1. A presentation of:
blog setup, design and
management | creative social
media solutions | community
management and content
generation
for B CITY COLLECTIVE
KarenKiely.com
@kazkiely

3. SUMMARY
Here is a presentation of the establishment and
maintenance of an effective online presence for a collective
of Birmingham-based musicians ahead of the release of a
charity single in September 2011.
The social media solutions provided for the client include
initial setup of a blog, Facebook page and Twitter
presence, and the subsequent community management
and content generation. The services provided aimed to
reflect the “real” side of the group, using a combination of
behind-the-scenes content and live updates from
rehearsals, video shoots and concert appearances.
The development, implementation and results of a
Facebook competition focusing on fan engagement are
also presented.

4. A GROUP OF
INDEPENDENT
CONTEXT
URBAN ARTISTS B City Collective is a group of solo artists who banded together
aiming to give Birmingham’s urban music scene national
TRYING TO PUT prominence by releasing a single independently. The
BIRMINGHAM
Collective consists of singers and rappers and is backed by a
team of volunteers including filmmakers, label owners, camera
ON THE MUSICAL MAP crew, make-up artists, PR professionals and photographers.
The group’s charity single ‘Out The Box’ - a song with a
message urging youths to break away from society’s negative
expectations of them - was released on 4th September as a
download across digital channels e.g. iTunes, Play,
HMVDigital.com, with all proceeds going to three youth
charities in Birmingham - Reflex, Creating Higher Heights and
the Letisha and Charlene Education Awards.
I got involved with the Collective through a mutual contact that
I made at a networking event in early May. I was assigned the
role of online communications coordinator, initially tasked with
establishing a blog and associated web presence to
accompany the Collective’s marketing and public relations
efforts and at a later stage, using my initiative to implement a
creative Facebook campaign to satisfy the coordinators’
objective of developing further interest in the Collective online.

5. “IT WAS REALISED EARLY ON THAT B City Collective’s ultimate goal was to get into the UK
THE MAIN COORDINATORS LACKED singles chart by selling at least 1000 downloads. In May,
THE ONLINE NETWORKING SKILLS when I first met with Chris Hytch and Damien Morgan, the
NEEDED TO PROMOTE THE PROJECT project coordinators, B City Collective had no online
SUCCESSFULLY. THANKFULLY, WE presence, besides a Facebook event where coordinators
WERE INTRODUCED TO KAREN, WHOSE themselves invited friends and family to be a part of a video
shoot in July at The Drum Arts Centre. Additionally, the
TALENTS AND SKILLS IMMEDIATELY
project coordinators had already attempted to create a
BECAME APPARENT.” - Chris Hytch,
Facebook page by setting up an additional personal profile to
administrate the page from.
Coordinators each had their own talents that they
contributed to the project with, but no one had the skills or
experience to manage social media, as evidenced by the
inappropriate approach to having a Facebook page before I
joined the team. There was also a clear need for a website/
blog and a Twitter presence. There are many Birmingham
arts organisations active on Twitter, so there was a
possibility for lots of interest and interaction.
In addition, following the initial setup of the online presence
and management of its activity, the coordinators saw a need
for increased Facebook fans ahead of the single release
date. As well as communicating to the coordinators the
importance of amount of engagement over numbers of fans,
and the fact that fans need a concrete benefit made clear to
PROBLEM
them before they click ‘like’, I resolved to provide a creative
approach to increasing fans, providing value for them and
increasing interaction as well as numbers.

6. Facebook was to be the key hub of social media activity for the REAL PEOPLE
Collective as the target audience for the Collective’s single -
teenagers - were understood to be heavy users. As well as that,
FROM URBAN
many musicians and bands have, in the past, run successful online AREAS DOING
campaigns through Facebook, so taking inspiration from those, I
SOMETHING
INSPIRING
aimed to use the platform to generate some excitement around the
group.
Being part of a team that also had professional photographers and B City Collective’s main
videographers, I had access to vast amounts of media resources to message was to urge young
present the Collective authentically online. people to break away from
negative lifestyle choices.
The fact that it was made up
APPROACH
of “real” people from
Birmingham who are using
their talents to carve a
productive and positive path
was something that informed
the social media presence I
cultivated for them. By
sharing behind-the-scenes
photos and videos, live
updates from events and,
ultimately, a side to the group
would be showcased, that
wasn’t unlike the youth
audience they were
targeting.

7. OUTPUT

8. LIVE-TWEETING
To appropriately accompany any mentions as soon as
the Collective’s blog and they came in, using
Facebook presence, I used Tweetdeck on my phone.
Twitter to send live updates U s i n g Tw i t t e r f o r t h e
from rehearsals and video Collective on a continuous
shoots with a focus on basis, I helped garner new
behind-the-scenes followers as well as some
information. With my past interaction from key
experience liveblogging from Birmingham figures,
events, I knew that there including @IAmBirmingham
were benefits to providing a - a Birmingham-based
live commentary online. I video hub, @jonwalker121,
aimed to provide a steady, political editor of the
valuable stream of content Birmingham Post and Mail
so potential followers would and @the_drum Arts
see an advantage to Centre. Overall, the Twitter
following. I made a point of strategy - to present what
tagging users e.g. rock band goes on behind the
@underscored_101, rapper Collective - was a success
@damien_morgan and and complemented the
venue @the_drum, posting whole online presence very
photos and keeping track of well.

9. BCITYCOLLECTIVE.CO.UK
As online communications coordinator, one of the largest tasks
assigned to me was the management of the
BCityCollective.co.uk. This involved initially setting up a blog-
based website on Wordpress and subsequently posting updates
to the blog and updating page content.
Project coordinators often sent updates via email, which I would
take, edit and craft into suitable blog posts. I researched and
installed various plugins to enhance the blog, including Network
Publisher to push new blog posts to Twitter and Facebook,
Google Calendar Events to give readers an interactive calendar
of upcoming and past appearances and Automatic Youtube
Video Posts to pull video uploads from Youtube into new blog
posts.
As well as that, as the project was constantly evolving, with
additional support coming from different parties, new people
joining the creative team and further testimonials and
endorsements coming from key Birmingham figures and music
professionals, the website needed to be updated accordingly.
Resulting from my work on BCityCollective.co.uk is a website
with all important information about the Collective as well as
regular, insightful updates and behind-the-scenes photographs
and video content.

10. FLYOVER the Flyover Show on 20th August
- to generate interest in the
SHOW Collective and give people an
FACEBOOK incentive to go onto the
PHOTO Facebook page, like it and share
COMPETITION with their friends.
I proposed the idea to the
coordinators and advised on the
As well as setting up and best approach to logistical
managing the Facebook page for aspects. I designed promotional
the Collective, including materials to have on Facebook
populating photo albums and in the run-up to the competition.
custom tabs, I implemented a On the day, I spent time meeting
photo competition to generate with audience members,
more buzz around the page. informing them of the Collective's
work, the competition and the
The project coordinators were opportunity to win a gift card,
keen on improving the number of and inviting them to enter by
Facebook likes. I wanted to having their photo taken by one
provide an intervention that of the photographers.
meant not only would likes be
increased, but those likes would Although I met some resistance
be valuable in that they would to the idea, mainly from those
come from fans that felt a not keen on having their photo
connection to the Collective. I taken, we got more than 20
devised a strategy with this goal photographs which were
in mind. It consisted of using an uploaded to Facebook that
upcoming concert appearance - evening.

11. Using a third party application - Easypromos - to execute the
campaign within Facebook's guidelines, I used the week
following the show to invite fans to tag and enter their
photographs. During that time, likes increased and many fans
tagged and commented on their photos from the day. I also took
responsibility to wrap up the competition and announce the
winners across Facebook, Twitter and the blog.

12. OUTCOME
INCREASE IN FANS AND
INTERACTIONS
Figure 1 shows an inflation in page content feedback, Figure 1
most notably between Saturday the 20th - the day of
the show - and Tuesday 23rd. One of the contributory
posts was the new album of photos for the
competition.
Figure 2 conveys a peak in page views in the days
after the show.
Figure 2
Figure 3 illustrates the peak in new Likes. Bearing in
mind the previous graph, it’s clear to see that the
peak in views correlates with an increase in Likes.
Although not as impressive as anticipated, it’s clear
that there is a correlation between the Flyover Show
Photo Competition and a climb in a variety of valuable
interactions on Facebook. This clearly shows the
benefits of a Facebook campaign consisting of fan
interactions and a real-world intervention. Additional
initiatives of this nature would help the Collective
Figure 3
further build likes and interactions.

13. BEHIND-THE-SCENES
CONTENT & A “REAL” AND
AUTHENTIC PRESENCE
Wanting to showcase the Collective not just as
musicians, but as real people coming together to do
something positive, I picked some of the best
behind-the-scenes footage to share through social
media.
This strategy helped show the Collective as a group
of people with personality as well as talent and with a
drive and passion for what they do.
Additionally, having an album of photos of fans
contributes to this “real” image, as fans and
musicians share the same space online.
My execution of this tactical presentation of the
Collective online helped put across the overall selling
point of the Collective, as well as creating an archive
of content for future fans to browse.

14. “Karen has been an invaluable member of the B City Collective team! It was realised early on that
the main co-ordinators lacked the online networking skills needed to promote the project
successfully. Thankfully we were introduced to Karen, whose talents and skills immediately
became apparent.
She built a website which she continues update almost daily. Karen then took over our Facebook
page, giving us invaluable advice as to how to best use this platform to promote ourselves,
including a recent competition devised solely by Karen...thus driving traffic to our page! Karen has
also proved invaluable with her knowledge of Twitter and has tweeted all our exploits regularly.
On top of this Karen needs to be commended for her speed in responding to our requests and to
the use of her own initiative. Very often Karen has not needed to be asked to do things-her
enthusiasm has been such that she has regularly posted blogs before the co-ordinators even
thought to request her to do so.
“TO PUT IT SIMPLY,
WE REALLY COULD
}
NOT HAVE CARRIED
CHRIS HYTCH
(PROJECT COORDINATOR)
OUT THIS PROJECT
WITHOUT KAREN.”

15. Photo credits:
Page 3, 4 & 6 Outroslide Events Photography
Page 1, 5, 8, 10 & 11 elle.tien photography
Page 10 & 11 Sasha Russeama Hurd

16. ABOUT KAREN
Karen is an online media consultant and designer,
specialising in creative approaches to social media
for businesses, arts organisations, individuals and
groups, with a focus on authenticity and
independence.
Portfolio and Blog
KarenKiely.com
Email
kaz@karenkiely.com
Twitter
@kazkiely