Pride Toronto | Case Studies | The Influence Agency

The Solution

Our work for Pride Toronto involved a comprehensive digital strategy that helped to completely transform their online presence.

Through a 360° digital elevation approach, we worked closely with Pride Toronto to create engaging social media campaigns and develop a robust digital marketing strategy that aligned with their goals and objectives.

The Pride flag is a symbol of the LGBTQIA+community and is composed of six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Each color represents a different aspect of the LGBTQIA+ experience. In an effort to celebrate each member of the LGBTQIA+ community, we incorporated a monthly theme for every service that corresponded with a colour of the Pride flag.

February | Life

This is the topmost color on the flag and stands for life.

What gives you life? How do you celebrate life?

March | Healing

Orange represents healing — this is one
of the bright and bold colors and in the light of events of violence against the community, this color stands for healing.

March | Sunlight

Yellow is the message to be yourself and come out instead of hiding behind the shadows. This color represents sunlight which gives life to humans and many other beings on this planet.

April | Nature

The color green on the pride flag represents Mother Nature. Being queer comes naturally and thus this color holds a vital place on the flag.

May | Serenity

The color blue on the flag stands for serenity. The original pride flag had indigo and turquoise stripes which were later replaced by the color blue. This color is used to represent calmness and serenity.

June | Spirit

The last strip on the flag represents the spirit. This color has been on the flag since its inception and makes the core of the flag despite being the one at the bottom of the flag.

Influencer
Marketing
Social Media
Marketing
Blogs &
Infographics
Email
Marketing
Sponsorship
Support

Influencer Marketing

We partnered with influencers from the International and Canadian LGBTQIA+ community as well as other Torontonians to generate excitement for the Toronto Pride Parade and encourage attendance. Each month we shined a spotlight on an individual within the LGBTQIA+ community who is making a positive contribution. The spotlight aimed to highlight notable individuals and celebrate achievement and progress. Each influencer generated hype about the Toronto Pride Parade through Instagram posts and stories.

Influencer Marketing With LGBTQIA+ Community 2 - The Influence Agency

Social Media Marketing

Leading up to the festival, our team managed Pride Toronto's social media accounts, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. As community managers, we were responsible for creating and curating content that highlighted various aspects of the LGBTQIA+ community, including sponsor features, community news, influencer content, queer artist spotlights, and event information. Our content was designed to be engaging and informative, while also promoting inclusivity and diversity.

Through consistent and thoughtful posting, we were able to build a strong online community and foster meaningful conversations around LGBTQIA+ issues. Our work helped to increase Pride Toronto's social media following and engagement, as well as create a positive online presence for the organization.

Blogs & Infographics

We also created infographics and wrote blogs to support their social media marketing and generate organic traffic to their website. One of our key strategies was to create artist spotlights that showcased the influencers we were working with, highlighting their contributions to the LGBTQIA+ community and promoting their work. We also created educational content around the queer community, such as information on transitioning, safe sex, and organizations like Rainbow Railroad. Additionally, we wrote blogs that explored the history of the queer community, such as the Stonewall riots and the contributions of queer activists throughout history.

By creating informative and engaging content, we were able to build a loyal following for Pride Toronto's social media accounts, while also driving traffic to their website and promoting their message of inclusivity and equality.

Email Marketing

In managing Pride Toronto's email marketing efforts, we created engaging content for their newsletter, designing templates and managing the distribution list. For Pride Toronto, our newsletters included event announcements, community news, sponsor features, and other engaging content related to the LGBTQIA+ community. Our goal was to keep subscribers informed about the latest developments and events, while also promoting Pride Toronto's message of inclusivity and equality. Through our newsletter marketing efforts, we were able to increase engagement with Pride Toronto's audience and foster a stronger sense of community among their subscribers.

Sponsorship Support

Pride Toronto had various corporate sponsors (IKEA, Skip the Dishes, TD, Air Italy, FIDO, Bud Light, Deloitte, Trojan, Crest, etc. Based on the sponsorship level, they were guaranteed a certain number of posts. We coordinated with 24 sponsors to leverage their Pride content on social media.

One of the sponsors (LCBO) also had a #ToastToPride influencer marketing campaign in collaboration with Pride, where we leveraged our brand ambassadors to showcase the custom Pride Toronto/LCBO limited edition totes. This campaign resulted in 170K Impressions.

Total Results

When we were managing Pride Toronto’s brand, we created a cohesive brand that was consistent across all social platforms through a complete 360° digital elevation.

We engaged new audiences with influencers across Canada, US, and Europe. We amplified voices of artists, and local resources that support the queer community. We provided valuable education for the community through informative content.

Across influencers and our social media marketing efforts, we drove MILLIONS of impressions and engagements, supporting foot traffic to the festival. This overall resulted in an overwhelmingly positive brand sentiment that, generating excitement and hype for the Pride festival. As a result of our work, Pride Toronto was able to significantly increase their online visibility, reaching a broader audience and promoting a message of inclusivity and equality for all members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Influencer
Marketing Results

3M Organic Reach

475K Organic Engagements

4M Organic Impressions

25% Engagement Rate

Social Media
Marketing Results

10M+ Organic Impressions

12K+ Followers Gained

2M+ Organic Engagements

Blogs &
Infographics Results

2 Min Avg. Time on Page

6K+ Website Visits

Email Marketing

18% Email Open Rate

3K+ Clicks on CTA buttons

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1. Define Your Goals

Are you aiming to increase web traffic or grow your social media presence? Figure out why you’re leveraging paid media in the first place and build your strategy from there. Having clearly defined goals in mind will help you focus on your brand’s key priorities.

2. Outline a TOFU/MOFU/BOFU Strategy

Designing strategies that cater to all three stages of the buyer journey ensures that you’re maximizing your brand’s reach. Every user at every stage is valuable—and you have to make sure you’re creating paid media content that speaks to each audience type.

3. Research Keywords for Search

Effective paid media is tied to targeting the right keywords. If you’re leveraging paid search ads to appear on SERPs (search engine results pages), then in-depth research is necessary. Bid on the keywords that are most relevant to your business to trigger only the most effective ad appearances.

4. Craft Engaging Ad Copy & Stand-Out Creative

Gather your team—because it’s time to start coming up with ad copy that wins attention. The key is to resonate with your audience and inspire engagement. Be real. Be relatable. And most importantly, don’t underestimate the power of creativity.

5. Create Conversion-Friendly Landing Pages

Do the landing pages on your website effectively push visitors further down the sales funnel? If not, you’re letting potential customers slip through your fingers. Optimize each of your landing pages so that they nudge users towards converting.

6. Choose Your Paid Platforms

The options are plenty when it comes to paid advertising, including Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Pinterest among others. Analyze who your target demographic is, research where it’s best to connect with them, and then target the platforms where you wish to build awareness.

7. Build Campaigns & Ad Groups/Sets

If you’re ready to build your paid media ad campaign, you’ll find that it will be further broken down into “ad groups” to ensure more effective pay-per-click advertising. These ad groups house one or more ads that have similar targets or categories. Let’s say your brand’s website features categories such as clothing, shoes, and accessories. Creating ad groups according to keywords that fall under these categories will help the PPC system decide when to show ads for these products.

8. Don’t Forget About Retargeting Ads

Retargeting ads are bound to succeed because it’s a second shot at a conversion. Visitors have shown interest in the product/service once before, and sometimes all it takes is a little reminder to push them to the checkout page. So don’t forget to retarget and aim better this time.

9. Run A/B Tests

In the world of paid media, what works and what doesn’t? You’ll have to run A/B tests to find out! Whether you’re testing which keywords bring more traffic or which social platforms earn more ad engagement, you won’t find out what really works for your brand until you test it.

10. Track Your Results

Revisit your initial goals. Did your efforts bring about the results you expected? Tracking results is an essential step in your brand’s paid advertising campaigns. The data you collect from currently running ads will help lay the foundation for your future campaigns.

11. Adjust as Needed

After tracking your results, you’ll be able to see where adjustments are necessary. There’s always room for improvement, so keep striving to consistently resonate and build trust with your audience—it’s how to create paid ads that pay off.

Pride Toronto Case Study

How We Supported 1.7M+ Attendees for Pride Toronto Through 360° Digital Marketing

14M

12K+

6K+

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About

Pride Toronto is a non-profit organization that hosts an annual festival and parade to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community of Toronto and beyond.

The Opportunity

Pride Toronto works to ensure equal rights and representation for every person of diverse sexual and gender identities, supporting the community in the pursuit of their unquestionable rights to freedom, love, expression and understanding.