Smart magazine connects with readers on St. Patrick’s Day
Part of community engagement is participating in area events. On Saturday, our Smart magazine team marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in York. We had a ton of fun and won in the media division. YAY!
So, here’s an inside look at some of what we did:
1. We told people via Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and numerous other social networking platforms that we would be marching in the parade and to look for us. We used hashtags #StPatsDay and #YSPDP (York St. Patrick’s Day Parade)
2. We wore matching T-shirts (thanks to marketing for ordering these) and everyone decked out in green. We had green hair, green nails, green beads, green glasses and, well, a lot of other green things.
We also decorated a circulation van, which led our group behind the Smart banner. A volunteer sat in the back of the van and handed us supplies as we ran out.
3. We gave out Smart magazines in festive St. Patrick’s Day cups (targeting women along the parade route) and Frisbees to the kids. Again, marketing ordered the cups and Frisbees.
There were also special stickers on the magazines that contained numbers with instructions for people to go to the Smart website to see if they won a Smart prize pack. (Hopefully this generated more traffic because we gave out a ton of magazines)
4. We tweeted before and after the parade, did Facebook posts, etc.
5. I also did a blog post on Smart magazine with some of the parade photos, another post on my own social media blog connecting to the Pinterest board that I created of Smart magazine marching in the parade.
It was not only a great way of connecting with our readers but also a great way of showcasing Smart and building brand recognition. People also get to meet us in real life and they quickly see that we’re real people, just like them.
A huge thank you to everyone at the York Daily Record/Sunday News and Smart magazine who volunteered to march. There were a lot of husbands and kids who got involved, too. I know I can’t wait until next year!
And a big thank you to Mary Yeaple and all of the parade volunteers who work so hard all year long to make this event happen. I know it’s a ton of work, and I want them to know that we appreciate what they do.
