Now that The Disruptors’ maiden episode is out of the way, BNN’s latest business show on disruptive companies and technology can now concentrate on building its following.
Before last week’s premiere, co-hosts Bruce Croxon and Amber Kanwar did the traditional media tours to promote the show, visiting media outlets such as CTV’s Canada AM and talk radio station CFRB in Toronto.
But what other ways did they use to promote the show?
The emerging bellwether for gauging a show’s success is social media, and more specifically, Twitter. The social platform has quickly established itself as the mainstay for not only gauging the popularity of a show, but it also allows for audience participation and for the producers to draw the audience into the show.
As broadcast shows compete for eyeballs, social media interaction is crucial. And in this regard, The Disruptors hosts have been doing all the right things.
Both Croxon and Kanwar’s personal Twitter accounts had over 100 mentions on the day of the show, and both co-hosts actively engaged with fans. The co-hosts’ tweets were regularly retweeted.
Before last week’s premiere, even though the show had a Twitter hashtag (#theDisruptors), it actually didn’t have a Twitter account. It does now, though, and viewers are now also engaging with the show itself.
Tuned in to @BNN’s new tech show, The Disruptors? Tweet us your comments with the hashtag #TheDisruptors!
— The Disruptors (@DisruptorsBNN) April 23, 2015
This is a great example of how social media has established itself as a disruptor in terms of the traditional methods for getting the word out about a show: The Disruptors and its hosts are demonstrating that every day, with their active participation in social media, which increases fan engagement and helps win new fans of the show along the way.
To date, the show has had over 300 mentions on Twitter and that activity is trending upwards. This has partially been partially nurtured by the show’s new Twitter account, along with the efforts of Croxon and Kanwar.
Don’t get me wrong — traditional media still has a very big role to play here. I know this personally, because that’s where I originally heard about the show. But I think it’s fair to say that the show and co-hosts have now transitioned from a traditional media tour to a social media tour.
Not only does it perpetuate the momentum of the show, but it’s also low cost.
Maybe in The Disruptors’ next episode, they could focus on the effect of social media in show business — it’s something they seem to know something about.
Just saying.
BNN’s The Disruptors airs every Thursday night at 8:30 PM EST. You can catch the latest episode on its home page.
