Multnomah County Health Department Communications and Marketing
Senior Communications Strategist: Social Media & Digital Marketing Specialist
SAMPLE 1
Social Media
ACE INDUSTRIES 90TH ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN
Campaign Background
My most previous employer, Ace Industries, a national manufacturing company based outside of Atlanta, GA, turned 90 years old in 2022. They manufacture, service and sell parts for overhead cranes used in industrial environments to move cargo or merchandise weighing tons.
Trust
In an industry where the cost of the product is a large ticket budget item, the installation in the organization permanent, and the need for crane maintenance, ongoing, TRUST is a huge factor in Ace's customers' purchasing decisions. Trust that the machinery can do the job, that breakdowns will be minimum, that it will last a lifetime, that it will not create burdensome costs, that they won't get ripped off by service providers. I saw lasting 90 years in the grueling, highly competitive overhead crane industry as a significant achievement for a crane company, especially compared to competitors. I knew that broadcasting the company's longevity and success would inspire trust and motivate customers.
GOAL
To leverage the company's 90th anniversary as an opportunity to highlight the brand story and history to create an emotional bond with customers, raise brand awareness and increase sales
OVERALL STRATEGY
DURATION
BUDGET
ROLE IN SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Create a 90th Anniversary Sale
Composed of:
Social media
90th Anniversary logo
Specialized social media profile icons
Sale banner on homepage and sale landing page with discount on popular items
Sale customer email
Digital Remarketing banners
Digital ads
Sales department support materials
Photo opp event (HQ anniversary party)
Lasting the month of November in 2022
Concept, logo creation, digital design, copywriting, event planning, art directing photo shoot, creating calendar of scheduled posts in logical order to tell a story, shooting video & video editing, some photography, creating a video historical timeline
$500 for advertising
Social Media Process
First I created a campaign logo to overlay on 90th anniversary marketing materials. The image on the right was the first post in the social media campaign to introduce the anniversary concept. It's a video with fireworks splashing across the logo in a celebratory manner to create excitement and enthusiasm for the anniversary. It has the eagle from the Ace logo incorporated into the number 90.
Social Media Icon
I created this special profile icon for each channel, Meta, X (Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn to flag the campaign for social media visitors.
Anniversary Party Posts
I requested that HQ celebrate the 90th anniversary during the traditional Thanksgiving luncheon and have it photographed so I could show it on social media. I ordered logo baseball style T-shirts and baseball hats, and each branch employee across the country received a pair as a gift to celebrate the anniversary.
I designed and ordered the logo cake and balloons.
Company Ethos Post
The father of the current set of third generation sibling company owners wrote a very inspiring letter to his customers January 1st in the year 2000 that reflected very well the company creed to always put the customers' happiness first. This made a great social post to establish the values of Ace.
Historical Timeline Post
I created a video timeline post of the history of Ace (hosted on Youtube so it may live on in perpetuity) so customers could learn more about the company and its people. Push play!
Company Rebranding Event Posts
After I rebranded the company and designed its new logo, it took over two years to get the newly branded website off the ground. I could not fully announce the rebrand to the world until the new website was in place. Because the newly branded website (which I designed) launched the same year as the 90th anniversary, I was able to incorporate the documented rebranding event we held in 2019 into the 90th anniversary social media posts and include that story as part of the history of Ace. (Right: That's me and the CEO introducing the new logo to the company.)
Company Creed Post
The Ace Creed was developed as part of the messaging suite I created for Ace, with the input of ownership and key employees during a brand workshop I conducted. Here I traveled around the country from branch to branch to film employees reciting the creed for this video aired during the brand event. It made a nice social media post. I left in the bloopers to humanize the company to viewers and make an emotional connection. Push play!
90th Anniversary Sale Post
The sale on the website consisted of a discount on a popular hoist. The post's copy contains the sale details and link to the Anniversary Sale Landing Page on the website. It was "boosted" on LinkedIn for two weeks with a $500 budget to reach a maximum audience of 20,000+ nationally, bringing in an uptick in visitors to the website and a 10%-15% increase in Shopstar hoist sales.
NOTE: what I learned from tracking analytics for all social media channels and digital marketing efforts was that advertising on Meta and LinkedIn performed less successfully than programmatic Google ads. So I put our limited budget into programmatic Google ads. Since Ace is a B2B business, it made the most sense to use some budget to "boost" LinkedIn posts since it is a B2B platform. Less expensive than LI advertising, boosting increases the reach of the posts significantly (usually over 20k impressions) and still offers geotargeting and other specific targeting techniques, granting more exposure and increasing new unique visits to the website. Here's what else I learned about the Ace social media audiences: the Meta account was mostly used by employees and friends, the Instagram account was largely international followers so not likely to buy a massive crane and have it shipped overseas, mostly technicians looking for employment in the US, the X account had, relative to the other channels, very low engagement and followers. The LinkedIn account was by far Ace's most important channel with more exposure to potential customers and significantly more followers and engagement, so that's where I concentrated any extra budget.
Evaluating Success
The best indicator of the success of this campaign was an increase in follower growth, awareness and reach, good engagement, increase in conversions, and a spike in website traffic. Also, the positive feedback I received from the executive branch and other coworkers. I felt it was successful in telling customers the Ace story.
Sources of Pride
I did feel company morale and engagement increase, not just on the social posts but in the enthusiastic communications I received from employees who watched the posts on social media. They shared the social media posts, buoyed by company pride and a sense of belonging to a great organization. The other benefit of this campaign was the creation of assets that became a permanent part of the website in the About Us section such as the 90th anniversary story and the video timeline.