Cleo is an everything-social agency based in Toronto, founded by two longtime friends and creatives.
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LinkedIn recently hit 1 billion members + shared new insights into its latest updates, which promise to shape how users interact, engage, and network on the platform.
In our latest blog, we delve into:
✨ what these updates mean
✨ the best content to post
✨ how to network on the digital platform
✨ some extra expert tips!
Click below to learn more ⬇️
www.cleosocial.com/social-in-the-city/unlocking-the-new-linkedin-algorithm
If you don’t know Cleo’s origin story, it starts like many good ones do… best friends having a drink together.
Cleo was born out of our desire to bring quality work and social media together while supporting brands we love.
Stay tuned for some news about how we’ve updated our brand to reflect who we are five years later 👀
✨ This month’s media maven is Remy Delima ✨
We sat down with Remy to talk about her 10- year career in PR, from successfully engaging every huge editor in the city during her first internship to her current role as managing director at A&C.
Remy shared her thoughts on the changing landscape of the PR industry, her best advice for getting people excited about your brand, and her top tips for creating genuine connections through networking.
Full convo here: https://www.cleosocial.com/social-in-the-city/remy
Look what you made me do ❤️
The face of a project manager who is done making everything run smoothly for the day 🌟
If you’ve met Gabi, you know
✨ Meet Melissa✨
💕 Role: Community Manager
💕 Favourite meme of 2023:
Any meme with Jennifer Lawrence going “What do you mean?”
💕 How Melissa got into her role:
As a virtual assistant, Melissa started as an account scheduler at Cleo. With experience in Community Management for the past 2 years as a freelancer, Melissa pivoted into the Community Management role bringing her love of organization, communication, and a smile.
💕 Hobbies:
Writing on her blog, reading fantasy books, baking the best chocolate chip cookies, and cuddling her doggo, Echo!
Ever wonder who creates your content?
Say hi to our lead writer, Stas, and designer, Evan 👋 These two work together to make sure all of our clients look their best on social media (and clearly, have a bit of fun doing it too).
When you try out an influencer program and see what it can do for your brand. IYKYK.
✨ This month’s media maven is Kirsti McNabney✨
Kirsti made the jump last year in more ways than one. She quit her job and started her own marketing business, and at the same time started a podcast, Thinking About, where she sits down with interesting people to help listeners level up their lives.
We sat down with Kirsti to chat about the experience, including how her digital connections turned into an IRL meetup.
Full convo below ⬇️
https://www.cleosocial.com/social-in-the-city/kirsti
Do you watch Reels and wonder how people choose that exact right song every time?
Here are some tips next time you’re stuck:
1️⃣ Make it easy on yourself and pick something trending. You know it’ll perform best
2️⃣Sync your video clips with the beat for an extra-polished look
3️⃣What vibe are you going for? The music will set the tone, so pick something that fits the aesthetic
At least make it a fair fight.
✨ Meet Mary✨
💕 Role: Ad Specialist
💕 Favourite meme of 2023: Anything from the met gala
💕 How Mary got into her role: Starting in Product Management 25 years ago, Mary was an early adopter of web and search technology in the Dot Com/Bomb era. She pivoted to Search Advertising, SEO and writing for search almost immediately. As the world of Search Marketing & Advertising expands, Mary was and is a first adopter at every stage and on every new platform.
💕 Hobbies: Having recently relocated to the stunning Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Mary’s hobbies have changed along with her entire lifestyle. Mary and her family explore, hike, bike, swim and ski year-round. She tours wineries and craft distilleries and is embracing life and community.
Also, she knits. A lot.
Threads is here! 💬 Meta officially launched their new social platform to compete with the seemingly-spiralling Twitter, and we must say, we're excited and hopeful.
The new text-based app features a similar interface to what we're accustomed to on Twitter, though we're already noticing some great and much needed upgrades, like:
➡️ The character limit is 500, compared to Twitter's 280
➡️ You can include links, images and fit videos of up to 5 minutes, compared to twitter’s 2 minutes and 20 seconds
➡️ You log in using your Instagram account and verification rolls over
➡️Cross-posting from Instagram to Threads (and soon-to-be other platforms, as well) seems seamless
With a huge early adoption of the new platform (um, hello 10 million sign ups in the first 7 hours), we're excited to see what the future of Threads holds for brands, marketing and the world of social!
What do you think? Is Threads the new Twitter? 🤔
✨ Meet Evan ✨
💕 Role: Graphic Designer
💕 Favourite Meme of 2023: Probably Jamie Lee Curtis cheering for Michelle Yeoh
💕 How Evan got into his role: I’ve always been more on the creative side of things and when my partner, Gab (aka Project Manager extraordinaire here at Cleo) started her VA business, I initially helped out with the graphics and now we’re here!
💕 Hobbies: (as noted in the photo above) coffee, watching/playing basketball, going on bike rides, and spending time with the fam.
TBH, we do it all, just like our favourite 👑🪄➡️
Meet this month’s media maven Kirsten Schmidtke ✨
Kirsten has paved her own way throughout her career, and now helps others do the same in her work coaching professionals.
Kirsten sat down with Cleo to share some of what she’s learned, including getting to the core of what makes content successful and finding your own way to authenticity.
Link below to find out more ⬇️
https://www.cleosocial.com/social-in-the-city/kirsten
The influencer space is constantly changing, but if your brand stays on top of it, there are always creative paths to go down with the many great, authentic creators out there.
Not sure where to start? Give us a shout 📣 (or a DM).
✨ Meet Gabi ✨
💕 Role: Project Manager
💕 Favourite meme of 2023: Anything from Riri’s Super Bowl performance 👑
💕 How Gabi got into her role: Being a Type A, Capricorn, organizational freak 😉 (the real answer: I’ve always loved leading and overseeing projects and have done that in many capacities through different roles throughout the years. I started a VA business in 2020 that quickly turned into more specialized project and community management. About a year ago Blair and I met for coffee after realizing we were basically neighbours, and I started working for the Cleo team shortly after!)
💕 Hobbies: Cooking, reading, listening to True Crime podcasts, and an unhealthy obsession with TLC reality TV shows. 🥘📚🎧📺
So you can pay for that little blue checkmark now…but should you?
Our thoughts are live on the blog!
https://www.cleosocial.com/social-in-the-city/should-you-pay-for-verification
Have questions about life insurance?
Make being an adult a little easier and head to ➡️ PolicyMe
✨ Meet Stas ✨
💕 Role: Lead Writer
💕 Favourite meme of 2023: Am I allowed to say any of the memes the Cleo team and I collaborated on? 😏
💕 How Stas got into her role: Through writing, reporting, and creating original content for various platforms, including her very own podcast, 🎙️
💕 Hobbies: All types of movement, from running to pilates to basketball, reading (go figure), café hopping, travelling, and keeping up with the NBA.
Meet our latest Media Maven!
Cleo’s Social Strategist, Dana Sondak, always knew that she wanted to live life on her own terms. Now, she’s created a freelance career out of all things social, working as a makeup artist, and starting her own hair accessories company, .
Dana lets you in on some of her social media creation secrets, discusses how a career isn’t often a linear path, and shares why she went on her own.
Find our full conversation here // cleosocial.com/social-in-the-city/dana
A meme should convey something about who you are and what you stand for as a brand. Creating a killer meme allows you to do that effectively ✨
Swipe through for Cleo’s 5-step guide to creating a killer meme ➡️➡️➡️
Choosing the right influencers to work with for your brand can make all the difference in the success of your campaign.
Are you looking to increase sales? Increase your followership? Or are you simply just hoping to boost your brand awareness?
There are many factors to consider when developing your influencer plan and selecting the right creators to work with.
We’ve included our top tips on the blog: cleosocial.com/social-in-the-city/choose-your-influencers
✨ Meet Caroline ✨
💕 Role: Social Media Manager
💕 Favourite meme of 2023:
The “Angela Bassett did the thing" video.
💕 How Caroline got into her role: It all started when Caroline got into a habit of writing funny captions for friends and family years ago. She then fell in love with creating content and managing online communities, her career developing to include strategy and media planning as well. Now Caroline focuses on growing Cleo’s client communities and coming up with creative ideas with the team.
💕 Hobbies:
Watching copious amounts of reality tv, golfing, reading everything on BookTok, travelling and hanging out with her pup Jo.
Get yourself a content strategy that makes you look at your social media feed like Robert Pattinson looks at Suki Waterhouse.
The first step in any social media calendar is planning. Then we can insert the best content for your brand.
Confused about the newest platform to make headlines?
We break down the new photo-sharing app on the blog.
Find out all about Lemon8 and if you should consider it for your brand 🍋
https://www.cleosocial.com/social-in-the-city/lemon8
✨ Meet Natalie ✨
💕 Role: Virtual assistant
💕 Favourite meme of 2023: Rihanna’s “fenty stare” from her Super Bowl performance.
💕 How Natalie got into her role: NT Virtual Co. was started out of a passion to support small and keep businesses organized. After working as a school secretary for several years, Natalie wanted something a little more creative in her life. She had the opportunity to organize a handmade market in collaboration with Etsy and discovered she loved supporting small businesses just as much as organizing, so starting a freelance assistant business just made sense!
💕Hobbies: playing tennis, practicing yoga, reading, hanging with my two cats and travelling with her partner.
Meet our latest Media Maven: Raya Sadledein
Raya landed at Quietly in Vancouver after her wide ranging experience in London and New York. She continues to be a force in her work for all her clients - arranging projects and partners to perfection to ensure the best result each time.
Raya shares more about her personal journey, her best advice for all brands, and what it’s like working with some of the best in the industry (and taking their knowledge with her).
Find the full interview here 🔗 https://bit.ly/43w9pEv
In case you haven’t heard, after the numerous articles, posts, and tweets: AI-generated content has stepped into the spotlight.
If you’re a professional in the digital media or tech space, then you’ll know that the concept of AI tools is not an entirely new one, however, the rising popularity of ChatGPT and Jasper AI has brought up a conversation on the future of AI in the space of (gasp!) social media content creation.
breaks down three things you need to know right now on the blog (link in bio 🔗).
Meet the Barbies of Cleo 💕
lessons = life lessons = social media lessons ✅
We’re proudly 100% women-owned and operated. We’re not defined by it.
We’re spending the day feeling grateful for all the amazing women we work with. Happy 👯♀️
✨This month’s Media Maven is Anastasia Barbuzzi ✨
Once Cleo’s lead writer, Stas, realized that empowering herself to learn about money matters changed her life, she knew she had to bring that to others: and that’s when $HMONEY Radio was born. Already a creative, podcasting was a natural platform for her, and many flocked to share in the financial learning episodes.
We talk to Stas about all things $HMONEY and how she got to where she is in her writing career.
Head to the blog to find out more:
Once Cleo’s lead writer, Anastasia Barbuzzi (Stas), realized that empowering herself to learn about money matters changed her life, she knew she had to bring that to others: and that’s when $HMONEY was born. Already a creative, podcasting was a natural platform for her, and many flocked to share
💕 Happy Galentine’s Day 💕
Today (like every day) we’re celebrating by spending our day surrounded by amazing likeminded women 👯
We're ready 💫
Join us at Women Who Freelance’s event on February 22!
Our founder, Blair, will be chatting with Kaitlyn Taylor of Social City Consulting about turning your freelance business into an agency + personal branding for freelancers at Workplace One.
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/women-who-freelance-fireside-chat-networking-event-tickets-534626330747 to buy your tickets 💌
We’d love to meet you there!
When research doesn’t feel like research 💕
Sometimes our clients make cool things (okay, a lot of the time).
Properly asked people in Canada's most vibrant cities - Toronto and Vancouver - which characteristics of their communities bring them the most joy, then ranked the top neighbourhoods based on their proximity to each.
Check out the Happiness Index at properly.ca 🔗
| Monday | 09:00 - 20:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00 - 20:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00 - 20:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00 - 20:00 |
| Friday | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00 - 12:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00 - 12:00 |
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We've got to say, our new look is nothing short of newsworthy 👀 Our new branding is a representation of who we are: an untraditional agency with traditional agency values. What do we mean by that? We’re untraditional in the sense that our internal structure may look a little different and we don’t take ourselves too seriously, except when it comes to our work. Our core values are as traditional as they come in how we operate and partner with brands to bring their social vision to life. This logo, created by our long time partners Naviguer.co shows Cleo five years after we began: we’re modern, we have fun, and we always turn out quality work. With a bit of Cleo's magic ✨, we give your brand a distinct image and influential voice on the platforms that matter most. It's time to let go and let Cleo.
Have questions about life insurance? Make being an adult a little easier and head to ➡️ PolicyMe
#TedLasso lessons = life lessons = social media lessons ✅
We're ready 💫
Sometimes our clients make cool things (okay, a lot of the time). Properly asked people in Canada's most vibrant cities - Toronto and Vancouver - which characteristics of their communities bring them the most joy, then ranked the top neighbourhoods based on their proximity to each. Check out the Happiness Index at properly.ca 🔗
Happy getting-ready-for-Halloween weekend! (And happy no-makeup-Fridays.)
Um, being on TikTok is literally our jobs. Or that’s what we tell ourselves. 😅
Raise your hand if you decided the universe was sending you a message to take the day off 🙋♀️✨🥂
We’ve been meaning to share this for a while but we’re proud as ever to be working with the team at Aborsh.com. Aborsh is a podcast about abortion in Canada hosted by Rachel Cairns and made possible by Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada.
A momager always knows best.
Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?
Cleo is named after the original girl boss - Cleopatra. A woman with serious flair that wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted: her desire to be heard and seen, and that’s exactly what we will do for you. We will give your brand a distinct influential voice on the platforms that matter most.
Cleopatra wasn't afraid to be exactly who she was and neither are we. We are not a full service agency: we know what we’re good at and we only give you our best. With our creative design and compelling copy Cleo will launch your social media brand and keep you relevant. We carefully craft influencer marketing campaigns that deliver real results. We design and execute exciting one of a kind pop-up shops that connect your brand with fans and fans-to-be.
Now, please don’t let all of that internet jargon intimidate you. We pride ourselves on a super smooth on-boarding process. We speak tech and civilian, we are socialites after all!
We will be a part of your team - every step of the way. It's time to let go and let Cleo.
With our combined experience in entrepreneurship, e-commerce (launching + running shops), marketing, social media and communications, we have all the tools to put your brand on the map.
