EVB’s track record in social media speaks for itself, and we’re constantly pushing the envelope to develop best practices when it comes to motivating the masses through earned media and viral messaging. Logic says that viral marketing is about casting the widest net. The more, the merrier. If you want it to go viral, give as many people as possible the chance to see it.

Well, maybe not. Sure, we’ve seen campaigns take off, but branded experiences in the social media space aren’t a novelty anymore. Everyone is there and trying to play the same game. So, in order to be big, you need to think small. Think about that core group of people who mean the most to your success; the ones that have proven their willingness to speak on your behalf. Better yet, a willingness to DO something on your behalf. Zero in and you stand a chance.

In fact, last week, one single blog mention for one of our clients resulted in an immediate surge in related Tweets with well over two million Twitter followers reached. Total and complete strangers took the time to write a response, pose a thought, offer some perspective and talk to one another all in pursuit of one common goal: solving the challenge we put forth.

The blog was targeted and the message was delivered in a way only they could appreciate and for that we were rewarded. And, we’re not done yet.

-Kim Kline

With the consumption of traditional media in decline, the entire marketing industry is focused on social media. Whether you work in PR, advertising, consulting, digital, customer service or promotions, you are trying to figure out how to have a presence in social media.

We’d like to offer another perspective.  It’s one thing to just show up, but its quite another to truly have something interesting to say, to share, to invoke thought, to pique interest, to provide tangible value.  With this in mind, the point isn’t about having a presence in social media, but having an actual purpose.

It makes sense though. The media itself feels fleeting and temporary.  New platforms show up everyday and others go away. So, it’s easy to sacrifice storytelling and real ideas just to try and gain a foothold.  Simply being there should never become more important than actually having something to say.

EVB’s approach to social media [and digital marketing, in general], is to focus on smaller, more nimble ideas that can engage quickly, incite a crowd and spark a meaningful conversation, not just a conversation.  Campaigns like this don’t tell a top-down, linear brand story.  Rather, they build awareness over time and consumers are asked to participate and help connect the dots.  The brand is built bottom-up, brick-by-brick because consumers have found it of value.  They become a part of the effort and are therefore more likely to reward you with attention and good feelings.

This approach to storytelling still requires the fundamental need for the right consumer insights, a compelling idea that strikes a chord, and above all, the right seeding and distribution strategy to amplify the idea with the right people.

We strive to look beyond their discipline and legacy approach and embrace the right mix of advertising, PR, content creation and promotion to experience greater success in a world where the consumer drives the ultimate adoption of a marketing initiative

EVB is known for doing work that gets talked about and passed around. The agency’s three most successful viral and social media campaigns in the past couple of years were “ElfYourself.com” for OfficeMax, “FreakYourMind.com” for Criss Angel/A&E and “MistletoeMakeover.com” for Sephora. Combined, these three campaigns reached more than 200 million people without any paid seeding or paid media to drive traffic.

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