Social Pros Podcast

This episode with Fractional VP of Social Media at Social Proof Agency, Robyn Nissim, is a masterclass in social media. Hear about her journey from in-house roles to fractional work, the importance of investing in social media, and much more.

Full Episode Details

This episode welcomes Robyn Nissim, who shares her journey from Head of Social at big brands such as Alo Yoga and Anastasia Beverly Hills to her current role as Fractional VP of Social Media for a variety of brands. Robyn reflects on the pivotal shift towards a digital-first approach and emphasizes the importance of adapting in the dynamic social landscape.

Host Leanna Pham and guest co-host Sunny Hunt talk to Robyn about how vital it is to invest properly in social, and she highlights the percentage of online users that are influenced by brand social media—a compelling stat that shows just how important it is for brands to be engaging effectively. They talk about the value of tracking impressions, click-through rates, and cultural impact, emphasizing the need for brands to align their strategies with the digital behaviors of their target audience.

The conversation also explores Robyn's thoughts and advice on innovative influencer marketing strategies and the role of social media teams within organizations. Robyn shares her favorite structure for her social teams, advocating for cross-functional collaborations and strategic content planning. They also discuss finding the balance between leveraging trends for brand visibility and maintaining a robust content strategy grounded in brand authenticity.

In This Episode:

• 0:40 - Robyn expands on her current role
• 2:14 - What she loves about building teams
• 3:54 - How she approaches brands that aren't investing in social
• 6:13 - Why brands need to invest in roles and responsibilities within the social team
• 8:42 - Robyn's ideal social team breakdown
• 11:32 - How social teams can share their insights with the whole organization
• 13:06 - Ways small teams can get a seat at the table
• 15:03 - Trends Robyn is seeing in social currently
• 21:17 - Advice for starting an influencer program
• 23:35 - Robyn's favorite activation and why
• 26:04 - In-house roles vs fractional roles

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Connect with Robyn on LinkedIn

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

How does an Ivy League school manage its social media with a small team? We asked Maya Wesby, Social Media Manager at Harvard Graduate School of Education, for some insider insights into her role on this week's Social Pros.

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With a small social media team consisting of Maya Wesby (Social Media Manager) and a student intern, a key part of Maya's role is wearing many different hats. While challenging, Maya's realm of responsibility includes creating social-first content for multiple platforms, videos, editorial content for the website, and even a podcast on top of it all.

Maya joins this episode of Social Pros to share her secrets to balancing it all and creating engaging content for students, alumni, faculty members, and anyone else interested in learning about the school.

In this episode, we hear how Maya has become a master at prioritizing the best content to work on, how she jumps on opportunities to create new content, and where she gets inspiration from. We also hear a bit about her personal branding on LinkedIn and why she's a big fan of the platform.

In This Episode:

• 1:38 - Maya gives us an introduction to her role
• 4:13 - Who Maya's audience is on different platforms
• 5:11 - The challenge of managing different brand voices across social media channels
• 7:07 - Balancing social-first content to build a community with the institution's needs
• 8:18 - How Maya prioritizes what content to work on in a small team
• 10:08 - Maya's experience with generative AI
• 13:06 - How Maya seeks out student events that make great social content
• 14:50 - The types of engagement Maya seeks out and how she manages reporting
• 16:45 - Maya shares some of her favorite content projects
• 20:26 - How to review last year's content and take it up a notch
• 23:29 - Why Maya uses LinkedIn for her personal brand
• 27:54 - Maya's top tip for those looking to become a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Connect with Maya on LinkedIn
• Follow Harvard Graduate School of Education on X

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

HeyOrca, the uniquely named social media scheduler, is one to keep an eye on for some community-driven content inspiration. Their CEO, Joe Teo joins this episode of Social Pros to share his vision behind collaborative work, building a community, and the story behind the name HeyOrca.

Full Episode Details

Joe Teo is the CEO, aka "Chief Executive Orca," at HeyOrca, a social media scheduler built to make collaboration between social teams simpler. He joins the Social Pros podcast to share his philosophy on a community-first approach to social media and advice for social pros to lean into the communities they want to build.

Joe explains where the idea behind HeyOrca came from and how important it was to build a tool that makes collaboration easier within social and marketing teams. He talks about customer feedback and how that's helped HeyOrca to evolve, optimizing video content for social, and the important question you should ask yourself before you post something.

In This Episode:

• 2:04 - A little background on HeyOrca
• 4:07 - How Joe pivoted his focus to community building
• 8:00 - Why Joe works closely with users and uses audience feedback to evolve the platform
• 10:42 - How Joe stays on top of all the evolving changes in social media
• 14:54 - Joe shares details of his new project, the HeyOrca Podcast
• 18:13 - Joe explains what it's like to work with non-profits and faith-based organizations
• 21:58 - Why Joe has invested more time in his personal brand
• 27:20 - The important question to ask yourself while building your personal brand
• 29:00 - Where the name HeyOrca came from
• 34:07 - Joe's tip for social pros

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Follow HeyOrca on LinkedIn
• Follow HeyOrca on Instagram
• Follow HeyOrca on X
• The HeyOrca Community on Facebook

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

Social media for brands has evolved and a big driver of the shift has been the emergence of the creator economy. Audiences resonate with organic, user-generated content on a level rarely seen with other strategies. To talk more about how creators can evolve on social, we welcomed Katelyn Sorensen, the CEO of Planoly. Full Episode Details

Planoly is the first social media management tool built by creators, for creators, and CEO Katelyn Sorensen shares her story on the podcast. In this episode, we hear how Planoly helps creators manage their content more effectively and how it partners with many creators to promote the tool.

Katelyn is a big fan of the supportive nature of the creator economy, and Planoly's partnership program makes it easier to connect with creators who want to tell the world how much they love Planoly.

We discuss the realities of being a creator and how consistency can pay off in a field with a low barrier to entry but a huge mountain to climb to reach success. Katelyn talks a bit about the evolution of Instagram, and we swap stories on our very first Instagram posts. Thankfully, we've all learned a lot since those days…

Katelyn also talks about why it's a good thing that the creator community is less focused on follower counts and more on engagement – which is the real key to success on social. In This Episode:

• 1:33 - What is Planoly and how do creators use it?
• 3:23 - How the creator economy has evolved in recent years
• 6:20 – Katelyn talks about how earlier creators she's worked with have evolved
• 8:40 – How Planoly finds great creator stories and works with the community
• 11:43 – Planoly AI features to help with creator burnout
• 16:23 - Why creators are less focused on follower counts these days
• 18:19 - Our very first Instagram posts and what we've learned since
• 20:07 – Katelyn's favorite moments at Planoly
• 22:08 - What's next for Planoly?
• 25:13 - How Katelyn balances the "always on" world with real life
• 28:52 - Katelyn's advice for those looking to become a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Planoly
• Follow Katelyn on X
• Connect with Katelyn on LinkedIn
• Follow Planoly on LinkedIn

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

Are you ready to build a brand and become a creator? Then this episode of Social Pros is for you. We revisited one of our favorite episodes from 2023 with DoctorJonPaul. They are the Executive Producer of the BFF: Black, Fat, Femme Podcast, a writer, media critic, speaker, educator… and the list goes on. Hear their secrets to balancing it all while staying grounded.

Full Episode Details

It's hard to explain everything DoctorJonPaul, Executive Producer of the BFF: Black, Fat, Femme Podcast, achieves with their content, but it's an inspirational feat. DoctorJonPaul somehow manages to balance writing, creating, podcasting, public speaking, educating, and everything in between and has built a brand that people stop and take notice of.

We hear how they got their start on X originally but expanded to create a web of content and a strong personal brand that goes beyond just one platform. DoctorJonPaul explains why they decided to experiment with different platforms, and we hear about the origin story behind the podcast.

Creating so much content requires focus, and DoctorJonPaul shares their method for balancing it all and staying focused on what matters most. They also impart some words of wisdom on the nature of social media and why it's important to stay true to your own brand and priorities.

In This Episode:

• 1:58 - How DoctorJonPaul became a creator
• 6:31 - Finding balance as a business owner and creator
• 8:05 - How to decide what to create each day
• 12:00 - Being intentional with self-promotion
• 16:09 - DoctorJonPaul's take on the changes to Twitter/X
• 19:08 - The importance of branching out into different platforms
• 23:07 - The origin story of the BFF: Black, Fat, Femme podcast
• 32:58 - DoctorJonPaul's advice for creators

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• DoctorJonPaul's website
• Follow DoctorJonPaul on Twitter
• Follow DoctorJonPaul on LinkedIn
• Follow DoctorJonPaul on Facebook
• Follow DoctorJonPaul on Instagram
• Tune in to BFF: Black, Fat, Femme

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

Higher education may have been slower to adopt modern marketing practices and technology like AI, but higher ed marketer Bart Caylor is on a mission to change that. As President and Founder of Caylor Solutions and The Higher Ed Marketer, Bart joins the Social Pros podcast to share his lessons on the best marketing practices for higher ed.

Full Episode Details

Bart Caylor, President and Founder of Caylor Solutions and The Higher Ed Marketer, predicts a declining demand for higher ed in the future, meaning schools will face greater competition for a smaller pool of potential students. So, it's more important than ever that higher ed invests in great marketing practices.

In this episode, Bart shares his predictions for the future of higher ed marketing, what he tries to teach institutions that have been slower to adapt to modern marketing practices, and how schools can utilize AI effectively. Bart believes that AI is often underused, but the trick is learning how to train the AI to give you the results you need.

He shares his thoughts on the importance of content creation, managing marketing budgets, and how to become an authority in the higher ed space. We also hear about his journey to create The Higher Ed Marketer podcast and his book, Chasing Mission Fit: A Marketing Guide to Fill Your Institution with Students Who Will Succeed.

In This Episode:

• 1:42 - Bart explains how he first entered the higher ed marketing space
• 3:08 - How higher ed marketing has evolved
• 5:12 - Bart's predictions on its future
• 7:38 - How higher ed marketers can adopt AI and get better at prompting
• 12:11 - Bart's favorite use cases for AI
• 16:28 - Why the "early adopters" are only a few months ahead of everyone else
• 18:23 - Bart's thoughts on younger people getting into higher ed marketing
• 22:16 - Using the necessary skills to succeed in modern marketing
• 24:10 - Why you don't have to market to everyone
• 25:34 - Where Bart finds inspiration
• 28:57 - Emerging trends that marketers should pay attention to
• 31:40 - Insights and themes in Bart's podcast
• 34:09 - How marketers are making mistakes
• 38:00 - Bart's top tip for those looking to become a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Connect with Bart on LinkedIn
• Listen to The Higher Ed Marketer podcast
• Follow Bart on Twitter

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

Brands and agencies are increasingly using influencers and creators to collaborate on social media content, but it's still a brand new world for many in the social media space. Nathan Jun Poekert, Fractional Head of Social & Consultant, Founder of JUN Social, joins us on the Social Pros podcast to share his take on the current landscape of influencer marketing and collaborating with creators.

Full Episode Details

For influencers/creators and agencies to work in harmony, both sides may need to evolve in one way or another. This is one of the top takeaways from Nathan Jun Poekert, Fractional Head of Social & Consultant, Founder of JUN Social, in this episode of Social Pros.

As someone who's collaborated with creators many times, Nathan shares his experiences and why he always prefers to work with creators who treat their work like a business, not just a creative venture. He gives his thoughts on influencer pay, how to attribute success the right way, and why timeliness is the golden ticket to great social content.

Nathan's mic drop moment in this episode is around the approval process when it comes to bringing new ideas to clients and getting them out there. He says that social pros need to work fast to jump on trends, but sometimes agencies make this tough with long-winded approval processes.

In This Episode:

• 1:24 - Nathan's perspective on working with influencers
• 4:28 - Why attributing success is so important when working with influencers
• 7:55 - Why creators who treat their work like a business are the most successful
• 10:40 - The growing pains of the creator industry
• 16:39 - Why Nathan believes social agencies need to evolve
• 22:09 - Why social agencies need to move fast and what's stopping them
• 28:22 - The importance of giving social pros the freedom to enact ideas
• 30:51 - What a Chief Social Officer role could look like
• 34:10 - Why consistency both on social and the buying experience is key
• 35:58 - Who will be the first big company to make a CSO role?
• 39:48 - Nathan's top tip for those looking to become a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn

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

Content creators each have their own journeys and secrets to success, but for Justin Tse, content creator and CEO of Feature Media, it's all about staying focused and consistently creating content that you love.

Full Episode Details

Two years since he was last on the show, Justin Tse, content creator and CEO of Feature Media, joins us on this episode of Social Pros to share some insights into how to succeed in content creation.

Justin explains how he's able to stay focused and invested in his own work while maintaining a healthy audience in multiple niches. Starting out as a tech channel, Justin has branched out into lifestyle, travel, and car content, and this has proven to be beneficial in many ways, especially when it comes to brand partnerships.

We hear Justin's advice on finding inspiration versus copying what others are creating and why it's so important to build your own formula for success. Justin also shares his advice for new content creators and explains what he would focus on if he started from scratch today.

In This Episode:

• 2:58 - How Justin stays interested in content creation
• 5:51 - Justin tells us about winning Youth Entrepreneur of the Year in Canada
• 7:04 - Justin's advice for younger listeners to stay relevant
• 9:47 - How Justin balances being true to himself and listening to audience feedback
• 11:51 - Justin shares details about his pivot toward travel content
• 13:36 - The benefits of working in multiple niches
• 15:38 - The value of collaborations with creators
• 16:56 - What's changed in content creation since Justin first launched his Creator Cashflow course
• 19:14 - Pivoting between short and long-form content
• 19:51 - Becoming an influencer without a plan
• 21:36 - Content that inspires Justin
• 22:42 - Where Justin would start if he were to begin his creator journey from scratch
• 24:50 - Why content creation is sometimes about going with the flow
• 26:46 - Best practices for those working with brand partnerships
• 29:22 - Can brands compete with influencers?
• 32:48 - Why Justin moved away from podcasting
• 33:58 - Justin's platforms of choice
• 36:59 - Balancing evergreen content with timely content
• 37:58 - Recent content projects Justin has worked on
• 39:59 - Justin's top tip for those looking to become a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Follow Justin on Instagram
• Follow Justin on YouTube
• Connect with Justin on LinkedIn

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

If you're in the market for career advice, this is the episode of Social Pros you need. We speak to Eric Stark, Co-Founder and President at Slate who provides some excellent reminders on how to be a decent human being, a great colleague and ultimately progress in your career.

Full Episode Details

This week's guest is Eric Stark, Co-Founder and President at Slate, and previously with the NFL in several different capacities. He joins this episode to tell us about his transition from working in social for a massive organization like the NFL to launching and running his own successful start-up.

He opens up about his own career progression and how he believes social pros, wherever they are in their career, can set themselves up for success. Eric has a deep understanding of what it's like to manage the expectations of multiple teams when it comes to social and provides his thoughts on how to get your wins acknowledged and appreciated by your organization. Plus, why it's important not to be too precious about what goes out on the channels you manage.

Eric also chats about how some of the best people he knows in social don't maintain a personal brand and why that is often a good thing…

In This Episode:

• 1:35 - Eric explains what Slate is and what it does
• 4:46 - Why they expanded beyond sports and some new power users
• 9:23 - How social media is the centrepiece of the marketing team
• 10:31 - The best ways to grow and be promoted when you're in social
• 12:20 - What Eric would tell his younger self
• 14:20 - Eric's advice for social media managers who feel undervalued by their organization
• 16:23 - Why you shouldn't wait to share your exciting wins with the organization as a whole
• 21:36 - Thoughts on whether having a personal brand is vital for those in social
• 23:56 - The benefits of having a strong personal brand
• 28:14 - What it's like running a company like Slate now

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Connect with Eric on LinkedIn

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

If you want to showcase the experience of being a student, who better to ask than the students themselves? We shine the spotlight on Boston University's student creator program with Director of Social Media, Dave McDonald. Much like with user-generated content, student creators bring authenticity, creativity, and expert knowledge to their audience.

Full Episode Details

Dave McDonald, Boston University's Director of Social Media, joins Social Pros to talk about his Terrier Creator Program - a program for student social media creators to produce content about student life.

The program has been a huge success since its launch. BU's social media content is fresh, engaging, and highly targeted to its audience because student creators have in-depth knowledge of what the target audience wants to see and engage with.

Dave explains how the program operates, his approach to coaching students, and why he prefers to let the students flex their creativity rather than restrict them with formal creative briefs. Dave also speaks about the importance of following trends, optimizing content for platforms, reporting on metrics, and ensuring creators always have the chance to bring new ideas to the table.

In This Episode:

• 1:22 - Dave explains his day-to-day responsibilities and the programs he runs
• 2:31 - How Boston University builds its international social presence
• 4:25 - Why reporting is so critical for Boston University's social push
• 5:30 - What the Terrier Creator Program involves
• 8:42 - How the program optimizes content creation for each platform
• 10:07 - Why the program is open to new ideas from student creators
• 13:04 - How student creators highlight the student experience on social
• 14:09 - How Dave coaches student creators and other university departments
• 16:26 - The art of the pivot – how Dave coaches people through campaign pivots
• 17:45 - The importance of testing new ideas and jumping on trends
• 19:01 - How Dave balances the creator program with scheduled social content
• 20:30 - Why student creators don't get strict creative briefs
• 23:03 - Dave's advice on working with student content
• 24:27 - Dave shares some standout content stories
• 25:57 - What's next for Dave's team
• 28:59 - Dave's top tip for becoming a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Learn more about the Terrier Creator Program at Boston University
• Connect with Dave on LinkedIn

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