Kirstine Stewart is the Managing Director of Twitter Canada. She has been inspiring and informing Canadians since her days at our national broadcaster, CBC, and is now leading Canadian Twitter operations through a major growth period on this side of the border. We had the opportunity to chat with Kirstine about Twitter growth in this country, Twitter-meets-TV realities and the impact of Tweet power on business, culture and sports. We had so much to ask her we added on a 6th question!. 

We also love her Twitter profile bio, “Head of @TwitterCanada. This is your space, the rules are simple. Be fair, play nice, give everyone a turn – and don’t forget to share.”  

Well said, Kirstine.

Thanks for sharing your Twitter and digital savvy with Atlantic Canadian business leaders and our readers.

We know Twitter Canada recently celebrated one year of operations on this side of the border. How has your first year been in the role and what do you expect from the next year?

Twitter Canada’s first year has seen many milestones. When the office first opened, we were a small team and we’ve seen the team grow significantly. We were also able to grow the platform for the Canadian market with programs like Amplify, where broadcasters can embed video and other content into targeted Tweets. Currently, Canada is the only country with all major broadcasters signed on for partnerships.

We are anticipating further growth in the next year with new programs, new partnerships, more users and a more integrated platform that Twitter users will help shape.

There is lots of chatter about the emerging, growing collide between Twitter and TV. How would you explain this dynamic? Any thoughts on how this will grow and change in the coming years?

Consumers are using social media as a companion to TV watching now more than ever. Twitter has fundamentally impacted the way that TV companies connect with their audiences and how viewers consume TV.  As changes to the traditional TV model accelerate, Twitter will continue to provide a bridge for more engagement, effective content discovery, better measurement and richer storytelling.

Although many of our readers are active Tweeters, there are other businesses in Atlantic Canada who may be new to the Twitter world. Any tips for Tweeters looking to introduce their brand to regular, impactful Tweeting?

The best advice to give is – don’t hesitate, jump right in. Twitter allows for businesses to start conversations with different people and use the platform as a way to interact with other brands, businesses and potential customers. An easy first step is to start following the companies and people you feel would be most impacted by your brand. Initially, you can use Twitter as a way to see what these people are saying and then start the conversation by providing information that you know will be useful to the network you’ve created.

Twitter ads are also new to Canada. We’ve been testing. Any tips for the brands using Twitter that might want to manage a new ad campaign?

Twitter ads have a great range of capabilities that can help brands to get in front of the right users at relevant moments. There’s a number of creative ways to reach new, receptive users – from keywords, to interests, to location, gender and device. Brands interested in exploring Twitter ads may want to think about the audience they’re looking to reach and take a look at the different options Twitter offers to find a solution that works given their objectives.

Do you have a most memorable Twitter Canada moment so far, or a favourite Tweet you’ve written?

My favourite Twitter Canada moment was the #wearewinter campaign and seeing a country rally around its athletes on a worldwide scale and ‘wave the flag in support’ with a Tweet.

The coverage of the World Cup and Sochi Olympics on Twitter has been incredible! There’s a certain power to Twitter – any thoughts on why that is?

Like sports, Twitter is in real-time and can provide real-time updates when big moments are happening. Events like the World Cup and Olympics are a great way for people from all around the world to join in on a global viewing party that happens right on Twitter. For Canadians, the Olympics were great because it allowed us as a country to express our pride and show support for our Olympic athletes as events unfolded on Twitter. Canada was one of the top-Tweeting countries throughout the entirety of the Games in Sochi.

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