How Rig Lynx exploded the online visibility of a Houston Non-Profit

 

Introduction

 

In 1938, the term ‘networking’ for the oilfield salesperson had not been coined, but a pioneer drilling equipment inventor named Elmer Decker recognized the need for it. Sales trips by U.S. oilfield equipment representatives- including Decker- to other countries were becoming necessary. Few oilfield equipment salespeople knew what to expect outside the U.S. when it came to transportation, lodging and food. Even fewer were around to advise the novice.

 

Consequently, Decker and a few co-founders in the petroleum industry conceived the idea of NOMADS. It was an oil and gas association in which those who had been overseas could share their knowledge and business experiences with others. A second objective would be to assist oil industry visitors from other countries when they came to the U.S.

 

The first chapter was born that year in Los Angeles, and the NOMADS name was selected since the founders felt that it was descriptive of the lifestyle of the international drilling equipment salesman. The expanded title, National Oil-Equipment Manufacturers and Delegates Society was adopted later to fit the original acronym.

 

The founders suggested to friends and business acquaintances in the petroleum industry in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Tulsa/Oklahoma City and New York that they start chapters. During the fall of 1939, Houston became the site of the second NOMADS chapter after a small group of distinguished petroleum engineers and drilling equipment salesmen visited with Decker at an oil and gas conference there. What began over 60 years ago as a drilling equipment networking group has grown into a dynamic international oilfield marketing organization of over 1000 leaders in the energy industry who have become recognized as ambassadors of good will, not only for their own oil and gas industry, but for their country as well.

 

“It is the duty of all good NOMADS. and there must be no other kind… to create good will among oil equipment manufacturers, oil companies and Foreign Governments…”

 

The Problem

 

There is no argument that the O&G has been a vital, world changing industry since the late 1800’s but as with any membership-based organization time has a way of changing the way you connect and share information with others.

 

With the introduction of social media, podcasting, webinars and streaming there are now tools that are readily available to reach new people all over the world that would have not had been previously achieved through conventional techniques.

 

The NOMADS is an established O&G networking group but an aging membership, focused on traditional networking and meeting activities to be Ambassadors of Goodwill to the international O&G industry. 

 

They did not have an effective strategic marketing & membership plan, nor a dedicated social media Manager. Almost exclusively relying on word-of-mouth, in-person visits, and limited electronic communication to provide content.

 

Understanding that they were well behind times with their digital presence they wanted to take their message to the next level and hire Professionals to bring the message of the NOMADS to the O&G future leaders of the next generation.

 

Agreeing that they must enable a value proposition for their current members as well as reaching the leadership of tomorrow through new networking and meeting platforms.

 

NOMADS had an established Facebook page and a LinkedIn Group, both with a limited number of followers and members in each. With LinkedIn groups you can only reach the people that are in the group, it has a very limited reach when it comes to new members that the NOMADS vitally need. With a very limited Facebook following it is much the same as the LinkedIn group, the posts are only being seen by 25% of the total following and in this case, it was very small.

 

The Process

 

NOMADS traditionally increased their roles by members inviting guests to the Monthly Dinner Meetings, where guests can clearly see the value of NOMADS and sign up.  Guests must see value in being a member in order to sign up. The NOMADS needed to increase their voice and reach more people as traditional activities were limiting them to a certain amount of people that could hear the message they wanted to deliver.  

 

Rig Lynx performed a “Social Media Strategy and Evaluation” across the NOMADS entire digital footprint, the website, Facebook and LinkedIn, this laid the groundwork for being able to support the NOMADS to reach new members.

 

The Rig Lynx team went back, studied the evaluation and put together a channel management plan that covered the following:

• Distribution Channel

• Purpose

• Editorial

• Measurement

Access was given to the NOMADS Facebook page and Rig Lynx staff were added as Administrators, as the LinkedIn group was considered to be noneffective, Rig Lynx suggested a new Non-Profit business page to be created. Rig Lynx completed the LinkedIn page setup and added the NOMADS as Administrators.

 

The most important part of what Rig Lynx does is measure data and then correlates that against engagement with the channel. Rig Lynx creates the content, adjusts the posting times and engages with the following on all the channels. They capture a baseline measurement from the beginning of the process and measure this throughout the service period and reports at the end of each month how the channels are performing.

 

The Data 

 

Facebook Data from Previous 5 Months

 

• Reach

 

• Likes

 

• Impressions

 

• Clicks

 

Facebook Data After 5 Months with Rig Lynx

 

• Reach

 

• Likes

 

• Impressions

 

• Clicks

 

• Facebook Data Snapshot

 

LinkedIn Data After 5 Months with Rig Lynx

 

Conclusion

 

NOMADS saw an immediate explosion in the metrics when starting up with Rig Lynx as they managed the pages and kept a check on the data from day to day.

 

“Rig Lynx took the time to understand the NOMADS organizational objectives, formulated a strategic plan to accomplish the vision, grew the relationship deeper by providing increased value for additional channels, and continue to effectively execute the plan.  The great part is the NOMADS only need to communicate on small Administrative issues or collaborate on ideas for continual improvement”, said NOMADS President Donnie Bowen.

 

NOMADS history will remember 2020 for many things, but at the top of the list will be our continued commitment to bring value to the global Oilpatch, by advancing our social media strategy in partnership with Rig Lynx to benefit from future trends.

 

 

About NOMADS:

 

NOMADS is an energy industry association with headquarters in the energy industry capital of the US: Houston, Texas. The society is dedicated to helping petroleum engineers, drilling equipment salespeople, and others in the international oilfield sales and marketing sectors. As one of the oldest petroleum societies in the United States, NOMADS has been helping oil and gas professionals network for jobs in energy, continue their education in the international oil and gas market, and build camaraderie with other petroleum sales professionals for over 80 years.

 

For more information visit them here-  Website, Facebook and LinkedIn

 

About Rig Lynx:

 

Based in Houston, Texas, Rig Lynx was developed by a multi-disciplined drilling team and academic software team. Their mission is to connect people in the oil and gas industry by offering users professional networking opportunities through chat, messaging, and online services. The community ensures relevance by using a special algorithm developed just for this application to assemble posts and shares for each individual member. While other applications and websites offer professional networking and job search services, Rig Lynx differentiates itself with its exclusive focus on the oil and gas sector. The application is available for free download on iOS and Android mobile devices.

 

For more information, visit www.riglynx.com or email info@riglynx.com

 

 

 

 

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