Granite 5 writes:
Well, I think you’ll agree, it’s certainly been a more challenging year than any of us expected when we entered 2020. I couldn’t create a roundup of the year without acknowledging one of the toughest times many of us have seen. One thing I am very proud of though, is to see the resolve and support in businesses and communities alike during this challenging time, which is one positive that has come out during this tough time.
So, looking back on this last year, there have been many highlights for Granite 5.
Team culture
Despite the team adapting to the new remote working environment, I feel we have become much closer as an agency which has allowed us to support our clients even further. The trust amongst departments has been amplified which has been crucial with remote working. Personal development has also always been a focus for the team, but I feel this year we have really taken that up a notch to ensure we have industry leading expertise to support our clients.
Celebrated our 21st Birthday
As many of your will have seen, we turned 21 this year as an agency! As this was such a big milestone, we took the time to reflect on those 21 years from an agency perspective, but also on the industry and how things have changed. Check out the article and timeline here. It’s an interesting read! It certainly took us down memory lane and reminded us of how the industry has changed so much in that time. One thing is for sure, the next 21 years will be full of change, and it will be exciting to see the industry evolve and to be a part of it.
Expansion of the team
Despite a tough economic climate, Granite 5 has continued to expand with the introduction of 3 new specialists into the team. It’s been great to see the team expanding and how this has enabled us to further support our clients.
Internal digital transformation
Like many businesses at the start of the pandemic we were forced to adapt some of our processes to enable business to carry on remotely. This led us to carry out a complete internal digital transformation to find new and innovative ways of making our systems and processes more efficient. I shared details about how we did this in a recent article which you can find here.
During our digital transformation, we also looked at ways to improve our web service offering for clients to provide a more effective website development process that could work for new and existing websites. This is where our Growth Driven Design (GDD) was introduced. We will be sharing more in this in the New Year on how effective this has been to support our clients.
Leadership development
As the MD of Granite 5, I have found it essential to work on my leadership skills during this challenging time to enable me to steer the agency in the right direction, and to provide my team and clients what they need. Clarity on our vision and values as an agency has been even more key during this time to ensure we are all working towards common goals. The introduction of OKR’s and key results for the team have also provided a focus.
HubSpot implementation
Earlier in the year we took the decision to move our CRM and marketing automation functions into one integrated system, HubSpot. This allows us much greater insight into how our marketing infrastructure is working and where to focus our efforts. We are also now a HubSpot partner, which is a great additional service for our clients, as it allows us to support them with integration if they decide to use HubSpot. More on that to come in the New Year!
New Membership organisations
As one of our sector specialties is membership organisations, we are proud this year to have supported three new membership organisations, Association for Nutrition, The Professional Body of Sports Leadership and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine in their digital transformation. We look forward to supporting many more in 2021 and beyond.
Thank you
Finally, I want to thank all our clients, new and existing, who we have worked with this year. We really do appreciate the opportunity to support and help to expand your businesses.
I also feel we have strengthened our relationships with some of our long-standing clients such as The Moller Institute, Brake & Service World, and The Hawks Club, and we look forward to many more years supporting your outstanding businesses.
Have a lovely Christmas and we look forward to all the exciting new projects to come in 2021!