How Effective Social Media Strategy Helps Shape the City of Atlanta’s Online Brand

An interview with Elizabeth Baskin, Founder of Tribe, an internal communications consultancy in advance of her presentation to IABC Atlanta’s monthly luncheon chapter.

Silos occur in every organization, from the small start-up to large, global corporations.

“You read a lot about vertical silos in companies, meaning the disconnect between employees in different departments, business units or geographic locations,” explained Elizabeth Baskin, CEO and executive creative director for Tribe, Inc., an internal communications and branding agency focused entirely on developing internal brands.

“In Tribe’s national research on functional silos, employees often talked about what we call the horizontal silo, the chasm between the top company management and everybody else.”

According to Baskin, these silos are very common in companies with a large number of non-desk employees, and “manufacturing and retail, have a harder time with this because it’s more difficult to create communication channels between corporate and those employees without dedicated computers,” she said.

However, it can be just as big of a divide within companies with “deskbound” employees, too. “The culture of the company also is a factor, as well as the communication style of the leadership,” Baskin added.

And if bridging the gap between the C-suite and the rest of the company were an easy task, communications professionals would not be having this conversation.

“It is a daunting task, but that doesn’t make a very good excuse for not doing it,” Baskin added. “Tribe recommends spending some time in the actual work environment of those front-line employees to identify possible touch points, like where are they physically when they’re working? Is it noisy? Are they sitting or standing? Are they outside? Driving a truck? Where do they go when they take their breaks?”

“You have to be creative in thinking of communication channels for this group,” she said.

More about Elizabeth and Tribe

Elizabeth Baskin founded Tribe in 2002, an internal communications agency focused in developing strategic plans to build employee engagement and the internal brand. She founded Tribe in 2002 as a branding boutique and quickly grew the business to a $5 million company. In 2009, she launched Starter Cards LLC, a division of Tribe, to create content such as the Start Your Own Company iPhone application and the Social Media for Old Folks webinars.

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Bridging the Horizontal Divide between Leadership and Your Frontline

An interview with Elizabeth Baskin, Founder of Tribe, an internal communications consultancy in advance of her presentation to IABC Atlanta’s monthly luncheon chapter.

Silos occur in every organization, from the small start-up to large, global corporations.

“You read a lot about vertical silos in companies, meaning the disconnect between employees in different departments, business units or geographic locations,” explained Elizabeth Baskin, CEO and executive creative director for Tribe, Inc., an internal communications and branding agency focused entirely on developing internal brands.

“In Tribe’s national research on functional silos, employees often talked about what we call the horizontal silo, the chasm between the top company management and everybody else.”

According to Baskin, these silos are very common in companies with a large number of non-desk employees, and “manufacturing and retail, have a harder time with this because it’s more difficult to create communication channels between corporate and those employees without dedicated computers,” she said.

However, it can be just as big of a divide within companies with “deskbound” employees, too. “The culture of the company also is a factor, as well as the communication style of the leadership,” Baskin added.

And if bridging the gap between the C-suite and the rest of the company were an easy task, communications professionals would not be having this conversation.

“It is a daunting task, but that doesn’t make a very good excuse for not doing it,” Baskin added. “Tribe recommends spending some time in the actual work environment of those front-line employees to identify possible touch points, like where are they physically when they’re working? Is it noisy? Are they sitting or standing? Are they outside? Driving a truck? Where do they go when they take their breaks?”

“You have to be creative in thinking of communication channels for this group,” she said.

More about Elizabeth and Tribe

Elizabeth Baskin founded Tribe in 2002, an internal communications agency focused in developing strategic plans to build employee engagement and the internal brand. She founded Tribe in 2002 as a branding boutique and quickly grew the business to a $5 million company. In 2009, she launched Starter Cards LLC, a division of Tribe, to create content such as the Start Your Own Company iPhone application and the Social Media for Old Folks webinars.

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Social Media Strategies That Work for Business

An interview with IABC Atlanta speakers, Jessie Ford and Christina Edwards, of Birds of a Feather Creative, to hear their thoughts on what makes a great social media strategy.

 

Q: Have you seen the concept of ROI for social media really catch on yet? How do you measure ROI for something like social media and PR??

 
Absolutely. Measuring the ROI of your social networks is completely necessary to ensure that your audience is engaging with the content that you’re creating. There are many sophisticated listening tools that social media industry pros use to audit ROI. However, most businesses can use the tools that the social networks inherently provide such as reach, views, and engagement.

Q: What advice do you have to B2B marketers who have to convince their more conservative colleagues to embrace social media for the B2B arena?

 
We believe that businesses should utilize their social platforms like they do magazines or newspapers. If you aren’t using social platforms to communicate about your new products, systems, awards, and happenings, then you’re missing an opportunity to think outside of the B2B box. Social media is where sales begin and end.

ABOUT OUR PRESENTERS:

Christina Edwards maintains relationships with some of the country’s most influential brands, organizations, and thought leaders. As one of Atlanta’s top social media strategists, Christina helps give her clients an edge by integrating social media platforms into multi-dimensional campaigns. With a strong belief in entrepreneurship, Christina excels at consulting business owners on increasing financial growth through creative strategies, team building, and branding development.

Jessi-Ford is passionate about content creation and the power of a perfectly written post, blog, press release, or caption, Jessi Ford is one of Atlanta’s most experienced public relations and social media strategists. With a knack for communication, Jessi works well with business owners across a spectrum of industries, creating branding, marketing, and social campaigns tailored to fit a variety of demographics. Jessi believes that every business has a compelling story and she strives to successfully find a unique way to use today’s modern social media and marketing platforms to tell it