Enhancing Digital Capabilities: My Partnership with Strategic America
In 2014, eWay Corp partnered with Strategic America, a full-service advertising agency based in West Des Moines, IA, known for its expertise in public relations, digital marketing, and creative solutions. This collaboration allowed Strategic America to expand its digital service offerings without the need to hire additional resources for individual projects. Over the years, we have worked on a variety of projects ranging from simple website builds to fully integrated applications, managing an average of 2-3 projects at different stages of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). As agency partners, we white-labeled our services, providing valuable insights during the sales and discovery phases, and working directly with their clients throughout the development, debugging, and deployment stages.
One of the main challenges we faced was adapting to Strategic America’s initial preference for in-person meetings. This was particularly challenging before the widespread adoption of remote work. However, after the first year, they began allowing remote participation, which significantly improved our working relationship. Another challenge was the need for our project managers to present as a fully onshore team while utilizing offshore resources. This required our PMs to have a strong technical understanding to confidently answer client questions. We implemented a backchannel system that allowed developers to provide real-time support during meetings, ensuring smooth and effective communication.
Our partnership with Strategic America has been mutually beneficial. By leveraging our technical expertise, they increased their digital business tenfold in the first year, offering a broader range of services to their clients. This collaboration also positioned eWay Corp as a leader in white-label digital services within the digital marketing industry. Regular communication and transparent project management were key to our success, allowing us to deliver high-quality results consistently. This framework has proven effective and has been applied to other marketing agency partnerships, further enhancing our ability to deliver exceptional digital solutions collaboratively.