Nate Riggs

For the past decade, Nate Riggs, the founder of marketing firm NR Media Group, has run a virtual office, with employees scattered across the country. But this year, after realizing the company needed a brick-and-mortar base to grow its video production unit, Nate transitioned the firm to the new Columbus, Ohio, headquarters.

Because some employees still worked remotely and others reported to the office each day, Nate recognized that challenges and miscommunications could arise among the… Show more

For the past decade, Nate Riggs, the founder of marketing firm NR Media Group, has run a virtual office, with employees scattered across the country. But this year, after realizing the company needed a brick-and-mortar base to grow its video production unit, Nate transitioned the firm to the new Columbus, Ohio, headquarters.

Because some employees still worked remotely and others reported to the office each day, Nate recognized that challenges and miscommunications could arise among the group, some of whom were new employees. So he held a team retreat in Columbus, a combination of strategy sessions, client meet-and-greets, and after-hours social events. “The team cohesiveness that was developed on that retreat has been amazing,” says Nate.

The team-building efforts had immediate benefits. “We left with a lot of momentum. Our first week back, we were meeting deliverables in about half the time that it took us before the retreat,” says Nate.
In order to maintain the energy, the team now gathers each week in a virtual Google Hangout with a set agenda. Nate also has regular one-on-one meetings with each team member to get status updates and reassess goals. “We try to keep high-frequency touches with the team, but not so much that it interferes with getting work done,” he says.

He has also encouraged the team to maintain the social connections they established at the retreat. To mimic the banter that might have happened around the office water cooler, employees have recently launched a group texting thread, regularly sharing jokes, interesting news, and funny stories with coworkers. “To me, that’s the indicator of a team culture, right?” says Nate. “We all have something that we can laugh at together.” Show less

In episode #038 of the Social Restaurant Podcast, I welcome Dan Ponton, CEO of Roosters, an Ohio-based franchised system with 31 locations, no corporate office, an executive workforce with amazing corporate culture that works from the restaurants and their homes.

In episode #037 of the Social Restaurant Podcast, I welcome Jason Smylie, EVP, CIO and CMO of Caproitti’s Sandwich Shop, a franchised system that has recently opened their 100th location.

Jason has lead the charge on implementing the chains entire technology infrastructure – from POS System to a franchisee Intranet and everything in between. But they didn’t stop there. Jason and his team at Caprioitti’s are the first restaurant system to experiment with using Google Glass as a tool in… Show more

In episode #037 of the Social Restaurant Podcast, I welcome Jason Smylie, EVP, CIO and CMO of Caproitti’s Sandwich Shop, a franchised system that has recently opened their 100th location.

Jason has lead the charge on implementing the chains entire technology infrastructure – from POS System to a franchisee Intranet and everything in between. But they didn’t stop there. Jason and his team at Caprioitti’s are the first restaurant system to experiment with using Google Glass as a tool in their standard employee-training program. Show less

In episode #036 of the Social Restaurant Podcast, I welcome Dan Kim, Founder and Chief Concept Officer of Red Mango. His brand and company have won more industry awards and honors than any other segment player, including being rated number 1 in the FroYo category by Zagat in 2011.

Dan and l discuss his journey as a food service entrepreneur, his personal use of social media as an executive ambassador of his brand and much more. You don’t want to miss this interview with Dan!

Search results are great, but if you had the opportunity to get deeper insights from Google, would you dive in for your content marketing efforts?

As of late October, that opportunity has become reality with the launch of Google Media Tools. The suite debuted to a small audience at the Online News Association digital journalism conference held in Atlanta, Ga., and was introduced to the public following the conference through a post on Google’s official blog.

In my humble opinion,… Show more

Search results are great, but if you had the opportunity to get deeper insights from Google, would you dive in for your content marketing efforts?

As of late October, that opportunity has become reality with the launch of Google Media Tools. The suite debuted to a small audience at the Online News Association digital journalism conference held in Atlanta, Ga., and was introduced to the public following the conference through a post on Google’s official blog.

In my humble opinion, Google Media Tools is probably the savviest content marketing play the internet giant has made, since telling the world a Parisian love story back in 2010. Show less

Riggs believes that the fact that Instagram allows paid advertising makes it more valuable and expects Vine to soon follow suit. He points at the success that Designer Michael Kors has had with Instagram Ads. Notrogram, an offshoot analytics company has reported that the returns on the campaign generated in terms of engagement with the ad, which could be seen as impressions, was about 3.57 percent.

"In the context of social advertising, that's about double what we see in terms of… Show more

Riggs believes that the fact that Instagram allows paid advertising makes it more valuable and expects Vine to soon follow suit. He points at the success that Designer Michael Kors has had with Instagram Ads. Notrogram, an offshoot analytics company has reported that the returns on the campaign generated in terms of engagement with the ad, which could be seen as impressions, was about 3.57 percent.

"In the context of social advertising, that's about double what we see in terms of Facebook ads, Twitter, etc., as a typical trend," Riggs said. "You also have to consider that for Facebook, Instagram's holding company, ad revenue is core to the business model, so there are a lot of resources being put behind this to make sure it works. While I think restaurants need to experiment with both, having the advantage of advertising inside a social network can help brands get a leg up. It takes time to build presence on social networks organically. Ads are a quick way to get things moving and have incremental success." Show less

For the past decade, Nate Riggs has helped companies produce content for the web for midsized and large businesses. Currently, he is the Director of Social Business & Content Marketing at The Karcher Group. He speaks at conferences on social business- and technology-related topics and regularly contributes content to his blog nateriggs.com as well as to the Content Marketing Institute.

CCO is the first globally-distributed magazine devoted to the fast-growing, evolving field of content marketing. It is written by, for, and about the most innovative, influential global content marketers. The magazine showcases how content marketers are finding success in the field, focusing on the tools, technologies and processes they use to help marketers learn new publishing skills and apply lessons to their own organizations.