Restructure leads to new jobs at social media marketing firm

Up to 15 jobs will be created after It’s Gone Viral, the Manchester-based social media marketing company, restructured to become a two-divisional agency business.

The new structure comprises dedicated social media and marketing teams.

The additional jobs will be created over the next three months, both in account management and business development.

The firm has also rebranded to KOMI group under which each of these offerings fall.

Under the KOMI group umbrella is KOMI Media, which creates and builds bespoke social channels, and KOMI Social, which focuses on content production, content distribution and social media management for brands.

The decision to restructure and rebrand follows a lengthy strategic review process and aims to both simplify its offering in the minds of clients and to help grow its market share in each of its two core areas.

The firm’s dedicated gaming and sports communities are also being expanded and branded KOMI Gaming and KOMI Sport, respectively.

After careful consideration and analysis, KOMI was selected for the group’s new name.

It was inspired by the Haitian Creole word ‘kominote’ which translates to ‘community’ in English.

Creating engaged communities that make a difference, that bring people together, and build brands that audiences love and are a force for good are at the very core of the business, it said.

It’s Gone Viral was founded in 2016 and is led by Andrew Trotman and Ryan Williams.

Over the past four years its team of content creators, analysts and video producers have made, and then distributed, video content and viral campaign adverts for international brands such as BBC Films, O2, Universal, Bud Light and Disney.

Content has been shared across Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts, including the It’s Gone Viral main page, which will be retained and is dedicated to relatable, informative and educational content, as well as Go Fetch, a platform for dog lovers to connect with one another, Happiest, which focuses on bringing the most entertaining and uplifting content and real life stories, and Ultimate DIY, which is all about sharing fascinating and clever DIY, crafts and hacks followers can do at home.

The past six months has seen the company reach various milestones, including delivering more than six billion across its portfolio of pages, relocating its HQ to Beehive Mill in Ancoats, reporting its highest NewsWhip results, acquiring social media brand Happiest Media and appointing Urban Splash’s Sam Lenehan as its new non-exec director.

Andrew Trotman said: “It’s Gone Viral’s trajectory has been fantastic since we launched.

“However, we realised that we needed to adapt the business if we wanted to work with more brands and to deliver sustained and real growth. I’m confident this new group structure will allow us to do just that.”

He added: “Our ability to make people fall in love with brands is what truly sets us apart.

“We are here to build real, engaged communities that make a difference, to bring people together and to help build brands which audiences love and are a force for good.

“We are proud that we can utilise our communities to drive real measurable change to brands online. This is done by identifying opportunities that enable us to create innovative, creative and effective campaigns.”

He said: “The rebrand and our new group structure is a pivotal moment in our journey and will, I’m sure, act as the nucleus for the company’s expansion over the coming years.”