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Breathe, Pause, Think

By Jessica Smith On September 7, 2017 In Uncategorized

If you work in social and digital, this a reminder of how important it is to put your brand hat on. To take a deep breath, pause and think. It’s not only okay, it’s needed.

Social media can turn into the wild, wild west for a brand if not careful. A place where gimmicks are awarded and eyeballs viewed as successful. It’s a place where brands can lose their soul if the right thought is not given.

One of the challenges this industry faces is the pressure to be on, all the time. This pressure means we are constantly doing and not thinking. We push and pray without edmeds24.com why. In essence, social media becomes a playground for tactics. And then, everything turns into a sea of sameness.

But this pressure, it’s created by us. And we need to shake it off. Consumers are not asking us to post and push all the time. The world will continue if you stop and take a couple days for strategic planning. Consumers won’t lose their brand affinity if you don’t tweet for one day.

Here’s the thing. Social media is about the now, but it’s also about the brand. And brands don’t come to life without a vision, purpose and unique point-of-view. It’s critical to spend time thinking about what social media means for the brand at a higher level. The greater danger is not in pausing to plan. It’s in never planning and losing sight of you brand.

Good work isn’t easy. In fact, it’s tedious. And thinking about a brand strategy and how digital and social plays a role is no doubt an undertaking. But it’s the work that matters in making sure social plays the right role in an org.

So here’s my advice. Give yourself permission to step away from the tactics. Immerse yourself in the brand strategy. Identify focus. Create a plan. Then, once you’ve done that, focus on the tactics and execute well.

On Expanding Beyond Social

By Jessica Smith On October 8, 2017 In Uncategorized with 1 Comment

There was a time in my career when social was the end all be all. If you asked what I wanted to do long term, the answer was always “work in social”. After all, who doesn’t enjoy spending their days connecting with consumers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? There’s a lot of personal gratification that comes with it.

When I was at the NCAA though, I had a fantastic colleague and friend who would always push me—“Jess, it’s bigger than that”. At that point, I didn’t understand what he meant. But since he is someone I respect and admire, that advice stayed with me.

Fast forward to now. I’ve had a variety of experience from agency to the brand side. I’ve seen the struggles and values of working in social. I’ve reported into creative teams, marketing teams, PR teams and sales teams. I’ve been in orgs where social is siloed and orgs where it’s collaborative. I’ve seen social be successful, and at times, miss the mark.

After all these years, I now get that advice from my friend.

Social is a tiny piece of a much larger puzzle that can only be successful if it’s part of the big picture. You have to figure out how to turn the tweets and likes into ROl. You have to understand how it maps back to organizational goals. You have to drive results. It’s about marketing as a whole.

If you started your career in social, then you have a strong marketing foundation already. You have a knack for understanding content. You get what it means to be consumer-centric. You know how to tell a story that makes people pay attention. You are adaptable, willing to learn and often eager to push things forward.

But, moving up in social alone and taking on new roles isn’t always easy. There are a lot of entry level jobs, some middle manager jobs and true leadership roles are hard to find. Perhaps it’s because ROI is still hard to prove. Or, because rightly so, marketing as a whole should be driving it all.

So here’s that “ah-ha” moment. If you feel yourself at a fork in your career and you’re not sure where to go, don’t be afraid to take on an expanded marketing role. Your foundation in social is invaluable. And, a more general role should still touch social—after all, it’s a piece of a larger brand and digital strategy. An expanded role will open all kinds of new doors and challenges though. And, it will arm you with an even stronger skill set.

When thinking about a career path now, it’s extends beyond “working in social”. It’s the hope of one day being a CMO. Of helping brands and organizations tell their story holistically, while driving business goals. Companies need more brand marketers and leaders who can drive a 360 plan with digital in mind.

So, take a leap to a different role. Ask for a project outside of your job description. Know that it’s okay to move on from social (if you want)– and that you will thrive. One day you could be leading a team that’s driving the entire brand story, across all channels. That’s exciting.

Examples of Engaging Fans With Content

By Jessica Smith On July 27, 2017 In Uncategorized with 1 Comment

Social media marketers are often a little timid to ask fans to interact with their content. We tell fans when to cheer in-venue though, so why are we so shy about encouraging them to interact online?

Yes, it can feel gimmicky and forced to give instructions to fans asking them to click, comment and like. When done right though, calls-to-engagement can be a powerful rallying cry. They can catapult a great piece of content further, draw new fans in and build a stronger community. The key is to use them strategically, sparingly and creatively.

The good news is that you can get fans to engage with your brand and content, without it feeling desperate. You have to go beyond the surface. Tap into creative, visuals, emotion and unique platform hacks to get your fans and consumer to interact with your content.

Below are a few recent examples of teams who have engaged fans in interesting ways, whether through creative or platform tactics. All of them do a good job of prompting fans to take action and brining them into their content and community.

 

Sacramento Kings- #Winning On All Levels

In a brilliant off-season play, the @SacramentoKings leveraged Twitter’s polls and thread features to create a “choose your own adventure “game. Through the thread, fans get to make the decisions on how they would handle the final possession at a chance to win it all for the team. The result is a well-executed and unique fan engagement play that puts the story in fans’ hands.

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/889648180006178816

The @SacramentoKings have also leveraged graphics to do a number associated play. In the example below, they created a graphic and associated all four of their draftees with a number(s). Fans become one of the new King additions based on the last number of their like. Not only did this prompt fans to like the photo, but it also prompted fans to comment who they got.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWqwQxFF0hj/?taken-by=sacramentokings

Both of these examples from the Kings draw fans into their content in a more personal way. They make fans feel a part of the story and that’s a powerful, powerful thing.

 

PGA Tour- Reaction Snaps

During the drama-filled Open, the @PGATour asked fans to send in their best reactions via Snap. The best of the best were featured on their Snapchat account. This is a great example of using UGC in a way that’s relevant to the platform. Snapchat is all about people and first hand POVS, so it’s only natural that people would share reactions there. Empower your fans to join your story—this is an easy example to execute.

 

ESPN- Design that Prompts

EPSN has been using graphics and design to prompt fans to comment. The creative execution below is strong, making it feel like a poll versus a tactic just to get comments. The post generated 23K comments (that’s way over their average engagement).

The lesson? Design can play a key role in promoting fans to engage. And, a little push every now and then to encourage them to take action never hurts.

 

Suns- TBT

Make fans part of your publishing game! In a fun and easy TBT play, the @Suns asked for their fans to share their favorite memory. The @Suns, in return, found some of their favorites from the archive and shared them.

In conclusion, there are plenty of ways to get fans involved without it feeling like a gimmick. They want to be a part of the conversation and the community, so give them that extra confidence push.

What good examples have you seen from teams or leagues? Share below!

Why The “IF” Is Important

By Jessica Smith On January 18, 2017 In Uncategorized with 2 Comments

Warning! This post is a test + learn where I need your honest opinion, so apologies in advanced that it is so raw and unpolished. A new year means a new opportunity to grow, and one of the ways I thought I could stretch myself in 2017 is by testing a podcast.

Why a podcast? First, this blog is a labor of love and helps me keep up with the industry, but it doesn’t stretch myself in the traditional sense. As an introvert, writing comes natural to me. Public speaking, on the other hand, does not come as natural. And while a podcast isn’t technically public speaking, it will help me practice some of my weak points and definitely push me out of my comfort zone.

With a few pushes from friends in the industry, I’ve given thought to the the type of podcast format I would embark on. It would be quick hits, musings and conversations with others in the industry. The key is that it will be specifically made for those of us with short attention spans and not a ton of time. The goal is to have a podcast where everything is under 15 minutes AND will compliment the writing on this blog.

This is my first stab at what a podcast musing might be. This audio has not been edited in anyway and it would be packaged in a nice little podcast format (and potentially shared with writing that compliments it). Before I  go down the podcast route though, I’m curious if quick hits, conversations with people in the industry and musings of less than 15 minutes will add value here?

So, without further ado, enjoy this random test + musing on my favorite topic FOMO. Share below if you think a podcast would be a welcomed addition (that is more polished than this).

Resume Tips

By Jessica Smith On October 3, 2016 In Uncategorized

Resume time. We’ve all been there. The dreaded sigh as you crank up the pot of coffee late night to start, tweak or completely redo the resume. Whether you are searching for your first job or have been working for awhile, there’s something tedious and stressful about updating it. What’s the right format? What do I highlight? How do I stand out?

There are so many questions to answer. And while what makes a resume great is certainly subjective, below are some of the tips I’ve learned about writing a resume if you want to work in social/digital.

 

1- Watch your length.

If you work in the industry or want to, you should know this: Attention spans are short these days and time is valuable. It’s why we omit needless words and keep our copy short and sweet. The same applies for resume writing. As you work through your bullet points and format, be conscious of how long your content is. I’m a big believer in sticking to one page, but that rule is only mandatory if you’ve been working a couple years. As you go in your career and build upon your experience, focus on quality over quantity to make sure the length is as succinct as possible.

If you work in social you should be able to communicate in 140 characters. Brevity, my friends, is key.

 

2- Relevancy is what matters.

At one point in my career I had the privilege of reviewing resumes for a postgraduate internship. As I poured through the stacks, I saw resumes that were four pages long and dated all the way back to high school jobs as a cashier at Walmart. These were smart, talented kids who got bogged down in an information dump.

Here’s the thing though: More information on your resume doesn’t make you more qualified. Just as we touched on in the first point, quality over quantity is key. Being a cashier has no relevancy to working in social, so you should absolutely cut it.

If you’re a first-time job seeker that lacks truly relevant, real-word experience, focus on your classes, projects and writing. Hone in on the skills you developed in college versus the hourly job with no relevance.

For experienced professionals who want to switch to social media (and currently don’t work in the industry), it’s important to focus on the skillsets you have that would be valuable in the role. If I’m looking to hire someone in social that doesn’t have industry experience per say, that’s okay as long as they showcase their communication skills, creative ability, passion to learn, ability to produce content, etc.

And finally, if you’ve been in the industry awhile, don’t keep roles on your resume simply to fill up whitespace. Take more real estate with the jobs that are relevant and omit the ones that don’t add much value.

 

3- Sell yourself, not your job.

This is one I can’t stress enough: Your resume should not be a copy and paste of your job description and/or classwork. If you work in social media, there are certain assumptions hiring managers can make about the roles you have had. Don’t tell the hiring manager you managed a calendar; tell them how you have helped affect process. Don’t tell the hiring manager that you managed accounts; tell them how you grew the community x percent by doing x. Don’t tell the hiring manager that you manage the creative; tell them how you helped influence a content strategy that drove x amount of engagement.

A job description won’t do you justice if you want to work in this industry. Use strong action verbs and showcase numbers wherever you can. Your resume is about selling yourself, so do it and do it well.

 

4- Link to work.

The work that we do in social media is public, so don’t be afraid to highlight it on your resume. It’s often the best selling point you can have. Where applicable, link to the accounts you manage, campaigns you’ve run, content you’ve produced, etc. on your resume or in a portfolio. Seeing your work (or projects if you’re a student) will be a lot more powerful than simply telling the hiring manager about it.

 

5- Be creative, but not crazy.

Hiring managers often have to flip through thousands of resumes, so you do need to stand out. When it comes to your resume design, it’s important to standout and be creative… but it doesn’t mean you have to go crazy. This is a creative industry, so create a resume that reflects your personality but won’t detract from the bulk of your work. Here’s an outdated example of the format I use. It’s different enough to stand out from the rest without going overboard (as some people will be more traditional).

 

6- Promote personal accounts, that make sense.

If I’m looking to hiring someone for a social media role, I want to know that they are active on social media platforms. That said, people applying for social media jobs often feel pressure to to promote every single social media account they have, even if they are more personal in nature. That’s not necessary. Stick to the ones you use professionally, like Twitter or LinkedIn that will highlight your writing, ability to connect with people, etc. Hiring managers will often seek out your other accounts, but if you use them strictly for personal, it doesn’t mean you have to highlight them. Even as someone who works in social, it’s important to highlight the ones that put your best foot forward professionally. A few links to accounts will help me understand if you “get” it.

 

 

What resume tips have you learned along the way? Share them below!

Thanks for reading.