A Look Back at 2014 from Metacake’s Front Porch

As we look back at 2014 and wipe the sweat from our collective brows, we realize what a big year it has been at Metacake.

While 2013 was spent defining the Metacake brand, 2014 has been about developing and executing that brand.

With a defined brand identity in tow, we were able to focus on building our customer base, expanding our marketing reach, and developing our joint ventures…all while continuing to create delicious digital products and maintaining an excellent level of client service.

Accomplishing all that was a lot of hard work, and we couldn’t have done it without growing our team. We added a CMO, a dedicated sales team, additional designers and developers, and a stellar project manager. With this new expanded team, there is no end to what Metacake can accomplish in 2015.

Michelin Star Quality

We’ve worked to build a strong foundation for a scalable business that will help us deliver even better products and services in the future. Between growing the service-side of Metacake and expanding our venture products, 2015 is shaping up to be an exciting year.

With the addition of our new project manager and the growth our project teams, the service business now runs with the precision and creativity of a Michelin star restaurant. New concepts, new techniques and animated brainstorming sessions abound in the Metacake headquarters. And the result? Our creations are more beautiful and effective than ever before.

Our venture products are also starting to take on lives of their own, deserving dedicated resources to foster their development and propel them into their next stage of growth. With products in industries from real estate (Zuzsa) to telecommunications technology (eSupport) to wine (yes, wine!), these Metacake ventures are game changers. Be on the lookout for a couple more of these products releasing publicly in 2015!

Changes to the Marketing Landscape

There are two opportunities in particular that we are excited our clients are beginning to take hold of this year which will have a huge impact on their businesses.

First, more companies are recognizing the importance of – and investing in – their customer experience.

Delivering the best possible user experience is at the core of what we do at Metacake. It’s simple, if you focus on giving the customer the best experience possible, you will be successful. The concept is elementary, but executing is a completely different story. A big part of this is getting beyond fluff and vanity metrics – stuff that has little value – and understanding the truly important and actionable data for your business. More thoughts on this concept here: How to Make Better Marketing Decisions Using Data.

Focusing on what’s best for the customer is good for everybody, but creating the best possible experience for your users is not straightforward. It’s an iterative process. Enter conversion rate optimization, the second opportunity our clients are beginning to take advantage of.

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is incredibly valuable. However, to be honest, convincing our clients to spend money on conversion optimization historically has been like pulling teeth.

Even with measurable results that demonstrated the money spent on optimization returned its value ten-fold, there was push back and a continual preference for more traditional marketing efforts – brand awareness campaigns, search engine optimization, and content marketing.

While those marketing efforts maintain their value, conversion rate optimization is the surefire way to make all of your marketing efforts more effective and increase ROI across the board.

Through A/B testing (also known as split testing), you can test your theories about what the best user experience for your customers is and measure the results. With insight into which exact changes to your site create an uptick, your conversion rate is sure to rise over time. it’s pure science. You won’t hit the ball out of the park with every test, but you’d be surprised at how simple changes to your site may results in big wins.

This year our clients are beginning to get onboard with CRO, and we could not be more excited.

Thank You.

We’re very grateful that Metacake has been able to take a major step forward in 2014. For that, we thank our clients, readers, business partners, families, friends and the Metacake team.

It may sound cliché, but we’re psyched about what lies ahead in 2015. We hope you’ll stick with us because it should be a fun ride.