Q: How do you use social media at your job? Which platforms do you like best? Why?
“Social media has become an invaluable tool for the staff at Sun Media’s Brantford Expositor to not only keep our readers and followers informed, but to engage and communicate with a huge segment of the population we might not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with.
Social media has been a tremendously effective strategy to target specific demographics and determine their interests on multiple subjects to create better brand awareness of our products and to become more inclusive of a broader audience.
We generally use three platforms – Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Twitter is a great tool for news and politically focused individuals, but has also become a tremendous asset for keeping readers instantly up-to-date on local and national information they need to know about. A road closure or accident on local highways for example is a great example of how it is less about the ‘news business,’ and simply providing helpful information to area residents. Even greater still, our followers let US know what’s happening, send photos, etc., which has created a fantastic relationship for information sharing. Facebook is a massive platform for general human interest news. We find less engagement on items specifically about politics or harder news, and greater interaction and involvement from pieces about health, events, and human interest. Pinterest is strictly about entertainment news for us. News and sports goes generally ignored by our followers, while entertainment-related content has generated a massive new audience.
Social media is not about finding one or two platforms and being content; it is about finding new ways to share and solicit information, to engage and interact, and to make ourselves more accessible to a greater public audience so that we may find new avenues and opportunities for our content.”
John Chambers, regional managing editor, south region
Brantford Expositor
(519) 756-2020 x2219
jchambers(at)theexpositor.com
Twitter: @theexpositor
@Facebook
@Pinterest
www.theexpositor.com
