PIXEL FARM STRATEGIST SHARES RESULTS

Elliot Robia, Market Strategist from Pixel Farm of Minneapolis wanted to demonstrate how social media really should work using two dramatic examples side by side. Pixel Farm is a Minneapolis studio that creates digital experiences for major brands and ad agencies and connects them to their customers in novel and unexpected ways. Prior to joining Pixel Farm, Elliot was the Director of Business Development at visual/audio production company, Fischer Edit. He’s held marketing positions at healthcare tech company Zipnosis (where he oversaw the firm’s digital marketing and web analytics) and the education non-profit, DreamBox, Inc. Elliot is a Co-Producer of the Z-Fest Film Festival and a Programming Coordinator for the Minnesota Chapter of the American Marketing Association.

Elliot compared social media challenges for the Film Festival with another comparable project for a start-up technology company. Both had promising starts with robust facebook audiences, muliple “likes” and positive signs of social media presence. But the film festival took more care in reaching out to their fans with a video contest, posts and activity that generated participation and conversations.

The metrics Elliot shared with those attending the AMA Remarkable Leadership Conference on 2-22-2013 was all the evidence he needed to declare. Engagement is really far more important than being obsessed with simply building numbers early in the process of a social media campaign.

Even though the film festival started with a smaller initial target, the engagement led to discussion and many more “people talking about” numbers of engaged followers. Measuring results is important but it is also important to understand the metrics of which you truly hope to watch as a barometer of success.