While we are trained and experienced in a variety of techniques, research is ultimately a means to an end. We seek to discover the emotive chord that differentiates great work from the pack. We gain terrific insights into language, touchpoints and promotional ideas, but the primary value of any creative research is to form a basis that differentiates and motivates your zealots.
Or, to cut to the chase: our research makes subsequent work better. Guaranteed.
We conduct this work as a preamble to rebranding campaigns or as a stand-alone assignment.
Lori Jacobwith speaks to a number of groups on the value of better storytelling to aid fundraising. She has a six-step process she shares widely with groups. ln particular, we amplify three key points:
1. Make the story personal, about a real person. Telling their story to another person.
2. Connect outcome or impact to something that your organization provides.
3. Keep it moving, keep it emotive and keep it short.
What makes people share?
One recent research piece indicated people are provoked to share their “awe” when a visual hits an emotive chord. Such a picture transcends merely the place or building and connects the ‘experience,’ often in a very personal way. This recent photo was commissioned by our friend and photographer Jimmy Williams for Miromar Lakes. Great photography is like a beautiful painting. No caption or copy is needed.
At GRM, our passion is helping good companies and brands succeed. Which is exactly why we’ve made a BIG move at our agency.
Social media is a large part of what we do for our clients. Creating content, managing accounts, and providing strategic insight and planning are critical parts of our day-to-day.
However, beautiful photos and witty tweets can only take a brand so far. Which is exactly why we are putting the most emphasis on the last point made above. Strategic insight has become the core of everything that we do at GRM.
Enter:
Simply Measured.
At the beginning of the year, we began using the social analytics solution to help us bring each of our clients to the
next level. It’s about making informed decisions, which allow us to provide exceptional results.
Here are a few of the reasons why we have started using Simply Measured:
- It allows us to analyze our brands paid, owned, and earned activity from all of their social networks. We now have a greater ability to discover and communicate meaningful patterns from social data – giving GRM, and our clients, the opportunity to grow and develop their programs.
- It has become our full suite analytics arm that helps us research conversations, competitors, and audience across all social networks.
- It quickly highlights the impact of brand activities, as well as helping us see, share, and optimize real business outcomes for our clients.
By providing a complete social analytics suite and process, we are able to better understand the impact of our social strategies. Simply put, Simply Measured gives us access to information, analysis, and insight necessary to plan our clients’ strategies, measure their performance, optimize their tactics, and tie social activity to larger business outcomes.
Now,
that, is an exciting tool.
