Social Pros Podcast

Jenn Herman, Instagram Expert, Speaker, and Author at Jenn's Trends, joins the Social Pros podcast for a new and updated chat about Instagram’s best practices. 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 Full Episode Details If Jenn Herman, Instagram Expert, Speaker, and Author at Jenn's Trends, sounds familiar, it’s because she’s a returning guest twice over. She joins the Social Pros podcast for a third time to deliver more fantastic Instagram tips and insights. Given that Instagram is perhaps the most frequently changing social media platform, Jenn always has something new to share. In this episode, we look at what’s changed on Instagram and which best practices you should focus on in the future. The last time Jenn was on the show, Reels was a promising new feature. Given what it is today, Jenn explains why you should definitely prioritize Reels in your Instagram strategy. We also hear some quickfire tips from Jenn for any social pro trying to gain traction on Instagram, including why you should only ever post your best content. Tune in to the episode to learn what makes a winning Instagram strategy, what she’d love to see on the platform in the future, and why the color blue is surprisingly good for engagement. In This Episode: 4:08 – Jenn’s take on Meta and why she thinks it’s unlikely to affect Instagram 6:05 – How to deal with ever-changing Instagram updates and why Reels is the one to focus on (for now) 7:43 – How to repurpose content for Reels 11:37 – Jenn explains why “more hashtags is more,” as long as they’re relevant 15:03 – Why Instagram recently rolled out the ‘Rage Shake’ feature 16:23 – The benefits of being able to delete and edit Carousels 19:12 – Jenn discusses the new ability to post from the desktop 21:33 – What photos work best on Instagram – Jenn’s top tips for boosting engagement 24:23 – What features or updates Jenn would love to see in the future 26:53 – The place Instagram has in customer service 29:18 – Why Jenn believes you should have a customer service background to work in social 31:10 – The top thing that Instagram users overlook 34:24 – Jenn shares her top tip for those looking to become a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Leah Schultz, Senior Director of Brand & Social at TwinSpires Racing, Sports & Casino, joined the Social Pros podcast to discuss a winning real-time 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud Snapchat Full Episode Details Leah Schultz, Senior Director of Brand & Social at TwinSpires Racing, Sports & Casino, is on the Social Pros podcast to share the secrets of TwinSpires’ success. Social media never sleeps. And in the world of online gambling, sports, and racing, social pros need to have their finger on the pulse. Part of what makes TwinSpires’ social content so engaging is that it pops up exactly when the fans need it – in real-time. Leah and her team don’t delay when it comes to pushing out content. Someone just won their 7000th race? Her team will push out recaps, graphics, and copy, right there and then. Leah explains why this is especially important in this industry and what other social pros can do to stay ahead. She shares the strategies behind social listening, community management, and why a trusting, close-knit team is key to making fast decisions for social content. Leah also shares a little about the challenges of promoting racing and gambling content, including the regulations and how they differ by state. In This Episode: 4:34 – Leah shares a bit of background on TwinSpires Racing, Sports & Casino 5:50 – How Leah navigates the different regulations for social content 7:30 – How the TwinSpires team manages national vs. state-specific social content 11:20 - What Leah learned from her time with Papa John’s legal team 13:30 – Why online casino and racing are a 24/7 business for the social team 16:55 – Why having a social team with passionate sports fans is so important for TwinSpires 20:19 – Where community management fits into the social team 22:05 – How TwinSpires manages age gating with its content 26:14 - Leah shares how she talks to leadership about social media and how that’s changed over the years 29:41 – Leah gives her take on how VR and AR will play into the future of online casinos and sports 32:40 – Why Leah prefers Twitter over audio-only platforms like Clubhouse 35:52 – Leah’s top tip for those looking to become a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Double your advertising spending on Snapchat Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Brittany Cabriales, Head of Social Media at GoFundMe, joins this Social Pros podcast episode to discuss how social media can be a force for good. 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 Full Episode Details Brittany Cabriales, Head of Social Media at GoFundMe, is on this episode of Social Pros to share the strategies and successes behind GoFundMe’s social media push. GoFundMe is an instantly recognizable name in the online fundraising world. Part of this is down to users sharing their fundraisers on social media, which almost every user does. Brittany explains how the social team helps to get the word out about important causes and the effect this has on fundraising. Brittany shares why timing is crucial and how timely fundraisers can raise thousands of dollars more. This is why promoting on social media is key, so you have to move fast. Brittany also shares how GoFundMe’s social media success is largely down to organic content rather than paid advertising. We also hear how different social platforms do better with certain types of fundraisers and how to tell an effective story with your fundraiser for maximum success. In This Episode: 3:18 – Why GoFundMe is hoping to broaden its audience reach 4:41 – The impact of the pandemic on GoFundMe 6:28 – How the pandemic spurred people into action through fundraising 7:21 – How GoFundMe uses social media to spread the word about good causes 9:36 – Brittany explains how GoFundMe targets both fundraisers and participants 10:17 – How different social platforms are better for different audiences 11:25 – How GoFundMe decides what fundraisers to promote 13:52 – Why Brittany is always trying to stay on top of social media trends 14:21 – How GoFundMe’s choice to highlight fundraisers affects the donations 16:34 – Brittany explains GoFundMe’s new social strategy 17:38 – Why GoFundMe sees more success with organic search over paid 18:29 – The top metrics that GoFundMe watches 20:19 – How Brittany approaches campaigns on different social media platforms 22:33 – GoFundMe’s new ventures on TikTok 24:34 – Brittany’s tips for gaining traction with your GoFundMe campaign 27:41 – Why Gen Z is one of the most engaged donor demographics on GoFundMe 28:43 – GoFundMe’s approach to social care and social listening 29:15 – How Brittany’s experience in customer support helps her in her role now 31:06 – Why “every cause is important” in Brittany’s eyes 32:33 – Brittany’s top tip for those looking to become a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce GoFundMe’s Instagram Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Jon Loomer, Owner of Jon Loomer Digital, is on the Social Pros podcast to talk all about the future of advanced Facebook advertising.  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 Full Episode Details Jon Loomer, Owner of Jon Loomer Digital, joins the Social Pros podcast to share some of his words of wisdom and advice for those looking to take Facebook ads to the next level. With the recent Facebook to Meta rebrand, things are a little up in the air in the social media world. But Jon weighs in on the future of Facebook and how marketers will have to adapt to succeed. He gives some solid advice on getting started with Facebook ads, why you should focus on targeting the right people, and how to be mindful about sticking to a budget. Jon goes on to talk about how competition has affected advertising on Facebook over the years and why it’s more important than ever to be creative and experiment to find what works. In This Episode: 2:50 – Jon’s thoughts on Facebook’s rebrand to Meta 4:38 – What is “the metaverse”? 6:23 – How Jon Loomer Digital evolved into the resource for Facebook advertisers 10:08 – Why tie your Facebook ads to different stages of your funnel 12:07 – Creative, targeting, or budgeting: which is the most important? 14:31 – Why microtargeting is so powerful 18:00 – The factors holding people back from experimenting with Facebook ads 19:48 – How advertisers can set realistic result expectations 21:52 – How to get started with Facebook ads 25:56 – The challenges with dayparting 29:12 – Understanding how iOS14 can impact Facebook advertising 34:35 – What makes a good Facebook ad call to action 35:51 – How much should you trust Facebook’s auto-optimization? 41:48 – What experience and skills help you run successful ad campaigns 43:33 – Jon’s one tip to becoming a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Jon Loomer Digital A Facebook Ads Experimentation Guide Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Thea Neal, Global Talent Marketing Manager for Royal Caribbean Group, joined this episode of Social Pros to share how she’s utilizing the power of social for recruitment. 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 Full Episode Details Thea Neal, Global Talent Marketing Manager at Royal Caribbean Group, is on the Social Pros Podcast to share the inventive ways Royal Caribbean Group recruits staff. With a constant need to fill roles on the many ships within the Royal Caribbean Group family, recruitment is a huge priority. But rather than simply throwing up a few job adverts, Royal Caribbean has turned to social media to really drive that hiring push. Thea explains how they use user-generated content from existing staff members to paint a picture of life at sea for potential candidates. She believes this goes way further than what marketing campaigns can produce because it’s authentic content that people really want to see. Thea also shares how recruitment is a long game for Royal Caribbean Group and how social is currently driving around 20% of referrals to job applications. We also hear a bit about the struggles during COVID, including visa changes, recruitment competition from other brands, and how the travel industry is recovering. In This Episode: 4:39 – How Thea is managing a huge hiring push after a COVID pause 7:27 – How being a talent marketer differs from being a regular marketer 9:39 – The ways talent marketing has changed over social media 11:27 – Why Royal Caribbean’s social recruitment push is a long game 12:40 – How Thea works with her counterparts to ensure the messaging is consistent 14:21 – What the pandemic taught Thea about the challenges of global hiring 16:20 – How Royal Caribbean manages a constant recruitment push worldwide 18:01 – How Royal Caribbean uses specific and targeted hiring campaigns 20:06 – Why Glassdoor ratings were such a big priority for Thea 24:10 – How user generated content gives insights into job roles that marketing campaigns can’t 26:08 – Why most UGC is created organically at Royal Caribbean 27:04 – Thea explains the ‘Journey with Us’ campaign 29:04 – How Thea measures success with recruitment campaigns 35:20 – Royal Caribbean’s hiring campaign plan post-COVID 36:50 – How Royal Caribbean competes with other companies for the best talent 38:54 – Thea’s one tip for those looking to become a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Careers at Royal Caribbean Group Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Lauren Thomas, Senior Manager of Communications & Social at Intuit Consumer Group, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss how Intuit makes tax content fun and engaging. 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 Snapchat Full Episode Details Tax and budgeting are, by most people’s books, not the most interesting topics to hear about on social media. And yet, Intuit has managed to create content on social that’s fun, engaging, and educational. This is thanks to the work of Lauren Thomas, Senior Manager of Communications & Social at Intuit Consumer Group, and her team. Lauren joined Social Pros to talk all about her work and how she’s brought innovations and big ideas to the team to drive its success. We hear about Intuit’s ventures on TikTok and how it works with both personal finance and general lifestyle influencers to create engaging and relatable content. Lauren explains how Intuit has developed its light-hearted and fun brand voice to appeal to those who would usually shy away from hearing about tax. In This Episode: 4:16 – How Lauren manages to wear so many hats in her role 6:10 – How Lauren uses social listening and the insights she’s picked up 8:47 – Why the area of social you work in affects how you use social listening 10:45 – How Intuit’s social media content changes throughout the year 13:40 – Lauren explains how social engagement shifts depending on the time of year 16:09 – How Intuit blends tax and finance content with lifestyle content 18:46 – Lauren explains how Intuit used Cameo as a unique marketing push 22:49 – How influencers help Intuit make serious tax topics engaging 26:55 – Intuit’s social care team’s approach to protecting personal information 34:02 – Lauren shares the story behind ending up in the Guinness Book of World Records  37:54 – The challenges of getting leadership to understand your vision  45:34 – Lauren’s top tip for those looking to become a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Double your advertising spend with Snapchat Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Gwynne Spann, Director of Content Marketing at Visit California, joins this episode of the Social Pros Podcast for a behind-the-scenes look at their TikTok 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud Full Episode Details Gwynne Spann, Director of Content Marketing at Visit California, is on Social Pros to chat about TikTok, content marketing, audience targeting, and much more. She shares the initial hesitancy she and her team had around TikTok and how her daughter convinced her to finally take the plunge. While fairly new to TikTok, we get a glimpse into how Visit California approached the platform in the right way, prioritizing authenticity and a tailored strategy specific to TikTok. Gwynne explains how the wider marketing strategy uses a lot of geographic targeting based on audience travel habits and how that influences the type of content they post. We also hear a bit about how Visit California works with travel partners, brand ambassadors, and Gwynne hints that we’ll likely see more influencer content in the future.  In This Episode: 4:41 – How marketing to in-state residents differs from out-of-state audiences 7:44 – How Visit California uses audience targeting 11:28 – Why Visit California launched its own TikTok 17:48 – Why TikTok is such a different beast than other social channels 20:57 – How Visit California works with all its different business and venue partners 24:30 – The success metrics that Visit California monitors 26:56 – How Visit California does sentiment analysis 31:02 – Gwynne explains what type of content is resonating the most on TikTok 36:10 – The top piece of advice Gwynne has for those thinking of becoming a social pro Resources Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Bari Rosenstein, Social Media Manager at Auntie Anne's Pretzels, joins this episode of Social Pros to talk all about her winning 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud Full Episode Details Bari Rosenstein, Social Media Manager at Auntie Anne's Pretzels, is back on the Social Pros Podcast, this time to share her strategies behind promoting pretzels to a growing fanbase. Impressively, Bari works as a social team of one but collaborates with other social media managers in the Focus Brands portfolio and beyond. In this episode, she discusses how Auntie Anne’s likes to use user-generated content from its passionate fans to create relatable social content. Bari also explains how she reaches out to influencers and how a simple gift of free pretzels led to a highly successful campaign during the Olympics. One of the reasons Bari loves her current role is that it’s so open to trying new creative ideas.  That’s why she’s been experimenting with the increasingly popular Auntie Anne’s TikTok channel. In This Episode: 5:59 – Auntie Anne’s expansion into drive-throughs and beyond 8:46 – Where Auntie Anne’s works within the Focus Brands family 10:33 – How Auntie Anne’s works with franchisees on larger marketing efforts 13:58 – Bari walks us through how they manage the social media calendar 16:09 – The reports and KPIs that Bari measures for franchisees and the larger business 18:12 – How Bari manages to be a social media team of one 23:10 – How the Focus Brands social media managers collaborate 26:10 – How Bari gained the trust of her team to post freely on social 28:28 – Bari talks about how Auntie Anne’s crisis management works and the struggles during the pandemic 31:52 – Where influencer marketing fits into the Auntie Anne’s social strategy 36:27 – Bari shares her ultimate Auntie Anne’s pick 37:41 – Bari’s top tip for those looking to become a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Josh Greenberg, Director of Social Media and Digital Consumer Engagement at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, is on Social Pros to put the spotlight on customer care. 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 Snapchat Full Episode Details Josh Greenberg, Director of Social Media and Digital Consumer Engagement at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, says that being “customer obsessed” is the secret to their success. But what does customer obsession look like? SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment likes to focus on the individuals who love the brand and find ways to connect with them one-on-one. By doing so, the brand manages to make customers feel special and valued. Josh explains how SeaWorld manages to strike a balance between being a fun and silly brand whilst also prioritizing world-class customer care. He takes us through some fantastic examples of how SeaWorld has gone above and beyond what other brands would do on social media. Josh explains how interactions like these work behind the scenes and how collaborating with different departments and brands under the SeaWorld name works. In This Episode: 5:02 – How working in an agency differs from being a permanent part of a social team 7:51 – How Josh adapted to his new role and responsibilities 9:41 – How Josh balances social media across all the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment brands 12:41 – The metrics and KPIs that SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment looks at 16:13 – The types of content that drive guest engagement the most 18:19 – The lessons Josh learned about change management when he first took his role 21:03 – Why it’s so important to build a relationship with people on social media 25:05 – How Josh’s team became customer obsessed 27:53 – How Josh helped to overhaul the SeaWorld Twitter accounts 31:22 – Why social care needs to be authentic 34:25 – Josh explains the metrics and analytics he’s looking at on TikTok 37:00 – Why you need to create content that’s relevant for each specific channel 38:26 – Josh’s top tip for anyone thinking of becoming a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Double your advertising budget on Snapchat with free ad credit Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Andrew Stebbins (Influencer Marketing and YouTube Strategist) and Rob Yoegel (Senior Director of Marketing) from Linode joined this episode of the Social Pros Podcast to delve into their success on YouTube, influencers, and more. 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 Full Episode Details Linode’s Andrew Stebbins (Influencer Marketing and YouTube Strategist) and Rob Yoegel (Senior Director of Marketing) are on the Social Pros Podcast to talk all about their YouTube and influencer strategies. Linode is a cloud hosting company that’s been in the space for 18 years now. And yet, it’s only been in the past few years that they’ve really ramped up their focus on marketing. From relying entirely on word-of-mouth recommendations to now mastering YouTube, Linode has been on a big learning journey. In this episode, Rob and Andrew share more about how and why they got started on YouTube and why it’s been a key part of their education and customer acquisition strategies. Andrew gives a detailed look into his work with influencers and brand advocates and where they fit into Linode’s marketing push. Rob also shares some stats behind their success and how leveraging influencers on YouTube has led to 15-20% customer growth each month! In This Episode: 4:05 – What Linode does as an “alternative cloud provider” 5:47 – How Linode’s marketing stance has changed over the past 18 years 7:46 – Rob explains why content marketing has become key for Linode 9:45 – Why YouTube became a huge focus for Linode 11:38 – Linode’s advice to other social pros about using YouTube 14:08 – How Linode’s YouTube channel started and where it is today 20:26 – How Linode works with brand advocates and influencers 23:01 – The benefits of using existing customers as influencers 25:56 – Rob explains how Linode uses paid advertising on YouTube 29:47 – Linode’s approach to repurposing content 32:20 – How optimizing metadata on YouTube is key to success 34:29 – Why using video chapters is such an underutilized yet useful feature 36:04 – What the analytics say about engagement on YouTube 39:22 – The next steps for Linode 40:50 – The key YouTube performance indicators Linode’s marketing team prioritizes 42:58 – Andrew gives his top tip for someone wanting to become a social pro Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce How to Host Multiple Discord Bots on A Single Server from Linode’s YouTube channel Deploy A Static Website Using The Linode CLI | Object Storage Tutorial from Linode’s YouTube channel Here's how to roll your own VPN | WireGuard Tutorial from Linode’s YouTube channel Clickbait is Unreasonably Effective from the Veritasium YouTube channel Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.