#FlipboardChat Summary: Brands on Flipboard
Jenn de la Vega / May 5, 2015
Every Wednesday evening, members of the Flipboard Club—an unofficial community of passionate evangelists—hold a Twitter chat about a Flipboard-centric topic and we summarize the discussion here.
Tomorrow’s topic is “Curating Family Magazines on Flipboard” (perfect timing for Mother’s Day this Sunday, eh?). Join in the chat Wednesday at 7pm PT / 10pm ET via the hashtag on Twitter. If the time zone doesn’t work for you, join their Facebook group to stay in the loop.
Last week, participants chatted about brands on Flipboard. Here’s what they said:
Q1. Which are your favorite brands on Flipboard and why?
- I love National Geographic. Can’t beat those visuals!
- Fave brands on Flipboard: Levis, Whole Foods, Van Cleef & Arpels, Acura, VMware.
- I love a lot of the ads that brands like CHANEL and BMW are doing.
- Can’t forget Intel. They have the coolest magazines.
- I’m a big fan of Etsy on Flipboard. And I think Woodford Reserve does a great job.
- Huge nod to UNICEF’s mags which do fantastic advocacy and storytelling.
- Can I say Oprah? I really like the stuff she has.
Q2. What are your best tips for building a brand presence using Flipboard magazines?
- Make magazines! And put great content in them that resonates with your brand narrative.
- Telling a story humanizes your brand and makes it memorable, more than a bunch of products.
- You need to figure out your brand’s story and tell it using a Flipboard magazine. Strong visuals for products and services.
- I think they need to be consistent and have fresh content. It’s also important to interact with and support others.
Q3. What should brands consider when curating content for Flipboard?
- I think brands need to consider what they’re known for, and start with that.
- Food for thought: Who is your audience? What are they looking for? What do they care about? What do they respond to?
- A strong cover for a brand mag is essential for storytelling. Consider sources that will reflect well on your brand. If it’s not on point, people won’t flip through even if you have good content.
- Stand out with strong headlines and captivating images. Flipboard readers see tons of content daily.
- Content of interest to your consumer like current events, entertainment, art and helpful stuff.
- There’s a noticeable difference between brands that put effort into mags and those that don’t.
Q4. What can brands do to engage with the Flipboard community more effectively?
- Flip in client endorsements or reviews from customers.
- Cross-promote into their communities.
- A #hashtag campaign: the brand asks for content from its community and flips that into a mag. Instagrams, tweets, etc.
- Twitter is great for ‘grassroots’ getting the word out.
- Ask for content from your audience. It could be a contest—best picture gets flipped.
- Reflip from the community. That’s how I found Grey Goose on Flipboard. So excited to get a notification from the brand!
- Comment on articles. MagMakers appreciate that.
Q5. What are some ways brands can build readership for Flipboard magazines?
- Invite influencers to collaborate. Make your mags interactive, fun and engaging!
- Brands can promote their mags on their other social channels.
- Add the Flipboard magazine widget on websites. Use #FlipboardFriday on Twitter to showcase magazines.
- If you brand runs a blog, promote your mag on the blog and invite followers to join Flipboard for more content.
- Harness the power of curators. Stop telling people to READ your mags and start telling them to FLIP from your mags.
Q6. How do brands benefit from Flipboard readers adding their content into personal magazines?
- Reflips increase your reach and bring your content to new audiences.
- Create a call to action!
- People trust people they know. When readers curate your content, their friends are more likely to engage.
Q7. What types of brand content do you curate into your personal Flipboard magazines?
- Mostly visuals. Brands take awesome pictures and unique videos that you can’t get anywhere else.
- If you count Flickr and 500px as brands, a lot!
- I love flipping content that teaches something I didn’t know before, either about the brand or the brand’s industry.
- This is the one area I love: GIFs. Anyone seen Dole’s magazines? Emerging giant on Flipboard.
- Products look incredible in Flipboard wishlist catalogs!
Q8. Which brands would you most like to see launch Flipboard magazines? What type of magazines?
- I’m saying it…APPLE!! *drops the mic*
- I’m a Bath & Body Works fan and think Flipboard mags could work for them. Also would like to see Canon do a brand mag.
- More colleges and universities. Love what Wharton is doing. Also, Flipboard is hot for real-time college brochures.
- Also, retailers! Can we get your catalogs on Flipboard already? So easy to flip through and save products to buy.
- I’m a wine fan, so I would love to see wineries take advantage of Flipboard, either for sharing stories or selling.
Don’t forget to join this week: the topic is “Curating Family Magazines on Flipboard.” Start chatting on Twitter on May 6, 2015, at 7pm PT / 10pm ET, or come back to this blog for an update.
~jdlv on behalf of the Flipboard Club
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