Social Pros Podcast

Latest Episodes:

How the Indiana Pacers Honor the Past and the Present with Winning Social Content Aug 07, 2020

Show notes

Tatiana Holifield, the VP/Head of Digital Strategy at Pacers Sports & Entertainment, is our guest on this episode of the Social Pros Podcast, where we talk about how the Indiana Pacers leverage social, coordinate teams, and how they have diversified their organization.

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

Life as a social media practitioner is not as glamorous as the Instagram superstar influencers would have you believe. The reality of being a social pro in modern society is that you're going to be glued to your phone (or laptop, tablet, etc.) 24/7. So, if you want to become a successful social media professional, you must live and breathe social.

Tatiana Holifield, the VP/Head of Digital Strategy at Pacers Sports & Entertainment, is a force to be reckoned with and is making a huge impact on the way the Pacers use social media. She has helped to structure new roles, coordinate teams, build compelling content and brand strategies, and so much more. Although she loves her job and has a genuine passion for social media, Tatiana admits that life as a social pro can be quite taxing.

As Tatiana states in this episode, if you want to become a social pro, you must be prepared for the busy lifestyle that comes with it. As a social pro, you'll wear multiple hats and you'll have to learn how to balance every facet of the job with your personal life.

In This Episode:

05:47 – How Tatiana approaches managing multiple brand's social media accounts
07:22 – How Pacers structure their teams and roles within the organization
10:45 – How Tatiana and her team measure the performance of their content
14:04 – How content creation has changed for the Pacers in light of COVID-19
22:55 – A look at the level of coordination being done between different business entities of the league
26:25 – How important paid social is to the Pacers
30:13 – How the Pacers engage with fans on Reddit
38:10 – Tatiana explains their KPI 'total footprint growth' and what it measures
40:05 – How the Pacers have diversified their workforce

Resources

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How Chicago Bulls Win in Social by Being Adaptable Jul 31, 2020

Show notes

Luka Dukich, the Director of Content for the Chicago Bulls, is our guest on this episode of Social Pros, where we talk about why being adaptable is key for social media success no matter what's going on in the world.

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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Are you adaptable on social media?

Adapting to change quickly is something that we've all had to master since COVID-19 replaced 'normal life' with a great level of uncertainty. But we didn't just adapt our personal lives to reflect recent changes in the world, we've also had to adapt our social media presence.

Luka Dukich, the Director of Content for the Chicago Bulls, has managed to adapt the sports team's entire social media strategy in response to recent changes with poise, professionalism, and a level of success we can all aspire to.

Luka understands that you "can't control what you can't control," and has found other ways to get creative on social even when no games are going on. He has done an incredible job maintaining and, in many cases, increasing fan engagement across the team's social media channels.

In This Episode:

05:40 – A look at the unusual content schedule for social pros at the Chicago Bulls
07:49 - How Chicago Bull's social media team is structured
13:11 – Why Chicago Bulls have other social media accounts separate from the main accounts
20:18 – How they track the demographics of their different social media accounts
22:05 – How Chicago Bull's content strategy has pivoted in response to COVID-19
29:55 – How Luka and his team engage with their fans on social
33:44 – How Luka handles video and photo rights in publishing
36:05 – How Luka's agency experience prepared him for his current role
41:03 – How 'The Last Dance' impacted the Chicago Bulls

Resources:

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

How to Avoid Major Influencer Marketing Mistakes Jul 24, 2020

Show notes

Neal Schaffer, the President of PDCA Social, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about how brands and businesses can leverage influencers in their marketing efforts and effectively navigate through 'the age of influence' we currently find ourselves living in.

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Full Episode Details

The Age of Influence

If you want people to hear about your brand and talk about your brand, you need to leverage influencers as part of your marketing.

Neal Schaffer, the President of PDCA Social and a leading authority on digital transformation, believes that brands should view influencer marketing as a commitment, not just a campaign. Social media has given a voice to all types of followers with different audiences. Chances are, there is an ideal influencer out there who has the influence and authority to help put your brand in front of the right people.

Neal Schaffer knows exactly how you can identify and engage with the right influencers for your brand and openly shares his best tips to help you create and implement a highly effective influencer marketing plan – including some major influencer marketing mistakes you might want to avoid!

In This Episode:

06:05 - What 'the age of influence' means for brands, business owners, and marketers
08:03 – How Neal defines influence
12:08 – How B2B brands can leverage influencer marketing
16:27 – Tips to help you identify the right influencer for your brand
19:53 – How to work effectively with influencers
22:45 – What departments of an organization should have a role in managing a successful influencer marketing strategy
25:32 – Advice for leveraging influencers during COVID-19
27:45 - Why you should focus on turning influencers into brand advocates
31:02 – How to structure your 'influencer marketing budget'

Resources:

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

How JetBlue Handles Social Customer Service During COVID-19 Jul 17, 2020

Show notes

Laurie Meacham, the Manager of Customer Support at JetBlue, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about the importance of empathetic marketing and showing humanity towards customers on social media.

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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Remember to have humanity

When COVID-19 hit, many brands were not prepared for handling a crisis of this scale. It was uncharted territory for many of us and it still is. COVID-19 has not 'gone away' and as social practitioners, we have had to scramble to adjust and fine-tune our content in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

From postponing brand announcements to canceling live events and adjusting content calendars, it has not been an easy transition, to say the least. However, one thing that I think we can all agree on is the undeniable importance of aligning your social customer services in response to the crisis.

Customers are firing more questions at brands than ever, and they're using social to do it. Laurie Meacham, the Manager of Customer Support at JetBlue, has handled social customer service during COVID-19 perfectly. Think about it, this is a company that, like many others, has been hugely impacted by the global pandemic. Flights were (and still are in some cases) presumed canceled, and people are hesitant to even step foot on a plane. But, above all else, customers want answers, and Laurie and her team are right there, in the trenches of social media, to answer customers questions and show humanity during a highly stressful and uncertain time.

In This Episode:

04:27 - How JetBlue's virtual customer support team is structured
09:08 – A look at how JetBlue's remote workforce has operated for over 20 years
11:23 – Tips for working remotely and managing a remote team
13:33 – How the 'rules of engagement' have changed
16:58 – How JetBlue have handled customer service on social during COVID-19
22:08 – How the ratio of 'social media chatter' has changed lately
24:36 – What channels consumers are using to get in touch with JetBlue's customer service team
27:36 – How people have shown support (or a lack thereof in some cases) during COVID-19
31:34 – How JetBlue's 'Healthcare Heroes Programme' works

Resources:

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

Is Video the Only Place to Innovate in Social Media Jul 10, 2020

Show notes

Michael Stelzner, the Founder of Social Media Examiner, joins the Social Pros podcast to talk about the 2020 Social Media Marketing Industry Report and why video may be the only viable place to innovate in social media.

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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Are you innovative on social media?

Video is one of the most effective ways to pull people into your content. If you're not already incorporating video in your social media marketing, you risk missing out on opportunities for real growth, engagement, and innovation.

Michael Stelzner, the Founder of Social Media Examiner, started with a blog, which quickly became one of the most popular blogs about social media in the world. Since then, Mike and his team have pivoted toward video and for good reason. Video is where innovations are happening on social and Mike went as far as claiming that video is the only area where we're seeing a lot of innovation on social media.

We dive into all of this further on this episode of Social pros, where we take a look at some key findings from Social Media Examiner's 2020 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, which surveyed more than 5,200 marketers about how they use social media.

In This Episode:

02:43 – Why Social Media Examiner are holding an online Instagram Summit
08:52 – Why live videos have dropped in popularity recently
13:49 – Why marketers should pay more attention to YouTube
19:24 – How Social Media Examiner repurposes videos into full-length articles
21:03 – How brands can decide where to focus their efforts
23:52 – The problem with messenger bots
30:24 – The changing usage of social media in 2020
35:56 – Why video may be the only innovative medium on social media
37:27 – Whether marketers are likely to 'take the TikTok plunge'

Resources:

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

Social Pros Greatest Hits - How Comcast Interacts With Customers on Social Media 6 Million Times Each Year Jul 03, 2020

Show notes

On this special encore episode of the Social Pros Podcast, we're joined by Lisa Blackshear, Sr. Vice President of Communications, Digital Media at Comcast, to talk about how to build and manage an incredible social care team.

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:

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

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Full Episode Details

Create Authentic Social Care Teams

Providing outstanding customer care has never been easier thanks to social media. Before the internet, a telephone call was the best way for brands to interact with their customers. Nowadays, customers are more inclined to 'hit you up' on social rather than choose to speak to you over the phone.

Social media customer care is critical, so how can you make sure your social care team is performing at the highest standard?

Lisa Blackshear, Sr. Vice President of Communications, Digital Media at Comcast, is our guest on this throwback episode of the show. Lisa runs what could possibly be one of the largest customer care programs in the country with over 400 agents interacting with customers and resolving issues across every social channel imaginable.

With everything going on in the world right now, having a strong customer care team in place is so important and providing genuine, human interactions is what will set you apart from your competition and keep customers coming back for more.

In This Episode:

05:20 - How to build an amazing social care team
09:17 - How engagement on social has evolved alongside customer expectations
14:08 - How Comcast's social care team adapts their customer's tone to create personal and authentic interactions
20:41 - How your customer care team can coordinate multiple touchpoints with customers
24:14 – What social channels Comcast's social care team is most active
29:05 - How to use customer interactions to improve your social care team's performance
32:56 - How to effectively coordinate between the social care team, communications/PR, and branding

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

How Social Unites 4000+ Clubs to Support One Great Cause Jun 26, 2020

Show notes

Tiffany Rivers, the Social Media Manager at Boys & Girls Clubs of America, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about how she and her team has leveraged social to bring over 4000 clubs together during difficult times.

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

Social Unites

Not everyone agrees with each other on social media. Spontaneous (and often heated) debates can spark from the most unlikely post or tweet. So, who would have thought that when COVID-19 sent millions into isolation that social media would be the very thing that helps bring people together?

Social has played a significant role in bringing families, friends, and colleagues together during an incredibly difficult time. Tiffany Rivers, the Social Media Manager at Boys & Girls Clubs of America, has managed to successfully leverage the power of social to bring over 4000 clubs together to support one worthy cause.

As you can imagine, this was no easy feat considering each of the 4000+ clubs are in different locations around the country, each with their own CEO, leadership, and teams. So, how did Tiffany work with all of these clubs to ensure everyone told the same story in unison so that they could continue their work helping make great futures a reality for America's youth? Find out on this inspiring episode of Social Pros!

In This Episode:

03:50 – How Tiffany works with marketing and communications colleagues
09:26 – How to change an organization's view on social media
12:37 - How the clubs leveraged internal talent, virtual programming, and social during COVID-19
18:45 – Why it's so important to come together during difficult times
20:47 – Tiffany talks about the club's partnerships with people such as Denzel Washington, Katy Perry, and Beyoncé
28:00 – How to determine what messages go out on which social channels
33:08 – How Tiffany makes sure that messages are consistent across all 4000+ clubs

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

How a Community Manager Became Global VP of Marketing at Patrón Tequila Jun 19, 2020

Show notes

Adrian Parker, Global VP of Marketing for Patrón Tequila, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about how he leads all of the marketing for the #1 most talked about spirits brand in the world.

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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Prepare for the Unpredictable

Social is a multi-disciplinary job. If you want to build an enviable career for yourself in social, you've got to become a 'pro' at more than just the social aspect of your role. You must become fluent in most (if not all) corners of marketing, advertising, media, and business.

Adrian Parker, Global VP of Marketing for Patrón Tequila, has gone from managing and writing tweets for RadioShack to leading all of the marketing for one of the most well-known luxury spirits brands in the world. He is living proof that you can make social a successful career, you just need to have the passion, drive, and motivation to make it happen.

Patrón Tequila is far from a digital marketing business. However, they understand the crucial role that social plays when it comes to their branding and connecting with their customers online and during times when face-to-face interactions are limited at best.

In This Episode:

05:03 – How important it is for brands to deliver superb digital experiences
11:05 – How marketing and consumer behavior have changed over the last few months
21:29 – How Patrón Tequila use social and marketing communications to measure the impact of recent changes (COVID-19) on consumers and stakeholders
24:39 – How COVID-19 will change how brands prepare for the unpredictable in the future
29:36 – How Patrón Tequila's marketing mix has evolved
33:19 – What social has taught Adrian about marketing
37:57 – How Adrian deploys his social media team

Resources:

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

How Pfizer Built Employee Advocacy Success From the Top-Down Jun 12, 2020

Show notes

Chad Parizman, the Head of Social Media & Digital Communications at Pfizer, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about how brands can launch a successful employee advocacy program.

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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

Staff can help generate exposure for brands using their online assets, such as social media, to help increase a brand's reach and influence. Activating employees as marketing assets in this way, can stir incredible results for your business.

But where should you start with employee advocacy?

Chad Parizman, the Sr Director, Digital Activation at Pfizer, believes that successful employee advocacy starts from the top-down. It's very difficult to build employee advocacy from 'the bottom-up.' You really need to secure support from senior leadership to help launch and maintain a successful employee advocacy program.

In this episode:

06:13 – How Pfizer's workflow for digital content has changed in light of COVID-19
08:57 – How Pfizer's overall view on the importance of social has adapted over the last few years
11:48 – How the leadership team at Pfizer supported the launch of the company's employee advocacy program
12:33 - Chad shares amazing tips to help you get an employee advocacy program off the ground
15:29 – A closer look at the intersection of social and executive communications at Pfizer
20:26 – Why it's so important to give employees a voice
22:40 – How Pfizer is using podcasting for internal communications
28:03 – How Pfizer approached external podcasts related to vaccines
37:55 – Innovative ways Pfizer uses internal podcasts

Resources:

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

The Truth About LinkedIn Ad Success Jun 05, 2020

Show notes

AJ Wilcox, Founder of B2Linked, a LinkedIn Ads-specific ad agency, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss how you can supercharge your next LinkedIn Ad campaign.

Please Support Our Sponsors:

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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SocialMedia.org

Full Episode Details

LinkedIn Ads can get your business in front of the right people, but with so much 'best practices for LinkedIn Ads' swarming around the internet, what advice should you listen to and what should you ignore?

AJ Wilcox is a LinkedIn Ads pro and Founder of B2Linked, a LinkedIn Ads-specific ad agency. AJ is one of the most honest people in the industry and he knows exactly what you need to do to supercharge your LinkedIn Ads. His number one piece of advice? Don't listen to LinkedIn! Their main goal is to make money and their carefully placed default suggestions will lead to unnecessarily high ad spend and not much return on investment.

So, if you shouldn't listen to LinkedIn when it comes to building your ad campaign, who should you listen to? Well, you can start by listening to this episode of Social Pros. AJ shares lots of honest advice for building successful ad campaigns on LinkedIn and as someone who has managed some of the world's largest LinkedIn Ads accounts worldwide, his advice is golden.

In This Episode

06:31 – How LinkedIn Ads compares to other platforms in terms of optimization
09:41 – Whether LinkedIn's cost-per-click is likely to increase or stabilize
10:43 – Why LinkedIn Live is gaining a lot of traction and engagement
12:52 – A closer look at the new ad formats and purchasing options
17:15 – How LinkedIn has evolved
18:58 – How to target LinkedIn Ads
22:51 – A few of the superior calls to action you can use in LinkedIn Ads
25:40 – Why you shouldn't listen to LinkedIn when building your ad campaign
28:21 – Who is most likely to resonate and click on LinkedIn Ads
29:46 – How to use LinkedIn to help achieve your goals (get more views on a post, find a new career, etc.)
32:30 – What your starting budget should be when leveraging LinkedIn Ads

Resources:

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

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