kat thompson
business & entrepreneurship
In The Eyes of a Music Festival Social Media Account Manager
Project statement
Running a social media account is more than just posting, as it entails staying current with social media trends and tools, creating timely and engaging content for the identified audience, analyzing the accounts weaknesses, making recommendations for improvements, setting KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) such as a target for a certain number of follows, reach, etc…and much more. My main objective was to reach 5,000 minimum followers by the festival week in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, which I was proud to have accomplished before heading there for on-site work. During the time leading up to the festival, I developed strategic ways to implement more engagement with followers/customers, create awareness of the brand, and of course, sell tickets. Some of my work included hosting their first giveaway, which had a very positive turnout in engagement, promoting ticket sales and hotel room bookings, developing suitable paid advertising campaigns, and more, all while acting as a customer service contact through direct messages.
About the Artist
This year I had the privilege of working social media management onsite for a festival over New Years. This opportunity changed my life as it allowed me to take on the role for the first time as their social media account manager full-time. Social Media today is much different than when it was first introduced to us. Rather than a platform for personal use, it has become a strategic marketing platform for creators, businesses, and entrepreneurs. Through this remote job, I have had more time in my life. I used to spend 25 minutes on the bus to and from a job I was not mentally happy to be working in, and had such a struggle reworking my day, to cater to them, while being a full-time student on the Dean’s list. My role as a social media account manager has given me not only a job I enjoy, but more time in my life to travel, finish school, and network. It also has allowed me to cover artists at various events including Gryffin, Sofi Tukker, Kim Petras, Joel Corry, Purple Disco Machine, Chaka Khan, and more. When it comes to this industry, I believe networking has become one of the most important aspects of succeeding. Networking allows us to build and strengthen relationships with current and potential clients, gain knowledge from ones who have more experience, and overall create more opportunities. As you can see, Social Media Account Managers can oversee several different aspects of maintaining and growing a business. I have provided a few pieces of my work during this role from onsite work, content calendar drafts for the week of the festival, and our progress report for that week. I strongly recommend looking into this position, and I have reached out to a few contacts with their thoughts on the best actions to take when starting out as a Social Media Account Manager if anyone is interested.
“Kat not only has an impressive academic record, she has also built a bridge between what she has learned in her classes at Columbia and her many professional ventures. She is at the cutting edge of the use of social media platforms for marketing purposes. As the social media account manager for several music festivals, working with graphic artists, photographers and videographers, she has developed an expertise at the crossroads of Marketing, technology and creativity.
I know she is on for a great professional future!”
— Philippe Ravanas, Professor, Business and Entrepreneurship