Everywhere Agency is a social media, content and influencer marketing firm. This is their Cox Communications and Cox Enterprises blog post archive.

Josh Guilbaud - South Wire Attendee

A Social Media Intern Goes to SouthWiRED

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One of the benefits of being a social media intern at a place like Everywhere is that instead of being sent out to get the coffee, they send you out to conferences like SouthWiRED. SouthWiRED is the largest digital conference in the Southeast featuring panels and presentations from the top innovators in the country and not a bad way to spend a day interning. What follows are a few of my takeaways from a hard day interning!

The very first panel I attended was moderated by our CEO, Danica Kombol and it was entitled, Taking on the Challenge of Social Media in a B2B World. She was joined by seasoned marketers & PR folks from Cox Communications, PGI, Manheim & Novelis. The panelists did a fantastic job addressing many of the common concerns and conundrums marketers face in the B2B realm. Many professionals are under the impression that marketing for B2B and B2C bands on social media is as similar as night and day; they’re more like breakfast and brunch. Just like B2C brands, those in B2B must have an authentic and consistent brand voice. The story they build needs to be fluid, but relevant to the consistent and relatable themes in their overarching marketing strategy. Also worth mentioning is that B2B brands have influencers too and they’re usually in-house. Executives, VPs, and Directors of brands should be both active on social media and engaging in order to build credibility, as this will drive more new business leads. The more we come to understand marketing across social platforms and digital mediums, the more we understand that the age old adages of “B2B” and “B2C” no longer exists—it’s all about H2H, Human to Human.

The next presentation I attended was about understanding owned, paid and earned media from an HR perspective. It helped me understand why companies that strictly put their efforts into either paid or earned media are doing themselves a huge disservice—utilizing both types of media allows them to maximize the effectiveness of their campaigns. Earned media is great for brands because consumers see it as trustworthy due to its organic nature. When influencers write reviews, blog posts, or social media content, they are establishing and perpetuating the trustworthiness and credibility of a brand to their readership. While this effect is great, the reach and audience can be limited. This is where paid comes in—it gives brands the ability to magnify their reach beyond the scope of their followers and those of their influencers, as well as target consumers based on CRM and POS data. Simply, I learned that the key here is to gain as much earned media as possible and to leverage paid media to enhance and refine it.

So, not bad for a day’s work as a social media intern! I can only hope that in a few years, armed with the knowledge I gained at Everywhere, I’ll see myself on a panel sharing my opinions about social, digital and business.

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*This post was penned by Everywhere Agency’s wonderful Fall 2014 Intern, Josh Guilbaud.

 

WSB-TV and Dr. Oz

Celebrities and Influencer Campaigns

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Some PR agencies we’ve worked with have expressed apprehension when it comes to bloggers or digital influencers interacting with a celebrity at their event, but we know that having influencers at these types of events is crucial for successful Social Local (SoLo) campaigns. Not only must you work with influencers, but you also need to have established trust and well-oiled relationships with them. At Everywhere, our Everywhere Society influencers are our partners on these campaigns and we’ve gotten to know them pretty well since the Society’s inception. Because of the trust we’ve built with them, they follow our lead when we set parameters to make our events more successful than our clients imagined! Here are 3 things we do with or ask of our influencers to make our campaigns a hit:

  1. Our influencers write pre-event posts. No one will come to the celeb’s event if it isn’t properly advertised! Pre-event posts give your target demographic all the details without the boring format of a press release.
  2. We’ve set guidelines for what influencers can and cannot talk about with the celebrity. If your influencers have a chance to actually speak with the celeb on hand, be sure they know what topics to avoid or whether they should keep their conversation based around the theme of the event. If you don’t set any guidelines, the whole situation may derail! Recently for our Dr. Oz campaign on behalf of WSB-TV Channel 2, we advised our influencers to stay on the topic of his Atlanta health expo and simple health problems, as complicated issues or other topics would eat up too much of his time and draw away from the focus of the event. Because of the trust we’ve built with our bloggers, they obliged and had a pleasant meet and greet with the doctor!
  3. We’ve given our influencers the opportunity for pictures. While not all celebrities are fans of photo opps, those are the kinds of social media posts that get the most traction/attention. We recently worked on the Think Like a Man Too media tour, which came through Macy’s. While fans didn’t get to really speak with the celebrities (other than a line or two here and there), they did get to take a picture. Kayla, one of our employees (who’s a digital influencer herself), proved that these photo opps are golden for exposure with her 363 likes and 40 comments!

Curious for more tips on handling influencer campaigns in regards to celebrity appearances? Contact The Everywhere Agency! We’ve got a few more thoughts on the topic that we’d love to share over a cup of coffee or tea.

Everywhere Agency has worked with Macy’s, Macy’s Culinary Council, Cox Media Group, IMAX, Atlanta Women’s Foundation, and more on social event marketing. Our Director of Marketing, Jason Maldonado, formerly ran SoLo events for The Home Depot. To see more about our current and previous clients, visit http://bit.ly/VR6B1l for our capabilities deck.

Everywhere society spotlight leticia barr

The Everywhere Society Spotlight is on Leticia Barr!

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Is it presumptuous to say that if you’re in the blogging community and haven’t heard of Tech Savvy Mama you’re most likely living under a cool, dark rock? Maybe. But if you haven’t heard of the woman behind it, Leticia Barr, you best start digging your way out because you most certainly are.

Leticia made her way onto the blogging circuit after spending her earlier years as a tech teacher passionate about technology integration and school administration. If you ask her about the campaigns, companies and cause initiatives she’s worked on, she’ll likely be modest and elude to a few. In reality, her website bio boasts a body of work that would impress even the most seasoned of techies. From her consulting gigs with the likes of Comcast, LeapFrog, Scholastic, UPS, Microsoft and Disney to her Tech Savvy Parents column on Parents.com to even her work on the American Cancer Society’s ‘More Birthdays’ campaign, it’s evident that Leticia keeps more than her toes in the water. And somehow, she manages it all with the biggest and brightest smile on her face. A smile that supersedes even her mouth! Tyra Banks may have coined the phrase ‘smiling with your eyes’ but Leticia has perfected it.

Beyond the hard work, good deeds and long hours, Leticia maintains a level of sincerity and compassion often lost on a world that has gone digital. In the absence of face-to-face contact, many of us (dare we admit it?) have lost touch with genuine connectivity. Suffice it to say Leticia most certainly has not and we think that calls for a collective, “I’ll have what she’s having!”

Her participation in Everywhere Society campaigns has been boundless. When our client, Cox Communications and TV host John Walsh launched ‘Cox Take Charge’ – a nationwide effort to educate parents and their children about TV and internet safety - they were in the market for a social media correspondent with expertise in the area of tech, child internet safety. We knew Leticia was the right choice. They enthusiastically agreed.

Just as her expertise and professionalism lend themselves to our corporate initiatives so does her compassion appeal to our cause campaigns. She has worked with us on Macy’s Heart of Haiti– a trade-not-aid initiative that we have grown to nurture beyond the realm of its social media presence – since it began in 2010. She continues to be one of its most committed advocates. Leticia has traveled with us to Haiti four times. As a devoted member of our #Bloggers4Haiti group she leaves nary a story nor a stone unturned.

What’s arguably Leticia’s most admirable quality (but feel free to ask about the others because we’ve made a laundry list) is her desire to learn and to teach others. We suppose that’s why she became a teacher turned mother, turned blogger, turned philanthropist, turned consultant, visionary, columnist - the list goes on. And so could we.

This month, we’re so pleased to announce that we’re turning the Everywhere Society Spotlight on Leticia Barr of Tech Savvy Mama (and so much more). Thank you for all you’ve done and continue to do. We’re not just saying it…we couldn’t do it all without you!

PR Sarah Evans Cox Correspondent

Watch Live: SXSWi Innovator Interview Series

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Tune in live for the SXSWi Innovator Interview Series for the skinny on all the action at SXSW 2013 with Sound{TRACK}! Sarah Evans (@PRSarahEvans) is interviewing some of tech’s biggest names at the Samsung Blogger Lounge (powered by Watchitoo) on March 12, from approximately 1:00p EST. Sponsored by the good folks at Cox Communication’s social portal, Cox Blue.

Guests include:

Watch the live stream here: