How You (and the network) Did Last Week - 9/14/2017

DoTheBay has been doing big things on Facebook. Their weekly engagement stats have been among the top of the network for the past few weeks, and their Facebook Engaged Users count (which is what we track for Cultural Weight) was the 2nd-highest in the network for August, up 256% from their previous month.

We dug in with their team about their process: What's moving the meter on Facebook?

1. Facebook-Exclusive Flash Giveaways, like this one for Lightning In A Bottle. DTB works with festivals, artists and brands -- and gets them to agree to share these giveaways in advance of posting. They also promote their flash giveaways on other channels to maximize traction.

2. Customizing everything. DoTheBay uses 'the drafts trick' to edit the titles and descriptions of link posts, making them compelling, funny, cool and, best of all, like they're made by a real person. Going back through DoTheBay's post history, you can see how much care they put into each of their posts.

Important thing: If you don't already know how to customize your Facebook link posts using drafts, please read this.

3. Sharing relevant, top-performing content from other channels. This Instagram post, when shared to DoTheBay's Facebook, generated 2,149 likes, 58 comments and 1,146 shares.

4. Inviting users who like their posts to also like their page (read more about that here).

5. Keeping an eye on other relevant FB groups that have their finger on the pulse of what's happening locally. This includes groups like Concert Raptors (who also have an LA group); SF Parties, Concerts, Undergrounds and Events; SF Concert Buds and The Rave Exchange. DTB has mostly discovered these through word of mouth and by searching around Facebook.

6. Sharing their own event pages and giveaways on FB events, FB groups, and other relevant places.

7. Boosting posts that do well organically and targeting them to get the lowest CPE possible (i.e. $.03 per result). Using Facebook as a way to test what content resonates before featuring in email.

8. Tasteful usage of emojis + concise copy for the win.

9. Emulating their influences. It's important to keep tabs on either media properties that yourespect in order to pull ideas and best practices. Elle from DoTheBay recommends: "Noisey, Consequence of Sound, and COVETEUR. Burger Records is not exactly an inspiration, but I love how completely unmistakable they are. Also, Vanishingsf always seems like there's a really cool / funny / intelligent person behind it."

10. Posting show and festival announcements the moment they're public (or sometimes, not even).

11. Selectively sharing cool, on-brand content, leading to increased page reach.

12. Finding unique angles with event posts, and letting their excitement shine through.

To focus solely on DoTheBay with this update is by no means to take away from all the other awesome things other cities are doing on Facebook. We'll continue digging in with more teams in the coming weeks to better surface the things you're all doing to move the meter for your businesses - so stay tuned, and be ready to share your wins.

A big thanks to Brett, Elle, Brigitte and everyone at DoTheBay for making this update possible - and a big thanks to YOU for working tirelessly to move the network forward.

And Facebook was just one reason to celebrate last week. Click below to...