CHICAGO and ST. LOUIS, Sept. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Progressive companies are finding success in using Vine, Pinterest and other social media tools to grow their business and establish industry authority. Manifest Digital is further leveraging these social media channels to reach prospective employees and to help current employees achieve their goals.

Growing 6 Seconds at a Time

"We've recruited amazing employees thanks to our #ManifestJOBS Vine series," Dan Curran, Partner at Manifest Digital, an interactive design and consulting agency, says of their success with Vine. "We've then introduced those team members to our community with #MeettheFesters and shared their knowledge with #ManifestMinds – all produced with Vine and pushed out to Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook. Our #outtolunch series is really fun, plus it helps promote locally owned restaurants. I love that we can support our local community while giving followers a glimpse of our business and culture with these Vines."

Vine is the video-sharing app acquired and launched by Twitter. With it, users are able to record and post looping clips up to six-seconds in length. By beating Instagram out of the gate, it was the first video-sharing app to launch to a relatively large base of users. Popular hashtags include #magic, #vineportraits and (of course) #catsofvine, but the possibilities that lie within the app and its community are much greater than user confessionals and simple entertainment, as illustrated by what Manifest Digital is doing.

As Curran puts it, "It's up to companies to adapt and own their social media channels or be left behind."

Reaching Goals One Pin at a Time

Pinterest is a few years older and therefore more established than Vine, but Manifest Digital has found new, fresh, inventive ways to use the pinboard-style, photo-sharing website. Gone are the days of lengthy self-evaluations, 360-degree peer reviews and the manager's arduous task of compiling all of this information into a document that communicates both positives and negatives while supposedly motivating and inspiring.

"We've shifted the paradigm using Pinterest so that employees and managers can work together to truly set, track and achieve goals that are beneficial to both employee and company," says Jennifer Oertli, Director of Human Resources for Manifest Digital. "We wanted a program that is goal-directed with achievable goals."

The employee evaluation process at Manifest Digital is completely managed through the popular social media site, Pinterest, with the ability to create secret boards for pinning visuals that represent their goals. Oertli continues, "Pinterest is the best tool we've found to bring goals to life in a visual way that also gives managers the ability to comment. It allows a level of communication not currently available in standard performance review formats."

In this scenario, managers are the coaches and employees are the players, but the process is truly driven by the employee. "People know what to do in their day-to-day jobs, and should be getting feedback in the moment, not in a once-yearly review. This program is all about looking forward and achieving goals within the framework of the company's vision," said Jennifer. "It's a shift in thinking, away from top-down methods that rely on opinion and memory to create an employee review. In this program, employees create and determine their own path to excellence, with a manager's guidance and support."

The Future of Social Media

No one is certain where the road may lead, or what the next big thing will be, for social media. But one thing is certain, when you journey down that road, you will find Manifest Digital. On the future of Manifest Digital in social media, Dan Curran says, "We love the big dogs – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram. But we also love the underdogs and the weird corners of the digital realm, like Vine. We'll take a chance on many things and make each our own, using those digital tools to their fullest potential, in whatever way we can imagine. And we'll have fun doing it. It all still feels fresh and exciting! I feel like we're just getting started."

About Manifest Digital

Manifest Digital crafts products, platforms and campaigns that meet constantly evolving business goals. Established in 2001, Manifest has evolved to offer its clients a blend of strategic and tactical services including business, product and market design, with the extensive engineering skillsets required to deliver them. On a daily basis, the company shepherds clients through business and brand transformations that connect with audiences in measurable, rewarding ways. Powerful human insights consistently deliver award-winning websites, mobile applications, online campaigns, local events and social and social movements. For more information, visit www.manifestdigital.com or follow Manifest here www.Twitter.com/ManifestDigital or www.Facebook.com/ManifestDigital. To see all of Manifest Digital's innovative Vines, follow @ManifestDigital.

Media Contact: Mary Feigenbutz, Manifest Digital, 312-589-6807, mary.feigenbutz@manifestdigital.com

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