The Experience Edge Ep. 35 - Stop listening. Start acting on insight - Brooke Sellas
In this episode of The Experience Edge, Jochem van der Veer welcomes Brooke Sellas, CEO of B Squared Media, to dissect how social media has evolved from a content distribution channel to a powerful platform for customer experience and intelligence. Brooke explains how forward-thinking brands are using social not just to post, but to converse, and how these conversations can reveal vital insights into customer behavior, brand sentiment, and even revenue potential.
Brooke introduces her CARE framework (Conversation, Acquisition, Retention, Engagement) and explains how her agency uses this model to help enterprise brands mine social interactions for voice-of-customer data. With examples from clients like printer and appliance brands, she reveals how conversational data, social listening, and AI integration can drive measurable business outcomes, from reducing churn to increasing sales. This episode is a masterclass in turning social media into a revenue engine and customer intelligence hub.
Guest Bio
Brooke Sellas is shaping the future of digital marketing one conversation at a time. As an award-winning CEO, she leads B Squared Media, the premier agency redefining 'social care' for brands like Brother International, Miele, and BCU. You can dive into her insights through her book Conversations That Connect, her thought leadership on CMSWire, or her expert-led courses, among them, three digital marketing courses at the University of California, Irvine (one focused on AI & Marketing) and a LinkedIn Learning course on Social Care.
Takeaways
- Social media has evolved from content broadcasting to customer conversation and care.
- The CARE framework, Conversation, Acquisition, Retention, Engagement, drives measurable business results.
- Social listening tools help brands proactively identify trends, crises, and customer intent signals.
- Acquisition conversations on social media are often underestimated; many brands find >20% of social interactions are sales-related.
- Responding to positive comments increases brand affinity and fuels word-of-mouth marketing.
- 76% of customers who don’t receive a reply on social will consider switching to a competitor.
- AI enhances scalability but must be paired with human judgment to avoid PR mishaps.
- Gen Z shoppers value brand-customer conversations more than online reviews.
- “Channel of choice” is essential: CX insights differ across email, phone, and social.
- AI can analyze conversational data to reveal which messages and offers close more deals.
- A single customer service issue, like a confusing coffee machine manual, can cause widespread sentiment drops unless proactively resolved.
- Social selling is not just a buzzword; it requires structured processes and attribution clarity.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Brooke Sellas
01:00 Why social media has shifted from content to conversation
03:00 Who should own social media in an enterprise?
04:30 Brands leading in conversational social media
07:00 The CARE framework explained
10:00 Using VOC to find acquisition and retention signals
14:00 Proving ROI and prioritizing efforts
18:30 Scaling with AI and human oversight
25:30 Best practices in social listening and VOC integration
30:00 Segmenting by channel and generation
34:00 Case study: Fixing a product sentiment issue
41:00 Identifying channel of choice for CX alignment
46:00 Attribution tension between marketing and social care
50:00 Events that trigger companies to invest in social care
55:00 Sprout Social stat: 76% switch brands after no reply
Follow Brooke Sellas on LinkedInFollow Jochem van der Veer on LinkedIn
Brooke's Web Links
https://bsquared.media/
https://bsquared.media/conversations-that-connect-book/