João C Silva, IFCM Communication Manager, Portugal
More people than ever “go digital”. social media networks are the most powerful online platforms to connect people ALL OVER. With all events postponed, we moved IFCM more online with a new social media strategy and with a lot of new ideas to implement. You can expect some surprises in the coming weeks and months.
I am João C Silva and as the new Communication Manager, it is extremely important for me to receive feedback from the IFCM community to understand what is the most relevant content and what kind of topics we should talk about to get more followers and be relevant on digital platforms.
This world has changed… it is not new, but how to engage with this new way of life?
First, we listened, then we came out with some new ideas. Eager to start putting on events again, our team is preparing different actions to keep our members engaged with IFCM. IFCM wants to reach more people and spread its message to younger people, and social media platforms are the best way to do this. IFCM is present in the most popular social media networks: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
On Facebook, we have business pages for IFCM, ICB – International Choral Bulletin, the World Choral Day and the World Choral Expo. Our content is divided into these four categories. Beyond these pages, we also have a Facebook group with more than 2,800 members, where we share the latest news about choral music, upcoming events, beautiful performances and so on. Our Facebook page has more than 276,000 followers and as an example, in April, we reached more than 16,285 people around the world with more than 1,500 interactions. Our main audience last month came from Lebanon, USA, Finland, Egypt and Denmark, 21% aged between 25 and 34 years.
But since Facebook is not as popular as it used to be, IFCM is increasing its community on other major social media platforms, such as Instagram with 667 followers and Twitter with 557 followers. The age of our audience on Instagram and Twitter is similar to that on Facebook: 34.8% are between 25 and 34 years old.
In addition to social media networks, IFCM has four different websites:
With the same strategy as social media, IFCM divided the internet presence into these different websites to help our readers to easily access the information they are looking for.
IFCM is preparing surprises and improvements for its members and readers; there are many new projects coming soon. Follow us and I will let you know about everything we are preparing… stay tuned!
João C Silva is a native of Lisbon but considers himself a world citizen since he has visited the five continents, engaging with different people and cultures. With a degree in Business Communication, he also studied in Madrid, and after his degree worked in Split, Croatia, at the Tourist Board of Croatia as Social Media Manager. In 2015, João co-founded digital connection, a digital marketing and communication agency, receiving creativity awards for its work. Outside Portugal, the agency has offices in Dubai and the Philippines. In addition to working as managing partner of digital connection, he is Communication Manager at IFCM, International Federation of Choral Music and professor of digital marketing at EPAD. As a communications professional he received Creative Director award twice in 2019 by the Lusophone Creativity Awards, where he is currently a judge. Email: communication@ifcm.net
Edited by Olivia Scullion, UK