fan engagement
I once worked with someone who believed that organic social was only about the creative output—that thing you post. It’s not. Social media marketing is about building community around your brand, and there are several levers to pull to make this happen. Yes, the creative is one. But there’s also effective community management—giving fans the time of day, recognizing them as individuals, and making them feel good.
Early in my social career I learned the real power of this work. By simply liking someone’s tweet I’d see responses like, “OMG! [Brand] just liked my tweet!! My day is made!!!” Yes, sometimes it’s that simple. I never underestimate the power behind this work, especially when fans are hungry for a space to be seen and heard. And there are many ways to thrill fans and strengthen their affinity for a brand, beyond simply liking their comments. Here are just some ways I’ve given fans something to talk (and dance) about to great effect.
paramount+ | #HandJiveDance
TikTok dance challenge
What’s old is new again. To help raise awareness of the new Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, I concepted a dance challenge that the whole world could participate in. We’re all familiar with the “Hand Jive” dance, and when a modified version of the dance appeared in this prequel series I saw an opportunity to inspire a global base of fans, content creators, and influencers to learn the new moves and give them their own creative flare. Cast member Josette Halpert and other actors from the series helped to kick things off, and before we knew it the dance challenge spread throughout the world, leading to a potential reach of 41M!
pbs | broadway’s best for great performances
Facebook group
Working on the PBS series Great Performances, we noticed that the highest-rated episodes and the social content that over-performed were related to theatre. So taking advantage of Facebook’s new push towards Facebook Groups—and knowing that the platform’s algorithms would only benefit group-related content—I launched the Broadway’s Best for Great Performances group, a hub for theatre fans of the show to congregate and engage with the content they love.
Organic social is all about community, and this group epitomized that. I engaged fans with history, trivia, games, and thought-provoking questions to spur conversation. And we were also able to connect fans with their favorite Broadway stars through question submissions. Knowing that everyone’s favorite sound is the sound of their own name, we were sure to ask the talent to always call out the fans by name. Jonathan Groff, Andrew Rannells, Lea Salonga, Mary Testa, and Christine Nielsen were among the notables who gave our group exclusive shoutouts. And the fan reactions were incredible! I never take for granted how some of the simplest, personal acts on social can brighten a person’s day. Even better: when new friends meet and old friends reconnect thanks to your efforts and the brand that brought them together. The brand love that comes from this may be hard to quantify, but having a fan for life is invaluable.
We created cutdowns of Jonathan Groff’s video to extend the life of the content. This is one of those cutdowns.
usa network | psych all-night
Interactive fan experience
We weren’t going to end Psych’s eight-season run on USA Network without making some noise. And boy did we! The series’ highly engaged fan community of “Psych-Os” got in their PJs, popped some popcorn, and stayed up all night with us as we engaged them with trivia, fun moments, live tweeting, and recognition of the fans live on air as select tweets were broadcast for the country to see. The stunt, which led into the series finale was a huge hit, generating 21 trending topics during the marathon, over 57K hashtag mentions, and 110M impressions!
The excitement and engagement didn’t end there. We were back a few days later live tweeting the final episode and after “pshow.” We generated another 17 trending topics, nearly 71K hashtag mentions, and over 63M impressions! Yes, the fan community was quite vocal, but it was also our skilled management of the community, our ability to listen to their interests, and provide them with a space to sound off that really made this event pop.
pbs | nature: american spring live
Multiplatform fan event
Go big or go home. That seems to have been the mantra for the long-running PBS series NATURE when its production team decided to embark on a three-night live event. With talent, cameras, and wild animals (!) stationed in national parks around the country, fans were able to tune in to the live, national broadcast each of three consecutive and themed nights on PBS, Facebook, and YouTube. But the work began long before the actual broadcast. With several partners, citizen science projects that audience members could participate in, and a multifaceted social campaign—which included a Facebook group, influencer Instagram takeover, live tweeting from the LA-based control room, and other ways to engage with the event—this was a monumental effort that required close, cross-functional collaboration, a million moving pieces, and months of planning.
Learn more about just one aspect of this campaign, involving an Emmy-winning wildlife influencer that I worked with and the various considerations that went into the partnership—written by yours truly.