Inside Paramore: The Digital Agency

By Amy Arnett

Buddy Butler

In a state as Wild and Wonderful as West Virginia, making attractive tourism materials might seem like an easy task because of the bounty of natural beauty, but there is an art to it. Paramore, a digital agency based in Nashville, TN, has partnered with a West Virginia native to offer the best for some of the Mountain State’s most unique attractions.

Buddy Butler, director of Business Development for Paramore, is from Williamstown, WV. After graduating from college, he began working for Fenton Art Glass where he got firsthand experience at one of the state’s gems, a producer of amazing works of art, handcrafted and distributed straight out of Williamstown.

It was after he had left Fenton and began working with a marketing agency in Marietta, Ohio near his hometown that his path intersected with Paramore. “I saw Hannah Paramore speak at a conference, and I was impressed with her knowledge of digital marketing and social media,” says Butler. “I thought that was a weakness of mine, so I asked to go to Nashville to learn from them.” As they say in the cliché business, the rest was history.

Butler now works in business development for the company, focusing on the Mid-Atlantic region as he has for the last three years. “Somewhere between 50 and 70 percent of our business is tourism-related,” he says. “We have tourism businesses as clients in seven states.”

“My job is to build ongoing relationships, so we can get involved from the beginning and be a valuable asset to businesses,” says Butler. Based in West Virginia, Butler has built relationships with Adventures on the Gorge (AOTG), the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the Jefferson County CVB, Bavarian Inn, Winterplace Ski Resort and Carnegie Hall, among others.

The diversity and quality of their clients allow them to push their creativity to their limits, and they have a full list of services, including videography and handling social media platforms. “From a technological standpoint, there’s lot of folks that can deliver expertise,” he says. “We really differentiate ourselves because of our commitment to clients and the level of service we provide. For every site, we have two people assigned to the account, and what makes the difference there is the quality of relationship and attentiveness we are able to make available.”

For Paramore, offering their full package starts with a listening ear and never deviates from that involved position. “Our goal is understanding what the goals of the clients’ marketing initiatives are,” says Butler. “It might be digital, tradition or public relations. It might not even be marketing. I think you need to find the proper balance, and we understand the value of all methods.”

Overall, Butler works with Paramore in West Virginia to find clients that best fit their style. He stresses that chasing dollars and creating revenue aren’t his focus. “We want to work with people that are as excited about what they’re doing as we are,” he says. “A great example is Adventures on the Gorge. They are passionate about what they’re doing; they love their product and their people.” As a native to the state, Butler understands being in love with the tourism product, and that has helped Paramore do some of their best work for companies like AOTG. They also stress the importance of education.

“One of our business goal is knowledge sharing,” says Butler. “We started Paramore University, a knowledge-sharing university that is completely tourism-focused.” This year, Paramore University will come to West Virginia on June 19 at Glade Springs Resort. The one-day session will feature marketing experts speaking on topics from media to research and how to put together a marketing plan. “There’s no charge. We just want to educate our clients and potential clients and share the information we have.”