Work
I have planned, executed and measured social media programs for The North Carolina Education Lottery, a $2.5 billion sales organization, as well as Issuer Direct, a global communication and compliance company. Whether B2B or B2C, I have more than a decade of experience developing a variety of engaging content.
ISSUER DIRECT
Compared to a broader consumer audience, in B2B marketing, the target audience is niche: Key business decision-makers in specific disciplines. In the case of Issuer Direct, the company's value proposition is precisely that it is one vendor to provide a host of services ranging from SEC compliance software to newswire distribution. So that accounts for the scope of topics in the examples of my work below. The copy is tailored to reach out to everyone from a PR agency chief to a chief financial officer.
First Tuesday Takeover
For monthly product roll-outs, I sometimes wrote blogs in the voice of "Mr. First Tuesday" - a character developed by the lottery's agency for TV and radio ads. By inhabiting Mr. First Tuesday's charming personality, we introduced players to new games in a fun and engaging way.
Halloween Fun
Brands are looking to get a share of the social conversation revolving around broader cultural trends and events. The key is to find a way to authentically get the brand into that conversation. And that requires doing more than saying "Happy National Hot Dog Day." Success comes with finding a genuine intersection between the brand and the more general topic of interest.
Small Prize, Big Reaction
The greatest appeal of the lottery, of course, is the chance to win big. But what we found was that the more attainable "everyday" wins could be of great interest to our customers, especially if we had a photo and human details to bring dimension to the story. I was always looking for opportunities to celebrate wins big and small, and the fun of simply dreaming that comes with getting a ticket.
Smells Like a Winner
To get an unfair share of attention for the lottery's first-ever scented scratch-off ticket, we developed a traditional PR and social media campaign. It entailed on-site events at restaurants in the state's two largest media markets, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham. We achieved broad TV and newspaper coverage. And we amplified the messaging through promotional posts on social media.
Fans Show Panthers Pride
I designed this promotion to leverage the lottery's partnership with the Carolina Panthers. Coming off the team's Super Bowl appearance, the Panthers-themed scratch-off ticket was a chance to connect the lottery with a broadly popular brand. In accordance with the Panthers' brand guidelines, I designed approved graphics and wrote post copy and blogs to tap into football fandom that tied strongly to our product.
Ruby Red Hot Summer
North Carolinians love the summer sunshine. And to associate the lottery with that spirit of seasonal adventure, we created the Ruby Red Hot Summer promotion. I designed the graphics and wrote the post and blog copy for this promotion as well. It accomplished our aim to prompt exchanges with players about the thrill and delight of summer that extended that feeling to the instant scratch-off ticket going on sale.
Powerball Wishes
The core theme of dreaming and possibility is essential to the lottery's brand. And finding different ways to talk about that is a key challenge in all communications, including social media. By finding the intersection of making birthday wishes and what wishes could come true with a Powerball win, we started a fun conversation with players to celebrate Powerball's 25th Anniversary.