The Legitimization of Social Platforms as Performance Channels

This week Toronto is playing host to Advertising Week – Canada. And I’m excited that our company, Catalyst Canada, is producing 5 original articles this week. Here’s the one that I was tasked with writing:

“Over the past 10+ years we have witnessed the rise of social media and social networking. What once was the domain of individuals quickly became a hybrid of brand marketing and personal posts. Today we have come to expect zero organic reach for brands on Facebook. And while brands continue to see reach on Twitter, many have opined that Twitter may follow Facebook’s lead as it continues to monetize their platform.”

Read the entire article, The Legitimization of Social Platforms as Performance Channels.

The latest Facebook changes

Recently, Facebook announced changes to their News Feed algorithm. Again. They’re always making changes. Sometime users hate them. Most of the time, brands are left scratching their heads. Marketers see change as an opportunity. Here’s the piece I wrote for Catalyst Canada:

“According to the most recent numbers Facebook has made publicly available, more than 19 million Canadians are logging on at least once every month with 14 million of us checking our news feed every day.  Add to that the brand updates from the hundreds of thousands of brands and companies on Facebook and the average user has more than 1000 status updates in their newsfeed when they login.”

Click through to read more on the 2015 Changes to Facebook.

Corporations on Twitter

I love Twitter. Ever since the days of sending and receiving tweets on my Motorola flip phone via SMS. I also happen to work with the platform on a daily basis. I teach Twitter Marketing at George Brown College here in Toronto. I also help brands understand how to use Twitter from both an organic and paid perspective. It’s really quite interesting. And my work is both fun and rewarding. To be able to help brands increase their reach and achieve goals on my favourite communications tool is very exciting!

There are times when I do use the product where I come away scratching my head. Why would a brand be on Twitter and stay quiet? It’s like having a store and never opening. Or a phone number but never answering a call. An email address but never replying. If you’re a brand and you’re on Twitter you better believe that your customers and potential customers expect you to reply and engage. Especially, if these people are asking for help. I present to you exhibit #1:

I’m still waiting for a response from Pet Smart.

Here is my closing remarks: Don’t be cute. Stay on brand. Be entertaining. And don’t play baseball if all you know is hockey. Make sense? Here’s my final exhibit. Exhibit #2:

John Oliver: Corporations on Twitter | Karim Kanji

John Oliver: Corporations on Twitter 

 

I met Maestro Fresh Wes: the Godfather of Canadian Rap

If you grew up in the 1980s and listened to rap music from that time (or any top 40 radio station in North America – if not the world) then you probably heard artists such as Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, Run DMC, LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys. As the 1980s started to close out one Canadian rapper from Toronto hit the charts with a bang: Maestro Fresh Wes with his chart-topping single, Let Your Backbone Slide.

Since then, Wes has been known as the Godfather of Canadian Rap. He’s continued to release amazing music and now also spends his time mentoring kids around the country.

I recently ran into Wes in the city. We had a great 15-20 minute conversation. Just me and him. He actually motioned for me to come over when we passed. He was very generous with his time and was very polite and engaging.

When it was time for us to separate, he obliged me by taking a selfie. (Please don’t ask what I’m wearing…)

Maestro Fresh Wes with Karim Kanji

Check out his new single, I Can’t Breathe:

 

 

My latest on itbusiness.ca: 5 Canadians to watch in digital in 2015

The beginning of any year (the calendar year, lunar year, school year, fiscal year, etc) usually brings with it its fair share of lists and predictions. Last year I wrote about the top 9 Canadians in digital technology to keep your eye on for 2014. I followed that up with a mid-year look at these same people.

This year, I’m planning to do the same thing. I’ve started things off with who I think are the top Canadians to watch in digital technology for this year. Thanks to Brian and Candice for continuing to allow me to contribute on Canada’s best business and technology site. If you’d like to read up on all my itbusiness submissions visit my itbusiness profile here.

Hiking in Birkdale Ravine

Hiking in Toronto is fun.

I recently wrote about a portion of Highland Creek on the University of Toronto’s (Scarborough Campus) property. This weekend we visited Birkdale Ravine which is located in the watershed of Highland Creek. As we recently had snow and rain, the ravine was not only higher than normal but moving very fast.

Here are some photos I took of our visit.

If you’re interested in my hikes you can see them all here. So far.

Where to visit during Christmas Break: Ontario Science Centre

The Ontario Science Centre continues to be one of the premier tourist destinations in Toronto. And there’s one main reason why: The Centre stimulates the mind and imagination of kids from ages 2-102. My family has gone here for years and we’ve now had a family membership for two years.

We’ve attended the Rock and Roll exhibit during the spring of 2014. And we continue to come on a regular basis. We’ve enjoyed many movies on the huge IMAX screen such as IMAX Hubble, Island of Lemurs: Madagascar, and Great White Shark.

Most recently we’ve enjoyed KidSpark and the Rowland Emett exhibit.

Here are photos from our most recent visit with the link to the photo album on Google Plus.

If you’ve attended the Ontario Science Centre I would love to hear what you’re enjoyed. Leave your comments below.

 

 

How Will Businesses Use Social Media in 2015?

How will business owners and social media strategists refine the way they engage potential customers on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other social media channels in 2015?

“Overall, we see social media beginning to reach its potential as a marketing tool – businesses are finding they can use social media channels to sell their products or services while maintaining an authentic voice that social media is famous for,” says Bernard Perrine, CEO and co-founder of SocialCentiv, a Twitter marketing tool designed to help businesses find new customers on Twitter.

Perrine predicts businesses will find success with these top trends in 2015:

Targeting audiences. Instead of trying to reach the masses to find a handful of customers, the idea is to specifically target several small, tailored groups of people via the social media channel that you are most likely to reach them on. That way, companies are reaching more people who are relevant to their business and more likely to become customers.

Blending paid and owned content. As marketers have perfected their social media strategies, they have found that blending their paid and owned media together lets them get their content out to more people while keeping costs down and still maintaining an authentic voice. Striving to find the perfect blend of paid and owned media will be the challenge in 2015.

Enlisting employees to help share. When employees are sharing their company’s social media content on their own channels, businesses cash in with a higher organic reach and engaged employees who feel passionately about the company. How should a business organize this effort? Simply ask!

Laughing it up! Social media marketers have found that one of the best ways to resonate with their followers – many of which are Millennials – is to be silly and give them a good laugh. Businesses can achieve this through pictures, videos or even corny jokes. Humor has boundaries – make sure that jokes are within good taste, tied to the business and relevant.

 

Tales From Beyond The Tap by Randy Bachman

Many of you who know me know that I am a huge Neil Young fan. To this day, he is one of Canada’s most successful and well-regarded songwriters and musicians. However, when it comes to Canadian rock royalty there is probably no one else who has penned and produced as many hits than Randy Bachman. He has fronted two of the biggest names is Canadian rock: The Guess Who and BTO (Bachman Turner Overdrive).

I have had the opportunity to both hear him play as well as listen to him speak. Both live. And here in Toronto. Along with Canadian indie band, The Sadies, he opened for Neil Young a couple of years ago at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This past year, he published a book and was part of a speaker series at the Reference Library in Toronto.

#tbt with Randy Bachman. Canadian music icon and amazing storyteller.

A photo posted by @karimkanji on

Tales From Beyond The Tap takes an inside look at Bachman’s life. Everything from his songwriting process, his relationship with Burton Cummings and siblings, his popular CBC show Randy’s Vinyl Tap, and his thoughts on the future of the music business and everything in between are covered in this book.

Randy has penned some of rock’s most beloved anthems. Tales From Beyond The Tap is Bachman at his best. A must read for any rock and roll fan.

Top Articles of 2014

2014 is almost over. And 2015 is just around the corner. In this post we take a look back at some of the more popular articles of 2014.

Coffee Lounges

I attended a few coffee lounges at Willowdale this past year. After attending I posted some thoughts and pictures here. The most popular article that was written in 2014 was the Lounge that featured former Rogers CEO Nadir Mohamed. The second most popular article from this past year featured the CEO of Aga Khan Foundation Canada, Khalil Shariff.

Toronto Politics

If you lived in Toronto in 2014 you know that politics took front page on almost a daily basis. And not because of anything good. Mostly. The third and eighth most popular articles from 2014 highlighted two personalities from Toronto politics. Third place (coincidentally) features Olivia Chow. I met Chow over the summer at a friend’s backyard barbeque. I also read Crazy Town by Robyn Doolitle which ended up as the eighth most popular article of karimkanji.com this past year. The book detailed the various shenanigans of Rob Ford and his dysfunctional political family. I also wrote about meeting eventual Mayor of Toronto, John Tory.

Social Media

The following three articles also ended up in the top ten most popular articles of 2014:

The Problem with LinkedIn;

How To Block Promoted Tweets In HootSuite;

I started teaching a couple of social media marketing courses at George Brown College here in Toronto.

Wearables

On itbusiness.ca, I started writing more about wearables in 2014. However, the most popular article I wrote on itbusiness this past year was my digital technology forecast for 2014.

Catalyst Blog

My writing can also be found on the Catalyst blog. The most popular piece from this past year was a look at the future of mobile banking.

YouTube

Did you know I also have a YouTube channel? I do. And you should subscribe! Here was my most watched video from 2014: