Social Pros Podcast

It's time to put aside those rigid, long-term social media strategies. Social is changing, and flexibility is the new superpower. In this episode of Social Pros, Jayde Powell, Founder and Head of Creative of Em Dash, shares her tips for brands and creators to achieve success in today's social era.

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As a true "creatorpreneur," Jayde isn't just the Founder and Head of Creative at Em Dash, a content and creative development agency. She has a ton of other projects, including hosting the LinkedIn series #CreatorTeaTalk, being the Co-Founder of Weed For Black Women, a media hub and online community, plus managing her own personal brand. She joins this episode to share her strategies for creating brilliant content for brands and collaborating with creators, plus how she developed her own personal brand on LinkedIn, aka "the Briefcase App."

We hear why she favors flexibility and adaptability in social media strategies over rigid, long-term plans that often fall short in the fast-paced social media world. She suggests that brands should focus on developing teams who live and breathe social and can create high-quality content with a more flexible approach.

We also talk about the creator economy, and Jayde shares some invaluable tips for creators on negotiating pay and developing business savviness. She suggests that brands look beyond partnering with creators for one-off campaigns and instead work on more sustained collaborations. The episode also explores Jayde's journey from corporate life to becoming a successful creator on LinkedIn, where she found success by staying true to her authentic voice and personality.

In This Episode:

• 2:08 - Jayde takes us through all the different projects she manages to balance at once
• 3:54 - Why Jayde first got into the creator space
• 5:34 - How Jayde turned away from Twitter/X to find success on LinkedIn
• 7:55 - Advice on finding your footing on LinkedIn
• 11:20 - What are brands getting right in the creator economy?
• 14:47 - Jayde explains some of her brand partnerships
• 15:53 - Why creators need to be business savvy
• 17:44 - Negotiating pay as a creator and getting paid what you're worth
• 19:37 - Jayde explains how the Weed For Black Women community began
• 23:32 - What she's learned about running a community
• 25:48 - How Jayde evaluates success
• 27:10 - Where brands are doing their communities injustice
• 29:07 - Advice for brands starting from scratch
• 31:04 - Why planning social media content too far in advance isn't worth it anymore
• 34:29 - How creators can set boundaries to avoid burnout
• 38:24 - Jayde's top tips for aspiring social pros

Resources

• The Em Dash Co.
• Connect with Jayde on LinkedIn
• Follow Jayde on Instagram
• WFBW Ventures
• #CreatorTeaTalk

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Data-Driven Decisions is a new limited-series marketing podcast presented by Convince & Convert and shared with our Social Pros listeners.

How did this non-marketing but data-driven leader become a Chief Marketing Officer? Shafqat Islam, the CMO of Optimizely, joins this episode of Data-Driven Decisions to share how he's leading Optimizely's marketing team into building a culture of data and experimentation.

Let the Data Do the Talking

In this episode of Data-Driven Decisions, we dive deep into the world of marketing data, measurable targets, personalization and customer-centric marketing.

Shafqat shares invaluable insights on how to approach personalization strategically, emphasizing the value of starting simple and scaling up gradually. He discusses the challenges of content creation for personalized experiences and offers practical advice on leveraging AI to find patterns in customer feedback from support tickets and sales calls.

We also explore the critical role of experimentation and testing when it comes to new marketing ideas, and why Optimizely considers experimentation part of its culture. Shafqat explains why it's so important for marketers to have a rock-solid understanding of the typical customer journey and why this should be documented and measurable.

In This Episode:

• 0:37 - How Shafqat ended up in his role
• 2:36 - Why Shafqat wanted to build a more data-driven culture
• 4:58 - How this approach affects the marketing team
• 7:07 - The importance of experimenting with new ideas
• 8:28 - Optimizely's approach to experimentation
• 12:33 - Why personalization is still a huge topic for marketers
• 15:22 - Finding a balanced and realistic idea of personalization
• 18:20 - How Optimizely helps its clients use their own data to make decisions
• 20:54 - Why all marketers need to map out the typical customer journey and document it
• 24:25 - How to ensure customers get the right resources
• 27:09 - How Shafqat researches and understands his customers
• 30:14 - The most important marketing metrics
• 31:56 - How Optimizely uses AI to find patterns in customer interactions

Quotes:

"Marketing is as much about the customer as it is about the prospect. In fact, in the business of our scale, it may be more customer than even prospect."

"It's really, really important to document the customer journey and understand all the touchpoints and then come up collectively as a marketing organization, with what we want that ideal journey to be."

"Experimentation is much more than tools. To me, the idea is how do we create a culture of experimentation?"

Resources:

• Connect with Shafqat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shafqat/
• Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.com/

Purchase the book at koganpage.com/datadrivenpersonalization (use code CCData20 for 20% off and free shipping in the UK and US) and sign up for more content at convinceandconvert.com.

It's inevitable. Social media is changing. And if you're not up to date with the trends, your strategy might be left in the dust. Since Gia Lee, the Chief Strategy Officer at NinetyEight, was last on the show, we wanted to hear about her perspective on the top trends today and how marketers can appeal to Gen Z audiences.

Full Episode Details

Gia Lee, the Chief Strategy Officer at NinetyEight, is a breath of fresh air in the social media space. As a Gen Z marketer herself, she's already making waves in the industry with her unique insights into how brands can tap into younger markets (without sounding like that Steve Buscemi meme…)

In this episode, we hear a bit about her career story and what the top trends in social are today. The biggest shift she's seen is a move away from big, mainstream trends that take over social. Now, niche-virality is the way forward. A niche trend might not reach everyone… but does it need to? Gia explains that finding your niche is pivotal to a modern social strategy as well as great community management.

We also hear some great advice for marketers on researching Gen Z audiences and ignoring the media stereotypes that can keep you from truly connecting with your audience.

In This Episode:

• 1:22 - Gia gives us a background on her career
• 3:11 - Social media trends that have changed since she was last on the show
• 5:51 - How brands are adapting to the shift toward niche trends
• 7:30 - Brands that are handling niche-virality well
• 9:58 - What brands could be doing better
• 12:19 - How brands can create room for Gen Z to share their voices
• 14:38 - How NinetyEight bridges the gap between brands and Gen Z audiences
• 16:57 - Has Gen Z broken the marketing funnel?
• 19:10 - How Gen Z is influencing brand community management
• 21:57 - NinetyEight's approach to selling new ideas to brands
• 28:15 - Gia explains being a guest editor for Ad Age and Marketer to Watch Under 30
• 30:46 - Advice for Gen Z in business
• 32:22 - Where you can follow NinetyEight and Gia
• 33:21 - Gia's top tip for aspiring social pros

Resources

• NinetyEight
• Connect with Gia on LinkedIn
• Gia's last appearance on Social Pros

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

What do social pros today need to know about the top platforms to get ahead? We look back at one of our favorite discussions from 2023 that marked 600 episodes of Social Pros! We asked none other than former Social Pros hosts, Jay Baer and Adam Brown, plus previous guest Allison Day, Senior Manager of Social Media at Reddit, to share their insights into what's working in social today.

Full Episode Details

To celebrate the 600th episode milestone, we brought back previous hosts and guests to share their thoughts on social platforms today, the biggest changes, and predictions for the future.

Jay, Adam, and Allison share their 'love it or over it' verdicts on Threads, X, TikTok, and LinkedIn, and what they would do if they had to start over today. Jay, aka Tequila Jay Baer, talks about his strategy for starting his tequila influencer journey recently and why he focused on TikTok content to begin with.

There are some brilliant insights into how social has and is changing all the time in this episode, plus some great advice for upcoming social pros tackling the space in 2024 and beyond.

In This Episode:

• 5:56 - Love it or over it? Threads and X/Twitter
• 11:10 - LinkedIn's evolution and our guests' thoughts on the platform
• 15:58 - Thoughts on TikTok and Instagram Reels
• 24:26 - The biggest changes in social over the past ten years
• 27:31 - Gaining trust from leaders
• 32:21 - Why social media was about social, now it's about media
• 36:07 - What our social pros would do if they were starting out today
• 38:28 - Why Jay Baer would start making YouTube content
• 43:15 - Jay, Adam, and Allison answer the final two

Resources

• Connect with Jay on LinkedIn
• Connect with Adam on LinkedIn
• Connect with Allison on LinkedIn

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Data-Driven Decisions is a new limited-series marketing podcast presented by Convince & Convert and shared with our Social Pros listeners.

How can data help marketing and sales teams achieve their goals? A common mistake some marketers make is not being clear on those goals in the first place. This can lead to marketers and sales teams trying out lots of different tactics in an effort to drive results. But there is a smarter way – using data to build a goal-oriented mindset from the get-go.

Start with Marketing Goals, Not Tactics

In this episode, Tessa Barron, Senior Vice President of Marketing at ON24, talks about why marketers should shift their focus from traditional marketing tactics to a goal-oriented approach. Tessa explains how marketers often fall into the trap of continuously using new tactics without clear objectives and how harnessing the right data can transform a strategy.

Tessa discusses the importance of identifying key signals that indicate buyer readiness, using webinars and events to gather valuable first-party data and using that to create actionable insights that align marketing with sales. We also hear Tessa explain why marketers should create scorecards, identify the metrics that matter most, and improve conversion rates by leaning on data to drive decision-making.

In This Episode:

• 1:54 - A shift to goal-oriented marketing
• 6:22 - Leveraging webinars and other tactics for collecting customer data
• 11:11 - The importance of asking customers the right questions and using those answers
• 14:41 - Aligning marketing and sales to achieve conversion goals
• 18:58 - Testing, iterating, and improving conversion rates
• 26:49 - Why pipeline is a "lagging indicator"
• 31:32 - Why brand awareness is a leading indicator
• 33:51 - Using metrics that matter

Quotes:

"Starting with the goal first, and then the last step is determining the tactic that can really help marketers make the shift."

"What aspect about a buyer makes them more likely to convert to an opportunity than not? By knowing that, you can start to set traps. You can start to create different interactions that will help uncover that."

"There is no database on the planet, no third-party resource that can give you that kind of qualitative information that really makes a difference when we talk about improving conversion rates to pipeline and ultimately revenue."

Resources:

• Connect with Tessa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-barron/

Purchase the book at koganpage.com/datadrivenpersonalization (use code CCData20 for 20% off and free shipping in the UK and US) and sign up for more content at convinceandconvert.com.

What do students want to see when researching potential schools? It's a question that all higher education marketers need to ask, and the answers aren't always obvious. But good news! Our latest research, the 2024 Higher Education Marketing Report, reveals what the data says about student preferences and the strategies of current marketers in the space. We're joined by Strategist at Convince & Convert and Co-Founder of Social Fresh, Jason Keath, who takes us through the top insights in the report.

Full Episode Details

What marketers plan to do with their content and what students want to see aren't always on the same page.

In this episode, Jason Keath takes us through some of the top insights that our report covers, including plans of current marketers in the higher ed space and student preferences from marketing content. Jason reveals that some marketers are turning away from email and YouTube, but the data reveals that this could be a mistake and doesn't align with the type of content we know students resonate with. We hear why video and UGC should be a priority for higher marketers and which platforms are most popular for that audience.

This episode is packed with practical advice for higher ed marketers looking to optimize their strategies and allocate resources more effectively. Jason discusses the delicate balance of using AI in content creation, emphasizing the need for a human touch to maintain authenticity and connection with students. Jason also addresses the gaps in content topics that students are eager to see, such as career benefits, financial aid information, and internship opportunities.

In This Episode:

• 2:30 - Some background on the report and who was surveyed
• 4:35 - The benefits of a 3rd party assessment for higher ed marketers
• 6:05 - Major themes revealed by the report and the biggest gaps in higher ed marketing
• 7:59 - Why marketers aren't utilizing video content as much as they should
• 11:11 - What Gen Z wants to see from content
• 13:12 - The surprising potential of traditional marketing
• 16:48 - Should higher ed marketers use AI?
• 19:07 - Why you shouldn't depend on AI for content creation
• 12:09 - What prospective students want to see
• 24:29 - Where students go for information
• 26:09 - How higher ed marketers are using students within content
• 28:33 - How schools can restructure their strategy to cover topics students want to see
• 31:48 - Where can people find the report
• 32:29 - Advice for marketers in higher ed

Resources

• Download the Higher Education Marketing Report
• Connect with Jason on LinkedIn
• Follow Jason on Threads
• Social Fresh website

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Data-Driven Decisions is a new limited-series marketing podcast presented by Convince & Convert and shared with our Social Pros listeners.

How can organizations drive real impact with data? Many organizations already have plenty of data at their fingertips these days, but it's not just about the data you collect. It's how you use it. Joining this episode is Anthony Coppedge, the Principal Lead of eCommerce Seller Initiatives at IBM, who takes us through his methodologies for using data to make a difference in an organization.

Organizations Don't Lack Data, They Lack Insights

Anthony leads business agility aims across sales, marketing, and product at IBM. But how does such a large organization manage and implement data insights to grow effectively? We hear Anthony's insightful approach to capturing and acting on qualitative feedback with the 'Retrospective Radar' approach.

With AI such an important topic for many organizations, Anthony also takes us through how he uses the Watson Natural Language Processing tool to analyze unstructured data to create actionable insights. Anthony explains why having a clear north star in your organization is paramount and how his 'Outcome-Drive Alignment' model helps different teams come together with shared objectives to make smart, data-driven decisions.

In This Episode:

• 1:51 - How IBM manages to drive impact with data
• 4:09 - Why data is often underutilized
• 6:30 - How data can identify challenges and misalignments in a team
• 14:00 - How the 'Retrospective Radar' works
• 20:41 - How IBM pulls the right insights from qualitative feedback
• 28:46 - How businesses can use feedback to empower team members
• 33:15 - How AI can help you gather insights from unstructured data
• 39:05 - Changing people's minds with good data

Quotes:

"Everybody knows what it's like to be swimming in data. What you need to be swimming in is insight."

"Qualitative feedback is a type of data. So if you get feedback in a survey or a poll or a thumbs up or a thumbs down or verbatim text, all of that is a type of data. It's unstructured data, but it's data. And what we want to do is parse that data and understand it in a quantitative way." "Feedback is a gift, but aggregated feedback is actionable intelligence."

Resources:

• Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonycoppedge/
• Watson Natural Language Processing Demo: https://www.ibm.com/demos/live/natural-language-understanding/self-service/

Purchase the book at koganpage.com/datadrivenpersonalization (use code CCData20 for 20% off and free shipping in the UK and US) and sign up for more content at convinceandconvert.com.

How do some of the top brands like Netflix, Nike, and Disney drive audience participation and fandom? We find out in this episode, where we look back at one of our favorite conversations from last year with Alyssa Bonanno, the Chief Creative Officer and Founder of next-gen creative agency Better Half.

Full Episode Details

Audience participation and engagement are crucial for the consumer and entertainment brands that Better Half works with. But what's the key to tapping into those fandoms? For Alyssa Bonanno, the trick is being "fandom-led." She joins the show to share how her agency fosters great working relationships with huge brands and their audiences to drive results.

We hear how the small-but-mighty team thrives, the benefits of intentional hiring, and how her agency manages consistently high-quality social output for brands. Alyssa gives us some back story on how she built her team, Better Half's own strategy for success, and why she believes you need to take big swings on social to get noticed.

In This Episode:

• 1:32 - An introduction to Better Half
• 3:35 - Excelling for big clients in a boutique agency
• 6:07 - Sustaining community engagement with Netflix
• 9:46 - Matching Netflix's identity on social
• 12:15 - Operating in the niche vs mainstream
• 14:09 - Intentional hiring for difficult roles
• 19:47 - Alyssa's team structure decisions
• 21:45 - How Better Half showcase their culture
• 25:10 - Better Half approach to social
• 28:32 - How Better Half uses Substack
• 30:14 - Where to find Alyssa and Better Half
• 33:09 - Alyssa answers the Final Two

Resources

• Alyssa's website
• Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn
• Follow Alyssa on Instagram
• Better Half website
• Connect with Better Half on LinkedIn
• Follow Better Half on Instagram

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Data-Driven Decisions is a new limited-series marketing podcast presented by Convince & Convert and shared with our Social Pros listeners.

How do you compare with your peers? It's a question that every marketer asks, and data is the trick to removing the guesswork from that answer. But finding the right data to benchmark yourself against your peers can be a challenge. Joining the podcast this week is Rob Garf, the VP and General Manager of Retail at Salesforce. He explores how Salesforce builds insights for retail customers to gain clarity on where they sit in the market.

Infuse Data into Everything You're Doing

In this episode of Data-Driven Decisions, Rob discusses how retailers use Salesforce's Shopping Index to compare their performance with peers and what types of data are most important to focus on. Our conversation delves into the methods of collecting actionable insights, the importance of understanding customer behavior, and why data-driven personalization is key to building a great customer experience.

Rob also shares plenty of examples of how retailers have used Salesforce's data to enhance their business operations and offers advice for organizations aiming to build a data-centric culture. We also explore how Salesforce's annual holiday predictions have increased brand recognition and built trust with executives.

In This Episode:

• 1:40 - How Salesforce gathers insights that impact customers
• 3:37 - How Salesforce decides which data is most useful for clients
• 5:11 - Tying data insights into day-to-day actions
• 9:26 - Empowering clients and the Salesforce team to build a culture of data
• 11:59 - Using research as content
• 16:33 - How data can drive personalization
• 20:52 - Why customers now expect personalization
• 23:07 - Salesforce's holiday insights campaign
• 26:20 - How Salesforce's insights drive brand recognition
• 31:44 - Rob's advice for organizations that want to lead with data
• 35:42 - How Salesforce builds a culture of data in a large organization

Quotes:

"Anytime we're thinking about collecting data or thinking about telling stories with the data, we try to get as many stakeholders involved in it as possible. And so, we're really getting collective wisdom."

"I really encourage the team to think about the headline. It's really the thesis. What are we trying to convey? And then work backward to understand how we get the data to either substantiate that point or counter it." "Brands and retailers are looking for different and creative ways to capture data in exchange for some value rather than asking a consumer to fill out a questionnaire to learn who they are. It's about then using that data, activating that data, and using it to better their shopping experience."

Resources:

• Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-garf-224395/

Purchase the book at convinceandconvert.com/data-driven (use code CCData20 for 20% off and free shipping in the UK and US) and sign up for more content at convinceandconvert.com.

The B2B space is not something you usually associate with the world of influencer marketing. And yet, Salesforce is leading the way in B2B influencer collaborations. How? We find out in this episode of Social Pros with Mikaely Quaranta, Senior Manager of Social Media, and Ashlyn Remillard, Director of Global Social, Influencer & Content Strategy.

Full Episode Details

Mikaely Quaranta and Ashlyn Remillard lead the employee advocacy program, global social strategies, influencer marketing, and community management sides of Salesforce's marketing department. With a lot of plates to balance, we hear in this episode how they approach all of these segments and how a B2B brand like Salesforce can win on social media.

Our conversation covers the duo's innovative approaches to social channels, their experience in community management, social listening, analytics, and influencer partnerships. We hear how they measure success and ROI, and their approach to managing different creators and business partners.

Ashlyn and Mikaely also swap stories of their favorite campaigns they've worked on, where they turn for inspiration, and their tips for social media success.

In This Episode:

• 2:26 - Mikaely and Ashlyn explain their roles at Salesforce
• 4:35 - Why Salesforce invests in influencer marketing
• 7:09 - How Mikaely and Ashlyn manage messaging across different tiers
• 12:12 - How Salesforce defines micro influencers
• 15:06 - How Salesforce measures success both externally and internally
• 19:45 - Surprising experiences of managing influencer marketing
• 23:21 - How Mikaely and Ashlyn give space for new ideas
• 26:18 - How Mikaely and Ashlyn manage creators and business partners
• 29:23 - Where they go for inspiration
• 33:55 - Mikaely and Ashlyn share their favorite campaigns and social channels
• 38:44 - The best places to connect with Mikaely and Ashlyn and Salesforce
• 41:52 - Top tips for aspiring social pros

Resources

• Connect with Mikaely on LinkedIn
• Connect with Ashlyn on LinkedIn

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.