A presentation of: brand repositioning | website redesign | social media consulting | social media strategyfor The Pilgrim Mother

KarenKiely.com@kazkiely

Here is a showcase of the transformation of The Pilgrim Motherʼs brand, through a thorough redesign of ThePilgrimMother.com, the repositioning of the brand consistently across social media channels and the associated social media consulting to equip the client with the skills to maintain the online presence independently and appropriately.

It documents the transformation of ThePilgrimMother.com from a website that lacked clarity to one with clear, targeted copy and a fresh, inviting colour scheme and design.

It presents the improvements made to the clientʼs Twitter, Youtube and Facebook presences. It also demonstrates the results of one-on-one advisory sessions with the client where practical advice on social media was presented.

Creative social media solutions implemented by the client are also portrayed, as proof of the benefits of innovative approaches to social media activity.

Summary

ContextJane Noble Knight - The Pilgrim Mother - is a woman who raised a family, had the career and changed her life around to follow her own aspirations. Likening herself to the female companions of the “Pilgrim Fathers” who travelled to the US, Janeʼs main intent was uncovering unheard stories and giving recognition to unseen people i.e. the “Pilgrim Mothers”. She now travels the UK in her motorhome, meeting people, finding stories and sharing her own.

I began working with Jane through a mutual contact I had made in April 2011. Jane Williams, of Fandango Media, is a director and producer who is creating a documentary about “Pilgrim Mothers” and sought my assistance on re-positioning Jane Knightʼs brand online ahead of starting work on the film. I collaborated with Jane Williams on ideas for web copy and design and at a later stage worked directly with Jane Knight, providing hands-on workshops and assistance.

ProblemWebsite - It was difficult to see from Janeʼs existing website what she was doing and who “The Pilgrim Mother” was. There was no linkage between the website and her social profiles, even though Jane had a relatively active Facebook presence. Web copy lacked clarity and didnʼt appropriately put across Janeʼs personality. Ultimately, the website needed to become more warm, friendly and convey Janeʼs selling points.

Blog - Jane blogged from time to time, but would compose posts and email them to someone else to upload for her. Her blog posts and video blogs were often quite long-winded without clear objectives or take-away points. The blog needed to be a place where readers could take away valuable insights, where Janeʼs personality shone through, and where posts were short and to-the-point. They also needed clear calls to action to entice readers to interact.

Facebook - Janeʼs Facebook presence was through both a personal profile with 1000+ friends and a group page with around 250+ members. The group contained much of the same copy as the website and as such, needed to be edited. Facebook Groups as they were originally purposed are becoming obsolete and Jane needed to start using a like page to keep up with industry conventions and Facebook best practices.

Youtube - Janeʼs Youtube presence was similar to her other social profiles, in that her profile bio didnʼt appropriately put across her persona or story. Janeʼs videos were long, often 8-10 minutes, and as such were not getting as much views as anticipated. Furthermore, her videos were lacking in interaction from viewers, which was most likely down to the lack of clear objectives for the videos.

Approach

The way in which Jane managed her onl ine c o m m u n i c a t i o n s activities conflicted with her independent lifestyle.

Janeʼs unique selling point was the fact that she is an independent woman taking control of her own life. I wanted to put Jane in control of her online communications in order to tie in with her lifestyle of independence, empowerment and story-telling.

I advised Jane on the best ways to present herself online and gave a hands-on approach to managing social media to help foster a sense of authenticity and honesty

This would also tie in with the convention of authentic online presence; I constantly aim to provide clients with the skills to maintain their online communications as this helps foster a more honest image. I wanted to equip Jane with the skills to update on-the-go as well as knowledge on how to blog for herself, which would help in presenting herself honestly. I wanted to instill in Jane a passion for sharing her story regularly so that she would enjoy doing so and in turn `benefit her online presence, with more, richer content. Giving Jane an opportunity to see the benefits of this, such as helping her create content that attracts conversations, was imperative to make her excited about blogging and social media.

In recent times, Facebook have repurposed the groups system; groups are now more about focused conversation and collaboration between a group of friends or professionals and the more contextualised sharing of content. Like pages have become the standard for those looking to build a Facebook presence surrounding a product, service, persona, business and so on. The facilities available to like page owners are ideal for helping to build a Facebook presence that allows for the sharing of news, videos and photos but also the execution of creative promotions using the vast variety of third-party applications available. I wanted to bring Jane into this newer, more appropriate use of Facebook for her brand and inform her of the best ways to use it to her benefit.

I brought Jane up-to-date on Facebook by switching over from a group to a like page.

Janeʼs target audience was those who have embraced their aspirations and carved their own path. Jane was particularly interested in becoming a role model for older women, as she wanted to create a fission about being in oneʼs “Golden Age” and help get others valued for their worth. Itʼs been shown that over-65s in the UK are interested in technology more than their US and European counterparts, and in particular, women over 65 are spending as much time on the internet as men in the same age bracket [1]. With this in mind, I knew Janeʼs target audience can and do go online, so I needed to make sure that her website and associated presence would attract that audience and be easy to navigate, use and read.

I helped Jane in targeting an older audience through appropriate design and copy.

OutputsComplete change o f des ign and content of Jane’s website1.

In collaboration with Jane Williams of Fandango Media, I designed various iterations of Janeʼs website before we decided on a warm colour scheme and dynamic homepage slider. Using photographs Jane and I had taken at Kenilworth Castle, I crafted some appropriate images for the homepage that put across Janeʼs selling points. Copy was clear and short, yet still conveyed Janeʼs emotional selling point - a woman who was unrecognised for her worth, but changed that and wants to encourage others to do the same.

The website went live in early August, ahead of the Western Motorhome Show, as Jane would be directing those she met to the page.

2. Social media workshop: Teaching Jane to use Wordpress, Facebook pages and Twitter

Ahead of the new ThePilgrimMother.com going live, I gave Jane three social media workshops. In these, I covered how to use Wordpress to format and publish new blog posts, using desktop and mobile Twitter apps to make managing Twitter updates easier, and using her new Facebook Like page to send updates. We also used this time to collaboratively clean up existing social media profiles such as Janeʼs Youtube and Twitter bios, in line with website copy and branding. With a hands-on approach, Jane learned how to practically approach managing her online communications and came away much more confident.

Western Motorhome Show: Advising o n c r e a t i v e s o l u t i o n s a n d s u b s e q u e n t a s s i s t a n c e a n d consolidation3.It was important to provide Jane with a creative social media campaign to generate some engagement around her new Facebook page and blog. W i t h J a n e ʼ s s t o r y a n d objectives in mind, the best approach to getting more traffic and engagement was by meeting similar people, striking u p a r a p p o r t a n d t h e n informing them of the blog, F a c e b o o k a n d Tw i t t e r . Together, we decided that the Western Motorhome Show in Malvern was the ideal event to use to do this. This way, Jane could meet exhibitors with interesting things to say about

motorhoming but there was also the opportunity to meet sole travellers like herself. In the run up to the event, I helped Jane connect with exhibitors by creating a list of Facebook pages and Twitter profiles to touch base with. This gave Jane a talking point with them at the event; she was able to express that she had connected with them online (some exhibitors had replied back, e.g. Danbury Motorcaravans) and this way, they were more inclined to speak with her. Using a camera and audio recording equ ipmen t , t oge the r we

created a number of interviews with exhibitors, and Jane handed out business cards and invited those we spoke to to catch the content online. The day was a success, with Jane creating a great amount of content that she was able to post some of to her blog in the following days. Jane gained confidence in us ing the recording equipment and was impressed with the reaction she got both at the event and afterwards on Facebook, when some o f those she met followed up with her there.

OutcomesIndependence Jane now has the ability and confidence to maintain her blog herself, as well as the understanding of best practices in Facebook and Twitter. Jane no longer has to work through another person to publish content to her website and she understands how to update on the go from her iPhone also. I have helped empower here to manage her online communications which in turn contributes to the authenticity of her image and gives her complete control over how she is presented. She is much more active on her Facebook page than she previously was with her group and is steadily building up fans and interactions.

Overall, Jane is having fun and is more comfortable with her online presence, which ultimately will help her be increasingly more active.

Janeʼs branding is much improved. Her image has been softened, with appropriate colour scheme and imagery on her website; her website has clarity and it is much clearer to see what she is doing and why; her social media presence has one unified message and image; her objectives and personality come across in the way she manages her online presence - independently and honestly; her emotional selling points are maintained, but more succinctly and effectively put across using compelling narrative on her website. Jane has flyers and business cards that I designed in keeping with her branding, as well as a large banner saying “Pilgrimʼs Pit Stop” to put by her van when she parks up, acting as a talking point.

Overall, Jane is now proud to meet others and inform them of her online presence.

Brand Identity

Janeʼs Facebook page has seen a lot of interaction since the Motorhome Show. Advising Jane to connect with exhibitors on Facebook and Twitter ahead of the event has had a lot to do with this, as Jane has seen comments on Facebook and her blog and Follow Fridays on Twitter from those she connected with and subsequently met. Facebook Insights show a peak in page views and interactions in the days following the show.

Overall, using the Motorhome Show to generate real-world interest in Janeʼs online presence was very beneficial.

Interaction

“Working with Karen gave me a leading edge practical input as well as current social media thinking.

Iʼve now been working with Karen for a few months and itʼs been a delight. Sheʼs thorough, conscientious, adaptable and flexible in her approach. As someone who can tend to be on the quiet, reflective side myself, I appreciated Karenʼs gentle manner and encouragement. Iʼm not quite a technophobe. I need to (and do) embrace technology but Iʼm of an age where it doesnʼt come as quickly and easily to me as young people whoʼve grown up with it.

Karenʼs been a joy to work with. Although I feel at times Iʼm hopeless at grasping new skills, Karen is always patient and supportive. Itʼs been fantastic for me to have such a practical, hands on approach. Itʼs been great to learn how to do things through the process of working together so itʼs not been totally hands off. Thereʼs hope for me yet!

As well as teaching me new ways of working, Karen has also provided me with valuable feedback. I feel itʼs been a truly collaborative partnership.

So nearing the end of our project work together, I wish Karen every success for her future. Iʼm sure Karen has a bright and successful one ahead of her. I canʼt recommend her highly enough.

Thank you, Karen.”

Jane says...

[1] Stroud, D. (2005) The 50-Plus Market, London: Kogan Page.Photo credits

All © KarenKiely.com exceptPage 2 Fandango Media (www.fandangomedia.co.uk)

Page 7 user Huasonic on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huasonic)

Karen is an online media consultant and designer, specialising in creative approaches to social media for businesses, arts organisations, individuals and groups, with a focus on authenticity and independence.

Portfolio and BlogKarenKiely.com

Emailkaz@karenkiely.com

Twitter@kazkiely

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