Studio Science sees a 10% uplift in lead conversions with Optimizely CMS

Setting the Stage

In the center of Indianapolis, Studio Science blends design, technology, and business strategy to help B2B organizations across SaaS, technology, financial services, and other industries, from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 enterprises. Studio Science helps companies drive revenue growth by crafting exceptional customer and employee experiences through brand, digital, and technology solutions. Whether it’s reimagining digital platforms or optimizing customer experiences, their work is always aligned with their customers’ business goals.

Studio Science has deep expertise in both brand and digital transformation. While some agencies specialize in strategy or execution, Studio Science does both, offering strategic consulting and implementing the design and tech solutions. As an Optimizely partner, Studio Science knows the importance of a strong CMS and they recognized they needed a change. They don’t just implement the platform for clients, but they also trust it to power their own digital experience. Clients who engage Studio Science for their design, technology and digital strategy can feel confident about products that Studio Science recommends, like Optimizely Content Management System, because they rely on it for their own business, and to truly showcase their expertise as a leading CX design and technology consultancy, they needed a digital platform that matched their innovative approach. Their previous CMS, however, was holding them back.  

"Our previous CMS was limiting our ability to scale content efficiently, incorporate and expand our design and brand, and integrate seamlessly with our broader marketing and sales technology stack. “We relied on a legacy CMS that required extensive developer involvement, slowing down content creation and site updates. We needed a solution that would enable a more agile content strategy, streamline workflows, and enhance the user experience on our website."

Lauren Olson

Chief Marketing Officer , Studio Science

For a company that prides itself on optimizing digital experiences for clients, their own website needed to set the standard. They faced content bottlenecks, a lack of flexibility, and limited personalization capabilities—challenges they frequently helped their clients overcome. This realization sparked their search for a robust, modern CMS.

"As an agency that helps clients optimize digital experiences, it was critical that our own website met the same standards we set for others. We knew we needed a scalable, modern CMS that didn’t need a new upgrade or developer each time we had a content update. As an Optimizely partner, it made sense to invest in the platform we advocate for."

Lauren Olson

Chief Marketing Officer, Studio Science

What Studio Science looked for in a CMS

• Ease of use: The ability for non-technical teams to create and manage content independently.
• Flexibility: A system that supports both structured and unstructured content models.
• Performance: Fast page load times and strong SEO capabilities.
• Personalization & experimentation: The ability to tailor content to different audiences and test optimizations easily.
• Integration capabilities: A CMS that plays well with their broader marketing tech stack, including CRM and analytics tools.

Why Optimizely Content Management System?

They explored various vendors, including Adobe Experience Manager, Contentful, and WordPress. However, Optimizely stood out, not just for its capabilities but also for the trust built through their partnership. Studio Science has seen firsthand how Optimizely’s Content Management System drives results for clients, and they knew it would do the same for them.

"Its strong experimentation tools, personalization capabilities, and seamless integrations made it the right fit for our needs"

Lauren Olson

Chief Marketing Officer, Studio Science

The implementation process was a collaborative journey, combining Studio Science's internal expertise with Optimizely’s professional services. Studio Science’s core team of 5-7 people included developers, UX designers, content strategists, and marketing stakeholders and followed a phased and sprint approach, including discovery & strategy, development & migration, testing & optimization, and finally training & go-live. They meticulously defined requirements, built the CMS architecture, and ensured seamless integrations. Integrations were an important requirement. The team needed to integrate the CMS with their martech stack: CRM platform – Salesforce; their marketing automation platform – Pardot; their Analytics platforms º Google and Looker; and their sales intelligence tool – 6sense.

While the implementation wasn't without its challenges – balancing their high volume client work, content migration, and ensuring tech stack integrations – the benefits quickly became apparent.

"The flexibility to customize where needed and the smooth onboarding experience for our marketing and content team were standout positives."

Lauren Olson

Chief Marketing Officer, Studio Science

Post-implementation, the Optimizely Content Management System transformed Studio Science's content management and digital presence. The team experienced newfound efficiency and agility.

"Greater efficiency – content updates can be made in minutes instead of hours and changes can be pushed out to blocks across multiple pages at one time. As a marketing team, we no longer need developer support for every change. Our site is now faster, more scalable, and optimized for engagement."

Lauren Olson

Chief Marketing Officer, Studio Science

"Greater efficiency – content updates can be made in minutes instead of hours and changes can be pushed out to blocks across multiple pages at one time," Lauren Olson, CMO, highlighted. "As a marketing team, we no longer need developer support for every change. Our site is now faster, more scalable, and optimized for engagement."

The Visual Builder feature, in particular, became a game-changer.

"Visual Builder has been incredibly useful. The ability to see the design of a page being built in real time on one screen saves a ton of time. Previously, we would have to save, preview in another tab, and then jump back and forth between the page builder and preview. Now, we can identify issues as we go or tweak content based on how it’s going to look on the page."

Kyle Davis

Director of Marketing, Studio Science

Compared to their previous CMS, the ability to make design and content changes (background color, moving blocks up and down the page, etc.) is so much easier and faster.

The shared blocks functionality also proved invaluable. Studio Science was able to utilize CTAs and callouts across pages and then customize the copy and language on a page-by-page basis to still achieve a level of relevance and personalization without completely starting from scratch each and every time.

Studio Science's dual role as an Optimizely customer and partner gives them the ability to validate its recommendations with firsthand experience. They don’t just sell the CMS – they use it! By using the platform they promote, they are able to showcase optimized digital experiences and demonstrate a genuine commitment to data-driven optimization, fostering trust and guiding clients through their digital transformation.

The future

Studio Science had relied on a legacy CMS that required extensive developer involvement, slowing down content creation and site updates. But now, with Optimizely Content Management System, Studio Science has been able to boost their efficiency and significantly improve the speed and effectiveness of content delivery.

Looking ahead, Studio Science is focused on expanding their Optimizely practice and helping more of their clients achieve their digital goals with the help of Optimizely. And internally they are looking at refining their personalization and experimentation strategies, using their own site built on Optimizely as a live testing ground for new innovative approaches.