Manifest

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of public relations at the academic medical center of a state university.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Manifest?

We wanted to establish our university’s medical center as a healthcare expert across the country. They assisted us with content marketing efforts in order to boost our brand awareness and reputation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They conducted an audit of our existing materials and strategy before examining how we could reach our target audiences. They then generated blog content and established a paid social strategy.

What is the team composition?

It varied from year to year, but we always had at least 10 people working on our account.

How did you come to work with Manifest?

It was our director of marketing (who has since retired) who selected them. While I’m not aware of the details, I know that we were looking for a company that had experience working with large healthcare organizations.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent more than a million dollars per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in early 2015 and lasted through January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The blogs they generate have seen continued success. For our 2019 fiscal year, our blogs had reached 5.6 million views per year. Our numbers just keep going up, so in this past year, we were at over 9 million views. While we’re no longer working with Manifest, they definitely set us up for success. They helped us launch our online content in a very professional way.

How did Manifest perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent on this front. They were very hands-on and had an excellent approach to project management. We even won an award from the Content Marketing Association. We talked via daily phone calls and Trello, which we used to track project progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

While there was a lot of turnover during the 4 years of our partnership, they maintained a good grasp of our goals and worked to get us the right people. If an important teammate left the company, they were careful to make sure to bring someone else on the account who could fulfill our needs.

They’re also incredibly creative and innovative. They pushed us to look for new ways to do things, which kept us in line with everybody else across the country.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. They aren’t the cheapest, but their delivery was exceptional. Our overall experience was very good.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We worked hard to get to know them to foster a real, long-term partnership. We didn’t just give them work to complete; we welcomed them to get to know what we do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing communications officer for ASAE (American Society of Association Execs). It’s an individual membership organization with roughly 50,000 members worldwide, but primarily in the United States. We are in the development of association management resources to help any association run better.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Manifest?

We needed print work and digital ads, as well as work on our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They help us from a content development perspective, operating as staff from that standpoint. It eases into our editorial staff, and is disseminated through various channels, including a daily newsletter, print magazine, and blogs. They also help with construction of the magazine, and printing is run through them.

What is the team composition?

Eric (President) handles the overall strategy, Ernie (Senior Editor) handles the majority of the digital content development, and there are a few more teammates who work on digital content as well as production.

How did you come to work with Manifest?

They’d worked with us in the past when we were looking to transition from print to digital.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $2.5 million – $3 million on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around January 2015, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Regarding the digital newsletter, it has been highly successful with both open- and click-through rates. More people and quality leads are wanting to receive it, too.

The magazine continues to do well in an age where print is declining—that speaks to the quality of their work. We are happy working with them, and are talking with them about the next phases in digital efforts.

How did Manifest perform from a project management standpoint?

Based on the years we’ve worked with them, they do a good job managing the projects. We’ve never had problems with them being unavailable or unresponsive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are partners in every sense of the word. They bring great solutions to the table, and we can rely on them to give us the best possible opportunities. They’re also very attentive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I feel they need to improve upon.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent about whatever challenges there are, external or internal. In doing so, they can deliver the best possible thinking in the moment.