• May 25, 2017
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By Justin Creally
Co-founder, North Strategic

Social media marketing isn’t what you think it is anymore.

When we founded North Strategic in 2011, we did so with a vision to create an agency that was “social by design.” It was something of a mission statement for our agency, an idea for our team to aspire to in all aspects of the work we do for our clients.

This meant forgetting about the traditional ways of thinking about advertising and marketing. It also meant challenging the very definition of PR and earned media.

It’s safe to say this strategy worked. Ensuring that the mission to be ‘social by design’ was baked into everything we created helped North stand out from the rest of the industry, enabling us to grow our business, sign up world class clients, and bring home some serious hardware.

But it’s time for what comes next. Social by design was just the beginning.

We are now in the era of the social sales journey.

At North, most of our client relationships start with simple objectives like “help us make better content” or “we’d like to improve our engagement rates.” Our unique approach and our reputation for working closely with our clients to enhance their own internal capabilities are unrivalled in Canada and allow us to deliver results like no other agency.

It’s why brands like BMW Canada, Tim Hortons, Cadillac Fairview, and American Express turn to North for collaboration when looking to strengthen their social media channels with the right social content.

But as the results start to roll in, we start to hear a different message from our clients. The new question we’re hearing more often is “can you help us achieve business results through social content?”

We sure can. In fact, this is the role we relish.

At North, we’re dedicated to working with our clients to marry the best social media branded content and influencer marketing with a comprehensive strategy that connects with the Customer Decision Journey for our clients. The goal is simple: Use great social content that attracts eyeballs and views and then re-target those interactions with more product-specific messaging to draw consumers deeper into the CDJ funnel in order to drive sales, sign ups, and results.

(For a great read on this, check out the thoughts of our client Lauren Dineen-Duarte at American Express Canada in this article from Strategy Magazine).

Our Vision is to be the content, social media, and influencer agency of choice for top brands looking to break through with Canadian audiences with award-winning campaigns that drive sales and create a lasting business impact. That means evolving our business to meet the shifting needs and objectives of our clients.

It’s why we continue to expand our in-house offerings – such as our Notch Creator Network and our Nfluence influencer team – so that we can help our clients move from better content and engagement rates to demonstrable business results.

We believe that rethinking your approach to influencers, strong content strategies, and the authentic nature of social media content combine to ensure our clients are winning on social.