In the beginning, Mohealthcareers.com was an informative website full of useful information about promoting healthcare professions in Missouri, helping people find schools, scholarships and places to work. Now, the newly rebranded Missourihealthcareers.com is… still all of those things—it’s just way, way more fun! To better connect with one of the core demographics (high schoolers), Integrity rebuilt the entire website from the ground up, tweaking language to make it more conversational and approachable, updating user flows to ensure they were simple and easy to navigation and overhauling the design to appeal to a more youthful audience. Mission accomplished.

The big business question we had to answer was, “What will get people interested in healthcare?” The answer was giving them a quick, entertaining glimpse into key elements of different healthcare jobs (money, how much gore is involved, how long are you in school, etc). We accomplished this by turning all that data into an “infographic” (yes, that’s a real term, or at least it should be).

While we were at it, we added an interactive hospital and college map, a blog featuring real life success stories from healthcare professionals and the centerpiece of the new site, an interactive flash quiz designed to help you identify which healthcare career is best suited for you. Go ahead and take it. You know you want to.

So basically, we transformed the site from a manila envelope into a bedazzled trapper keeper. A really, really rockin’ trapper keeper.

Facebook is sort of like one big playground, and sometimes the kids just don’t play nice.

When managing social media sites, you may come across a bully. We all knew that kid growing up…he (or she) was pushy, rude and a sore loser. Facebook is the perfect outlet for web bullies (you know who you are!). There are plenty of people to fight with, a certain degree of anonymity and no real consequences. It’s like Fight Club for the Internet.

We’ve had to play referee a few times and this is what we’ve learned…

There’s a big difference between constructive criticism and slander.

“My meatball soup was cold.”

Feedback is a good thing, even negative feedback. We’d rather someone speak up so we can resolve the issue than have them quietly withdraw their business. We always try to respond, thank them for alerting us to the problem and pass the complaint on to the powers that be. Beware not to delete these comments, fans will notice and think you don’t take them seriously.

“My meatball soup tasted like sewer mush.”

If someone straight disses you without merit, just delete. It’s bad publicity and it doesn’t deserve attention.

Profanity is never acceptable, even if it’s meant as a compliment.

“The waitress was f***ing hot!”

Too bad your soup wasn’t…

Don’t bully back.

Well, JOHN DOE, we know a place you can stick that complaint.

Though there are certain comments worthy of a snarky retort, it’s important to stay professional and keep your comments positive or deflect negativity with humor.

Don’t air your dirty comments in public.

GOOD RESPONSE: We apologize for the inconvenience, John. We’ll be contacting you for further details.
BAD RESPONSE: So, exactly HOW MUCH HAIR was in your pasta?

If an issue arises that needs further attention, don’t pursue it in the public view. Fans need to know you’re taking them seriously, but don’t need all the grisly details. That’s what private messages are for.

Remember kids, always tweet others how you want to be tweeted! (Cue the Facebook complaints about the bad pun. We dare you!)

As the new social media intern, Jourdan Fenster has a lot on her plate. She excels at Excel, organizing data, assisting with project tasks, research and overall making our lives a lot easier.

As if Integrity wasn’t enough (sheesh), she’s also interning at the St. Louis Public Library where she puts the “Pretty Rad” in PR by researching, critiquing and essentially one-upping the competition. This fall she will be headed back to Drake University in exotic Iowa where she basically runs the joint. This little go-getter is on the Students Activities Board, the Society of Professional Journalism, the Public Relations Student Society of America…[pause for intermission]…she’s an Alpha Phi sorority gal and a Peer Mentor and Academic Consultant.

When she’s not busy doing, well…EVERYTHING, she actually finds time to scrapbook, attend concerts and watch movies just like the rest of us. She also claims to have been dubbed “Ice Ice Fenster” in 6th grade because of her striking resemblance to the rapper. Just kidding, it’s ‘cause she knows all the words. We sense a karaoke night coming on…

In summary, if Jourdan Fenster was a Facebook post, we’d “like” her.

Once upon a time, there was an IT staffing firm called KellyMitchell…

They hungered for a website that would highlight their status as an award-winning organizations that employs hundreds of IT professionals, while also emphasizing their personal commitment to each client’s needs and every employee’s success.

In other words, they needed a new website that was not too proud, not too humble…but juuuuust right.

Integrity forged ahead like Goldilocks in search of the perfect porridge. We began by inspecting the site architecture, restructuring the navigation so all visitors would know exactly where to find the information relevant to them. We also integrated a convenient quick job search and revised the content to match KellyMitchell’s passion for performing amazing work.

With new site architecture in place, we set out to update KellyMitchell’s look, maintaining their unique brand while updating it with fresh lines and photography. The development team implemented the vision to perfection, and we topped it all off with a social media program to keep KellyMitchell hip to the times—and connected to the IT community.

In short, the new kellymitchell.com rewrites the book…and now one more client can live happily ever after.

Integrity’s own Ed Morrissey has been asked to join a select team of experts trying to stop an asteroid that’s heading toward Earth.

Just kidding; that was last week. But he is going to be part of a select group of panelists discussing innovative approaches to marketing strategy with a group of interns at the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The topic is “A New Brand of Marketing Firm,” and it’s one in a series of presentations taking place over the summer on marketing models.

As part of their experience, the young Jedi assemble on the Washington University campus every Friday to battle the dark side and further their education by learning at the feet of industry masters…so naturally, Ed was chosen to be their Yoda.

May the force be with you, Ed!

During a speaking engagement about social media program management, someone stated “a consultant told us you should never use an outside group to manage your social media. You should always do it yourself. Why should anyone use an outside resource for something so fundamentally intimate as the connection between brand and consumer?”

A good question, and one I hear often enough to write about.

1. The people that should be doing it can’t

Meaningful social media discussions expose the soul of the organization. It’s personal. Real. Genuine. To be truly authentic, the CEO should be driving Facebook conversation, the COO blogging up a storm and the founder Twittering away. Right? Of course this is ridiculous – even if they had domain expertise they are busy growing the company. So then who should be its voice? The VPs? Directors? No. Ultimately, it ends up being one of many duties assigned to an overworked entry level resource. This does not work.

2. It’s not just commenting

The best social media strategies are multifaceted. They require some design, some light programming, integration of multiple platforms, internal team building and “constant” tool and best practices research. Well written, interesting and engaging discussion is huge, but that alone is a piece of the puzzle.

3. It’s all about the plan

Effective social media programs are all about coordination. What are your goals? How is traffic being generated? Where is that traffic going? What are your conversion points? Who are your internal subject matter experts? When should the moderator call them? How should the moderator respond to various questions/issues? I find internal resources are not well suited for this kind of top line planning. An experienced social media team should reference a wide array of past successes and failures, and leverage them for your benefit.

In short, unless your organization can afford a social media department, having some level of external social media support is a must.

However, I fully admit this can be problematic. Finding experienced teams with track records for success is always tough in any emerging market. Snake oil salesmen abound. Do your research and do not compromise. There are few channels more risky or more rewarding.

Julia Werner has been called to our set, and she’s definitely a star on the rise. This St. Louis native came from humble beginnings, graduating from Truman State University with a degree in Communications and then paying her dues Almost Famous style for Nighttimes.com, interviewing musicians and writing film and CD reviews. Her big break came writing news and feature articles for local publication, the West End Word, where she received critical acclaim. Shortly after becoming a free agent, she signed on with Integrity as a writing intern, assisting the content team writing internet and catalog copy and managing web content.

When she’s not walking the red carpet, Julia enjoys laughing heartily with friends and family, renting from Netflix and drinking way too much Coke. We give her two enthusiastic thumbs up!

We’ve reeled in another great catch and added Ben Fischbein to our think tank. Before making a splash at Integrity, Fisch (as he’s now been christened, or in his case brissed) attended American University in Washington, D.C.—and somehow made it back to Missouri with his morals intact (well, sorta). He’s also tested the waters in HR consulting and owned his own freelance social media company, where he did such a stellar job leading candidates through the murky business of mudslinging that he was actually being considered for the face of the three dollar bill. Speaking of social media, Ben’s a veritable shark on the subject. When not “working” on Facebook or Twitter, he assists the content team with writing, research and user flows in addition to masterminding all social media campaigns and strategies (insert evil laugh here).

When he’s not diving into social media, Fisch enjoys being Integrity’s resident golf pro and rooting for the Alabama Crimson Tide and, of course, the St. Louis Cardinals. To quote a local rap philosopher, he’s from the Lou and he’s proud. We fell for him hook, line and sinker!

We’re puffing out our chest feathers and waking the neighbors to announce and welcome the newest hen, Catherine Betz, to the roost. Catherine spent the past few years as a marketing writer at a large university where she worked her magic writing and editing SEO content, streamlining project-tracking processes and smoothing unruly content into pleasant, flowy prose. In fact, she’s so good at preventing reader headaches, her new nickname around the office is Excedrin. How about that for a week two welcoming? In addition to saving readers money on over-the-counter medications, Catherine spends time shaping the minds of young ones as a part-time English teacher at a local community college. Now that’s something to crow about!

When not at the office fielding questions about her recently acquired hens and their lifestyles, laying habits and personalities, Catherine can be found walking her dog in Tower Grove Park, biking, playing volleyball, cheering the Jayhawks on in hoops and traveling with her husband.