Case Study: Marquette Social Media Transformation
Role
Graphic Designer, Brand Assistant, Social Media Manager
Duration
March 2024 to Present
Tools
Hootsuite, Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, FlipHTML 5, Microsoft Loop, Excel
Deliverables
Social Media Audit, Social Media Workflow, Brand Guidelines, Social Media Strategy, Content Strategy, Videos, Graphics,
Overview
Marquette Management is a real estate management company based in Naperville, Illinois. Distinguished by the Core Values of Synergy, Excellence, Authenticity and Customer Centricity, Marquette employees embrace these principles in everyday operations, from prospective renter tours to executive business decisions.
Over the span of 6 months, I created a strategy for the social media accounts for Marquette Management, executed that strategy, and brought a huge boost for their KPIs for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. To do this, I had to learn as much as I could about the multifamily leasing world as I could and connect with both B2C and B2B audiences. Here’s how I did it:
Problem
Marquette’s social media accounts had no clear strategy and no content that connected fully with their core values. Creating quality content and delivering a consistent brand were the two pillars of our plan.
We appealed to our primary audiences and grew our reach among:
Investors
Talent
Renters
B2B Decision Makers
Property Managers
Solution
We overhauled how we looked at social media and what we were looking for in both the brand and the company’s overall goals. Here was our gameplan:
Create a brand new strategy that divided out content various aspects of Marquette’s business and how they all work harmoniously.
Research which audiences responded most positively to certain forms of content.
Create a consistent branding that would start on social media, and evolve into the larger Marquette brand.
Create a workflow that would make reviews and approvals more beneficent and get quality content out quicker.
How I Met Those Goals
I worked with the Director of Marketing to learn about the history and the branding of Marquette. After learning about the company and the multifamily industry as a whole, I designed a multifaceted strategy:
I was put in charge of developing an all-new strategy that was based on new forms of content that was underutilized in their marketing strategy, such as video, graphics made specifically for social, and thought leadership-based media. I also incorporated a set of tools that brought the most value to our content creation efforts, leading to a higher ROI than past social efforts.
After creating the social and content strategy, I created several pieces of contents that highlighted the core values of Marquette: Customer-Centricity, Authenticity, Synergy, Excellence. I used those values to highlight where the company flourished and create conversations about how people were at the forefront of Marquette’s approach to construction, management, and resident relations.
Part of Marquette’s reputation is built on keeping an open dialogue with their apartment communities. One of the things I played a big part in was creating a cross-functional system that utilized site reviews, social media comments, and personal messages to further refine company-wide strategies regarding each individual property in their portfolio
With the brand undergoing a refresh, several new materials had to be revamped and created. Beyond my social media duties, I collaborated with several departments and leaders to develop updated branding materials, including advertisements, pitch decks, internal communications, event signage, and much much more.
Analytics were not being tracked with Marquette’s four social media accounts, so I started keeping a monthly tally of several KPIs as outlined in our strategy, including reach, engagements, hashtag performance, and followers. Over the span of six months, all of those metrics increased and our Hootsuite social media score raised exponentially.
Metrics
Overall Follower Increase
500+
Designs Created (Including Templates)
10+
Overall Hootsuite Score Increases
50-200+
Results
Working with Marquette was a great opportunity for me to show my social media and design savvy while learning the ins and outs of the real estate industry. As you saw above, I helped launch the refreshed branding of the prolific Chicago-based multifamily institution while creating a new strategy that taps into the best parts of Marquette and the people in its shared community. To know that my designs, strategy, and ideas would make an impact in such a short time is nothing short of an honor, and I’m grateful for the chance to use my talent to become a better creator and strategist.