In the heart of Boston, creative freelancers Katherine Boyarsky and Gabriela Pinto kept running into each other on projects. ‘We had a really good working relationship and loved working together creatively, so we started Datalily in 2017,’ said Boyarsky, Datalily’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Working with B2B SaaS tech companies looking to scale their content marketing efforts, Datalily (formerly CXD Studio) now offers everything from copywriting and content strategy to design to data campaigns, market research and data analysis. The core team of four includes Boyarsky and Pinto, who has stepped up as Chief Creative Officer. They have a freelance support squad of ten to 15, and built their business using Slack. ‘We’re a very small team, so we heavily rely on Slack for all our operations,’ said Finance and Operations Manager Thiago Guimarães.
Datalily, which is remote-first, encourages its team to work in Slack from wherever they are. When talking with freelancers, external partners and clients, the team uses Slack Connect, which brings communications out of siloed inboxes and into Slack channels, allowing them to collaborate securely. ‘Both Katherine and I have used Slack our whole career,’ said Pinto. ‘Every job we had, Slack was the go-to. And if we didn’t have it, we wished we did. So we knew it would help us grow and scale Datalily.’ Boyarsky echoes that sentiment: ‘We’ve been with a lot of our clients from the beginning, and grown together in Slack.’
We work very closely with our clients as partners. With Slack Connect, we can be an extension of their marketing organisation.
Delivering client-centric experiences
To properly manage resources, produce quality work and make informed decisions, Datalily needs to stay on top of details that could potentially get lost in email threads. But with Slack, the team can both seamlessly communicate with each other and give every client white-glove support. ‘When clients need an answer and they see that green dot, they know we’ll respond fast,’ said Boyarsky.
Because they’re a small team, it can be hard for one person to be out of the office. But with Slack, whoever’s there can quickly step in, get the necessary context and help. ‘Let’s say someone requests something from Gabby or Katherine, but they’re not around,’ said Guimarães. ‘I have access to everything in Slack and can immediately answer. It improves the client experience.’
For example, Datalily works with HubSpot on the software company’s annual industry trends report, which might take up to six months. ‘We use Slack for day-to-day communication and to keep things moving forward,’ said Boyarsky. In another instance, Datalily shared a Slack Connect channel with one of its clients as well as that client’s developer agency. ‘That’s two different external partners and the client in one channel, helping us collaborate on a whole new level.’
And when the team needs to access past conversations, projects or data, it’s all at their fingertips. ‘I love the ability to reference Slack along the way, get things done quicker and have it as an index,’ said Guimarães.
They’re also able to seamlessly send work back and forth via Slack, with both clients and freelancers. ‘If there are any questions on the work, we can quickly hash it out in Slack,’ said Pinto. They use threads to stay organised and emoji to gauge reactions. Often, if team members change or new people get involved, project details can get lost in an email thread. ‘But in Slack, anyone can catch up on what’s happening and start contributing more quickly,’ Boyarsky said.
Slack Connect improves our client experience drastically, which is important to our team because we’re small and do a lot of execution, but we’re also consultants.
Accelerating growth and building camaraderie from anywhere
To optimise operations and remain competitive with limited resources, Datalily taps into Slack’s many integrations, from Asana to Bonsai. ‘Integrations save us so much time,’ said Boyarsky. ‘Instead of having to go into another tool, I get my alerts and take action in Slack, then move forward.’
A majority of Datalily’s team and external partners are remote, and Slack helps them to build camaraderie across borders. ‘We’re very flexible in our hours and location, and Slack makes that possible,’ said Boyarsky. ‘If we want to get some fresh air, go to a coffee shop or walk the dog, Slack allows us to easily switch from our computer to our phones.’
Datalily also spends a lot of time in Slack huddles, where they can catch up quickly, collaborate and co-create in real time, via audio or video. ‘We’re in huddles constantly: They save us so much time, and act like our office,’ said Boyarsky. Sometimes they even keep a huddle open when they work remotely. ‘The huddle ability is such a game-changer,’ said Pinto. ‘It’s so easy to just click the button and collaborate.’
From a development perspective, Datalily has used Slack to get new business through small-business communities. ‘There’s one channel called #coffee-talk for chief marketing officers, and we’ve thought about starting a creative community where people can ask questions, post ideas and find new hires,’ said Boyarsky. By tapping into these local networks and forging lasting partnerships, Datalily can accelerate its success with Slack.
‘Between our core team and our external clients and partners, we’re always working from different places, but Slack and Slack Connect bring us all together,’ said Guimarães. ‘We’re able to talk quicker, solve things and have a little fun, which improves morale and makes work better for everyone.’
