Dan Fricker

Head of Business Operations, Shopify Media

Bio

With a background in broadcast, tech, and telecommunications, Dan’s primary focus has always been on the evolution of media and its power to shape opinions and ideas. Dan has taught on the subject at the University of Toronto, and developed strategies for some of Canada’s most influential brands, including CBC, TELUS and CTV. Dan is currently the Head of Business Operations with Shopify Media, where he works with a team of talented producers who create content on the subject of entrepreneurship. Dan has received awards for his work in connecting and engaging audiences online, and has been recognized by the Notable Awards as one of Canada’s most influential young professionals. Dan’s talks cover everything from how to harness storytelling, how to leverage online channels, how to build your team, as well as shifting trends in the production, distribution, and consumption of media.

THE FUTURE OF MEDIA: THE BUSINESS BEHIND SHIFTING TRENDS IN CONTENT

The media landscape is in constant flux, with new content channels for audiences surfacing on the regular, and media companies’ monetization strategies being forced to keep up. In this talk, Dan looks at the business strategies beneath shifting trends in media – who owns what, how they’re making money, and what consumer demands are doing to shape the future of storytelling. We’ll weigh the opportunities of mass vs. niche, short-form vs. long, and the difference between destination content and discovery.

EMOTIONAL MARKETING: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WHY PEOPLE SHARE MEDIA

From news feeds to Netflix, we live in a time of content saturation, and having your stories heard is what matters most. We can produce the most compelling, creative content, but if it doesn’t reach the right audiences, then it’s all naught. In this talk, Dan explores the psychology behind why people connect with certain types of media, ultimately to understand the key factors to help increase your odds of shareability. Rich with industry examples, this interactive session will look at case studies of brands playing to a range of emotions as drivers of reach.

AN IMPACTFUL SOCIAL ENTERPRISE: HOW TO BUILD AN INTEGRATED SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM ACROSS YOUR COMPANY

Social Media is a resource, a utility that everyone in your company uses, or inevitably will use, for everything from marketing, to customer service, partnerships, and sales. In this talk, Dan explores the organization models necessary to establish an effective, connected, cross-functional Social team across your enterprise. Having built teams at Shopify, CBC, and TELUS, Dan shares his learnings of how to successfully bring people together through unified goals, knowledge sharing, and resource efficiencies, and more importantly how to avoid competing interests, turf wars between departments, and duplication of efforts.

FROM STRATEGY TO ACTION: HOW SMALL BUSINESSES CAN WIN WITH SOCIAL

There are a thousand things you could be doing in Social, from making videos and exploring influencer marketing, to running ads, or offering customer support. Although as an SMB, your time is valuable and your efforts should be optimized for impact. In this talk, Dan looks at priority investments for small businesses, and what to focus on in the short, medium, and long-term. You’ll learn about advertising that will move the needle, self-serve tools to help with content development, and how to properly invest in rising influencers.

PEOPLE AS MEDIA: INFLUENCER MICROPHONES IN THE AGE OF THE ALGORITHM

Your brand is only as influential as the people talking about it. Influencer Marketing offers organizations an entirely new way of sharing their brand story online, but first you have to figure out who/how to work with them. In this talk, Dan explores how brand ambassadors can directly impact your marketing funnel, and the importance of striking a balance between owned, paid and earned media. We’ll look at the latest tools/tech available to search, connect, and manage relationships with influencers, as well as one of the most frequently asked questions marketers have – how much should we pay?

DEMYSTIFYING SOCIAL: HOW TO LEVERAGE ONLINE CHANNELS TO BUILD YOUR BRAND

The social media landscape is in constant flux, with new platforms, functionalities, and competition surfacing on the regular. While the volume of content continues to rise, consumer attention’s been rendered the true commodity. In this talk, Dan explains the fundamentals of social marketing strategy and the significant differences and similarities as compared to traditional channels. We’ll look at where people spend time online, why communities connect and the essence of social network effects. From there, the group will learn the importance of psychographic targeting in social, how to build a brand archetype that will resonate with your audience, as well as how to develop a relatable voice.