Room 214 teaches companies Internet marketing

BOULDER – From a warehouse in North Boulder, marketing firm Room 214 Inc. helps companies use the Internet to build their businesses.

With clients ranging from Molson Coors Brewing Co. to Centura Health, the agency is preparing to expand into an additional 750 square feet of space at its current location.

Founded in 2004 by James Clark and Jason Cormier, Room 214 speaks the language of cyberspace – search engine optimization and social media marketing. It also speaks the language of chief executives – metrics, accountability and return on investment.

Since 2004 Room 214’s revenues have grown 1,847 percent – from $38,000 to $740,000. It is the top ranked fastest-growing private company with revenues less than $2 million on the Boulder County Business Report’s Mercury 100 list.

Brian Cerra, vice president of Best Promotions Inc. and a Room 214 client since 2005, said the company spearheaded a redesign of his company’s e-commerce Web site. “They helped us identify what was important for our business,” he said. “We put our money there and ignored other things. We spent less and got more. We doubled our sales.”

Cerra was impressed with the expertise of Room 214 staff.

“It’s like witchcraft. They’re always on top of the new things happening on the Internet,” he said.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc., an industry analyst , said Internet marketing is fundamental for most companies. In a recent report, it declared “the online channels are no longer emerging – they’re mainstream.”

Room 214 helps clients attain high rankings on Web searches.

“We can’t guarantee that our clients will land on the first page of the results of a Google search, but we can do a lot to affect ranking. The perception is that if you’re high on the search results, you’re good at what you do,” Cormier said.

Unlike Internet marketing firms that focus solely on search engine rankings, Room 214 also helps translate visibility into sales. The firm executes online advertising and promotions along with social media campaigns using online opinion journals (blogs), online audio programs (podcasts) and other technologies through which people share ideas, videos and news.

With Room 214’s Web analytics, clients know when clicks become sales. “On the Internet you can measure everything,” Cormier said.

Companies can also transfer knowledge acquired in each campaign to other kinds of online marketing. Key words that work in a paid online advertising, for example, reappear in podcasts.

Marketing executives in a variety of industries welcome the focus on metrics. Most of those who responded to a survey conducted by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, a California-based professional association, said that quantifying and measuring the value of their programs is their top challenge in 2007.

Cormier said companies need to embrace really simple syndication, or RSS, which allows users to select feeds from a variety of Web sites. Information may appear as a video, a press release, an article, a change in a Web site’s content, a blog or a podcast.

Users view updates through readers rather than e-mail messages – a critical fact since spam and spam filters have drastically reduced the effectiveness of e-mail as a marketing tool.

Cormier said journalists increasingly expect companies to provide timely information via RSS feeds rather than e-mail messages or Web site postings.

In addition, RSS is important to businesses because the Internet provides a worldwide megaphone for disgruntled customers and shareholders. Reporters as well as prospective customers and investors monitor self-appointed and influential critics who voice their opinions via RSS-based blogs.

If a company produces a press release that sugarcoats the results of a customer survey or news about a product defect, journalists can easily find an articulate, credible and dissatisfied buyer.

Cormier said a company can distinguish itself from its competition by using RSS. He believes RSS will be a business necessity within two years.

Room 214 initially experimented with a piecemeal approach to Internet marketing, but it has moved to packaged offerings and nine-to-12-month engagements.

“We know what works,” Cormier said. “Whether you’re going on a two-day camping trip or a two-week expedition, if you don’t have the fundamentals in your pack, it’s not going to be a good experience.”

Cormier said Room 214 exceeded its revenue goals by 70 percent the first year, 100 percent the second year and is on track to make its goal this year.

Room 214 anticipates hiring additional staff. Cormier said the company wants employees who already read or write blogs and listen to podcasts. “It makes their insights and viewpoints authentic. They can spot trends, help us stay on the cutting edge and anticipate what’s coming next,” he said. Quarterly profit sharing is a significant part of employees’ compensation package.

The company name, which refers to the dormitory room the founders shared during their first year at Colorado State University, has taken on mythic qualities. As it happens, the fabled Harvard Media Room is also Room 214.

About Room 214

Room 214 Inc.

4949 Broadway, Suite 103

Boulder, CO 80304

303-444-9214

http://www.room214.com

James Clark and Jason Cormier,

co-founders and managing partners

Employees: 8

Primary business: Internet-based marketing

Year founded: 2004

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