Media
How Jewellery Brand Mejuri Stays Relevant on Social Media – Canadian Business
If social media has one constant, it’s change. Platforms come (BeReal, anybody?) and go (rest in peace, Vine). Algorithms are as capricious as influencers’ sponsored-post rates, and the churn of content is so rapid that it’s practically guaranteed that a trend will be stale by the time key stakeholders approve a brand’s attempt to catch the viral bandwagon.
At the same time, social media is where customers are—and where they are making purchasing decisions. According to a 2022 study by Sprout Social, two-thirds of consumers have purchased directly through social media. For brands, getting left behind—lingering too long on a platform that’s past its prime or losing followers because content isn’t fresh—could make the difference between whether the business lives or dies.
Most brands recognize the importance of social media for bottom lines: Shopping directly on social is expected to double in the United States by 2025 and reach US$99 billion. That’s why Mejuri, a Canadian fine-jewellery brand, employs three full-time employees whose job is to ensure that the company retains its strong social presence. (Mejuri has a million followers on Instagram alone.) Launched online in 2015 before later opening bricks-and mortar stores, the company has prioritized social media since day one; its target demo—women aged 20 to 40 with disposable income—tend to be among the most active social-media users.
Staying relevant on social media is a never-ending task, says Majed Masad, president and co-founder of Mejuri, explaining that the social team logs a minimum of six hours of screen time daily, consuming content from other brands and creators in order to identify trends. Within the team, everyone has a specialization—one person is more focused on TikTok, for example—but staff pitches in across platforms as needed. This constant monitoring means Mejuri is attuned to changes in its audience’s tastes.
“In the past year, we felt like we needed to shift toward content that was less curated and more ‘real’ and ‘in the moment,’” says Masad. Previously, Mejuri would post more professionally shot product photos. The brand’s feed now features photos of customers and staff sporting Mejuri goods in unfiltered images that look like they were shot on an iPhone.
Mejuri also introduced more video, knowing that this is what younger social-media users are gravitating toward, regardless of the platform. (Eighty-eight per cent of social-media users want more video from brands, according to Sprout Social.) Keeping up with the less curated aesthetic, this means lo-fi Reels instead of the professionally shot campaign videos that once pulled in the likes. Now, the team produce a lot more “on the fly” video content, like footage of staff opening a new store or talking about their favourite items.
“There is purpose behind everything we post,” says Masad. The goal might be attracting new customers or promoting a holiday sale. Sometimes, this looks like an in-depth product explainer for a new drop. Other times, it’s hopping on a trending TikTok sound, which helps content land on users’ “For You Page,” leading to a massive boost in the number of people who see the post. One of Mejuri’s most successful TikTok posts from December—a short video of sparkly rings accompanied by a clip of the popular song “Miracles Happen” from the movie The Princess Diaries—got more than 835,000 views.
Mejuri also uses a tool from Dash Hudson that generates analytics, which can be used to inform future posts. Reach—the number of people who see a post—is a key metric for Mejuri, but so are things like comments or how successfully something leads to a conversion—that is, a sale either directly through a platform like Instagram or a click-through to their e-commerce site.
“Our social strategy is driven primarily by what we predict our target demo is looking for and wants to engage with based on our data analysis,” says Masad. He says the company also draws intel from its in-house consumer-insights team, which tracks purchasing patterns and broader market trends. But it works both ways: “Understanding the type of content our demo interacts with on social media provides insights into their shopping behaviours and decision-making processes.”
Brands often make the mistake of using the same strategy across all social platforms. Content has to make sense for the nuances and particularities of each channel. “TikTok tends to skew younger, and there is more freedom to experiment,” says Masad. “Instagram, on the other hand, tends to be more aesthetics-driven.” The brand’s team tailors its approaches based on what each platform is used for and what the audience likes.
The one thing brands can’t afford to do is just sit back and pray that the algorithm will smile on them. “Similar to any marketing strategy, we constantly have to revisit our approach,” says Masad. “And we have to evolve as platforms and consumers evolve.”
This article appears in print in the winter 2023 issue of Canadian Business magazine. Buy the issue for $7.99 or better yet, subscribe to the quarterly print magazine for just $40.
The Home Office has decided not to award £150,000-worth of grants to Windrush community organisations, amid internal disagreement about whether funds should be given to groups that have expressed criticism of the government on social media.
In December, civil servants approved applications from 15 organisations to receive about £10,000 of funding each from the Windrush community engagement fund, a grant established in the wake of the 2018 citizenship scandal.
However, their decision was blocked by the home secretary’s private office, because advisers were concerned that two of the groups approved for funding had retweeted posts expressing criticism of the Home Office.
The Windrush National Organisation, the UK’s largest Windrush community organisation, and the University of Leicester Pro Bono clinic, working with the Highfields community centre, both had their grant approval questioned.
Discussions over whether or not they could be removed from the recommended list caused a long delay to the grant process, and eventually the department had decided to scrap the allocation of the fund for 2022-23, a Home Office source said.
The source said there was nothing abusive in the contentious tweets, which consisted of retweeted articles from the Guardian and the Independent covering government immigration policy and pieces highlighting issues around race.
The Windrush community engagement fund was set up to support community groups to raise awareness of the government’s compensation and documentation scheme, and of the Home Office’s other initiatives to support those affected by the department’s Windrush errors, which led to thousands of legal UK residents being mistakenly classified as immigration offenders.
Applicants to the cancelled fund received letters from the Home Office stating: “We are writing to inform you that we are unfortunately withdrawing the competition for this financial year and no funding will be awarded.
“Unfortunately, we have experienced delays with our internal assessment of the latest community engagement fund (CEF) bids leaving successful applicants very little time to spend money before the end of the financial year.”
The letter added: “We will relaunch the competition next financial year. We know this is disappointing news.”
Asked at a public meeting last week about the decision not to distribute £150,000-worth of grants, Angela Wilson, a Home Office civil servant and head of the Windrush external engagement team, said: “This was to do with internal problems with our assessment criteria.”
Applicants to the fund responded with frustration at the time wasted in submitting applications for small grant allocations that were then not distributed.
The source said the eligibility criteria were likely to be rewritten for next year, to request that applicants be prepared to “work constructively” with the Home Office.
after newsletter promotion
Bishop Desmond Jaddoo, the chair of the Windrush National Organisation, was unaware of the context behind the cancellation of the 2022-23 grants. He said his organisation had had a constructive working relationship with the Home Office to date.
“Community-led engagement is intrinsic to righting the wrongs of the Windrush scandal and any available community engagement fund must be timely and commensurate to support the much-needed engagement requirements across the affected diverse communities in the UK and abroad,” he said.
Laura Bee, from the Leicester University Pro Bono clinic, which assists people to make applications to the Windrush compensation scheme, said she had not been told anything about the background to the “disappointing” decision to cancel the fund allocations for last year.
Her organisation had not put anything on social media about Windrush, but the Highfields community centre, where they were planning to hold events, and with whom they had submitted a joint application, had occasionally retweeted articles about Home Office policy.
“Our clinic is well-placed to raise awareness about the compensation scheme and help potential claimants to access the scheme. Our student advisers really value the opportunity to carry out this important work,” she said.
A Home Office spokesperson said the decision to withdraw the fund had been taken due to “internal delays”, and that the scheme would be relaunched in the new financial year. “We continue to provide comprehensive engagement and information to organisations to enable them to support affected individuals,” the spokesperson said.
Media
Media Advisory – Governor General to meet with the President of the United States – Yahoo Canada Finance
OTTAWA, ON, March 21, 2023 /CNW/ – Ontario–Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, will welcome the Honourable Joe Biden, President of the United States, on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 6:25 p.m., at the Canada Reception Centre at the Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport. The Governor General and Mr. Whit Fraser will then meet with President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States.
|
Date: |
Thursday, March 23, 2023 |
|
Time: |
6:25 p.m. (EDT) |
|
Location: |
Canada Reception Centre at the Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport |
Notes for media:
-
All media must be accredited with the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
-
Photos of the meeting taken by the Governor General’s official photographer will be made available upon request.
Stay connected:
Follow GovernorGeneralCanada on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
SOURCE Governor General of Canada
View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2023/21/c8738.html
Media
War Made Easy: Norman Solomon on How Mainstream Media Helped Pave Way for U.S. Invasion of Iraq – Democracy Now!
As we continue to mark the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, we look at how the corporate U.S. media helped pave the way for war by uncritically amplifying lies and misrepresentations from the Bush administration while silencing voices of dissent. Longtime media critic Norman Solomon says many of the same media personalities and news outlets that pushed aggressively for the invasion then are now helping to solidify an elite consensus around the Ukraine war. “In the mass media, being pro-war is portrayed as objective. Being antiwar is portrayed as being biased,” he says. Solomon is author of War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death and the forthcoming War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine.
Reports: Fungus CANDIDA AURIS has infected at least 2377 in the U.S. | Latest World News | WION – WION
World Down Syndrome Day in Canada – CTV News
Home Office delays Windrush grants amid row over social media posts – The Guardian
-
Health13 hours agoCOVID-19 hair loss: Experts weigh in on PRP therapy – CTV News
-
News15 hours ago
Gestational diabetes is on the rise and a Canadian study may have found out why – Global News
-
Sports12 hours ago
NBC’s Tara Slone on speaking her mind about James Reimer: ‘We have to talk about this’ – The Athletic
-
Politics17 hours ago
This ain't no party, but populism is destroying our federal politics – The Hill Times
-
News20 hours ago
B.C. parent launches class-action lawsuit against makers of Fortnite video game
-
News20 hours ago
Canada denies role in detention, torture of former Guantanamo Bay detainee
-
Investment15 hours ago
Exclusive-Credit Suisse tells staff plans for investment banking to be informed later -memo – Yahoo Canada Finance
-
News20 hours ago
Canada’s foreign minister says China peace talks in Moscow will prolong Ukraine war
