How to Choose a Storyblok Agency Partner
Adopting a headless CMS to handle your content management needs is often complicated for most companies. With so many options available, it often comes down to the features of the platform and how simple it could be to implement.
Storyblok is a category-leading headless CMS and a primary choice among developers and content teams. But after you've selected Storyblok as the right CMS for your business, how do you start implementing it? With the help of a partner.
This blog will explain what you need to know about a Storyblok partner and what you should look for when choosing one.
What Is a Storyblok Agency Partner? (And Why Do You Need One?)
A Storyblok partner is a digital agency that can help companies using or planning to use Storyblok with various services. Partners can assist with implementation and maintenance and be a sounding board to help you get the most out of your headless CMS.
Many companies become daunted at the thought of working with a headless CMS, even one as user-friendly as Storyblok. A partner can help to alleviate some of these fears and answer any questions about working with the platform.
Reasons You Might Need a Partner
There are a few reasons you need help from a Storyblok partner. There are also a few reasons you should consider one, even if you didn't think about it before.
1. You Have Implementation Challenges
CMS implementation isn't always a walk in the park, particularly if your team has grown accustomed to your existing CMS infrastructure. From how the CMS is configured to suit your business to migrating existing data and content assets to Storyblok, having a partner can help make the implementation process much smoother.
2. Your System Has A Few Bugs
If you overcame the implementation process using your existing team of developers and IT staff, you might think everything is ready to go. Unfortunately, you could still run into bugs or operational issues with the CMS. In many cases, this has nothing to do with Storyblok but with how the implementation was carried out. A Storyblok partner can help you manage these issues without restarting from scratch.
3. You Have Limited Experience Using Storyblok
Storyblok is a powerful headless CMS for companies that want to scale and is quite user-friendly for developers and marketers. However, it can still be tricky to figure out how to do everything you need if you have never learned how. A partner can help you if you lack the required experience using Storyblok or any other headless CMS and provide consulting services to help you overcome blockages in specific areas.
4. You Need to Focus on Your Product
As a growing enterprise, you have a product of your own to focus on. While managing your content experiences is crucial for brand growth, all of your resources should be going to something other than implementing and maintaining Storyblok. By consulting a partner, you can focus on your product and instead have them handle everything else related to your headless CMS.
What to Look For In a Partner
So you've narrowed down the reasons you need a Storyblok partner, but how do you actually pick one?
The partner landscape is a mixture of small, medium, and large agency types, each with varying degrees of Storyblok expertise and specializations. First of all, you need to build your shortlist of capable partners. This could be based initially on the competencies you're looking for and your location.
Storyblok provides a comprehensive list of vetted partners on their website, which you can use to help build the initial list.
After you've built your shortlist, it's time to assess each potential partner. Here are some of the questions you should consider:
1. Do they have the specialist expertise you're looking for?
Every Storyblok partner has different specializations you can call on. Do you need general support or maintenance? Are you looking for someone to handle your implementation and software development completely? Or are your needs more along the lines of branding, content, and UI/UX design?
Selecting the partner with the right expertise you're looking for is essential to a successful project.
2. How long have they been a Storyblok partner?
Another thing to consider is how long the agency you're considering has been a Storyblok partner. This is often a good indication of the level of their expertise. Sometimes an agency may be very experienced working with different software solutions or another headless CMS, but that experience doesn't always translate well to Storyblok.
3. What do their case studies say about their work?
Digital agencies with headless CMS expertise often highlight their work in case studies. Ideally, these case studies should showcase their Storyblok projects. Even if they don't, dive into them to get an idea if the agency in question has experience working in your industry or solving similar problems.
4. What's their process for working with clients?
Finally, you need to find out the partner's process for working with clients. Does it align with your expectations for communication, deliverables, and the timeline when you need the project? Consult with the agencies that meet your other requirements before making your selection.
Need a Storyblok Agency Partner? Never Settle for Less than a Storyblok Expert
When you select a platform like Storyblok as your next CMS, you can be rewarded with a headless CMS that supports everyone throughout your organization and helps you create content in a whole new way. The Storyblok partner you select should provide just as good a service.
take it_ is a Berlin-based design and development company and Storyblok partner. But we're not just generalists. We're Storyblok experts with a complete focus on providing fast-growing companies with scalable websites. We're the first and only agency that works exclusively with Storyblok, allowing us to deliver an exceptional customer experience for businesses that want to get the most out of the CMS.
Here are a few reasons why we make one of the best possible choices for a Storyblok partner:
Part of the Storyblok Partner Family
As an official Storyblok partner, we maintain close collaboration with the Storyblok team and stay in constant dialogue with their developers. We're regularly invited to Storyblok events and we’re also set to host the first Storyblok meetup in Berlin, Germany.
Meet Wessel - The Official Storyblok Ambassador
As of January 2023, Wessel has taken on the role of a Storyblok Ambassador, showcasing true passion and enthusiasm for the headless CMS and its capabilities. From writing guest blogs to contributing to the Storyblok codebase, to speaking at webinars, Wessel is dedicated to spreading the word about the power of Storyblok.
Consulting and Implementation Expertise
Not only have we implemented several Storyblok projects, but we've consulted with companies with in-house developers to advise them on the best setup and answered questions about content structure, choosing frameworks, internalization, and maximizing performance.
German car-sharing provider Miles Mobility needed a new CMS that was easy to manage and would provide them with a user-friendly and GDPR-compliant website. They were previously on Contentful but wanted to migrate to Storyblok to serve their EU customers better and have a better content editing experience. With the help of take it, they were able to transition smoothly and leverage the full benefits of Storyblok.
Faster Time-to-Market and Broader MarTech Experience
A marketing website is great, but it doesn’t always tell the full story.
Maybe you want to launch an online store? Or manage multiple websites with localized content? Perhaps you have multiple legacy systems that you need to integrate with? At take it, we have the experience to help you strategize, build, and maintain all of the above, and more.
What’s more is, speeding up our customer’s time-to-market is always a priority. We stick to cutting-edge technologies that we already know and love, so you get a high-quality product without waiting months.
Whether you want a partner to help you build something from scratch or just a consultation to help you improve performance, we can help you get more out of your Storyblok experience.
Take a look at our Storyblok CMS service.
