Execution

Karbo Communications hit the ground running, offering strategic counsel and teaming up with Hootsuite on various media campaigns and product launches. Simultaneously, the agency began pursuing a thought leadership program for Hootsuite executives to discuss the role of social media in societal and business communication. Karbo Communications also began securing contributed articles and introductory interviews with top journalists, amplifying U.S. market awareness. 

The agency worked with Hootsuite to leverage the company’s data platform to drive thought and market leadership, leading a number of proactive media campaigns tied to timely industry news and events. The campaigns have centered around the Presidential elections, midterm elections, and key holidays and moments in time including the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, World Mental Health Day, the World Cup and more. As the COVID-19 crisis hit around the world, the agency saw an immediate change in tone and conversation on social media. Karbo Communications identified trending COVID-19 topics and hashtags on social, working with Hootsuite to pull relevant data from its platform. Karbo Communications then worked to analyze the findings and identify compelling trends within the data around sentiment and top hashtags related to COVID-19. The agency conducted aggressive media outreach, garnering two back-to-back pieces of coverage in Forbes while establishing Hootsuite as the go-to resource for timely social media data. As conversations evolved on social media throughout the pandemic, Karbo Communications saw an opportunity to pitch out new data and insights from Hootsuite’s platform to supplement breaking news and trend stories in top-tier business and marketing outlets. Within the past year and a half, Karbo Communications has secured proactive data coverage in Adweek, CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times, among other top-tier outlets. 

In July 2020, Karbo Communications worked with Hootsuite to announce its newly appointed CEO, Tom Keiser. Karbo Communications developed an aggressive media outreach strategy, offering Tom to discuss his vision for the company and his perspective on hot-button social media issues in an exclusive interview with a top-tier business reporter. As a result, Karbo Communications secured an exclusive feature story in Fortune Magazine. 

To further elevate Tom’s thought leadership platform, Karbo Communications pursued timely media opportunities for Tom to discuss breaking news in the social media market. As a result, Tom’s commentary was featured in Fortune and The New York Times focused on TikTok’s potential sale back in 2020. Beyond focusing on breaking news, Karbo Communications identified and pursued opportunities to showcase Tom’s leadership principles and values, and Hootsuite’s new direction as a company in 2021, which resulted in two feature-style articles in Forbes and Insider. 

In December 2020, Tara Ataya was named Hootsuite’s first Chief People and Diversity Officer. Karbo Communications tied the news to Hootsuite’s strong focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, and secured coverage in Fortune, HR Dive, BetaKit, GeekWire, and HR Daily Advisor. Throughout the past year, Karbo Communications has worked closely with Tara to drive thought leadership and raise awareness of Hootsuite’s new workplace and DE&I initiatives. In May 2021, Hootsuite announced Wellness Week, an initiative that grants all employees one paid week off in addition to PTO allotment. Karbo Communications used this news to raise an important discussion in the media about mental health in the workplace and positioned Tara as the spokesperson to discuss the initiative and how Hootsuite is rethinking the future of work. As a result, Karbo Communications secured a two-month span of coverage in top news outlets, including Fortune, NPR Marketplace, CNBC, Insider, The New York Times, Vogue, Forbes, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, and more. Karbo Communications also executed new hire announcements for Hootsuite’s Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer, resulting in coverage in Fortune, PR News, GeekWire, The Drum, and CFO.com. 

To raise executive and brand visibility, Karbo Communications executed a robust speaking program for Hootsuite’s CEO, Chief People and Diversity Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, and Chief Revenue Officer. Through this program, Karbo Communications developed speaker applications, curated panel recommendations, drafted speeches, and held strategy prep sessions in advance. Top conferences at which Hootsuite executives have presented during the past two years include Social Media Week, Ascent, SaaStr, Web Summit, Ad World, and more. 

Karbo Communications continues to drive various news announcements for Hootsuite. When Hootsuite acquired Heyday and Sparkcentral in 2021, Karbo Communications worked side-by-side with the Hootsuite team over the course of a month in the lead-up to both announcements to identify key market trends, recommend topics for discussion, analyze key executive and corporate messages, and recommend a media outreach strategy targeting Canadian and US press. Karbo Communications executed media outreach, securing broadcast opportunities for the CEO, Tom Keiser, in Bloomberg, The Financial Post, and Cheddar, and top-tier business press coverage in Axios, Crunchbase News, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, and more. In July 2022, when Hootsuite announced their rebrand, Karbo Communications worked with the brand to execute an integrated communications strategy, securing an exclusive feature story with Hootsuite CMO, Maggie Lower in Adweek.

Results

Within the first three years of working together, Karbo Communications elevated Hootsuite’s market standing, securing a total of 226 unique articles or media mentions, totaling over 1B impressions. Specifically, the agency increased earned media coverage for Hootsuite in top business, marketing and technology publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, VentureBeat, Adweek, ZDNet, and Bloomberg. 

In June 2020, Hootsuite was named a winner in the Social/Influencer: Social Marketing Management category for Adweek Reader’s Choice: Best of Tech Partner Awards. 

In July 2021, Hootsuite was named one of the top 100 Software Companies by The Software Report. 

In August 2021, Hootsuite was crowned the Best Social Media Scheduling Software at the 2021 MarTech Breakthrough Awards. Hootsuite was also named a finalist for the Canadian HR Awards in the Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion category for the company’s approach, programs, and initiatives around DE&I in the workplace.

In October 2021, Hootsuite was named a finalist for the Digiday Tech Awards in the category “Best Social Analytics Platform.” Hootsuite Chief People & Diversity, Tara Ataya was also recognized on Insider’s DEI Changemakers List, a list selected by the Insider editorial team and that champions DEI executives who are making significant, positive changes within their own companies.

In January 2022, Hootsuite was named a winner of Human Resource Director’s 2022 Innovative HR Teams, a report that recognizes companies that are breaking boundaries to move the HR industry forward. 

In June 2022, Adweek’s editorial team selected Hootsuite CMO, Maggie Lower as a winner of Adweek’s annual Pride Stars award, which recognizes remarkable LGBTQ+ leaders across media, marketing and tech industries, who have a long track record of doing impactful work. 

In August 2022, Hootsuite was crowned the Best Social Media Scheduling Software at the 2022 MarTech Breakthrough Awards.