Social Pros Podcast

Zachary Lones, Director of Social Media Marketing at Walmart, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss how the organization empowers local store associates to use their unique voice on social media to reach their unique communities. 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 Tailwind aCe Full Episode Details When employees feel empowered at work, you can expect to see a significant improvement in job performance, job satisfaction, and loyalty to the company. So, how can organizations use social media to empower their associates? Zachary Lones, Director of Social Media Marketing at Walmart, believes that it is “more important than ever to give your associates the voice and empowerment to speak up.” Empowering local store associates at nearly 5,000 different locations to share their voices without much control from central marketing is almost unheard of in today’s society. Yet, that is exactly what Walmart is doing on a daily basis in what could potentially be one of the best employee-generated content case studies the world has ever seen. In This Episode: 07:24 – How Walmart associates are empowered to use social media to reach their unique community 09:22 – How Walmart helps associates get up and running with different social media channels 10:33 – How many associates speak on behalf of the company 12:38 – The percentage of content shared by associates that is aspirational vs sales-focused 16:55 – How Walmart empowers associates to understand marketing and communications 21:30 – The critical indicators that determine whether or not a program is successful 28:18 – Why more organizations need to be open to the idea of allowing associates to connect with audiences via social media 33:52 – Who is responsible for engaging with audiences’ queries on social media Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Find out if your website is ADA & WCAG compliant with help from aCe Get $30 off of your Tailwind Subscription! Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Jay, Adam, and Anna join forces in this special episode of the Social Pros Podcast to talk about some of the best highlights from episodes released in the rollercoaster year of 2020. 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 2020 has been a year like no other. Not just for the Social Pros Podcast, but the entire world. We have seen and experienced so much this year, so how can you recap a year like 2020? Well, Jaye, Adam, and Anna searched through the back catalog of episodes released in 2020 and noticed many similar themes running through them. They also saw many commonalities between various guests who shared their perspectives on the world and how the social media industry has changed in 2020. In this episode, you’ll hear highlights from clips pulled from previous episodes released in 2020. So, if you’re ready to take a trip down memory lane and explore some of the best bits from the Social Pros archive, listen in! In This Episode: 05:04 – Why you should always listen to your audience 07:19 – How JetBlue has adjusted its content during the pandemic 11:01 – Why it’s important to take advantage of opportunities in real-time 14:08 – What it’s really like to work in this profession 16:39 – Why social pros need to take care of their mental health 20:29 – How to combat burnout as a social media practitioner 23:29 – Why you need to be a great marketer to succeed on social media 26:49 – The benefits of releasing episodic content 31:51 – How to hook your audience from the start 36:14 – Why you should have a separate paid and organic approach 40:46 – The true power of authenticity Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Marcus Sheridan, Author, Speaker & Co-Owner of IMPACT, is our guest on this episode of Social Pros, where he debunks common myths surrounding social media video content. 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 The internet is swamped with myths surrounding video content, but which ones are true? And, which ones should we ignore? Marcus Sheridan, author, speaker & Co-Owner of IMPACT, helps us separate the truth from the lies and reveals whether the length of the videos we share on social media actually matters. Most people believe that the shorter a video is, the better. However, Marcus quickly debunked that theory when he pointed out that “the average #1 ranked video in YouTube search results is about 10 minutes long.” Marcus Sheridan puts many of the world’s most popular video myths to rest and shares a treasure trove of tips on using video and how to get your sales and marketing teams working closely together in social media and beyond. In This Episode: 03:47 – Learn about Marcus’ agency, IMPACT 06:23 – How to use video to bridge the gap between sales and marketing 11:27 – Why the premise that your videos should be 90 seconds or less is not true 15:07 – When it makes sense for a brand to use live video 17:53 – Why videographers need to be strong socially to be successful 21:59 – How video content can improve your social selling efforts 27:58 – Why Marcus left Facebook Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Read ‘The Visual Sale,’ by Marcus Sheridan Learn more about IMPACT Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Rick Wion, Senior Director of Consumer Engagement of The Kellogg Company, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about social media from the corporate level and why brands need to be more selective with what they share on social. 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 As social media has evolved, those who work with social media marketing have gained more freedom to make crucial decisions around what goes out and what doesn’t. Not every company update or press release has to be broadcasted on social media. As Rick Wion, Senior Director of Consumer Engagement of The Kellogg Company said, “for social, we really just need to focus in on this one component of things versus supporting every part of every program with a plethora of social content.” The hard truth is that not every update is “social media worthy.” Brands need to be more selective about the content they share on social media. Making sure your brand communicates authentically is vital and being attuned to what your audience wants to see from you is perhaps even more important.  In This Episode: 03:12 – How social media marketing and communications have evolved 07:11 – How the evolution of social media has impacted how Kellogg’s constructs their social media and consumer engagement teams 10:30 – How Kellogg’s uses social media to have important conversations with their audience around food security 12:48 - How the brand’s messaging and timing of messages have changed since the pandemic 16:19 – How being classified as an essential business impacted the company, the social media marketing team, and business operations during the pandemic 18:43 – How Kellogg’s uses data and research to shape conversations on social media 23:25 – How Tony the Tiger helps to share the brand’s voice on social media 25:45 – How to empower an organization to leverage social media listening and insights Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Learn more about Kellogg’s Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Saul Colt, the Founder and Creative Director at The Idea Integration Company, is our special guest on this episode of Social Pros, where we discuss why advocates will do more for your brand than influencers and why you need to start taking more chances 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud LinkedIn Full Episode Details Is it time for brands to take risks and chances in social media? Saul Colt, Founder and Creative Director at The Idea Integration Company, certainly thinks so, and he believes we should start by changing how we perceive influencers. Influencer marketing is potentially very powerful. However, finding the right influencers to advocate for your brand is another ballgame entirely. It’s not enough to find an influencer with a huge following. They should also care about your product and your brand. Saul felt very strongly about this and stated that he would “rather make the influencer than buy the influencer.” What is more valuable – an influencer with 25k followers who doesn’t care about your brand or a super fan who genuinely loves your brand? It’s easy to become seduced by the size of an influencer’s audience, but is it time to forget the numbers and choose influencers based on the amount of passion they have for your brand? Find out on this episode of the Social Pros Podcast! In This Episode: 05:48 – Why Saul gravitated towards word of mouth 08:16 – Why people struggle to create conversation and attention 12:01 – Why there must be a strategy behind your tactics 16:35 – Whether social amplifies the cultivation of new ideas and creativity 18:40 – Why it’s better to find advocates for your brand than influencers who don’t genuinely care about your brand or product 27:25 – How the pandemic has changed tactics Saul uses on social media 37:04 – Why brands need to focus on more than just the tools they use Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Find out how you can launch your first LinkedIn campaign with $100! Learn more about The Idea Integration Co Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Sallie Poggi, Director of Social Media at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about social media crisis management and how to cultivate culture change within an organization using 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org Full Episode Details Use Social Media to Create Positive Change Do you remember when social media was more like an experiment for brands than a real business strategy? Back then, brands did not grasp the potential that social media offered. Nowadays, social practitioners are a key part of the fabric of an organization. Sallie Poggi, Director of Social Media at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), reminisced about a time when social media practitioners weren’t deemed as necessary as they are now. Today, instead of “tweeting in the corner,” we have a seat at the table and help to “make decisions and set strategy from a high level.” Social media is used for so much more than updating followers about what you had for lunch. When used properly, social media can be leveraged to build relationships and create culture change across an entire organization. In This Episode: 07:56 – How the social media team at UC Davis operates 11:18 – How Sallie established her own department and how it helped to elevate her at the table 18:15 – What you can do to get other social media communicators on your side 21:48 – How COVID-19 has shifted Sallie’s approach to social media crisis management 26:06 – What social media metrics Sallie tracks 30:04 – How Sallie got the UC Davis Street Team program off the ground Resources: Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Find out how you can launch your first LinkedIn campaign with $100! Learn more about UC Davis Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Eric SanInocencio, the Associate Commissioner of Strategic Digital Media at ACC, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about the impact that COVID-19 has had on the sports industry and how the ACC continues to overcome uncertainty using 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud LinkedIn Full Episode Details 2020 has been a strange year for everyone. Businesses closed, schools shut down, and it was like the world hit pause on everyday life for quite some time. One industry that has been significantly impacted by the global pandemic is the sports industry, with games canceled left, right, and center. Eric SanInocencio, the Associate Commissioner of Strategic Digital Media at ACC, has learned to navigate the recent changes while leading social media for the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC oversees sports for 1,415 schools in the eastern part of the U.S., so you can imagine just how unique and complicated Eric’s role is as the Associate Commissioner of Strategic Digital Media at ACC. Eric believes that “social media for sports events is the truest version of a sports bar that we have left,” and we couldn’t agree more. Social media allows people to jump into the conversation when they feel like it, which helps sports fans feel like part of a community again. In This Episode: 05:24 – How ACC’s digital marketing team is structured 07:31 – What Eric’s role as the Associate Commissioner of Strategic Digital Media involves 09:31 – How the different schools get together virtually to discuss best practices 13:31 – How Eric’s team structures content creation and distribution across the team 15:57 – How to continue to have great collaboration within a remote environment 18:42 – How Joe prevents confusion and complications when monitoring and managing so many schools 22:58 – How ACC has dealt with the changing sports schedule since the COVID-19 outbreak 29:26 – How Joe turned the cancellation of the 2020 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament and turned it into something positive 33:49 – Whether Joe uses paid social to promote the championships and gain exposure, etc. 41:01 – How to deal with negativity on social media Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Find out how you can launch your first LinkedIn campaign with $100! Learn more about the ACC  Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Chief Marketing Officer at Jobvite, Jeffrey Rohrs, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss how social media has impacted the recruiting process and why recruiting is the new marketing. 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 LinkedIn Full Episode Details Whether you want to recruit new employees or new customers, all brands should implement recruitment strategies in their marketing. Chief Marketing Officer at Jobvite and previous host of this very podcast, Jeffrey Rohrs, believes that recruiting is the new marketing. Promoting and getting the best candidates starts with social media. If you want to reach the most qualified people for the role you want to fill, you must get the “best amplification of the opportunity in the marketplace, and LinkedIn certainly has cracked the code on that.” Many brands don’t realize that many of the basic recruitment tactics that effectively attract the right people can be used to recruit customers. As more brands pivot to empathetic marketing and spreading messages around diversity, we’re starting to see that more prospects resonate with messages they see on social media. We talk about all of this on this episode of the Social Pros podcast, where Jeffrey makes a comeback and reveals how you can join marketing and recruiting in your social media efforts. In This Episode: 07:38 – How Jobvite leverages LinkedIn 09:25 – How to get better at merchandising your brand’s opportunities 12:58 – How social media has impacted the recruiting process 17:00 – Why brands should share their employees’ stories 20:57 – How to increase awareness of your brand’s position on diversity and inclusion 23:56 – How Jeffrey promoted the “Summer to Evolve” series on social media 31:08 – How to avoid social, event, and zoom fatigue 38:16 – Why it’s so important to hire for adaptability Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Find out how you can launch your first LinkedIn campaign with $100! Learn more about Jobvite Learn more about The Summer to Evolve series presented by Jobvite Take the 10 minute assessment – The EVOLVE Talent Acquisition Framework Read “Audience: Marketing in the Age of Subscribers, Fans and Followers,” by Jeffrey K. Rohrs Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Amanda Robinson, the Founder of The Digital Gal, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss her new book, “Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing,” and the power of messenger chatbots, and why more businesses need to embrace this incredible technology. 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 Everyone has a superpower. You could be a master on Instagram, a LinkedIn expert, or a pro at social media marketing. Whatever your superpower is, you need to find it and leverage it. However, although your powers may reside with one social platform, you need to know what’s going on around you. Amanda Robinson, the Founder of The Digital Gal, suggests that every social pro must identify their superpower and then strive to understand other platforms. If you just operate in your lane, you won’t be prepared to handle something unexpected up ahead. In this episode, we talk to Amanda, The Digital Gal herself, about her new book, “Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing,” and how to use Facebook ads and messenger bots for maximum results. Many people misconstrue messenger bots to be invasive and problematic. According to Amanda, that’s not what a messenger bot is at all – “A messenger bot is about giving - giving back to people, giving value, giving a better experience, & giving faster information.” In This Episode: 04:16 – The challenges of writing a book about social media 06:24 – Why you need to find your social media superpower while having general knowledge about other platforms 09:47 – What people are doing wrong on social media 13:59 – What messenger marketing chatbots are and what you need to know about them 21:59 – How to manage messenger marketing chatbots 26:02 – How to measure the performance of chatbots 30:58 – How to convince others about the value and importance of chatbots 33:30 – How Amanda’s workshop students differ from those that came before   Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Learn more about The Digital Gal Read “Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing” Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Jessica Leachman, Global Social Media Insights & Analytics at a Global Biotech Company, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about how to structure social media success on a global scale. 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 It is almost impossible to be successful in social unless you believe in the mission of your organization. Jessica Leachman, Global Social Media Insights & Analytics at a Global Biotech Company, is emotionally invested in the outcomes of the organization she works for in a genuinely palpable, powerful, and persuasive way. Jessica works for a major pharmaceutical and biotech company, and being passionate about the organization is about more than merely wanting the organization to be profitable and successful. Jessica cares about saving lives. Her genuine care for people has motivated her to build the company’s wildly successful social media presence so that they can reach, engage, and help even more people. If you’ve been looking for a masterclass on how to do social media for a large multinational cooperation, this is the episode you’ve been waiting for. Even if you are a social practitioner for a small business, there is a lot of powerful insights that you can take from this episode and use in your own business. In This Episode: 04:27 – How this Global Biotech Company is organized in terms of social media 06:41 – What social channels are used to reach patients and caregivers vs. medical professionals 08:48 – How social media adoption and integration has evolved 10:27 – How Jessica and her colleagues interact with social channels that are popular in other countries 11:50 – An insight into how the organization engages with their audience on social media 15:09 – Specific social media restrictions that must be followed 17:13 – How Jessica built a social strategy that incorporates the global nature of her role 22:13 – How to use the 80/20 rule to maximize social media success 24:32 – How doing social media right can save an organization money 31:08 – How social listening has helped this global organization find new ideas, concepts, and content 36:42 – How the world of dance and social media collides Resources Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Find out more about the community at SocialMedia.org with a special form for Social Pros listeners Jessica’s LinkedIn profile Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.