I have, over the last couple of years, first with horror, then hesitation and, finally, a fair amount of happiness, gradually taken over the role of company narrator. Which includes case studies and, more recently, social media across the board. Basically everything that helps tell our story without actually sitting down with real people. I don’t do it all personally, but I am personally involved in all of it.
While I still have a few lingering questions about digital measurement (the POTENTIAL to scroll past a piece of content with a finger flick is an actual standard; really?) and actual effectiveness (engagement rate 1.07%; c’mon, people!), I have come to appreciate the different platforms as canvases to carry our story.
For years, we had struggled to fill that role with people from various skill pools, from ‘Marketing Coordinator’ to ‘Writer’ to ‘Millennial Person Who Knows How To Post On Twitter’. None of those approaches worked for us.
Generally reluctant about PR and shouting our greatness from the rooftops, anything too boastful and sales-y isn’t truthful to us. Neither is the ‘we are an agency now so we need to speak like one’ approach. And hiring a tech-savvy millennial has proven to be helpful in learning about the kinks and quirks of the different platforms, but it’s nearly impossible for those poor souls to know and understand our point of view, the history of our company and the context of our work.
I have yet to learn much about proper planning of campaigns, targeting, measuring and interpreting data. And I currently work within the ‘if it’s important enough, I’ll remember’ framework. While admittedly amateur, I have found that it contributes to an organic narrative style I enjoy and I believe is true to us.
So the days of 7 people and endless phone calls to write up a twitter post are over. So are the days of post-post calls to determine why it still wasn’t done in the right tone. If something misses the mark, I only have myself to blame. Blame that I shoulder lighter, now that I understand that it’s the cumulative effect that matters more than a single publication.
I still need help. And I will seek it anywhere I can. But what I’ve learned is as applicable to us as it is to our clients and any brand in general:
