Dana Boyce: A Pioneer in Leveraging Social Media in the Pandemic Era
For over a quarter-century now, Pioneer Building Services has provided real estate clients in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia markets with top-notch commercial cleaning services. Among the keys to the Maryland-based firm’s success have been the social media strategies it has developed and implemented over the years. One of the professionals most responsible for these initiatives has been Dana Boyce, Vice President of Marketing & Strategy.
“I believe it is imperative to have a social media presence to compliment your overall brand and growth strategy,” she remarks. “Social media is a direct connection to your existing clients, your potential clients, and even new employees. It is a way to demonstrate what your brand and company culture stand for.”
Still, Boyce urges building services contractors (BSCs) to use caution and discipline when going this route. “Being thoughtful and calculated about when and what you are posting is important to the overall success of the brand strategy,” she advises. “Social media presence doesn’t mean posting all the time about anything and everything. Be selective about the content and cadence. Make sure that content aligns with your overall marketing strategy, brand, and culture.”
Boyce speaks with the voice of experience. She has been in the commercial real estate space for the past nine years, starting in property management in the nation’s capital. She joined Pioneer in 2018. Since then, she has used her expertise in client engagement to become more involved in marketing and brand presence. Boyce spearheaded what she describes as a “brand refresh” in 2020, which included a complete overhaul of the company’s social media platforms among other things.
“One of the incredible ways that we connect with our social media audience is to highlight our community engagement,” she states. “Supporting our community is at the core of our company values. As a matter of fact, it’s our holiday gift to our client partners and prospects at the end of each year. We ask for nominations of an organization that is close to their heart. The following year, we make a commitment to supporting that organization with either a monetary or service contribution. This effort provides us with very targeted and meaningful content that we can share with our networks and connect back to the individual/company to demonstrate our commitment.”
Pioneer has also been able to use social media to promote various events and sponsorships. Boyce says, “Being able to promote events and sponsorships via social media allows you to encourage attendance and highlight sponsorships. For example, if your company is supporting a local association chapter’s golf tournament, and your team will be on the 5th hole, post about the event in advance. Make sure that your clients and prospects can locate your team once they arrive at the event, and then circle back after the event to share photos, thank the association, etc.”
As with so many BSCs, the COVID-19 crisis compelled Pioneer to re-evaluate its social media presence. Boyce and her colleagues came to see the pandemic as an opportunity. “We viewed it as a way to continue to engage with our audience in a time when we couldn’t reach them through our customary in-person channels,” she explains. “In the future as we will continue to see office culture shift and evolve, and individuals [will be] more reliant on social media for that connection point to supplement the daily in-person interaction.”
In helping the company navigate through such tough times, Boyce was able to lean on past mentors and keep top of mind some key bits of counsel she was given early on with regards to the use of social media. “The most important piece of advice that I was given -- and that I can give to readers -- is to be intentional about your social media presence,” she says. “It is very easy to lose valuable followers by posting inauthentic content, posting too often, or not posting enough to keep the audience engaged. Users’ online attention span is very short. Use your platforms intelligently, and you will find value and [return on investment].”
With business prospects looking up, Boyce is able to enjoy the various aspects of her work that she so loved before the pandemic hit. She says the favorite part of her job is the connectivity within all aspects of Pioneer’s business operations. “Marketing is not just about sales and external exposure,” she notes. “Think about it as an opportunity to market both internally and externally to ensure a consistent presence across the brand.”
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2022, Boyce concludes, “I am optimistic about business and the economy. I think that as we start to realize that COVID is here to stay, comfort levels are rising, and people are extremely eager to return to normal life. My hope is that motivation drives a healthy return to office, which will positively impact cities, businesses, retail, and travel.”
Dana Boyce, Pioneer Building Services