MVMTC Ramps Up Marketing Effort with Renewal of A2LA Accreditation

Manufacturing is usually the first to feel the blow when the economy goes south.

So when Craig Riviello saw it hit the Miami Valley last year, he wondered what it would mean for his materials testing start-up. After all, most of his clients serviced the manufacturing industry and those who didn't were cutting product testing as a way to save money.

But much to Riviello's surprise, his three-year-old business–called Miami Valley Materials Testing Center–continued to thrive and he discovered the revenue flow was coming from steps he'd taken months earlier.

It all started toward the middle of 2009, when Riviello received an inquiry through his web site for work. Nothing unusual until he saw where it was coming from. A company in the West Indies was interested in getting a quote from Riviello's business. Riviello, who had garnered much of his client base from the Ohio valley, was stunned until a single word popped into his mind: Google.

Six months prior, Riviello with the help of Dayton-based Hafenbrack Marketing, embarked on an aggressive campaign to utilize search engine marketing strategies. For months, Riviello worked with Hafenbrack to research and refine his position on the Internet, seeing steady gains in the volume and quality of Internet traffic throughout.

Then one day there it was: a prospective client who had wanted a testing lab in Miami, Fla., but ended up getting a company in the Miami Valley of Ohio instead.

"They had put ‘Miami test laboratories' into Google and we popped up first," said Riviello, owner and director of testing services at MVMTC. "There was a time of courting that went on with them, but when they were finally ready to send us samples I felt obligated to let them know that we weren't in Miami. Their response was simple: they didn't care."

The West Indies kicked off a string of Google hits that spawned business for MVMTC. In a matter of months, MVMTC stretched its client base from the west to east coasts, while diversifying the sectors from which its clients were coming. The new business played another vital role for these clients by filling in the gaps left by previous clients forced to cut expenses.

"There are quite a few of our established customers who we haven't heard from in six months," Riviello said. "Many of them are simply not spending money. What has helped us continue to thrive as a business are the customers that the web is bringing through our door."

The search engine is definitely doing its job in grabbing the customers, but it's MVMTC's integrity and experience that is turning the introduction into a long-term relationship. The company recently received its re-accreditation from A2LA, or American Association for Laboratory Accreditation. The accreditation is like a quality seal of approval and assures clients that they are working with a top-notch lab.

Riviello said the accreditation played a major role in attracting businesses searching on the web. Most of the companies who ended up using his lab were specifically looking for the A2LA stamp of approval. Perhaps the best part of having the search engine marketing up and running and the A2LA finished is that Riviello can spend more time doing what he does best: being the scientist.

Riviello started MVMTC in 2006 – a decade after retiring from the Air Force where he worked in engineering and handled failure analysis work. His expertise in materials testing continued to grow during the 10 years after his retirement as he took on various positions at established companies like AO Smith in Tipp City where he served as its global materials engineering manager.

When the stress of corporate life became too much, Riviello looked at investing his experience into a company of his own. MVMTC works with a wide spectrum of businesses in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, medical and government. Its main focus is testing copper, aluminum, and steel materials to make sure that their properties are at the level of quality companies need to safely use them in manufactured products.

Riviello is confident his marketing plans, including the search engines, will continue to pay off and doesn't have any plans of lowering his investment in that area any time soon, even though many other companies are doing just that. The way he sees it, a strong marketing and sales strategy will only allow him to come out stronger once the economy recovers.

"We've been strong for the last year. When we emerge from this current downturn, we'll be busier than ever before," he said.