From background checks to growth strategy: Ten years with Semac

Impact and customer value

Since 2016, Frontkom has helped develop and operate the digital services Semac uses for background checks and reference checks. In recent years, we have also contributed to the work on the brand, a new website and content, so that the technology and the growth plans pull in the same direction.

Year after year, Semac has seen increasing growth and a significantly stronger position in the market. Behind the success lies determined work with data-driven insight and a methodical effort to become visible in the market and take a thought leadership position.

Advertising and testing

Frontkom has structured and set up Semac’s campaigns on Google Ads and Bing Ads, and manages its advertising on LinkedIn. The search ads capture those who are already looking for background checks or reference checks. On LinkedIn, we reach HR managers and security officers before they have started looking.

Semac has been open to trying new platforms, messages and strategies, even when no one knew in advance what would work. That is why we have been able to test what works for each target group, and move the budget to where the results are best.

It started with tech

Semac has gone from a solution with a lot of manual case handling to a self-service platform. Customers order checks themselves, candidates respond digitally, and more of the work gets done automatically. More than 111,000 background checks have been carried out and more than 130,000 educational qualifications verified through the platform.

Frontkom has contributed to the further development of the platform, and it is the same people who know Semac’s sales targets, target groups and messaging. That is why Semac can plan product and marketing together. When a new feature or service is ready, we already know who it is for and how it should be presented on the website.

What has Frontkom contributed?

• Development of the background check platform, from version 4.0 to 5.0
• Digital reference checks, from the first version in 2021
• Self-service customer portal with departments, users and access control
• API with secure login for integration with customers’ HR systems
• Integration with SAP
• AI exploration and automatic extraction of data from CVs, filling in 10 to 50 fields per candidate
• Operations, security routines, SLA and data processing agreement
• Growth workshop on brand, customer journey and CRM
• Implementation of and ongoing advice on HubSpot
• Personas, brand voice and keyword analysis
• New website on HubSpot Content Hub, written for both Google and AI search
• Customer case studies and a content marketing plan

Semac makes hiring safer

Semac was established in 2009 and helps organisations hire safely. The company has around 40 employees and provides background checks, digital reference checks, advice on personnel security and emergency preparedness, and courses. Its customers include DNB, Bouvet, BAMA and Nokas. Many of them are required to check their candidates, so the process has to be both thorough and fast.

From manual case handling to self-service

In 2022, Semac was growing so fast that manual case handling became a bottleneck for both quality and processing time. Semac wanted to turn the solution into a service customers could use themselves, and that could be connected to other recruitment and HR systems.

Semac set out the strategy in a steering document, and Frontkom contributed technology choices, the server solution and a plan for working in sprints. Customers now create their own accounts with departments and users, register candidates and choose the level of check. The candidate fills in the details and gives consent digitally, while Semac’s analysts have the cases gathered in one place.

At the same time, we moved from individual projects to continuous development and operations. The assistance agreement and SLA from 2022 give Semac a fixed framework for uptime, security and further development.

Integrations that fit the customer’s systems

Large customers want the background check inside their own systems. Frontkom has built an integration with SAP and an API with secure machine-to-machine authentication, which large enterprise customers use to send requests directly. Customers can manage integration keys themselves in the portal.

Many of the country’s largest companies are now Semac customers and use the solution to ensure quality in their recruitment.

AI that saves the analysts time

In 2024, we ran an AI exploration together with Semac to find out where the analysts spend the most time. The answer was registering data from CVs. We built a prototype that reads the CV and fills in between 10 and 50 fields automatically, with personal details, employment history and education. It saves time and means fewer typing errors in the cases.

Strategy and growth plans in the same room

As Semac’s strategy has evolved, Frontkom has contributed to a strategic growth workshop on brand, customer journey and CRM. There we went through how Semac is found, how visitors become leads, and what happens after a contract is signed. Based on this, we made a plan for how Semac can increase its visibility, improve conversion and optimise the customer journey. This included mapping personas, critical analytics tools and the key systems needed to take the step to becoming data-driven.

A new website written for buyers

In autumn 2025, we moved semac.no to HubSpot CMS so that Semac can edit and measure the pages itself. We went through all the copy and rewrote it based on personas, a new brand voice and a keyword analysis. Before the project, most of the traffic came from people already searching for Semac, and the company had little visibility for searches such as “personellsikkerhet” (personnel security).

The copy is built on our proven content model covering “needs, value, proof and facts”. It answers the questions the target group asks directly, so that both Google and AI services such as ChatGPT and Copilot can extract the answers. Prices are shown openly because Hotjar data showed that “Hva koster en bakgrunnssjekk?” (What does a background check cost?) was the first thing many visitors clicked on.

Case studies as proof

Proof was what the old pages lacked most. We therefore interviewed customers and wrote case studies from organisations in a range of different segments that use Semac’s services. The case studies show the full breadth of Semac’s offering, from background checks in banking and IT to emergency preparedness in the food supply chain and an interim head of security in cash handling. They are used on the website, in sales and in the content marketing that is now under way.

One partner who knows the whole picture

Most agencies work either with technology or with marketing. For Semac, it has proved useful that the same people know how the platform is built and what the sales team needs to say about it. When Semac considers a new feature, we look at what it will cost to build and how it can be sold, in the same meeting.