The Challenge

Find and Engage Small Business Owners

Small Business Owners are a key and valued part of Staples’ customer-base. When Redbird first joined Staples’ team, they had invested in setting up a sponsored group for Small Business Owners on LinkedIn, and were thinking deeply about what kinds of content or digital experiences might further strengthen their relationship to this audience. It was very important to be real. To find the voice, style and topics that would convey deep understanding of a small business owner’s unique challenges while adding real-world support.

Our Solution

Content, Community and a Mobile App

We started by taking over the management of the Staples Small Business Network on LinkedIn, engaging that community with real-time conversation and high quality original content. Our articles, Slideshares and videos were made specifically to inform, engage and inspire. 

We then set out to further deepen the brand-customer relationship and collaborated with Staples on the launch of a new mobile app – Staples Quick Wins. We designed, created content for, managed community within and partnered on the development of this platform to help Small Business Owners track and grow their money and marketing efforts in small steps, every day.

Results

Within months of kicking off our work in 2013, the Staples Small Business Network on LinkedIn achieved a No. 1 quality score ranking among sponsored groups. The content we created — including helpful Slideshares, articles, and video — generated strong engagement and participation in the group sharply increased. This same content also had legs across Staples’ social streams and internal channels. The first version of the Staples Quick Wins mobile app launched successfully in December of 2015.

Services Provided