Social Media CIM goes viral CIM entered the realm of social media in 2012, building communities on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. The institute used social media channels to reach a global audience, to share expertise, to provide a forum for discussion on topical industry issues, and to promote events. Profiles on all three social media channels were created and managed at the CIM National Office. The fastest growing channel – LinkedIn – has attracted over 9,000 members to date, 60 per cent of whom are in the mining and metals industry and 25 per cent of whom occupy a senior position. The CIM Group hosted a range of discussions where members engaged on topics ranging from technical advancements and best practices to sharing achievements. CIM’s Facebook fan page attracted over 500 fans from countries including Canada, Pakistan and Peru, and featured content on local industry events, employment and scholarship opportunities for students, and professional development advice. The fan page was also used as a venue to share information about the institute’s activities, including posting CIM Magazine articles to attract new readers.
CIM Magazine staff also participated in the organization’s social media activity by creating individual Twitter accounts that were used to promote magazine content, to stay on top of industry trends and to identify sources for future stories. Magazine editors’ Twitter content was shared by industry professionals, effectively increasing unique page views of articles on the website and building a wider readership. Events in which CIM and some of its societies played an active role were promoted across social media platforms by event marketing firm Creativesenses. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter were utilized to raise event visibility, increase and broaden attendance, grow engagement with participants, create hype around the events and build partnership opportunities on local, national and international levels. Social media campaigns were created for the Sixth International Conference and Exhibition on Mass Mining (MassMin2012) and the 51st Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM2012). The campaigns played a major role in helping surpass participant targets for MassMin2012, which were exceeded by 136 per cent. On Twitter alone, the MassMin2012 profile reached an audience of nearly 25,000 industry professionals. Content was focused on the technical program, registration information, exhibitor details and sponsor recognition, and was updated several times per week leading up to the event. Social media campaigns for three 2013 events were launched in October 2012. Creativesenses is managing the promotion of the 2013 CIM Convention (TO13), the 23rd World Mining Congress and its sister show, the 30th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction. Performance of the campaigns is being tracked, and online engagement is picking up pace. Content sharing by followers, such as The Mosaic Company, which communicated event details to its 1,400 followers, is helping the campaign reach a broad, international audience.
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