We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin below.

Alright, Erin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about making remote work effective.

I have been incredibly fortunate to be in an industry that was an early adopter of remote work, both in my own work and the current agency I work with. I have had clients all over the continent, and colleagues all over the globe. I love that digital marketing has been at the forefront of online collaboration.

Currently, at Sterling Sky, we have team members, industry partners, and clients throughout the US and Canada. I have team members that I’ve never met in person due to COVID, but we work together incredibly well. We utilize Slack and Zoom for communication, and meet virtually to collaborate frequently. We also have a weekly game and other team building activities that allow us to get to know each other better outside of work-related tasks, and some members of our team even meet up to play Nintendo Switch together virtually. Our industry is incredibly active on Twitter as well, and that seems to be where a lot of industry collaboration and water cooler type conversations happen.

Having a carefully-chosen, cohesive team is key on the brand side AND on the client side. Our clients are our partners, and we rely on collaboration and feedback to ensure we’re meeting goals and representing the client brands the way they want to be seen by their peers and customers.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have worked in the digital marketing space since 2005, when I joined an SEO agency knowing very little about the profession. I had always wanted to work in marketing, but the small mountain town we lived in had little in the way of available options. I accepted the position and quickly learned about SEO, or search engine optimization, and never looked back.

Since then, I’ve specialized in online reputation management and social media. Because social media didn’t really exist when I was in school, learning the ropes as the industry has evolved has been a fantastic combination of education, overwhelm, fun, and frustration. I love helping clients find their place online and connect with their ideal customers. I’ve worked with everything from small mom & pop brands to HGTV stars to defense contractors, and everything in between. My passion is small business, however. I love seeing how the impact of our efforts affects real people in their everyday lives. We help them rank well online, grow their social media audiences, and utilize technology to build their local businesses. Social media is the perfect place to close that loop, offering a brand’s personality a place to shine with their community and client base.

I currently freelance and also work at a phenomenal agency that provides local SEO services to companies in the US and Canada. We ensure the businesses are found on Google Maps in addition to regular search. Helping brands claim their space online and see their revenue and reputation grow as a result of our efforts is incredibly fulfilling, and I never get tired of hearing how those efforts impact them in a positive way. Local SEO really helps level the playing field between small and large business. Size does not always mean success, in fact, crafting a brand’s personality is often easier with small business because you don’t have as many hoops to jump through to share your mission and vision with the world. Big business may have more budget to work with, but small business often has more heart.

I am also on the board of a local nonprofit that is very important to me, and co-run a local Facebook group with 22,000+ members. If it’s not immediately obvious, I absolutely LOVE community and work hard to ensure the communities I am a part of, both physical and virtual, are strong and supportive for their members.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

In every aspect of digital marketing I’ve worked in, from agencies to in-house roles to freelancing and consulting, the best new clients always come from personal referrals. Every time. A personal recommendation is not only an incredible compliment and testament to our work, but they also tend to bring the best partners in, because they know both parties and know they’ll work well together. No amount of advertising or exposure brings in the quality clients that personal referrals do.

Beyond personal referrals, I love connecting with people who I’ve interacted with online, or met due to a speaking engagement.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

In addition to doing great work, persistence, authenticity, and personality help build great followings on social media. You can do great work, but if no one knows you’re out there, they won’t engage with your brand. People want to feel like they know, like, and can trust a brand that they work with. Social media provides the perfect place to create and maintain those relationships. Providing content that combines valuable information, entertainment, and even some vulnerability is a great way to show your audience that you’re real, and what you’re about.

I tell clients that if your website is your virtual office, then your social profiles are your happy hour or informal meet up. Stay true to the values of your brand, but let people see a bit more of your personality so they can feel like they know you. Brands like Chewy, Wendy’s, and Fenty Beauty are all great examples of brands that do a great job with messaging and engagement on social media.

Some of my top tips for clients include:
Be Consistent – Everywhere! Maintain consistency in style, language, posting frequency, and the voice used in your responses.
Value Engagement – Respond to comments, engage with other brands, and interact with your audience. Social media is all about engagement. This is time consuming, but so worth it. Getting to know your audience is an invaluable asset for planning future products/services, marketing, and the overall direction of your brand and its offerings.
Be Original – What sets you apart from the competition? How can you create additional value for your clients, business partners, and community?
Stay Up To Date – Know trends, what types of activity social platforms favor and reward, and be aware of what is going on in the world around you when crafting your strategy.
Get Feedback – How do you know what your audience wants if you don’t ask every once in a while? You may be surprised by what people respond to.
Mention Others – Social is all about engagement. Collaborate with other brands and business owners to share your audiences with each other.
Provide Value – What are you giving people that makes them want to come back for more?
Quality Matters – Use original, high-resolution images, check for typos, and maintain a consistent voice to earn and hold onto the trust of your audience.
Have Fun – Seriously. This may seem silly, but if you’re grinding out posts for the sake of posting or checking off an item on your to-do list, you’re wasting your time. Your audience is smarter than you think, be authentic and have fun with your content, and they will too.

Contact Info:

• Website: repbright.com & sterlingsky.ca
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinjones/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/erinjones