General Cigar Company - Social Media

Cigars are an indulgence enjoyed by a niche yet large and passionate fanbase. For three years I’ve worked across 8 brands (CAO, Macanudo, Punch, Cohiba, Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, Hoyo de Monterrey, Diesel, and Cigar World) on everything from strategy development, to content production and copywriting, to community management, and data analytics all to capitalize on that fanbase and convert them into a highly engaged following.

Although we faced challenges like adapting to the constantly shifting social media landscape and responding to the increasing FDA regulations facing the industry—we’ve overcome them in stride and have one of the largest collective audiences in the category.

 

Creating Content

Juggling 8 brands with 8-20 posts per month (each) is no easy feat. I’ve worked on developing own-able aesthetics and voices so that each brand remains premium yet distinct from one another. Besides visual and written tonality, it’s an effort that means figuring out which brands and channels to pair with which content types like video, gamification, type-overly, swipe-overs, and grids in able to garner the highest engagement. Completely organically.


Fostering Communities

Creating and posting content is only part of the battle. Once involved, it is a process of interacting with tens of thousands of fans worldwide whether by encouraging passionate debates, engaging in meaningful dialogue, reposting user-generated content, or hosting giveaways to reward loyalty.


Enjoying Results

Over a four-year period (January 2017 - January 2021) for eight brands across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter:

  • Fan Growth:

    • Total Followers: 320,530 (+66.2%)

    • Instagram Follower Growth: 126,863

    • Facebook Net Follower Growth: 47,181

    • Twitter Net Follower Growth: 23,054

  • Impressions:

    • Total Impressions: 31,246,978 (+29%)

    • Instagram Impressions: 12,939,257

    • Facebook Impressions: 10,894,231

    • Twitter Impressions: 7,413,490

  • Engagement:

    • Total Engagements: 2,060,449 (+40.2%)

    • Instagram Engagements: 1,027,594

    • Facebook Engagements: 674,151

    • Twitter Engagements: 358,704

  • Messages:

    • 189,729 Fan Messages Received (17.7%)

    • 24,439 Messages Sent

  • Video Views:

    • Total Video Views: 478,937

    • Instagram Video Views: 196,628

    • Facebook Video Views: 155,453

    • Twitter Video Views: 126,453

*Data sourced via Sprout Social.