AVI Systems

AVI Systems specializes in helping customers in business, education and health care realize their goals by integrating technology solutions that meet user expectation, align with workflows, improve security, and increase productivity. As one of the largest audiovisual technology integrators in the U.S., it’s the only AV integrator that’s 100% employee-owned.

About the company:

  • HQ: Minneapolis, MN

  • 22 Locations in the U.S.

  • 700 Employees

  • $290 Million in Revenue

What’s My Role?

I work as a content strategist at AVI Systems, focusing on content development and strategy. I manage the marketing and communication channels, including social media, email, blog, and others. Until January 2020, I was the only full-time content producer at the company. I’ve been with AVI Systems for three years now.

Primary Responsibilities:

  • Copywriting

  • Graphic design

  • Photography

  • Videography

  • Editorial planning

I Do A Little Bit of Everything…

For my part, I’ve worked as the writer, editor, producer — you name it — on all types of projects at AVI Systems.

What Kind of Projects Do I work on?

  • Case studies and customer testimonials

  • Video projects (From videography to post production)

  • Copywriting, including web, social, blog and more

  • Co-marketing campaigns with partners (Think: Bose Professional, LG, etc.)

  • Sales enablement material, including pitch decks and print collateral

And more.

Some of My Work

Blogging at AVI Systems

Copywriting

One of the primary responsibilities of my role is copywriting, especially blogging. Coming to AVI Systems, there were already dozens and dozens of blog posts. My job wasn’t to just keep that momentum going. It was to improve it — output, quality, distribution. I’m happy to report that efforts have been successful on the blog front, as well as in other areas.

I also write a great deal of copy for social media, newsletters, email campaigns, advertisements, long-form content, like guides, web pages, and much more. The best part is, I really enjoy it.

Social Media 1

Social Media

As a content marketing specialist, my job is to not only produce content but distribute it as well. Social media is one of the most important channels for distributing news and other content, and since I’m the main content producer at the company, it falls on me to manage the communities of the varying platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. And you know, it’s not only rewarding, but I appreciate the importance of being trusted with managing these accounts. Needless to say, I take the significance of it seriously — even if the content isn’t always serious.

Social media 2

At AVI Systems, the most action happens on LinkedIn, which makes sense since it’s a B2B company. But, there is also an active AV community on Twitter that AVI is a part of, and Facebook is a great way to stay connected with employees.

Newsletters

Email Marketing

As I create new content, I have to ensure it gets out into the market in a way that’s going to reach our internal and external target audiences. Along with social media, email remains a strong distribution channel.

Email campaigns

I collaborate with others internally to develop email campaigns, test and proof emails, analyze performance, and schedule emails for delivery. One of my favorite campaigns I’ve worked on was InfoComm because of the excitement and buzz both internally and in the greater AV industry.

Graphics

Graphic Design

Copywriting is definitely my strongest skill, but I’d go on the recording saying that graphic design is close behind. At AVI Systems, I’m jumping in an out of Adobe Creative Cloud apps all day, including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and others.

My design work at AVI is mostly for sales enablement material, including case studies, sales sheets and pitch decks. But, every so often I get some more creative projects to work on, especially for events like our National Sales Meeting.

Video Production

Despite not being formally trained on video production, it’s certainly taking more and more of my time at work. I’m not complaining, either. I love it.

Most of the videos that are published publicly are for case studies or testimonials, like the one above. For these videos, I’m the executive producer, videographer, editor, and everything else in between. But, I’ve also worked with outside videographers and photographers, audio producers, and others to get higher production projects completed. Both types of projects are challenging and gratifying. You can find more examples on YouTube.

Photography

Just like videography, photography has been a growing part of my job at AVI Systems, especially for events like InfoComm and AVI LIVE.

When I’m able to, I also photograph projects that AVI Systems has completed. These types of shoots are like the photos in the gallery above — meeting rooms, technology and architecture. I’ve done a little portrait work for some of my co-workers, but it’s not my strong suit. I enjoy event coverage the most, but I’ve been trying to learn new areas of the craft as opportunities present themselves.

Have questions?

Please reach out with any questions about my work at AVI Systems, or with any of the skills described here.