To help you learn more about One Firefly, an NSCA Member Advisory Councilmember and marketing agency, we asked One Firefly CFO Taylor Whipple a few quick questions.
Q: What do our members need to know about One Firefly?
A: We’re a full-service marketing agency that has been in business since 2007, but we built our business on industry expertise. We have a team of 75+ marketing experts who work only with technology professionals, and we continue to grow rapidly as integrators see the value in marketing investments. As an Inc. 5000 company, we actively manage marketing for more than 500 customers every single month.
We’re also an Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) company, which aligns with how many integrators choose to run their businesses as well. This means that we follow a set of simple concepts and practical tools to clarify, simplify, and achieve our vision.
Q: What types of services do you provide to NSCA members?
A: We hear stories from many customers who have used other marketing agencies in the past and became frustrated because those agencies didn’t understand the business or how integrators operate.
Although we specialize in digital, we do print as well—anything from blogging and websites to SEO and paid search like Google Ads and social media. We customize specific solutions for our customers.
One of the unique offerings we bring is our ability to monitor live chat. When someone interacts with the chat widget on our customer’s website, they’re talking to a real person—not AI or a robot. Millions of dollars flow through these chat bubbles, and it’s so fun to watch.
Nothing that we do is cookie-cutter because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. We can also provide guidance in terms of where to get started. When integrators need marketing help, they don’t always know where to start. Part of that process includes us kicking off a conversation to learn more about their business, where they’re trying to grow, and who they’re trying to reach so we can craft a very strategic plan that’s optimized to meet those goals.
Q: What types of organizations do you work with?
A: We’ve done work with major manufacturers on a corporate level, and we’ve done work with one- or two-man operations. Our ideal customer is someone who believes in marketing and who is interested in pursuing this path and wants to grow.
Our principal experience and background are in AV, but we also work with a solid handful of security companies.
Q: What marketing advice do you have for integrators?
A: Marketing investments can be a hedge against what’s to come in the future. For example, if your business is operating really well, and you’re growing at a current pace, it may be tempting to say you don’t need marketing. But that can be the best time to invest—maybe in a long-term strategy with something like blogging or content to improve search rankings. When hard times come, you’ll have online real estate that your competitors don’t because you invested when times were good.
Q: What types of projects do you take on?
A: We’re completely flexible. We do things as small as a few hundred dollars if they only need a few hours or they want to do a quick update to their website. But the best-case scenario is a client who is willing to engage with us on a monthly basis. That’s how they’ll see the best results in the end.