Social Pros Podcast

Latest Episodes:

How Google Gets Hyperlocal Social Right May 28, 2021

Show notes

Tiara Christian, Head of EMEA Social Media, PR at Google, joins the Social Pros Podcast to chat about how Google localizes content worldwide to stay super relevant.

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Full Episode Details

No one quite does "global" like Google. But how does such a mammoth in the online world stay relevant and targeted across different countries, languages, and cultures?

Tiara Christian, Head of EMEA Social Media, PR at Google, explains just how Google pulls it off.

In this episode of the Social Pros podcast, Tiara discusses how Google approaches local messaging to make content hyperlocal and relevant to all types of audiences. She takes us through what it's like to work at Google, how collaboration across departments works, and how she manages working as a mighty team of one.

Tiara also reveals details about how Google uses data to understand what users really care about and want to see.

In This Episode:

5:56 – How Tiara balances local messaging with Google's needs
8:11 – The strategies behind localizing content
9:50 – How Tiara coordinates with a huge company like Google
12:37 – Tiara takes us through one of her biggest campaigns at Milan Fashion Week
15:56 – How Google uses data to understand what people care about
19:35 – How Tiara operates as a mighty team of one
22:33 – One piece of advice for those agencies supporting big clients
24:31 – How Tiara balances content creation with social listening and engagement
27:03 – Advice on working with ambassadors
30:21 – Tiara explains what it's like working for Google
35:30 – Tiara's advice for those who want to engage with audiences outside the U.S.
38:16 – Tiara's top tip for anyone looking to become a social pro
40:01 – Who Tiara would pick for a video call

Resources

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

How Government Can Use Funny to Win In Social May 21, 2021

Show notes

Joe Galbo, Social Media Specialist at the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, joins the Social Pros Podcast to chat about social strategy and public safety messages.

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Full Episode Details

How do you spread an important safety message over social media? Should you stay serious or make it a bit more fun?

It all depends on the audience, timing, subject matter, and a whole host of other things.

Joe Galbo, Social Media Specialist at the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC), describes his process for crafting messages that engage and resonate.

Joe shares how the USCPSC balances serious messaging with fun and inventive graphic design to get the message across in the best way possible. You'll also hear some of the strategies around notorious internet trends like laundry pod consumption and more.

Joe also discusses his approach to social media in general and why it's vital to always keep learning and developing your skills.

In This Episode:

5:32 – Joe explains what the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission does
7:04 – Joe names a few examples of his favorite USCPSC graphics
9:40 – How the USCPSC became very graphic-focused in its messaging
12:38 – The balance between making serious life-saving messages fun vs. serious
18:20 – Why Joe would love his strategies to be tested to see how successful they are beyond the social sharing aspect
19:10 – How the USCPSC collaborates with broadcast media to share important safety messages
22:07 – What the approval process looks like for new content
27:10 – How the USCPSC approaches social listening to keep on top of potentially dangerous internet challenges
31:26 – Why Joe believes you should always try out new social media channels
34:00 – Why you always need a vision for what you want to achieve in a government agency
38:50 – Joe's advice for dealing with intentionally spread misinformation on social media
43:32 – Joe's one tip for anyone looking to become a social pro
46:33 – Why Joe would pick Guillermo del Toro to have a video call with

Resources

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

How Sam's Club Uses Social Listening to Serve Member Desires Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

Sabrina Callahan and Mark Quine from Sam's Club join Social Pros in part five of the five-part Social Pros Deep Dive series into Sam's Club.

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Full Episode Details

The Sam's Club Deep Dive is a new five-part series that explores how social media teams run their day-to-day operations over several episodes instead of just one. Social Pros interviewed several Sam's Club social team members to learn the secrets of their success.

Other than direct feedback or surveys, nothing quite captures the opinion of customers like social media can.

Social media can provide a window into the minds of customers. It can help brands understand where they're going right or wrong and what customers really want. That's why Sam's Club takes social listening so seriously.

In this episode of the Social Pros Deep Dive into Sam's Club, Social Pros speaks again with Sabrina Callahan, Senior Director of Brand and Social Marketing, and Mark Quine, Director of Social and Brand Media.

They discuss the importance of social listening and how Sam's Club responds to social opinion so quickly and effectively. Mark then discusses Sam's Club's approach to paid social and which strategies work best for the club.

All five episodes are out now, so get ready to binge!

As this is a brand-new series, we'd love to hear some feedback on what you think of the Social Pros Deep Dive. Please share any thoughts you have by emailing Jay directly.

In This Episode:

6:06 – Sam's Club's philosophy around social listening
8:18 – Why Sam's Club has a member insights team
10:37 – How Sam's Club measures and tracks customer sentiment on social
11:55 – How the social team translates its metrics for other departments
16:06 – How Sam's Club introduced 'Hero Hours' during the pandemic after social posts went viral
21:47 – How Sam's Club distinguishes between signal vs. noise
25:37 – Which channels Sam's Club values the most for its insights
29:03 – The role of paid social in Sam's Club
29:52 – How Sam's Club measures the success of paid social
31:21 – How Mark tries to establish real causation and correlation in paid social
32:10 – How the social team keeps things consistent by working closely with the digital marketing teams
36:59 – Sam's Club's methods and strategies around boosting social posts
38:27 – Mark's thoughts on which creative ad formats perform best for Sam's Club
44:26 – Mark's number one tip for becoming a social pro

Resources

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

How Sam's Club Quadrupled Down on Social Care Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

MacKenzie McCarver and Tina Parker from Sam's Club join this episode of Social Pros for part four of the five-part Social Pros Deep Dive series.

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Full Episode Details

The Sam's Club Deep Dive is a new five-part series offers a detailed look into how a big business manages social strategies, scheduling, business growth, community, and more.

For many, social media is the first port of call for customers with questions or complaints. It's often the fastest way a brand can directly contact its customers.

This means that businesses, big or small, need to think about how they approach customer care on social. With a big business such as Sam's Club, this operation is a lot more elaborate.

Find out how in this episode of Social Pros Deep Dive. In part four of five, Social Pros speak with MacKenzie McCarver and Tina Parker – key members of the social media team at Sam's Club.

Director of Social Media, MacKenzie, is back from our talk in part three, this time joined by Tina Parker, Associate Director of Brand and Social Marketing.

They discuss Sam's Club's refreshingly proactive take on customer care, the best way to interact over social media, and how the club celebrates its brand ambassadors.

All five episodes are out now, so get ready to binge!

As this is a brand-new series, we'd love to hear some feedback on what you think of the Social Pros Deep Dive. Please share any thoughts you have by emailing Jay directly at jay@convinceandconvert.com.

In This Episode:

5:52 – How Sam's Club resources social media customer care
6:50 – The multiple customer care levels and how they work
8:02 – What Tina looks for in a social customer care agent
9:29 – Sam's Club's unique approach to customer interactions
11:46 – How Sam's Club responded to the pandemic challenges
13:26 – Which platforms Sam's Club focuses on the most for customer interactions
14:35 – How social empowered people during the pandemic
16:55 – The unique tool Sam's Club uses for local social updates
17:51 – How Sam's Club balances public versus direct message responses
18:47 – Why Sam's Club prioritizes real responses over automated messages
21:44 – How proactive Sam's Club agents are in responding to customers
24:30 – How Sam's Club deals with customers who make complaints across different channels and mediums
27:57 – What measurements of success look like at Sam's Club
29:55 – How Sam's Club prepares for the event of a social media crisis
31:43 – Tina's take on "if there's three, there's more" when it comes to customer complaints
33:20 – The process Sam's Club follows to communicate issues at a higher level
35:28 – How Sam's Club celebrates brand ambassadors and fans on social
38:45 – Tina's one tip for becoming a social pro
39:12 – Who MacKenzie would love to have a video call with

Resources

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

How Sam's Club Creates Community With Social Media Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

MacKenzie McCarver and Hunter Wuensche from Sam's Club join this episode of the Social Pros podcast in part three of a five-part Social Pros Deep Dive series.

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Full Episode Details

The five-part Sam's Club Deep Dive series looks closely at how big businesses manage social media, covering all the strategies, methods, and team dynamics over not one but five episodes. The series kicks off with Sam's Club, the beloved wholesale membership club.

Social media has a way of bringing people together, and that's what Sam's Club is all about. The social media team at Sam's Club has ballooned in size over the past few years, and it's transformed the way it approaches social media.

In part three of five episodes in the Sam's Club Deep Dive series, Social Pros talks to MacKenzie McCarver and Hunter Wuensche about creating community through social media.

MacKenzie is the Director of Social Media, and Hunter is the Social Media Manager at Sam's Club. They share how Sam's Club creates a community, both within its own team and its members, through social care, user-generated content, and influencer marketing.

You'll also hear how MacKenzie and Hunter's roles fit into the team and how they impact the day-to-day social strategies at Sam's Club.

In This Episode:

5:00 – What the day-to-day social media strategies look like at Sam's Club
6:44 – Reaching different types of Sam's Club customers on social
7:52 – The 'Happy Host' segment that Sam's Club focuses on
8:46 – Collaboration between the social team and different departments
10:06 – How influencer marketing fits in with the rest of the social strategy
13:45 – Sam's Club's methods for finding influencers to work with
16:35 – How Sam's Club manages an editorial calendar across the states
18:57 – The process behind creating organic social posts
21:26 – The best type of visual content for Sam's Club
23:34 – How Sam's Club encourages employee-generated content (EGC)
24:54 – The tool that Sam's Club uses to manage EGC for Facebook posts
27:10 – Why the social team works closely with operations, HR, and legal for EGC
28:40 – Sam's Club's approach to brand-to-brand interactions
30:43 – How the team uses trends and hashtags as part of its campaigns
34:27 – MacKenzie's tip for those wanting to become a social pro
37:09 – Who Hunter would love to have a video call with

Resources

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

How Social Media Powers the Sam's Club Brand Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

Natalie Hite, Associate Director of Brand Marketing at Sam's Club, joins the Social Pros Podcast in part two of a five-part Social Pros Deep Dive series.

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Full Episode Details

In this five-part Deep Dive into Sam's Club, we look at how their busy team executes its social media strategy.

For an insider look at how Sam's Club's social media team operates, each episode features a different social team member. They speak a bit about their role and how they fit into the now-huge social media team at Sam's Club.

What makes the Sam's Club brand so unique?

In the previous episode of the Social Pros Deep Dive series, Sabrina Callahan spoke about how she focused on getting the brand right before anything else.

In this episode, part two of the Deep Dive series, Natalie Hite, shares more details about what makes the Sam's Club brand so special – and how social media fits into that. She talks about why "brand storytelling has been our primary objective."

Natalie discusses how vital connection, communication, and brand storytelling are to Sam's Club and how her role as Associate Director of Brand Marketing helps drive results.

All episodes of this series are out now, ready to binge!

In This Episode:

5:38 – Where Natalie's role fits into the Sam's Club team
6:55 – Natalie's experience of watching the social team grow so quickly
8:43 – What Sam's Club's brand promise is and what it means
10:02 – How Natalie adapted from traditional media to social
13:02 – How social media became the quickest way to communicate with members
13:36 – Why Sam's Club takes a "social-first approach"
15:50 – How the Sam's Club social media team collaborates with other departments
18:15 – Natalie's take on traditional vs. social media
19:39 – How Sam's Club targets many different customer types with its content
22:43 – How Sam's Club taps into the ethos of different audiences by asking for feedback
25:47 – Why Sephora and Ben & Jerry's are "north stars" for Sam's Club
28:00 – How Sam's Club uses storytelling to resonate with audiences
31:34 – How the Sam's Club vendors get involved with Sam's Club's social pushes
34:30 – Natalie's top tips for becoming a social pro
37:43 – Natalie shares who she'd love to have a video call with

Resources

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

How Sam's Club Grew Social Media by 2400% Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

Sabrina Callahan, Senior Director of Brand and Social Marketing at Sam's Club, joins the Social Pros Podcast as the first guest in a brand-new series called Social Pros Deep Dive.

This series takes a closer look at businesses' social strategies, explored over several episodes. Social media has become so important and complex that trying to summarize it in just one episode means leaving out a lot of detail.

To kick things off, series one focuses on Sam's Club, the much-loved wholesale membership club.

The Sam's Club Deep Dive is a five-part series that puts social media at Sam's Club under the microscope. Tune in as Social Pros interviews different team members over five episodes to find out how the busy team operates their social media strategy.

Huge thanks to our amazing sponsors for helping us make this happen. Please support them; we couldn't do it without their help! This week:

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Full Episode Details

When done right, social media can have a remarkable effect on company growth. A great example of this is Sam's Club, the popular wholesale membership club. Sam's Club dramatically expanded its social media team from just two to 50 employees and has seen growth and engagement skyrocket.

In part one of five episodes in the Sam's Club Deep Dive series, Social Pros speaks to Sabrina Callahan, Senior Director of Brand and Social Marketing.

Sabrina discusses what it takes to run a growing social media team and how she handles all the moving pieces. She describes how Sam's Club structures its social team and campaigns, plus its future plans.

Sabrina also introduces us to some of the other cast and characters in the Sam's Club social team, who will join the podcast over the next few episodes.

All five episodes are out now, so get ready to binge!

In This Episode:

7:00 – Why Sam's Club expanded the social team so rapidly
9:48 – The importance of having an advocate in your company for social media
11:25 – How the Sam's Club social team is structured
19:10 – Sabrina shares what qualities she looked for when hiring the social team
24:25 – Why Sabrina focused on building the brand identity, then the social channels
27:54 – How a member's experience differs between digital and brick-and-mortar shopping
30:15 – What Sam's Club got right with its COVID-19 approach and messaging
35:54 – Sam's Club's primary goal with social media
39:15 – How the pandemic affected Sabrina as a social pro
43:09 – Sabrina's top tip for social pros
44:50 – Who Sabrina would love to have a video call with

Resources

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

How to Become a Human Social Media Swiss Army Knife Apr 09, 2021

Show notes

Jay Maldonado, Director of Social Media at SurveyMonkey, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss how brands can create an agile social media plan that is also socially conscious.

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Full Episode Details

The very nature of social media is flexible and can change at any moment. That's why it's so important to have many tricks up your sleeve when creating a social media strategy.

Jay Maldonado, Director of Social Media at SurveyMonkey, says that flexibility and wearing many hats are the keys to becoming a top social pro.

In this episode of Social Pros, Jay discusses why all social media teams should have a "living doc" for their strategy that you can change when needed. He talks about why it's important to have great leadership and a team that really believes in the power of social media.

Jay also discusses why you need to be sensitive and open to learning to have genuine and authentic conversations over social media.

In This Episode:

7:52 – How sometimes social pros don't leverage social media for themselves
9:14 – How Jay manages marketing to a broad SurveyMonkey audience
11:47 – How social comes to life at SurveyMonkey
13:15 – Why all social media strategies should have a "living doc"
15:28 – How to create an agile social strategy
20:38 – How to ask the right questions in social media
22:45 – Jay's advice for social pros to navigate important social issues
26:15 – Jay's tips for social pros to use data better
30:33 – SurveyMonkey's recent study into mental wellness in the workplace
33:25 – Choosing the best social media channels to market your brand
35:54 – The importance of leadership and a great team
38:32 – Jay's one tip for becoming a social pro

Resources

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

Why Your Social Should Focus on Current Customers Apr 02, 2021

Show notes

Anthony Yepez, Associate Director of Social Strategy at Digitas North America, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss why current customers should be the center of your social media strategy.

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Full Episode Details

What should you focus on most of all in social media? Is it the metrics, posting schedule, viral content…or is it the people themselves?

Anthony Yepez says you should focus not just on potential customers and follower count but also on your current customers. He says that "your current customers are the gateway to prospective new customers," and yet many businesses overlook that.

Anthony, Associate Director of Social Strategy at Digitas, shares his tips for connecting with your audience and how he gets brands to succeed on social media. In this episode, he shares what he believes are common mistakes in social and why it's so important to listen to your audience. Anthony believes you should always "have a human element to your social media" and focus on real connections above all.

In This Episode:

4:12 – How working remotely has affected social media agencies
4:54 – The core elements of a successful social strategy
6:10 – How far out you can realistically plan a social strategy
7:31 – Why communication and processes are key to working remotely with clients
9:07 – Which remote communication tools Anthony and his team use
9:47 – Why you should join the Social Media Marketers (SMM) Slack group
13:41 – Anthony's take on Clubhouse
15:54 – Which success metrics clients pay too much attention to
18:02 – When to encourage clients to join a new social media channel
23:53 – How social pros experience social media burnout
28:23 – The importance of listening to your audience
30:51 – Why Anthony thinks brands that focus on current customers do better
31:53 – The challenge of explaining social media strategies to customers
36:14 – Anthony's tip for becoming a social pro

Resources

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

How Social Media Fuels Your Cumulative Advantage Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Mark Schaefer, Chief Operating Officer of B Squared Media, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss his latest book, Cumulative Advantage, and why it's important to try new things and seek new opportunities.

Huge thanks to our amazing sponsors for helping us make this happen. Please support them; we couldn't do it without their help! This week:

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Full Episode Details

What makes someone successful? Is it money, education, connections? Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint the turning point in someone's life.

Mark Schaefer, Chief Operating Officer of B Squared Media, says that it's not necessarily one thing that acts as an advantage. The initial advantage that people experience can be as simple as a singular conversation. He says that whatever this one initial advantage is can lead you down an entirely different path in your life. "If you have this original advantage…you can build unstoppable momentum."

Mark's book, Cumulative Advantage, is based on the work of sociologist Dr. Robert Merton. It follows the idea that those who have some advantage can continue to benefit from it at a much faster rate than those who don't.

Mark talks about his own experiences and advantages and how they led him to where he is today. He shares why it's so important to try new things and find your "seam" in the status quo.

In This Episode: