All Lauren Fitzgerald wanted was to win a few slices of pizza for herself and her workmates, but she ended up making a little slice of history instead.
Like hundreds of others, Fitzgerald joined in the weekly competition to get a workplace shout through a Facebook promotion by the Ashburton Guardian and the local branch of Domino’s. But, by liking the Guardian’s Facebook page and commenting on the post to enter the competition, she also unknowingly became the 16,000th follower of the page.
“We just wanted to see if we could win some pizza for lunch,” she laughed.
“It was actually the idea of one of my colleagues. She suggested I enter for us, so I jumped on, liked the page and commented.”
With no idea that the Guardian was running a competition for the person who ticked over the milestone, Fitzgerald was quite surprised when contacted this week to inform her of the milestone. And while pizza might not have been the prize, she did claim a 12-month subscription to the Ashburton Guardian, as well as her prize pack.
The chance at a slice of pie might have been the motivation behind liking the page, but Fitzgerald did say she was a reader of the paper as well, with a copy always on hand at Dentistry on Parkside.”
“There’s always a copy here, so we all have a read of it each time it comes out.”
With 16,000 followers, the Guardian has the biggest Facebook audience in Ashburton, which managing editor, Daryl Holden, said was something to be proud of.
“Social media engagement, coverage and advertising has become such a huge part of what we do here at the Guardian and what we can now offer,” he said.
“We’ve put a real emphasis on that in the past 12 months, working with Facebook experts in the United States to take our offerings to a new level. We know it’s a quick and easy way to relay information and news to the community, and also promote advertisers who want an immediate measure to a very big audience.’’
The reach of the Guardian’s Facebook page has been evident recently, especially last week with a video of pupils at Tinwald School performing a waiata for Black Ferns’ hero, Ruby Tui. The video has now reached over 105,000 people, with more than 10,500 people engaging in the post.
As for Lauren, she’ll be keeping an eye on the page again for the next pizza giveaway.

• Matt Markham

FANTASTIC FACEBOOK

What: The Ashburton Guardian’s Facebook page, easily the biggest and most popular in Ashburton, has now topped the 16,000 followers’ mark.
Who: Ashburton’s Lauren Fitzgerald was the lucky 16,000th follower, earning herself a prize pack, including an annual digital subscription to the Guardian.
Why advertise on the Guardian’s Facebook page? Because our reach is telling and can be instantly measured. For instance, the video of Tinwald School students performing a waiata for the victorious Black Ferns and their star Ruby Tui has reached more than 105,000 people. The weekly Domino’s business pizza giveaways topped 13,000 last week.
How do we use the Guardian’s Facebook page? Get in touch, come see us at Level 3, Somerset House, or contact sales manager Sonia Gill: [email protected]