There are two methodologies that are essential to our work:
Discover Methodology
Trust, not money, is the number one reason why you’ll hesitate to outsource the communications work that you and your team just don’t have the bandwidth to handle. We don’t blame you. Employees can be monitored closely. Consulting vendors perform work remotely. Employees’ salaries are set and defined. Consulting vendors bill hours. But here’s the rub: in the back of your mind, you believe that the goal of all consulting vendors is to ratchet up the billable hours.
This simply isn’t true.
We understand that trust can’t always be established with a one-hour initial consultation. We developed the Discover Methodology primarily because of this uneasiness you and others like you feel about working with consulting vendors. The cornerstone of this methodology is reinforcing the one-to-one relationship between the client and the vendor. At the start of our projects, we place a content creator in your office to develop your project plan and begin to perform work. This face time with you and your team allows us to grasp your corporate culture and voice. It also helps us identify human capital who will be key to completing the project and establish seamless workflow between us and these employees. Although the content creator will continue to perform your work offsite after the initial Discovery, this writer will still schedule in-person meetings with you periodically and pop into your office to help solve stopgap issues with your projects.
The Discover Methodology straddles the line between the benefits of a dedicated employee and the cost-savings of an outside vendor.
C4 Methodology
Now that social media has matured a bit and we’re all convinced that it’s impact on how we do business is here to stay, let’s get out of the weeds. Instead of focusing on likes, follower counts, Facebook’s changes and Google’s meandering algorithms, let’s get a grip on why we’re all using social platforms in the first place. What do we want out of all the time we spend engaging our communities through these channels?
Know this: there is no social media strategy without an overall communications strategy. So what’s the bridge between the two? Content.
Whether or not content is a king, a kingmaker, or a humble servant is still up for debate, but one thing it does well is use your communications plan and goals to drive what you do with social media. We developed the C4 Methodology—craft, create, circulate, check—for this exact reason.
CRAFT a plan for your content. Determine your key communications messages, your audiences, and the kinds of actionable content you can develop to solidify you as an expert in your audiences’ eyes.
CREATE content that your audiences can use right now. This content should be informative and show your audiences that you know your stuff.
CIRCULATE this content using social media, email marketing, your website in-person when appropriate.
CHECK the results of your content. Are you shaping public opinion about your brand? Are you generating leads? Are you making positive connections and fostering strategic partnerships?