WM Canada: Launching a Canadian social media presence

Project Background

WM is a leading environmental services company with over 50 years of history and more than 50,000 employees across North America. While WM had an established social media presence in the United States, their Canadian initiatives, employees, and customers were largely underrepresented online.

WM approached Stryve to launch a Canadian-specific social media presence, with a focus on Instagram and LinkedIn. The goal was to build awareness of WM Canada’s work, highlight local initiatives, and create a distinct voice for Canadian audiences.

The Mission

The mission was clear: help WM Canada launch, establish, and grow its Canadian social media presence while educating and empowering their team to maintain and scale efforts independently.

Stryve’s objectives included:

• Developing strategy and processes: Create repeatable frameworks, content calendars, templates, and briefs to make content planning more efficient.
• Leading creative execution: Handle the bulk of planning, copywriting, design, posting, and reporting.
• Building awareness and engagement: Highlight WM Canada’s initiatives, educate Canadians on recycling and environmental best practices, and celebrate employees and local communities.
• Supporting team growth: Equip WM Canada’s internal team with the tools and knowledge to continue social media efforts beyond the engagement.

Strategy and Planning

We started by mapping WM Canada’s audiences. This included B2B clients, employees across the country, and everyday consumers. This informed content focus and channel strategy: LinkedIn for B2B audiences and Instagram for consumers.

We built comprehensive content calendars, themes, and brief in documents to support consistent, Canadian-specific messaging. This included:

• Determining days of significance and Canadian holidays
• Series concepts for recurring content to streamline approvals, such as This or That, Food Hacks, Battery Safety, Employee & Location Spotlights
• Photography guidelines for capturing event assets
• Strategy docs for content planning

Creative Development

Stryve led strategic brainstorming and execution of creative. Each month we produced six to eight posts in English and French, covering:

• Educational content on recycling, waste management, and safety
• Employee recognition and thought leadership
• Community engagement and philanthropy initiatives
• Canadian-specific celebrations

Our design approach balanced brand consistency with flexibility for Canadian audiences. We collaborated with WM Canada to navigate brand guidelines, approvals, translations, and stakeholder alignment across legal and communications teams based in the US.

Testing, Performance and Optimization

We tested different content formats (carousels, single-image posts), posting times, and messaging to gather data. Insights from testing helped the client understand social media dynamics and informed future content decisions.

Using Sprinklr, we provided monthly insight reports which showcased the performance of our efforts across platforms and creative. These reports built the early foundations of their Canadian social media KPI tracking.

The Impact

In just the first five months of launching their Canadian social media accounts, Stryve helped WM Canada:

• Launch a new Instagram channel
• Gain 1,000 Canadian LinkedIn followers
• Drive 1,734 organic engagements

Beyond metrics, Stryve’s work created lasting internal capability. WM Canada now has:

• Templates, briefs, and processes for ongoing social media management
• Guidance on photography and content creation
• Knowledge to plan and execute Canadian-focused content independently

WM Canada successfully built a platform that celebrates employees, educates consumers, and showcases their environmental services across Canada. Stryve’s engagement left the team positioned to continue growing and strengthening their social presence well beyond launch.