
Social Pros Podcast
Presented by Convince & Convert, Social Pros is one of the longest-running marketing podcasts in existence! Focused on the nexus of social media and other marketing disciplines, we bring you interviews and commentary from companies including Google, Reddit, Uber, Oracle, and many more to understand how social media impacts brand marketing, content marketing, reputation management, public relations, paid media, and much more.
After more than a decade, Social Pros is still the one podcast that brings listeners inside the minds of marketing leaders making real impact. Join us as we dive behind-the-scenes and share actionable marketing strategies that you can immediately implement.
🎙 Listen to our episodes on our website—socialpros.com—or on your favorite audio platform.
Latest episodes

Jul 10, 2020 • 44min
Is Video the Only Place to Innovate in Social Media
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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org 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: 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 Download Social Media Examiner’s 2020 Social Media Marketing Industry Report Find out more about the Instagram Marketing Summit Listen to the Social Media Marketing Podcast Listen to Episode 397 of Social Pros with Michael Stelzner Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Jul 3, 2020 • 42min
Social Pros Greatest Hits - How Comcast Interacts With Customers on Social Media 6 Million Times Each Year
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 SocialMedia.org 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.

Jun 26, 2020 • 50min
How Social Unites 4000+ Clubs to Support One Great Cause
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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org 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.

Jun 19, 2020 • 49min
How a Community Manager Became Global VP of Marketing at Patrón Tequila
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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org 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: 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 Download Einstein's Guide To AI Use Cases from Salesforce Visit Patrón Tequila’s website Visit Adrian Parker’s website Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Jun 12, 2020 • 49min
How Pfizer Built Employee Advocacy Success From the Top-Down
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. 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org 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: 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 Download Salesforce's free eBook - "50 Best Practices for Email Marketers" Learn more about Pfizer Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Jun 5, 2020 • 40min
The Truth About LinkedIn Ad Success
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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud 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: 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 Download Salesforce’s e-book, ‘Einstein’s Guide to AI Use Cases’ Listen to new episodes of the Standing Ovation podcast Visit B2Linked’s website Listen to The LinkedIn Ads Show podcast Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

May 29, 2020 • 44min
How Chipotle Got 1 Billion Views on a Single TikTok Promotion
Tressie Lieberman, Vice President, Digital Marketing and Off-Premise at Chipotle, joins the Social Pros Podcast to discuss how the popular taco and burrito chain acquired outstanding feedback and engagement from a single TikTok promotion. 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org Full Episode Details No matter how much of a ‘social pro’ you are, you won’t get far without the help of an incredible social media team. Someone who understands this better than anyone is Tressie Lieberman, Vice President, Digital Marketing and Off-Premise at Chipotle. Tressie and her team have helped Chipotle (the masterminds behind the world’s greatest tacos and burritos) skyrocket social engagement through smart influencer marketing, active social listening and genius promotions. One of these promotions has amassed over 1.4 billion views on TikTok (yes, you read that correctly). On this delicious episode of the show, Tressie reveals the ingredients that went into creating such a wildly successful social media promotion and doesn’t hold back on sharing her best insights and tips for B2C brands who want to reach the same level of success. In This Episode 04:52 – The key role that communication plays when juggling multiple locations and employees 06:02 – How Chipotle uses social as an integral tool to learn more about their customers 08:40 – How Chipotle segment their target audiences by channel 09:39 – A look at how the social team at Chipotle operates across different channels and expertise 13:35 – What Chipotle looks for in an ‘ideal influencer’ 16:46 – How Chipotle gained 1.4 billion views for a single promotion on TikTok 24:37 – How Chipotle set up their initial colonization plan for TikTok 27:00 – How the customer service team gets involved in social 31:59 – How Chipotle’s legal team helps to guide the company in terms of contracts and other relevant factors 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 Download Salesforce’s e-book, ‘Einstein’s Guide to AI Use Cases’ Listen to episode 21 of Social Pros with Joe Stupp from Chipotle Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

May 22, 2020 • 38min
The Purdue and Don'ts for Engaging Higher Ed Students
Abby Eddy, the Assistant Director of Digital Engagement at Purdue University, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about how you can use social media to connect with your audience during uncertain times. 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org Full Episode Details As we enter what is traditionally considered ‘commencement season’ for many, millions of students are finding themselves at a standstill. Lecture halls have been swapped for Zoom calls and cap and gowns have been replaced with ‘comfy clothes’ like joggers and trainers. In a world seized by a global pandemic, how are major universities dealing with the impact of COVID-19 and leveraging social to engage with Higher Ed students? Abby Eddy, the Assistant Director of Digital Engagement at Purdue University, has really perfected the university’s approach to messaging their students during this uncertain time. Abby talks about how she uses social media to bring some levity during these times by embracing pop culture in a way that is relevant to Purdue and speaks to their audience. In This Episode 04:58 – How Purdue University are using social conversations to engage with students and organize on-demand commencement 11:16 – How different departments and team members have come together to help the university communicate effectively online 13:19 – How Abby’s team manages Purdue University’s brand voice across the board 17:31 – Why it’s important to find a balance between ‘COVID-19 messaging’ Vs. more ‘cheerful’ content 22:30 – How to choose what pop culture moments to play into 23:46 – How Purdue University uses past performance data to cultivate future results 26:46 – An insight into the successful hashtag engagement campaign for the launch of the Purdue Podcast 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 Download Salesforce’s free eBook - “50 Best Practices for Email Marketers” Visit Purdue University’s website Listen to the brand-new Purdue Podcast Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

May 15, 2020 • 44min
Why a Serial Entrepreneur Mindset is Key to Social Success
Dan Phelps, Head of Social Media Marketing at Wells Fargo, joins the Social Pros Podcast to talk about the power of embracing a serial entrepreneur mindset as a social practitioner. 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org Full Episode Details The role of a social practitioner often expands beyond the realm of crafting social ads, scheduling posts, and interacting with customers on various platforms. For a lot of us, we must embrace the mindset of a serial entrepreneur and become extremely nimble and fluent in the art of…. well, selling. As Dan Phelps, Head of Social Media Marketing, Wells Fargo, articulated, it’s our responsibility as social pros to sell the idea of social to leaders that can’t grasp just how important social is in today’s world. Dan shares so many incredible perceptions with us, including how he communicates real-time social media data to make business, marketing, and communication decisions so much more powerful. In This Episode 03:24 – How Wells Fargo’s team of social professionals are dealing with the COVID-19 crisis 05:20 - How Dan’s team deal with different audiences 11:37 – How Wells Fargo’s relationship with legal changed during the coronavirus outbreak 14:39 – The process of shifting marketing messages during a crisis 18:23 – How audience interaction has changed 22:44 - How Dan and his team leverage social listening and artificial intelligence tools 31:09 – Tips to cultivate a culture where using social data plays a key role in the organization 34:57 – Advice for managing social media teams 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 Download Salesforce’s e-book "Boost Sales Productivity: Get More from Your Sales Team" Check out Wells Fargo’s website Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

May 8, 2020 • 48min
What You Must Adjust in Your Social Media in These Crazy Times
Zontee Hou, Head of Strategy at Convince & Convert and Lauren Teague, Strategist at Convince & Convert, join the Social Pros Podcast to reveal what changes you need to make in social media during these uncertain times. 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: Salesforce Marketing Cloud SocialMedia.org Full Episode Details The social media landscape has changed drastically since the coronavirus spread across the world. In a short matter of time, everything has changed, including how people and brands use social media. As we continue to navigate through these uncertain times, one thing remains certain – you still need to connect with your audience. The only question that remains is how. How can you connect with your customers, prospects, partners, and team members in a pandemic? The strategy team at Convince & Convert has worked tirelessly to bring you the 11 changes you need to make to your social media strategy in these crazy times. Sharing a few key findings from this research (see links to the webinar and blog post below) are Zontee Hou, Head of Strategy at Convince & Convert and Lauren Teague, Strategist at Convince & Convert. In This Episode: 05:41 – How historical patterns of social media usage have been disrupted 08:19 – Why brands need to be more deliberate about what they post 09:24 – The importance of providing a human to human connection during these times 10:47 – What brands should be listening to right now 13:47 – How to use your social accounts to communicate necessary information with your customers 19:04 – How to approach the imagery you share on social 21:12 – How social media ads have evolved to reflect the new reality we live in 23:30 – How to inject humor and entertain audiences without crossing a line 27:50 – Why brands need to activate their influencers 30:41 – How ideal publishing times have changed during the pandemic 34:17 – Whether now is a good time to experiment with different channels Resources: Get the new State of Marketing report for free from Salesforce Download Salesforce’s 50 Best Practices for Email Marketers Read the 11 Social Media Changes to Make in a Coronavirus World blog post Watch the 11 Things You Must Adjust in Your Social Media During These Crazy Days [webinar] Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.