Meet Shannon Briggs.
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shannon Briggs. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Shannon, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
My company rebranded in March 2022, after being in business for over seven years. Prior to this, my maiden name was the name of the company: Shannon R. Little. When we rebranded, we could have easily been Briggs Marketing or 901 Marketing, but that just doesn’t feel true to the core of who we are. We want to be the opposite of generic, and we feel like our personality just wouldn’t shine through with those types of names.
After many brainstorming meetings, we finally landed on the idea of gathering around a campfire. We love the community feel and warmth that image conveys. Our approach to our clients is friendly, focused, and empathetic. We have fun doing our jobs, and we want our clients to have fun with us. Our meetings are laid-back, even as we strategically tackle important campaign goals. As a group of personable, relatable, and flexible personalities, we understand that no two campaigns are alike, just like no two clients are alike. And we don’t treat them that way. Each campaign is ignited and burns in a different fashion, and often in a different setting.
Like a fire, our work is consistent, reliable, and steady. We light a match, watch the campaign rise, and then tend to it carefully so it continues to shimmer and shine. And we do it all as a collective. A neighborly team of hardworking, passionate individuals who have partnered with equally passionate clients.
At Campfire Collective, our goal is to let our clients shine. We work collaboratively to provide social media campaigns that burn consistently bright, creative marketing strategies that direct companies to their goals, email marketing campaigns that guide readers through announcements, and polished, clear public relations that spotlight clients in what they do best.
Why Campfire Collective? No other image conveys who we are quite so well. We invite you to sit with us and discover how we can help fan the flames of creativity for you.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started my freelancing journey many years ago in 2009. At the time, I was working a full-time day job that I loved for a company that I equally loved. I would spend 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. working behind a desk doing all things marketing, events, and communication. Then, I would head home, pet the fur babies, grab some coffee, and get to work on the side hustle. This is a familiar scene to many, especially as Americans lean more into the self-employed economy as the years go by.
My first freelance gig was for a local massage company. I was introduced to the owner by one of the leaders at my day job. She said they could use the help and thought I would be great at it. I never had plans to start my own business. I thought of my side gigs as a way to earn a little extra income to help me travel and do things I love. Fast-forward four years, my freelancing had grown so much through word of mouth that I was working two full-time jobs. Through a lot of encouragement from friends and family, and a giant leap of faith, little ‘ol risk averse me took the plunge into self-employment full-time on November 6, 2015.
I have never looked back.
It’s one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I am thankful every day that I get to do what I do. Since that day, life has certainly been full of its ups and downs. But it has trended upward since the beginning. In 13 years, I have worked with over 50 organizations on their marketing, helping spread the word about the businesses and nonprofits making an impact in their community. I’ve grown from a journey of one to an awesome, talented, hard-working, passionate, and overall fun team of eight. I’ve been a part of multiple award-winning projects and have won marketing awards for them, too.
Our team of eight collaborates together on marketing campaigns for community-based businesses. My mindset has always been that small businesses and non-profit organizations are the core foundation of communities, and my goal is to uplift communities by uplifting these types of organizations. We’ve found our niche in working with those who want to hire professionals but don’t necessarily have the resources to work with large agencies or bring someone in-house.
My mindset has always been that small businesses and non-profit organizations are the core of communities, and they are the foundation that builds up communities to their full potential. My goal is to uplift communities by uplifting their small businesses and non-profits. We’ve found our niche in working with organizations who want to hire professionals but don’t necessarily have the resources to work with large agencies or bring someone in-house.
We’ve had the opportunity to work on some fun, rewarding campaigns. Here are a few highlights:
– Won 30 total PRSA industry VOX awards in 3 years for work on client campaigns
– Increased attendance at East Buntyn ArtWalk by 900% over from 2014-2018
– Launched Memphis’s first immersive theatre experience to a sold out crowd
– Raised over $1 million in relief funds for Memphis hospitality workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
– Significantly increased sales at all 40 participating businesses during Meet Me Along Madison’s 2016 two day event
– Launched Memphis’s first three day wine festival to a nearly sold-out crowd, and a sold-out crowd in year two.
– In two years, increased one client’s social media following on Facebook by 7K followers, Twitter by 10K followers, and Instagram by 17K followers
– Landed two small businesses in feature stories in Time’s Money Magazine
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My social media presence has been carefully crafted and slowly built over many years. When I look back on how I began to build it, it all comes back to community. I originally joined social media as a way to connect with others. I found community through my city, my industry, my basketball fandom, and more. The first step is figuring out who your community is, followed by finding that community and participating.
The second piece of growing my social media presence was to be helpful to others. I began offering advice, tips, tricks, and insight to my communities as a way to share knowledge, build rapport, and just help others out. If others see you are more than a salesperson, they are more likely to engage with you.
With that, you want to make sure your social media content is educational and/or entertaining. Providing value gives others a reason to follow you. Yet, don’t forget that posting is just a small bit of the process. The engagement piece, going back to helping others, is how you can truly build that audience.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I believe we all had to pivot in one way or another with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2022. For me, it was vital. Business budgets were getting slashed, and when this happens, contractors and marketing are usually among the first to go. Plus, our clients no longer found it valuable to market their business to potential customers when everything was falling apart around us. So, we lit all of our 2020 marketing plans on fire and started from scratch. In addition to a marketing agency, we started operations consulting with our clients. We brainstormed methods to help them pivot to continue to serve their customers and operate most effectively. With the ongoing changes in policies, this was an ever-evolving game. As we helped our customers pivot their offerings, we also reworked how to communicate these changes to the community. Over time, the operations consulting continued, but by 2021 when vaccines became available, we were able to move back mainly into marketing mode. Now, while we have these tools in our toolbelt and can help clients pivot on a moment’s notice, we prefer to not be in a situation where we have to again!
To read the full article go to CanvasRebel Magazine.
