In December, Matea Ećimović and Luka Mladinović joined the Client Outreach department. Along with the rest of the team, they added 358 companies and 1,240 people to our database, updated 1,697 companies and 2,156 people, and sent out over 553 custom emails to producers, creative directors, marketing managers, and photo editors around the world.
In December, I began working on our Outreach process for Client People whose records aren’t currently connected to Client Companies (People Without Companies). Our goal is to update everyone appropriately and connect them to their current agencies, brands, or publications, or note if they are now working freelance. I would then reach out to them to share our capabilities and photographer and crew resources.
Bryan and I had a call with the Global Director of Integrated Production and others from their production team at The Wonderful Company. We shared our production abilities, learned about their current photo/video needs, and discussed a few upcoming projects with which we could potentially support them. I spoke with freelance executive producers in Boston and Minneapolis to share our resources, discuss how we can lend a hand with their projects, and explore possibilities to collaborate. At the start of the month, I also produced a photo project for ISS Media at the CIO Industry Innovation Awards in NYC.
In December, my Client Outreach initial role was to focus on Companies (Brands). I later worked on People (Publications). My job now is to check a person’s profile and see if they still work for the company to which they are linked. I make updates in our database if there are any changes. The biggest difference from working on Companies to now on People is that, in my new role, I reach out to those people and send them a custom email promoting our Member Photographers. The important thing is to find a photographer whose specialties both fit with that company and who is in the same general location.
My Client Outreach role in December was working on Brand (People), focusing on those with the Star keywords, Marketing job titles, and Producers and/or those in production positions. Craig and I had a capabilities call with the Director of Media at RealTruck, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-headquartered premier manufacturer of truck accessories. Also in the month, Andrew and I had a capabilities call with The Wonderful Company’s three person production team. Bill, Adrienne, Craig, Nicole, and I had a capabilities call with a global energy production client.
In December, we had a capabilities call with RealTruck to discuss upcoming projects and their production needs. We also connected with Droga5 to discuss a worldwide photography library for one of their clients, which could potentially involve many photographers, starting in India. Also in December, we discussed a video project and made director recommendations for a pet food brand through the agency Momentum. In addition, we provided rough numbers and recommendations for a pharmaceutical project through the agency Digitas Health.
This December, I worked on Vertical (Companies), taking care of records for companies in niche markets that are relevant to specific types of photographers. This helps our consultants to easily build useful lists of clients for photographers. This time around it was for department store chains.
Then I got transferred to the Industries role. I ensured we had all the leading Brands and the biggest companies in each LinkedIn Industry.
This month, my main focus was sorting through email replies, especially automated ones from clients or photographers who might be on vacation or have changed roles. Starting with the oldest emails, I checked details such as email addresses, names, phone numbers, addresses, websites, and job titles. If there was any info on a colleague covering for them, I would evaluate their importance to us. When there were relevant updates, I would change their data records in Daylite.
As a Client Outreach specialist, my primary responsibility was to find a valuable contact for each company within a given vertical market. To achieve this, I searched for contacts with creative job titles such as Art and Creative Directors, or Marketing specialists. However, in some vertical markets, it was challenging to identify a relevant contact. This was particularly true when their field was not directly related to commercial or photo-related work.
I worked to find good prospects for our photographers to contact in different verticals, such as Landscape Firms and Interior Design Firms, Beverage brands, Chemical Companies, Educational institutions both inside and outside the U.S., Fashion brands, Food brands, NGO and Non-Profits, Outdoor Equipment and Retailers, Pet Product Brands, and Quick Service Restaurants (QSR). I also explored Visitor’s Bureau/Tourism Office in the hospitality industry.
In December, I began tracking companies based on their vertical markets. These niche markets help us to find clients that are relevant to specific types of photographers, and are essential to our marketing efforts. I focused on expanding two areas: first, the outdoor apparel and equipment industry. I broke these down into apparel, equipment, and retailers that sell both. While many of these companies were environmentally focused brands like Patagonia or REI, others were more sports and recreation-centered. I discovered that for most of these smaller brands to survive, they operate under one parent company that manages all of their marketing and digital needs in-house.
The second vertical market that I worked on was organizing our fashion retail brands so that we could search for them under: Athleisure, High Fashion, Fast Fashion, Accessories, and Footwear. In doing this, I discovered that we weren’t tracking for streetwear or youth apparel brands and added the market to our list.
In December, I focused on the role of People (Agencies). I updated and contacted the people associated with the agencies in our database.
I recently transitioned from updating the oldest profiles on our website to now focusing on enhancing Client Companies in our database. Initially, I systematically reviewed publications. Later, I progressed to agencies. Currently, I’m actively involved in refining brand companies. During the month, I came across several humanitarian organizations dedicated to supporting underprivileged children and adults in Africa. My efforts centered on improving the representation of these impactful organizations in our database. I look forward to further refining and expanding our client outreach strategies, and to help make meaningful connections and collaborations in the future.
In December, I had three roles. At the start of the month, I worked on Resources. After that, I got the opportunity to work on Client Outreach, beginning with the oldest client profiles on our website. Then I transitioned to working on our records for Client Companies, focusing on Publications. I updated all the data carefully, ensuring accuracy, including information such as the number of employees. I also added new individuals to our database who could serve as valuable contacts.
At the beginning of this month, I began working in the Client Outreach department. Initially, my responsibility was to update the oldest profiles on our website. I reviewed and modified the information of each client. Afterward, I moved on to a role where I was responsible for overseeing the data associated with Client Companies (Publications). In my current position, at Companies (Agencies), I carefully examined every aspect of the information stored in our database. This allowed me to better evaluate the individuals we are targeting.
December was a great growth month for adding Brands as I continued the Outreach Process for promoting our Wonderful Machine photographers. I thoroughly enjoyed not only updating and adding more Brands to our database, but also the chance to introduce these Brands to the talented member photographers that are best suited for their target audience. As I promoted Wonderful Machine photographers, I noted cities of opportunity for additional Wonderful Machine members as well as the small nuances that contribute to a “best fit” connection. I contributed suggestions for keywords to member’s profiles. I also suggested photographers to new clients that could expand their range of specialities after discussing this approach with Bill.
My primary responsibilities in December were to connect our network photographers with people actively working for brands across the world. This allowed me to become very familiar with the Wonderful Machine members’ profiles and their specific aesthetics.
In this role, I confirmed the source for each profile (how we became aware of that Company). I verified the employee numbers for each brand. I also “connected” to each person working with these brands on LinkedIn. Throughout December, I added over 18 new brands to our company profiles in Daylite. Some of these companies include Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, NZXT, NIA Community Services, Davidor Jewelry, Tessa, NAFINC, Sheringham Distillery, Hunt Club, Healthfirst, Betr, Oura, Blackbaud, Earthcore, Ralme USA, Fredrickson Learning, Talk Talk, Milk Agency, and Partner Films. This was rewarding as these new brands increase our percentages on Wonderful Machine photographers being hired.
Last month, I switched from the Oldest Promoted role to the Parent Companies role. Parent companies own and control other companies, known as subsidiaries or “children.” These subsidiaries can operate independently or as part of a larger corporate structure. In some cases, the parent company may have a different business focus or type than its subsidiaries. The role of managing parent companies involves updating the database and our website, capturing all the changes that happen when companies get bought, merged, or join a bigger corporate family. This also includes identifying prospects, linking appropriate people, and considering different locations, divisions, and brands associated with parent companies. At the end of the month, I found out that Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R joined forces and morphed into the powerhouse called VML. This significant merger brought a lot of tasks, including updating our records to reflect the latest and most relevant information.
In December, my focus was to update People profiles in our database and their corresponding Company profile. I would then send a custom email to that person promoting a member photographer, whose specialty matched their company’s needs. After that, my role was changed to Oldest Promoted. My responsibility was to review the portfolios of our member photographers. I would then try to find the perfect company to promote those photographers, based on their work. It was very interesting to see the quality and range of our member photographers. I feel like I learned a lot during this process.
Have questions about how we promote our photographers? Check out our Membership page. Want to know how you can get the most out of your Wonderful Machine membership? Check out our Jumpstart page or just reach out!