Message From the Editor: Engagements

Social media has become an ubiquitous part of daily life for many of us. Karen Gantzer, managing editor of Heat Treat Today, shares how the editorial team is leveraging this tool to help heat treaters across North America.

This article first appeared in Heat Treat Today's March 2022 Aerospace Heat Treat print edition. Feel free to contact Karen Gantzer at karen@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.


Karen Gantzer
Managing Editor
Heat Treat Today

I like Instagram. I don’t post, but I do like to read other people’s posts. I get creative ideas for entertaining and decorating, as well as incredibly delicious recipes, innovative garden designs, and challenging fitness options. One of the influencers I follow shared that a video she posted a few weeks ago had received 9 million views. She was thrilled at its viral status because it also brought many new followers to her account.

Why does the increase in followers bring such joy? Well, it shows that people are certainly interested in what is being shared and perhaps has some relevance to the viewer — maybe he/she can resonate with it in some way. Or, at the very least, wants to find out why all the attention because, let’s be honest, who wants to suffer from FOMO?!

For the last year or so, it has been a goal of Heat Treat Today to “up our game” in the social media realm because, for us, we see it as a vehicle to help people become better informed. The articles chosen for posts and the way in which they are promoted have been intentional by design. I think there may be a science to this whole social media thing!

Who knew?!

The team, led by Social Media Editor Alyssa Bootsma, has been working diligently to discover that secret sauce to growing social media presence and helpfulness. In 2021, we celebrated the fruits of their labor because the data is showing that people are seeing value and relevance in the Heat Treat Today posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Of course, there is a learning curve to all new endeavors and this one is no different. Holding fast to our mantra of “The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms,” we’ve learned about “post impressions”, “engagements”, “number of followers”, and “page likes.” And, just to be clear, the majority of the stellar Heat Treat Today team are young rising stars who probably already knew this, but the more seasoned among us, i.e., Doug and me, were on a steeper learning trajectory!!

The Heat Treat Today team is passionate about sharing incredibly helpful information that will assist you in your heat treat decisions and add to your own knowledge bank. It looks like the word is spreading through social media and we are thrilled. In these graphs, see the increases we’ve enjoyed. We are thankful for each of you who are following us and if you haven’t had the opportunity yet, please take a look at the Heat Treat Today content and consider following us. If there are topics you’d like to see or suggestions you’d like to make, please email Alyssa at Alyssa@heattreattoday.com. We’ve only just begun!


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