Browsing Tag

Meta

How To Celebrate Social Media Milestones

Reaching certain social media milestones, such as reaching a benchmark in your number of followers, can be very exciting for a social media manager. What’s more, you may be pleasantly surprised to discover how much your followers want to celebrate with you. That’s why it’s beneficial to plan ahead and prepare a mini content strategy that you will be ready to execute when you see those magical numbers.

I’m a bit of a screenshot-aholic and some of the photos I’ve collected are posts that my favourite brands published when they acquired lots of followers. Now I’d like to share some of my top picks with you and I hope they will inspire your social media marketing.

Justin Trudeau

Once Canada’s Prime Minister acquired 2 million Facebook fans, his team produced a short video to describe their demographics. Every Facebook page admin has access to these kinds of insights, so it was easy to create, but the average person couldn’t see this information until the video was released and probably found it interesting. By listing the distant locations of where his fans live, he cemented his position as a global leader while expressing gratitude for their support. The video was so engaging that even TV personality Jillian Harris liked it!

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April 26, 2016 by

What’s HOTS On Facebook

Hot On The Street Facebook Page Profile Photo

As Hot On The Street approaches its 4th anniversary, it’s time to ramp up the blog’s social media presence. I am proud to announce the launch of Hot On The Street’s new Facebook page!

Having a Facebook page means it’ll be easier to share timely, funny and intriguing content faster than I could if I wrote a blog post about each topic. So in addition to sharing links to Hot On The Street interviews, reviews and event recaps, I’ll share more article links from Wired, Fast Company, Entertainment Weekly and the like. This also means that I can follow brands’ Facebook pages through my blog’s Facebook account, rather than my own. I suspect this will be a positive way to curate my Facebook experience because my friends’ content will appear higher in my News Feed if I start following fewer brands through my personal account.

Facebook Trending Topics (JPEG)

Trending Topics on Facebook

No matter how much Twitter and Facebook copy each other to attract and retain active users, I think one of the smartest features Facebook adopted is the new list of trending topics. If nothing else, MIT emphasized how easy it is for social media to be an echo chamber. In other words, even though news articles are so accessible, it’s easy to have a limited perspective on current events and remain oblivious about local or world news. Therefore, even though the trending topics list offers only a brief synopsis about why a person or event is trending, at least it can prompt users to research it more. It’s the thought that counts and every small step counts.

Please show your support for Hot On The Street and “Like” the new Facebook page to ensure you’re in the loop about trending topics that Facebook doesn’t highlight.

January 22, 2014 by

Connect Online For A Better Bottom Line

Establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is a necessary step in promoting new productions, but it is not enough. Effective social media marketing is complex and posting a few links on Facebook or fun facts on Twitter each week is just the beginning.

Using social media management tools to monitor relevant online chatter and respond to patrons’ feedback is very important. For instance, if there has been more buzz about rude front of house staff than the cast’s acting abilities, but that’s unbeknownst to management, then that’s a serious cause for concern.

To stand out amongst the noise, which characterizes social media, stay up to date about industry-wide best practices and assess competitors’ social media activity. If you want to improve your Facebook page, then find brand pages that frequently share interesting content that has high-quality visual elements and understand the approximate 80/20 split between being conversational and promotional. Viral videos like Will It Blend? demonstrate how easy it is to produce engaging content at minimal cost.

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January 13, 2014 by

How Gastropost Unites Food Lovers

After hearing speakers from Mondelez and Starbucks at QMAC, I started thinking about how fun it would be to promote food and drinks as your day job. Chris Tindal, co-founder of Postmedia Labs, does the next best thing; he oversees the operations of Gastropost.

Since Gastropost’s Toronto launch in May 2012, it has expanded to Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary, and it now has over 10,000 members. Recognizing its success, I was excited to hear Tindal speak about the content strategy behind Gastropost’s growth. Tindal explained that his team’s goal is to inspire people to love their city by encouraging community members to share their expertise.

Gastropost

Gastropost offers anyone with an internet connection and camera the opportunity to share pictures of food with a large audience. The main incentive to participate in Gastropost’s weekly missions is the chance to see your name and photo in National Post. Each mission has a different theme, such as holiday treats or Father’s Day BBQs. Some themes are created based on brand partnerships between Gastropost and CPG brands, such as Kraft.

Anyone can become a self-proclaimed foodie. Gastropost, however, differentiates amateur food photographers by featuring a selection of food lovers online and in the newspaper every week. 50 likes on your Facebook photo of a fancy appetizer doesn’t qualify as a claim to fame in the same way that being in the National Post does.

Gastropost proves that print newspapers still have value, authority and credibility. There’s no doubt about how exciting it is for a photo of your dinner to be featured in one of Canada’s most popular newspapers. Even though Gastropost doesn’t offer any monetary compensation, the personal validation members receive is evidently sufficient motivation to keep the #gastropost hashtag and community alive. “Every week we send people an email to do something and they do it,” said Tindal. How many email marketers can say that?

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December 9, 2013 by

Facebook Connects Music Lovers

If you want to star in a music video, there’s no need to respond to a semi-sketchy casting call posted on Craigslist.

Derek Blais, art director at Tribal DDB, helped lead the creation of a music video that suits today’s narcissistic culture and sedementary lifestyle, where people want to invest minimal effort to become stars. Thanks to the “Facebook Connect” function, anyone with a Facebook account can star in Young Empires’ new music video, alongside young actors who look like tastefully dressed Abercrombie models.

I won’t bore you with the details of how the music video works. Slow internet connection? Try playing it on another computer. Director Miles Jay’s vision ensured it’s just that spectacular.

I first learned of Young Empires when fashion retailer FCUK named them artist of the month, following a competitive event promoting unsigned Canadian bands in September 2011. Little did I know that months later, they would achieve international buzz thanks to a creative interactive music video.

June 20, 2012 by