Earlier this month BlogWell, presented by SocialMedia.org, stopped in Washington, D.C., where SmartBrief’s Jesse Stanchak had the opportunity to speak with Gayle Weiswasser, vice president of social media communications at Discovery Communications.
(Full disclosure: SocialMedia.org CEO Andy Sernovitz regularly contributes to this blog and serves as the editor at large for SmartBrief on Social Media.)
Weiswasser spoke about how Discovery manages its social media outreach, which spans across all of its networks — from Discovery Fit & Health to Animal Planet to TLC. In all, Weiswasser estimated that there are about 70 Facebook pages and 13 Twitter accounts, which represent each of the individual networks and television shows under the Discovery umbrella.
Some of her take-aways:
- Each network has to be developed according to its individual needs. Accounts have their own strategy based on their content and target audience. Discovery Communications then works with each individual network to meet their promotional goals. “We’re almost like a little agency,” she said.
- Accounts are separate but equal. While maintained individually, all of the pages work together to establish strong relationships with fans, inspire loyalty and get people to tune in.
- Take advantage of existing online communities to build your own. Content for TLC’s Parentables blog was built around already-established bloggers and writers in the parenting space — and with them came a built-in community of followers.
View the rest of Weiswasser’s interview:Â [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf5w1OogEkc[/embed]