Social Pros Podcast Convince & Convert

Leaning into social-first content can help you connect to the trends that your audience is already engaged with. The key to great social-first content? Being a content consumer yourself, says our guest this week, Byron Stewart, Associate Director of Social Media at Team Epiphany.

Full Episode Details 

By tapping into the current online culture and trends, you’re in the perfect position to jump onto new opportunities to expand your brand’s reach. That’s what Bryon found when he worked at Foot Locker. As he was scrolling on Twitter at the gym, he spotted an opportunity to jump on a meme about Machine Gun Kelly being a Foot Locker employee. Not long after he posted, the Tweet went viral. This is a perfect example of how you can build social-first content (sometimes with minimal work) with a consumer mindset – a key theme running through this episode with Byron.
Byron shares his advice for social pros who want to leverage trends the right way, take risks, get leadership buy-in for campaigns, and how to work effectively with creators.
We also hear his thoughts on tackling burnout in the era of being “chronically online” and why his top tip for social pros is to commit to continuous learning. The episode leaves us with Byron's thoughts on the creator economy and his approach to identifying and leveraging emerging trends for different brands.

In This Episode:
2:48 - Byron explains his new role at Team Epiphany 3:38 - How Foot Locker went viral with a Machine Gun Kelly post 8:40 - Advice for social pros to do something similar while protecting their brand 10:36 - How Byron stays informed about current culture with a consumer mindset 12:46 - How Byron identifies important trends, tracks them, and applies them 14:51 - Byron’s take on brand relationships with creators 17:35 - The biggest changes in the platforms affecting the creator economy 20:02 - Ways he’d like to see Instagram and TikTok evolve 22:30 - Byron’s favorite types of content 23:59 - How to avoid burnout as a social pro 25:45 - How Byron kickstarted the employee advocacy program at Foot Locker 29:45 - Advice on getting buy-in to start making employee-generated content 31:20 - Why Byron loves being a social media advocate 33:00 - Byron’s top tip for social pros

Resources 

Join the Social Pros LinkedIn Community Connect with Byron on LinkedIn Team Epiphany
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.
Data is being used more and more to help businesses make the best decisions, in part thanks to the greater selection of tools available to capture it. But what if you struggle to access that first-party data? And what can you do with data once you do have it? 
A Balanced Approach to Data-Driven Decisions
In this episode of Data-Driven Decisions, we sit down with Rand Fishkin, Co-Founder and CEO of SparkToro, an audience research tool that helps organizations understand their audiences better. Rand explains how SparkToro helps businesses learn about and target their audiences, and shares examples of users who have seen success with the platform. 
We hear his thoughts on common mistakes marketing teams make, such as relying too much on Google and Meta ads, and why sometimes more unconventional marketing can achieve better results. Rand also shares his balanced take on the use of data to drive decision-making. While data can be a great guide, there are certain blind spots that the data can’t tell you about. Rand recommends a more balanced approach to data usage and supplementing data-driven insights with experimentation, intuition, and direct customer conversations to really get to know your customers. 
In This Episode:
0:27 - How SparkToro works 3:11 - Why marketing is too focused on Google and Meta ads 4:20 - What companies typically underinvest in 6:57 - Examples of how clients use SparkToro 12:49 - The problem with focusing on channels and tactics rather than the audience 14:46 - How uncommon tactics are inexpensive (and sometimes more effective) compared to ads 16:31 - How a brand used Reddit in a unique way 19:15 - Zero click marketing tactics that help customers know, like, and trust you 20:45 - Are pre/post-purchase surveys misleading? 25:54 - Why Rand prefers to look at correlation not causation 27:05 - How Rand’s relationship with data evolved from Moz to SparkToro 29:17 - Why it’s harder to prove the value of tactics today 31:23 - The problem with attributing value to search engines 34:07 - Advice for organizations embarking on their data-driven journey 35:47 - Rand’s take on why data doesn’t tell the full story 39:18 - How to recognize what data can and can’t solve  Quotes:
“One of the big frustrations that I have is that marketing has gotten more and more Google and Facebook advertising shaped... SparkToro is trying to show you where your audience actually spends time.”
“I think it pays to be responsible in your recognition of what problems data can solve and what it can't solve. It's not always the case, in my opinion, that every culture needs to be more data-driven."
“I'm always shocked at how much I learn when I spend a bunch of time talking to customers or watching interviews.”
Resources:
Connect with Rand on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/ SparkToro: https://sparktoro.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 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.

Full Episode Details 

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.