Recently, I did an interview with Chris Otten of BoomTown, a Charleston, South Carolina-based software company that offers a digital marketing system for real estate professionals. Chris and BoomTown have been Yext Certified Partners since August 2013, and he was kind enough to chat with me for a little while about his experience as a YCP.
AARTHI: So, tell me a little bit about your business!
CHRIS: BoomTown is a real estate marketing platform that’s custom-fit to brokerages and their markets. From lead generation, to customized websites and a state-of-the art customer relationship management system (CRM), we provide all the tools, in one system, to help agents build a better business. I work with the inbound marketing team, providing marketing services to clients who register for this offering, and that includes: local search, social media management, content marketing, public relations, on-site optimizations, and media outreach.
How did you hear about Yext?
We actually had a client mention Yext to us, and that put it on our radar. We looked into it, as we needed a process that scaled to all 40-50 of our clients, as well as a way to have BoomTown listed correctly across the board. The Yext Certified Partner program included a listing for our own brand, and the service as a whole really addressed our pain points. Another compelling feature is the ability to sign up clients as needed rather than on an annual basis.
What was it that sold/convinced you Yext Partnership was the right choice?
The tipping point was that we could scale across all clients without using a process that took months and months. I’d been handling listings and citation management myself before, manually, and it had taken months. After we were certified, it took less than three weeks to have everything taken care of quickly and seamlessly. Managing everything manually was taking far too long, so it was a relief to have this taken care of so I could move on to more important things.
Have you checked out the YCP community/blog yet?
Actually, we have one of the articles — the one about converting a Google Places page to a Google+ Local page — bookmarked. We referred to this article when we had difficulty converting a client over to the new Google+.
What’s your favorite thing about being a Partner?
We have two favorite things: One, that we’re able to to add and remove clients as needed. (since some of our clients have varying needs), and two, if I have any problems or questions, the response time, whether from Benn or support, is really fast.
Do you have any wishlist features for Yext?
The one wish I have is for social data in the social tab, similar to what HootSuite offers, such as the ability to see where followers are from, action taken on posts, things like that — comprehensive social analytics! I am sure if this were available, people could consolidate the number of tools they use, and save some time and hassle.
Is there anything you’d like to tell the other partners or potential partners?
Yext has definitely helped us become more efficient and streamlined, so we can spend more time focusing on other client needs.