Please provide your feedback on how Goodfirms has contributed to increasing your visibility among potential clients.
Justwords has been recognized as one of the top content marketing agencies in India and globally by Goodfirms, over the last few years, and that ranking has helped many brands discover what our services are and help us grow as a brand internationally.
Please introduce your company and describe your role within the organization.
Established in 2010, Justwords is a multiple-award-winning, content-first digital marketing agency. Our approach towards digital marketing is focused heavily on content and SEO and as an agency we have earned a reputation for building top-notch content, and SEO-powered digital growth engines – a process we mastered through 14 years while working with B2B & B2C brands, SMEs, global & Indian brands.
What defines us is our mission of helping businesses do better business through outstanding marketing solutions, and remaining obsessively customer-focused and quality-focused. For more than a decade now, we have been building successful organic content and digital campaigns that lead to online brand visibility, connected audiences, organic traffic, and ROI. Our 100% commitment to customer focus and quality permeates everything we do at Justwords. Overall, we focus on building relationships that last.
I am the founder and CEO, and currently, my efforts are focused on building a global Indian brand.
What inspired the founding of your company, and what is the story behind its inception?
I spent around 7 years in journalism and print media, which helped shape my core understanding about content, and the power it had to impact people’s choices. When I moved to the non-traditional media space, I discovered content formats that were more aligned towards marketing a product. This is what got me thinking – why could content and marketing not be combined to play a role in helping businesses do better business? I was intrigued by the role content could play in marketing. As the world was opening up to online marketing, I sensed there would be a huge requirement in content and marketing. And yet there were very few players who offered content services, and even fewer who understood how to package content for marketing. Content and marketing were still not a thing then. Justwords was started in 2010 to fill this gap – to offer content-driven marketing solutions that could help businesses do better business. This remains our mission to date.
What are the core values and principles that drive your company's culture, and how do you ensure alignment with these values across your team?
These are the 6 core values that form the bedrock of our company’s culture.
- 100% Customer Focus – We take this very seriously. Whatever we do, we try to keep the customer’s interest in mind and aim to deliver a delightful and satisfactory customer experience.
- Commitment to Quality – We are always committed to delivering the highest quality of work, even it means walking the extra mile. This has always differentiated us.
- Continuous Improvement – We believe in never stopping the learning process and make sure we keep asking ourselves – how can we do this better?
- Ethics and Integrity - All do the right thing. The aim is to never compromise on our integrity and ethics.
- Respect and Collaborate: We strongly believe in respecting each other, embracing each other’s differences, and collaborating together as a team.
- Ownership & Fun at Work: We encourage the team to take full ownership of what they do, enjoy what they are doing, and enjoy the workplace.
To make sure these values remain a strong part of our culture, the leadership team makes sure we live by those values first, every day. This has a trickle-down effect throughout the whole system.
Can you highlight some of the key achievements or milestones your company has accomplished since its inception?
During the last 14 years, we have emerged as one of the top content-driven marketing agencies in India, even recognized among global content marketing leaders by Goodfirms. Serving 300-plus clients across the world, we have also won multiple prestigious awards, a testament to the unique and qualitative work we deliver. These are some awards we are extremely proud of –Google Business View Marketing/PR Award (we won this consecutively two years in a row), the international WARC Awards, Content Marketing Leadership Inkspell Awards, ET MSME Best Women Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (2023), Clutch Award for India’s Best Content Marketing Agency (won this consecutively thrice in a row) and of course the Goodfirms badge as on the top content marketing agencies in India, and worldwide.
Could you explain your company's business model? Do you primarily operate with an in-house team or utilize third-party vendors/outsourcing?
Our business model primarily relies on our in-house team, allowing us to maintain high quality and consistency in our projects. Based on what kind of content is ordered, we also do work with content specialists and subject matter experts on a contractual basis. This community of writers is hand-picked and trained by our editorial team meticulously to deliver the content standards we want.
How does your company differentiate itself from competitors in the industry?
Justwords is known in the industry for our commitment to quality. We stand out through the efforts we take to guarantee the quality of work. Right from choosing our team members (we pick the right mix of talent and attitude) and training them for performance excellence, to setting up SOPs and processes and systems (to make sure things are executed according to standard best practices), to going the extra mile in taking care of our clients’ requirement, we make sure there is nothing left to chance when it comes to delivery and the quality.
This quality moat is what differentiate Justwords from other worthy competitors, as well substandard work that floods the market. This is something we have heard from our clients. Customers come to us to experience excellence in content and marketing.
How would you describe the dynamics within your team, and how do you foster collaboration and teamwork to achieve common goals?
Justwords has been one of those places where everyone feels at home. There is comfort, friendliness, and a feeling of belonging. We have had several people who have stayed on with us for a decade. Humility and respect are a part of our culture and that is something that helps foster this environment.
As already mentioned, we believe that the core of any team is respect for each other. This has been a core part of our culture. This is instilled in every team member right from the start. Every senior team leader is encouraged to build and instill the concepts of collaboration, support, teamwork, and respect within his or her team. We continuously keep hammering that we are always stronger as a team hence everyone should embrace the differences with humility and respect.
What measures do you take to support the professional development and growth of your employees? Do you offer training programs or opportunities for skill enhancement?
At Justwords, we are a people-centric organization, and ‘Respect for Individuals’ is one of our six core values, which also include Customer Focus, Personal Commitment to Quality, Continuous Improvement, Ethics & Integrity, Accountability, and Fun at Work. In the fast-evolving digital marketing industry, where change is constant, we emphasize skill enhancement and professional development to ensure our team excels in customer service.
We’ve developed a login-based knowledge portal, the Justwords Collaborative Knowledge Centre (JCKC) at www.justwordstrainings.com. It provides employees access to critical resources like our Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for each service, live industry updates, archived training materials, and a platform for internal knowledge sharing and networking.
At an organizational level, employee development is a priority. Our HR department has a KPI of ensuring at least 10 person-days of training annually for all associates. Additionally, both senior and middle management have 'Training' as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in their evaluations.
We also have a structured Performance Appraisal process, through which promotions and career advancements are determined.
To further enhance employee growth, we conduct an annual employee survey, using the feedback to initiate relevant development actions.
Overall, we are a people-focused, continuously learning, and growth-oriented organization, where we believe that our employees are our greatest assets in delivering top-quality services to our clients.
Could you share a notable success story or case study that exemplifies the impact your company has had on a client's business?
We have multiple examples – but here are a few.
We helped create a content hub for AskNestle, which today drives lakhs in traffic by answering the top nutrition-related questions asked by parents for their kids. Not only did this win the WARC award, but the engagement of this specialist content has been extremely good.
We helped HeroHousing.com, a well-known housing loan company, increase traffic by 219.83% (over a span of 1 year) through a combination of techniques covering topical authority, SEO, and blog marketing. Topic clusters were created relevant to the customers at the top and bottom of the funnel level to drive traffic and leads.
We worked with Hero Fincorp, a leading non-bank financial services company, to grow their traffic by 174% and leads by 434% through a combination of content marketing and SEO, over a span of 3 years. Social media campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin, also helped create trust for the brand amongst the target audience. A 26.3% spike was observed in Facebook follower growth and we achieved 8.2 percent of average engagement compared to 5.1 percent the previous year (2022).
Justwords helped Paytabs, UAE’s leading payment gateway, create customer trust through an intensive SEO-driven content campaign, designed to establish the brand and compete with more prominent players in the industry. The company witnessed an organic search traffic surge of 33% and a total traffic increment of 130% within a span of one year through its blogs.
Justwords worked with Homify, the world’s leading home and interior design website, to establish its presence as a premium platform for home and interior design in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Canada, South Africa, and India. Through a carefully crafted content strategy, we helped them create a large collection of expert articles on interior décor and architecture for a diverse set of readers. With the blogs ranking for a variety of keywords, Homify managed to become a well-recognized platform, rivaling its competitor Houzz.
What industries do you primarily cater to, and do you have a significant percentage of repeat clients? If so, what is the ratio of repeat clients?
While we have been catering to a large section of domains, we mostly have clients in sectors such as health and healthcare, retail, e-commerce, SaaS, technology, finance, fintech, insurance, education, edtech, home improvement services, travel and lifestyle, etc.
What initiatives does your company undertake to foster innovation and stay at the forefront of industry trends? Do you invest in research and development projects
We are a digital marketing services company, and staying up-to-date with the latest industry developments is essential to our success. ‘Continuous learning’ is one of our core values, and we strive to offer cutting-edge marketing solutions that incorporate the latest trends.
To ensure consistency in our service delivery, we maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that are regularly updated and centrally stored on our knowledge portal, the Justwords Collaborative Knowledge Centre (JCKC) at www.justwordstrainings.com. The JCKC portal is regularly refreshed with industry insights and provides live access to credible sources for the latest trends. Our employees are trained on new developments and SOPs to keep their skills current.
We also encourage innovation through our ‘Suggestion Scheme,’ which invites employees to submit ideas for improvement across all areas of the organization. This initiative has led to many innovative solutions that enhance our quality, service delivery, operational efficiency, and internal processes.
Please share some of the most sought-after services that clients approach your company for.
Content writing, content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, and design.
How do you build and maintain strong relationships with your clients, and what mechanisms do you have in place for gathering and acting upon client feedback?
Customer Focus is at the heart of our six core values and all our employees are committed to delivering exceptional service as outlined in our SOPs. We believe in building long-term relationships with our clients and consistently offering value propositions that help them stay competitive in their industry.
At the beginning of every client relationship, we assign a Key Account Manager as the single point of contact (SPOC) and provide an escalation matrix for any concerns. Customer dissatisfaction(CD) is taken very seriously, and each instance is addressed through Root Cause Analysis and Planned Actions (RCA & PA).
To ensure we continuously improve, we conduct an annual customer survey, gathering feedback from both current and former clients. This data helps us identify areas for improvement and implement effective solutions.
How has your company adapted to changes and challenges in the business landscape, and what strategies have you employed to ensure resilience and sustainability?
As an organization, we pride ourselves on being agile and adaptable, always ready to navigate challenges and make necessary adjustments. A prime example of this was during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did we weather the storm, but we emerged stronger, integrating key lessons into our 'Strategic Plan' for risk assessment and business continuity.
The digital marketing industry is continuously evolving, and one of the most significant recent changes has been the rapid growth of AI. While AI has streamlined many processes, it has also disrupted areas like content creation, with competitors flooding the market with low-cost, AI-generated content that often lacks relevance. Despite this trend, we made a strategic decision to stay true to our core strength: producing high-quality, human-generated content that is relevant and original.
We're now seeing a shift back towards valuing authentic content, with Google emphasizing the importance of 'original, helpful, and relevant' material in their recent core updates. This highlights our ability to adapt to external challenges and turn them into opportunities.
What payment structure do you typically follow when billing clients? Is it Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost, or Pay per Milestone (phases, months, versions, etc.)?
We offer flexible payment structures tailored to each service. For services like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Social Media Management, we operate on a monthly retainer model, with deliverables and payment schedules—monthly, quarterly, etc.—mutually agreed upon.
For website development, payments are tied to project milestones, as agreed upon in advance. For content development, we charge based on either a per-word or per-article rate.
Our payment model varies depending on the service, combining pay-per-feature, milestone-based, and fixed-cost approaches to ensure flexibility and transparency.
Do you accept projects that meet your basic budget requirements? If yes, what is the minimum budget requirement? If no, what is the minimum budget you have worked with in the past?
We are open to working with large potential clients without imposing a minimum budget requirement. However, in most cases, we recommend a minimum budget of USD 250 per month.
Can you provide an overview of the price range (minimum and maximum) of the projects your company worked on in 2023?
Our minimum pricing has been approx. US$200 per month & the maximum has been US$12,000.
What technological capabilities does your company possess, and are there any ongoing or planned investments in technology infrastructure or tools to enhance your services?
As part of our commitment to delivering top-tier content and digital marketing services, we’ve invested in a variety of tools that enhance our ability to analyze, create, and implement transformational digital strategies. These tools also ensure we uphold the highest quality standards through rigorous checks. Some of the platforms we leverage include Google Search Console, GA4, Semrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, BrightLocal, Grammarly, ZeroGPT, and more.
To ensure seamless execution of our services, we use project management tools like Asana and Bitrix24. For operational efficiency beyond project management, we utilize Zoho for accounting and CRM, as well as a customized HR management system for attendance, payroll, and compliance. We continually assess and address the need for additional tools and systems during our monthly management meetings to ensure we stay ahead of industry demands.
Where do you envision your company in the next 10 years? What are your long-term goals and aspirations for growth and development?
In the next 10 years, we envision ourselves as a global leader in content-led digital marketing services.
