruggia, DesignRush’s success boils down to having like-minded experts who pull their weight in to push the company forward. He believes that “building content is not linear. It involves a lot of departments, and being able to work together, despite the challenges of remote work, is critical.”
Best Design Awards : By recognizing some of the best designs worldwide, agencies garner industry exposure, and clients receive information that will guide them in deciding which agencies to partner with based on the quality of its work.
And finally, Spotlight: The company brings the latest and hottest news from global agencies, Fortune 500 industry leaders, and the trending topics in business, marketing, and technology. In Spotlight are exclusive interviews, brand features, and industry news, including informational content spanning from complete guides to in-depth pieces on relevant B2B content.
The importance of engaging content across online media is growing every day. Sharing his opinion on why engagement-worthy content is necessary for modern businesses, Mr. Ferruggia states, “As reported by We Are Social and Hootsuite, globally, people spend an average of seven hours online. So, if you’re not constantly building and producing content to engage your customers, chances are they will forget about you or move on to more visible brands, to say the least.”
He adds, “Online content gets more personalized and targeted by the day. It is, therefore, the most effective way to build a connection with customers.”
To help clients’ businesses stay relevant and buzzing on digital platforms, DesignRush builds content based on two factors. They are: “What our audiences are looking for and what we provide. These two help us identify what needs to be communicated to our audience,” highlights Mr. Ferruggia.
Discussing examples, he shares, “Do we see a growing demand for web developers? Sure, here’s our list of the top agencies in 2022. Did Google update its algorithms? Here’s an article on what you can expect. In a rush to find the right agency for your project? Here’s how we can help. And the list goes on.”
Technology is becoming a core part of every company. At DesignRush, the latest technology solutions are implemented to enhance its operations and offerings as well. Speaking of the importance of technology for the
company, Mr. Ferruggia says, “As a remote workforce, our bouts with technology can’t be overstated. Our whole work process relies on stable devices and internet connections. Our team is no stranger to Zoom meetings, Teams notifications, and the like.”
“To further improve our online collaborations, we use project management tools like ClickUp. Having so helps us stay on track with different projects and publish content as scheduled,” adds Mr. Ferruggia.
Although one may encounter a sea of content all over the internet every moment, some unique challenges exist in the industry. If not dealt with expertise, they could limit a company’s growth. Mr. Ferruggia explains the challenges in the content creation space, and says, “For starters, making your content stand out in a sea of similar pieces published daily is challenging. We need to optimize for the right keywords based on the topic and search intent, among others. We’ve worked hard to get our domain rating to where it is now, so ranking on the top SERPs is possible for the keywords we’re aiming for.”
The next challenge within the industry, according to him, would be ensuring that content is unique and provides more value than competitors. He underlines that “You don’t need to constantly reinvent the wheel regarding content, but there’s no winning formula. Proper research, content format, timing, etc., all go together to ensure your content works as intended.”
Speaking about the current trends in the content industry, Mr. Ferruggia states, “As mentioned previously, video is taking over the content space. If Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts are any indication, people want their content in a jiffy while being engaging.”
It’s why DesignRush started doing QuickSights videos, and it’s proven to be a hit. “We are only getting started and developing more content to leverage this medium,” emphasizes Mr. Ferruggia.
For agencies that want to share their insights and expertise on specific topics, DesignRush offers exclusive video content creation services based on their needs and market trends.
“Within one month, the article attracted around 200 users to our site. They were mainly from industries we hadn’t worked with before. And the main project we got was 25k USD. Winning the Best Design Award, alongside the rest of our marketing action plan, has supported reaching our KPIs. We got access to a new pool of clients we wouldn’t have reached otherwise. We find the exposure and generated traffic valuable for the SEO and the Agency.” - Kattalin Idarreta, Marketing Director at Lift Agency
“We enjoy working with DesignRush whose dedicated team has helped us to effectively promote our agency.”
- Robert Laplante, CEO and Founder of Workshop Built
“The quality of developers that were recommended by them [was] by far the best ones.” - Sakshi Sodhi, Senior Technical Assistance Advisor at EduFinance
Sharing the years of expertise to guide the aspiring entrepreneurs of the industry, Mr. Ferruggia advises, “Know your audience. You can produce the most expensive video or write the most in-depth article, but your efforts will be futile if they don’t meet your audience’s needs and expectations.”
Therefore, he says, “Knowing whom to target is critical in starting a media venture. Who are you talking to, and what are they looking for? Your content should cater to that, primarily.”
DesignRush is experiencing rapid growth, not just in the pieces of content the company produces but also in the services it provides. For the next phase of the company’s growth, Mr. Ferruggia says, “We aim to build a digital community where businesses and agencies can thrive. We have a lot of projects in the pipeline, and we wouldn’t spoil them for you. But rest assured, you’ll see more of DesignRush online.”
Online presence has become one of the most significant requirements for businesses worldwide.
To target potential customers who might be interested in its brands, a company needs to build strong and compelling online content on various social media platforms, websites, and blogs, ultimately building up the brand identity.
In addition, the more usable and interactive your digital content is, the more it improves your brand's search engine result page (SERP) rankings and its value. However, building a digital marketing strategy is not an easy task. It demands years of experience and detailed insights into how digital business works.
For initiating a 360-degree online marketing campaign, businesses need to hire agencies that have experience and expertise in content creation and social media management.
To help businesses increase conversions from digital marketing efforts, Social Media 55 was established.
This company provides digital marketing services like omnichannel content creation, social media marketing, website design and development, SEO, AdWords, and many more. It enables businesses to efficiently present their brand in front of their target audience.
At the helm of Social Media 55's award-winning services is its experienced and visionary CEO, Joseph Rothstein
Let's explore more insights about the company's journey that made it an impact-making digital marketing agency.
Founded in 2014, Social Media 55 is an award-winning full-service digital marketing agency. With a decade of experience in the space, Social Media 55 is inspired to help
businesses focus on what they are great at while leaving the content creation and distribution to its specialist team.
" Through helping businesses one at a time, we decided to brand and offer our service and strategy to the world," says Joseph. Social media platforms played an instrumental role in the company's foundation. They helped it discover businesses without the bandwidth and knowledge to run these social channels effectively so it could offer them its services.
Social Media 55's team believes in creating compelling digital marketing strategies for clients' businesses. The content provided by the company enables its clients to efficiently share their brand's message with their consumers.
" Our five core services have one common denominator, and that's content," underlines Joseph. These services are Web Design & Development, Social Media Management, Social Media Advertising, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and Google AdWords.
Having a true talent is essential to delivering quality websites that function and index in the right places.
Joseph Rothstein is the CEO of Social Media 55. He founded the company in 2014. The initial strategy to start providing service was to offer a 30-day free trial. This allowed the executive team to build a book of business right out of the gate.
The company's retention from free trials to converting them into paying clients was roughly an 80% success rate through its first year in operation. This allowed the company to work on over 100 different files. It provided Social Media 55's team with the means to create a wonderful portfolio where they had a track record and were no longer the new kids in town.
Joseph Rothstein was absolutely relentless when it came to building up Social Media 55's online presence, from social media following to news articles and everything in between. By the middle of 2017, Joseph and Social Media 55 dug so deep that they had finally hit gold. The company was being revered as a leader in the industry, which was triggering businesses from all over to reach out in hopes of working with it.
The pandemic did not slow the company's progress; in fact, it did quite the opposite. "We entered into an age where businesses needed to play catch up, and Social Media 55 was in the driver's seat leading the charge like a champion Formula One driver ," notes Joseph.
Joseph Rothstein CEO Social Media 55Managing content for social channels can often be a daunting and disorganized task. But Social Media 55 has been able to save the day with the assistance of social media management software, HeyOrca!
It supports the agency for the purposes of populating content in a monthly calendar and providing access to its clients. This allows clients to view, request edits, or simply make edits immediately, all from a simple link.
The agency believes in creating balanced content in such a way that it instantly catches consumers' attention. CEO Joseph says, " Developing strong visual content is vital to capturing the attention of viewers instantly."
The next most important factor for the agency is making sure the copy complements the visuals that are being presented. "We believe in having unity between both the copy and the creatives in order to capture and retain the reader's attention," adds Joseph.
Creating appealing and informative content has become one of the most important factors for businesses in their marketing and sales efforts. Talking about the importance of content for today's business, Joseph tells us, "We are in a digital world, and we are only moving forward. Content is being consumed at an incredibly fast pace, so it's crucial to develop compelling content that people receive as an added value."
He further points out, "Original content is crucial because re-purposing or copy-pasting is simply not going to cut it. It's simply a quick way to get sent to the bottom of the list."
Commenting on effective communication, Joseph highlights that "Accurate and effective content will help deliver the messages that your company is trying to get across ." He notes, "It is also going to be indexed in search engines and allow people to find you and access more information about your business and the services or products you offer."
Additionally, he says, "Content creation and distribution allow you to open the global gates to your business and welcome in people from all walks of life, places you've never heard of, and people you could not have otherwise reached.”
" The software makes our lives easier, and the clients have received it well. This also allows for our agency to keep control in the hands of the company that hired us without them needing to do much heavy lifting," Joseph marks.
Furthermore, he put, "Using applications like Slack allows our team to communicate and work with each other quickly and efficiently. That being said, the applications we choose to undertake at Social Media 55 provide a great amount of efficiency and convenience."
Content creation has become highly competitive, and the way people consume content is changing rapidly. What used to be simple articles and copy is now video, podcasts, and live streaming, which is occupying more people's attention and forcing content creators to take an omnichannel approach to content creation.
Social Media 55 believes in not only having written content like a blog but supporting it with social media posts, both written and visual. In addition to this, Joseph says, "We are strong believers in the endorsement. Having other venues promoting your work and bringing over their audience is another way to stay innovative and capture a larger audience.”
Benjamin Ohayon, the VP of Operations, has been leading the charge with the expansion of the company's video production and editing department. Benjamin has been with Social Media 55 and is one of the original founders.
With eight years of experience at Social Media 55, Benjamin has been able to forecast the company's needs and the client's desire for video production early on. Through his expert contribution, the company has been able
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to hit the ground running over the past few years with the development of corporate videos, product videos, and more.
Social Media 55's team sees incredible opportunity in the content and strength of a business website, which is why it is still quite driven in this sector. Bret Johnson is the VP of Web Design & Development at the company. He has been building some of the country's leading sites for well over a decade. "Having a true talent is essential to delivering quality websites that function and index in the right places," underlines the core management of Social Media 55.
Many professionals aspire to be in the content creation space. Establishing a successful startup comes down to an entrepreneur's passion and drive. Providing his valuable input for the aspirants in the content industry, Joseph says, " A successful business comes from discovering an effective path and going for it relentlessly."
He puts, "You may not discover the most optimal ways at first, but if you put the pedal to the metal and you do research and discover ways to improve, you will eventually get there."
Another great way to gain experience is by going and working for an agency like ours, so you may strengthen your ability to see what works and what doesn't," adds Joseph.
He marks, "The power of knowledge will save you time and money, so getting an education in it from hands-on experience in the industry is the best way to get started. Learn from others and find your path to success."
For its growth plans, the team of Social Media 55 has put more focus as an agency on servicing enterprise-sized businesses. The experience that the agency has enables it to perform at the level of Fortune 500 companies.
This has allowed its team to expand, along with Social Media 55. They are able to offer a larger array of digital marketing and creative services. "As we expand, we will continue to open offices in as many major cities across North America," concludes Joseph.
