Maker Media Unites Makers with TrueLoyal

Publishing

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367

Maker Faires around the world

13,604

posts aggregated

4.81 M

Social impressions a week

As an organization that is built on the creations that their audience is making, it’s no surprise that user generated content is top of mind for the marketing team behind the operation: Mara Lincoln, Director of Media Operations, and Gillian Mutti, Marketing Manager. With so much content being created everyday in the DIY community, their challenge is to find new ways to grow their community by engaging an audience that is moving from print to digital.

The Solution

To harness the power of their user generated content, Maker Media turned to TrueLoyal . The first area that they focused on was using TrueLoyal for Maker Faire. With 367 global Faires around the world, it was important for Mara to not only aggregate the content being produced, but also take advantage of the “ripple effect” of encouraging their audience to contribute on social. By using both local hashtags like #mfba18 and the global hashtag #makerfaire, their team has been able to aggregate 13,604 posts from events around the world over the past 3 years. The amount of content being generated is impressive, but it also led to a better understanding of the audience:

We’re really trying to target the 18 to 28 age range right now. They’re obviously going to be on social media and much more digital, so as we pull away from print advertising, it’s really key that use user generated content. The more we can get them engaged in social, the more powerful our message is. Gillian Mutti, Marketing Manager

Maker Camp

Another area of focus for Mara has been Maker Camp. Maker Camp is a free youth summer camp for those who love DIY, creating, crafting, hacking, tinkering, and learning. Makers have free range on the kind of projects they pursue, from sewing electronics into fashion accessories to creating new musical instruments from everyday materials. Globally there are more than 280 affiliates hosting camps in community centers, schools, and libraries.

It takes considerable resources to host so many events. Mara looks to sponsors for support in hosting Maker Camp. To attract and retain valuable sponsors, Mara uses TrueLoyal to show the impact that a sponsorship campaign has on social. Together, they spur the next generation of Makers to develop their skills and safely participate in the maker movement.

Capturing the Movement

Knowing who to reach out to during a social campaign is important too, and Mara is able to use TrueLoyal analytics to find outspoken and influential contributors quickly and easily. Maker Media has spent over a decade growing an audience, and today sits at the helm of the Maker Movement. With an increasingly digital younger audience, TrueLoyal has provided the ability to harness the power of user generated content to showcase the creativity of makers all over the world.

Mara Lincoln

Director of Media Operations

For both Maker Camp and Maker Faire, one of the primary reasons for using TrueLoyal is sponsorship. We look to our sponsors to help support the event and help support the makers. Our main goal is getting them exposure and then actually quantifying that exposure. With TrueLoyal's great analytics, we’re able to do that.