In 2015, Walk West was a small shop with big goals. I signed on to support an emerging business leader, Brian Onorio, in building a technology-driven digital agency focused on building experiential connections that drive business outcomes. We have walked alongside our clients delivering solutions in the area of branding, web design, content development, and search optimization. Our clients have rewarded us with a firm that has tripled in growth over the last 24 months.
How can we do more?
In 2016, we identified actions to increase the value of our offerings: we added a government & public affairs practice to enhance digital advocacy, our new strategy practice provides research for customers to make more informed choices, we created stronger diversity in our leadership and moved our offices to NCSU Centennial Campus to strengthen our access to innovation as we embark on technology products.
How can we do more?
In 2017, winning firms will be be determined by how quickly one moves from who you are today to what you need to become. Our merger with Greenroom Communications adds proven capabilities in video production, social media management, and offerings for executive communication. We are confident that we can do more through video. Smart leaders will agree that video production and storytelling are business critical elements that allow firms to deliver more value in marketing initiatives.
Here are a few reasons we feel our new capabilities will move the needle for our clients:
- 22% of U.S. small businesses plan to post a video in next 12 months
- 33% of all online activity is spent watching video
- 50% of executives look for more info after seeing a video
- 64% of users are more likely to buy after watching a video
- 75% of executives watch work videos on business websites weekly
- 80% increase in conversion when video included in a landing page
- 90% of users say that product videos are helpful in decision process
- 92% of mobile video users share videos with others
- 96% of B2B organizations use video in marketing campaigns
- 200% increase in clickthrough rate in email marketing with video
Source: Video Facts
As a partner and executive chairman for Walk West, I am focused on building a firm that has enduring success. Greenroom was founded in 2008 and that staying power is impressive. The experienced TV news veterans that founded the firm, Penn and Kim Holderness and Sharon McCloud have built a team of producers, videographers, editors, writers, media trainers, presentation coaches and digital marketing experts that bring unmatched skills to deliver client success everyday. To me, the cultural fit between the firms was evident because the stories they tell highlight the human factor of each brand, regardless of the medium. Clients trust them to take big risks to achieve big things and so do we. I’d like to welcome Greenroom Communications to Walk West. The addition of Greenroom has answered the question, “how can we do more for client success?” and I am honored they have chosen to join the Walk West team.
