The C2 Group took the stage not once, but twice to close out Optimizely (Episerver) Ascend in Miami last week.
C2 capped the three-day customer and partner conference by being named Optimizely’s (Episerver) CMS Partner of the Year for North America for the first time. The team also took home top honors for Best UI/Navigation for the Alamo Colleges website.
The Optimizely Web and Partner Awards included partner as well as mutual customer recognition. As CMS Partner of the Year, Optimizely highlighted C2 for its deep platform experience and ability to deliver for mutual customers to take their content experiences to the next level. Meanwhile, a panel of judges selected the Alamo Colleges website for Best UI/Navigation based on proof of customer success, platform implementation experience, and project innovation with Optimizely solutions.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment and endorsement of our team,” said C2 Managing Partner Michael Kunzler. “The recognition shows we’re living out our core focus, and that is providing the very best in browser-based business solutions and enabling talented people – whether they’re clients like Alamo or our own team members – to thrive. We’re grateful for the team we’ve assembled and for great partnerships with groups like Alamo and Optimizely.”
The Alamo Colleges website, which launched in August 2018 and is built on Optimizely’s analyst-recognized CMS platform, serves nearly 100,000 students across five unique campuses in the San Antonio area. The site was recognized for its ease of use and ability to help visitors complete tasks quickly and efficiently. Strong search and self-service capabilities include a robust program and career search tool integrated with real time local labor data, as well as the ability to quickly and easily apply for admission, schedule a visit, or secure financial aid.
Optimized for mobile display, the site has helped drive a 65% decrease in mobile bounce rate while improving pages per session on mobile devices by 75%.
The Alamo site also received a Gold Paragon Award from the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations for outstanding achievement in design and communication earlier this year.
"We had six different websites and there was no coordination, no unified template, and no look and feel. It was very disaggregated,” said Mario Muniz, Director of Strategic Communications for the Alamo Colleges District in a recent interview on the project. “Before we migrated to Optimizely (Episerver) and (C2) designed the templates for it, we were a college system that didn’t have a mobile responsive website. … Once we migrated to (Optimizely) a little over a year ago, our web traffic from mobile devices—it’s kind of flipped. At one point we were at less than 40%, and now we’re at 66% mobile traffic. People are comfortable using their handheld devices, and that’s really important for us.”
C2 is a Gold Optimizely Partner and began its Optimizely (Episerver) practice in 2015. In addition to its partner status, C2 has also earned platform specializations in Optimizely’s cloud (DXC), commerce, and CMS products. C2 is active in co-marketing and product development with Episerver and is a regular speaker and sponsor of its annual Ascend conference.
“As Optimizely grows, so does its partner network and the competitiveness of the partner awards,” said Dom Citino, VP of Worldwide Partnerships at Optimizely. “It’s getting more and more difficult for our teams to choose just one winner in each category which speaks to the diversity and depth of the Optimizely partner network. Our focus is the customer and the experience they are able to provide their customers, and The C2 Group shows us time and again that we share the same focus."
