Explore Burnaby
Moving a destination brand from content volume to strategic storytelling, with original series, timely moments and performance-led planning.
- Client
- Tourism Burnaby
- My role
- Social Media Strategy & Creative Direction
- Timeline
- September 2025 – Present
- Platforms
- Instagram, Facebook, TikTok
- +395%
- Instagram impressions
- +287%
- Instagram engagements
- +401%
- Instagram net follower growth
- +1,478%
- Facebook impressions
Q2 2026 compared with Q2 2025. Channel-wide results during my time leading Explore Burnaby’s social media.
At a glance
Challenge
Make destination content work harder, without relying on simply posting more.
Approach
An annual, KPI-led strategy with original series, timely moments and creator and partner collaborations.
Result
Instagram impressions up 395% and Facebook impressions up 1,478% year over year in Q2 2026.
01
The challenge
Explore Burnaby is Tourism Burnaby’s consumer-facing destination brand, showcasing the city’s restaurants, attractions, neighbourhoods, culture and events.
Historical performance showed clear room to improve efficiency, engagement and storytelling consistency. The question wasn’t how to post more. It was how to make every post earn its place, balancing always-on destination promotion with distinctive creative built for how each platform’s audience actually behaves.
02
The strategy
I built an annual social strategy from historical performance, competitor research, audience analysis and platform trends, then ran it from quarterly plans down to the daily feed.
Measurable goals
Platform-specific KPIs for audience growth, reach and engagement, so success was defined before anything was posted.
Clear content pillars
Every post had a job, and the feed gained a consistent point of view on what makes Burnaby worth exploring.
Platform-native content
Distinct approaches for Instagram, Facebook and TikTok instead of one post copied everywhere.
A performance loop
Working with our data analyst to spot what resonated and feed those insights into the next plan.
03
Signature series: At the Table
At the Table is an original series telling the stories of the people behind Burnaby’s food scene. It began as an initial idea from our Director of Marketing, and I was given the opportunity to develop it fully: the concept, visual direction, interview questions and shoots, leading each episode from idea to publish and putting chefs and owners in the spotlight rather than just their menus.
04
Moment marketing: FIFA World Cup 2026
When World Cup matches came to Vancouver, the region filled with international visitors. I led Explore Burnaby’s social response to that peak window: on-camera city guides that met soccer fans where they already were and gave them reasons to spend time, and money, in Burnaby, from watch parties to easy-to-reach local spots.
05
Sport & partnerships
Beyond the always-on feed, I supported sports tourism and partnership storytelling, from international championships hosted in Burnaby to branded series with local partners.
On location for Explore Burnaby: Burnaby Heights and the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.
06
Results
Q2 2026 vs Q2 2025
- +395.3%
- Instagram impressions
- +287.2%
- Instagram engagements
- +400.8%
- Instagram net follower growth
- +1,478.4%
- Facebook impressions
- +1,114.8%
- Facebook engagements
These are channel-wide results during my period of social media ownership, rather than outcomes of any single post or campaign.
07 · Takeaway
Strong destination marketing isn’t about posting more. It’s about knowing which stories resonate, and letting that shape every creative decision that follows.
Skills & tools
See more of the work
These are a handful of highlights. There’s much more on the channels.
Instagram @exploreburnaby TikTok @exploreburnaby