Project Bionic: Social Media Team on Mission
Some businesses see social media as the Holy Grail, the answer to all their problems, a magic wand that will cure all that ails them and physically force new customers to buy their products. On the other hand, some businesses see it as a fad, a nuisance, a medium to only engage with grudgingly. But the truth is social media is neither a quick fix for your marketing woes nor a flash in the pan that will go away. The network du jour may change over time, but the core idea will remain. Social media is a place where every business must be and where those that do it right can achieve great success by finding, maintaining, and nurturing prosperous relationships with their clients. One such media firm that believes in day-to-day social media management precision is Project Bionic. They stay present every day for every client, creating the best possible social media content daily and making sure the community is a blossoming, vibrant one.
The frustration led to the foundation
It all started with the founder, Josh Dirks’ foray into digital media in the early 2000’s as he watched the rise of pixels and data tracking. He was working for a national radio broadcasting network and soon got frustrated by the constant “broadcast” attitude of his peers. As narrow-casting or sliver-casting conversations began to take place, he started looking for platforms that would allow marketers to do narrow-casting at scale. The emergence of the Twitter and Facebook quickly showed that social media was going to be the arena for this discipline of marketing and he dove in head first. Josh and his three other partners were tired of the spray and pray methods of most digital marketers during the recession. They left their corporate jobs and in a basement in West Seattle began Project Bionic in 2009 with the mission to help brands meet the new opportunities of social marketing.
Dedication to constant innovation, humble leadership and tireless excellence
Today, the company is comprised of digital strategists, creative writers, branding specialists and marketing analysts that bring together the expertise necessary for a successful social media presence to drive results and meet business objectives in an authentic and real way. Project Bionic has methodically grown the team as its clients have migrated from being only regional brands to today representing national and global brands. The company’s dedication to constant innovation, humble leadership, and tireless excellence has allowed it to grow to more than 20 team members and more than 50 current brand partners.
The team at Project Bionic has been built organically and without ever hiring a maven, ninja, or maverick. “The foundation of Project Bionics’ creative approach is rooted in something we all learned in 8th grade, the scientific process. The team takes in as much data and other inputs at the beginning of a partner engagement to make the best creative and strategy hypothesis as possible,” Josh explains. Once a strategy is launched the team works tirelessly to measure results and then allow data to guide the creative and business decisions. “Most of the team at Project Bionic were experts in their creative areas and taught social strategy via the data. This allows Project Bionic to apply the PB Way to clients of varying industries and sizes but still deliver business results,” he further adds.
A trailblazer leading from the forefront
Josh cut his teeth in the early days of SEM with the mobile moving and storage pioneer Door to Door. From there he was able to get into SEO, Affiliate marketing, web development, and much more. In 2007, Josh was hired by Entercom Communication to both create new digital products and train the staff and client base on the power of digit marketing. Ironically, it was during his time in these walls that Josh found his passion for narrow-casting. This passion and frustration with the slow-moving traditional radio space led to the creation of Project Bionic. Josh is passionate about great marketing, paying more than just lip service to great content, and empowering a social media solution that puts community management at the center of Project Bionics’ service offerings. He can often be heard tell a new client the village metaphor or railing against lazy broadcast creative.
Growing with the space is the key
“In our fifth year, as the social space matured and people realized that social was here to stay we began to see results that were 5-10 times the industry averages. Additionally, we were seeing amazing customer moments coming from our dedication to Community Management. As clients become aware of these things, our phone began to ring off the hook,” Josh remembers. He is proud today that of their first 3 original clients, 2 are still with them today. Project Bionic has grown with the space and hasn’t tried to be a solution they’re not, and that’s something to be proud of.
Pushing the creative bounds of the social media space
“We turnkey our social media presence. Unlike most agencies that say they will, social is all we do and so we do it excellently every day. We’re students of the space and love helping brands connect with their true clients to create longstanding relationships and revenue,” Josh says. “Whether you just have a contest you need run, want a whole new social media strategy, or have decided that outsourcing your social is best; Project Bionic can come alongside its partners and create a business relationship that is about ‘getting the damn job done’ vs tracking contracted hour buckets. We care deeply for the brands we partner with and strive to find real business solutions from the social chatter,” he further adds.
Moving forward, Project Bionic will continue to innovate and push the creative bounds of the social media space. In 2018, the company launched an Influencer Marketing division and is beginning to dabble in the Amazon ecosystem that is becoming more and more social all the time. If it is social in the future, you can be sure that Project Bionic will be on the forefront.
