It’s unlike me to be quiet for so long.

Come on.. you know me by now. I’ve not been quiet, I just haven’t been blogging. The SEO of my clients’ websites and the social representation for them is clearly where my focus is these days.

2012 Holiday Luncheon with the 520 East Brands Team

We’ve been growing. In fact, I just had lunch with my team on Tuesday and since then have added another person to help out in her area of expertise. A lot of times people ask what type of client we like best. You know, it really varies. We love working with a brand who’s been trying to use social unsuccessfully for a while, because we can go in and make changes, and see sudden improvement in their engagement. This is how we began our relationship with Taylor Homes more than a year ago. We also love to work with a brand-new product just getting off the ground in a niche market. Enter Kitty Night Night, an exciting new concept to help toddlers go to bed, and stay there. Then there’s the client who was doing social but just got too busy building what they build and making what they make. That, of course, was my experience with Rooibee Red Tea. Each client has had its own set of circumstances and reason for needing my company’s help.

So, it really doesn’t matter what type of business they are in, or what type of conversation they want to have. Here’s what IS important: communication. I get that my job is to communicate on behalf of these brands out in the public – that is something our team can handle like no other. But if a client can’t communicate internally, either within their own team, or with me, that’s when the system fails.

Outsourcing social media can work in many different scenarios. But what makes it successful is when the internal team communicates with the outsourced team: what’s happening in the business, what news is coming, when it’s appropriate to talk about said news. We can come up with all the strategies and ideas in the world, but if we aren’t on track with what your team is thinking, then there’s no way for us to be successful.

So I would say the best clients are those that sit down and meet, face to face (or on the phone or Google Hangout at the very least) on a monthly or 6-week basis. Sometimes we even communicate daily via Twitter, which is the case with Red e App, THE mobile enterprise communication system.

By communicating and brainstorming with our clients, we are able to run successful campaigns and create those personalities behind the keyboard. I find that the clients with whom I have an old-fashioned, face-to-face meeting regularly, and I really get a feel for what the voice of their brand needs to say, are best represented by us in social.

I have regular meetings with so many of the clients, and it shows in the work. I take the clients personally, and value those relationships – and that shows in the work. I have a genuine understanding for these people, and their voice, and am proud to be able to make that voice just a little louder via social media.

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