Bink’d: run by Adam and Kiera Pedley
http://promotion.binkd.com/
Twitter: @GetBinkd @KieraPedley @Adam_Pedley Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Binkd
At the heart of Binkd is two things: People and Entreneurship. Adam and Kiera Pedly encourage people to ‘Get Binkd!’. They use their promotions platform to help brands reach out to the people in their business and interact with them in fun and engaging ways – kind of digital marketing, but more dynamic.
Binkd’s core method of doing this is to provide software for brands to run contests on social media. It starts with creative applications and extends into loyalty programs, check in programs, gamification of interaction…the list goes on! This allows companies to reach followers on a much more personal level.
How it all began…
Binkd evolved out of a business that Kiera was running. She took the courses she sold to women’s networks – about building a powerful online presence – and began an informational blog on topics such as SEO and marketing. In the early days, keeping the business financially viable was challenging – Kiera believes they were charging less than their services were worth. Luckily, “the darkest time was before the dawn”. 42 weeks pregnant, Kiera had to take a break from the business. A revolution was needed!
Adam had the idea to create the contest platform, and developed an early version in a day. Bink’d was initially free. It was incredibly popular with thousands of users, with tens of thousands of page views a day – but eventually the team created an effective, paying business model. Keira donned heels, brief case, and began the process of selling and marketing Binkd – and the rest as, they say, is history. Now she goes and finds clients and sells her business to them – a lot of research and coffee meetings is involved!
Bink’d is now structured so that it works with digital media agencies and brands with marketing departments, offering them completely bespoke, creative social media promotion campaigns.
Maximising business potential online
Bink’d believes it’s all about understanding how customers behave when they’re not online; understanding them as people, not just as numbers. Social Media allows a brand to develop a personality online – and interact and engage with the people that support it, otherwise brands can be seen as cold and impersonal.
Kiera loves Twitter, but believes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ (the ‘big four’) should be a part of a business’ marketing mix. On a practical note, they are always looking for the best value web hosting.
Big moment
Bink’d’s first big project with a completely bespoke contest had the team working round the clock. It was worth it; the client was bowled over by the fact that Bink’d had approached THEM and delivered far beyond what they expected.
What’s next?
According to Adam, multiversal domination is next on the agenda, the universe not being enough…
Well, realistically, Bink’d plan to keep pace with the hot social media and marketing trends in 2012, rapidly expanding their team and building a more engaging online presence!