Get ready to learn about the magic of marketing! Bennie F. Johnson, CEO of the American Marketing Association, joins the Social Pros podcast to shed light on why he believes marketing is equal parts art, science, and magic.

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The American Marketing Association is probably an organization you’re familiar with, and in this episode, we welcomed none other than the CEO himself, Bennie F. Johnson, for a fantastic conversation. Bennie shares some background of AMA and how it supports those on the academic and practitioner side of marketing.

We hear his thoughts on AI and the ethical and legal considerations that marketing pros need to know about – some of which differ by state and country. Bennie also explains why LinkedIn is the platform of choice for his personal brand and AMA.

Bennie shares his advice for the future marketing leaders out there, and we chat about why marketing today doesn’t just belong in the creative realm. There’s also a science to it (with a dash of magic too). He outlines how marketing pros can communicate the value of marketing to a wider organization, the importance of taking risks, and his advice for the Social Pros community.

In This Episode:

• 2:15 - How the American Marketing Association supports the marketing community
• 6:05 - Why marketers need communities more than ever
• 8:35 - How marketers can embrace AI
• 12:07 - What marketers need to know about different privacy regulations
• 14:20 - Balancing communication with community members
• 18:31 - How Bennie speaks to future marketers
• 21:45 - How marketers can communicate their value to a wider organization
• 25:53 - Why risk and curiosity are key to marketing
• 30:44 - Leading authentically in marketing
• 32:30 - Bennie’s one tip for those wanting to become a social pro

Resources

• Join the Social Pros community on LinkedIn
• American Marketing Association
• Connect with Bennie on LinkedIn

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

In the world of podcasting, the most important element is the story you’re trying to tell. You can have all the best equipment at hand, but it’s the story that makes it. We’re getting a little meta this week with a podcast episode about podcast episodes and storytelling with Elaine Appleton Grant, CEO of Podcast Allies and Host of the Sound Judgment podcast.

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Now, we’re no strangers to sharing great stories on this podcast. But this episode is a little different. We peek behind the curtain and look at what it takes to unravel these stories in a podcast. And it all begins with the host.

The host of Sound Judgment and CEO of Podcast Allies, Elaine Appleton Grant, gives us a masterclass on how to tell a great story by asking great questions and being curious above all.

Elaine shares plenty of anecdotes from her career and the brilliant public speakers and podcasters she’s met along the way, including the former host of this very podcast, Jay Baer. In each of these stories, Elaine breaks down the key lessons she’s learned and teaches to others, including the importance of preparation, asking questions that really dig into the details, and how to be a good listener.

There’s so much to take away from this episode if you’re interested in starting a podcast or want to improve your hosting skills. But equally, there’s plenty of value if you’re in the business of telling stories on social media.

In This Episode:

• 2:25 - Why it’s so important to share and tell stories
• 4:00 - What Elaine learned from Jay Baer’s Standing Ovation podcast
• 5:50 - Elaine gives a breakdown of what her podcast is about
• 7:51 - Elaine’s background in storytelling
• 9:51 - How Elaine approaches getting into deeper stories on her podcast
• 16:34 - How framing questions the right way helps you mine for stories
• 22:54 - How to become a great listener
• 25:25 - Why curiosity is the key skill
• 26:29 - How looking for different perspectives can uncover multitudes of stories
• 33:08 - How do you start becoming an expert storyteller
• 37:11 - The final two questions

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• The Sound Judgment podcast
• Podcast Allies
• Connect with Elaine on LinkedIn
• Follow Elaine on Instagram

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Joseph Galbo, Social Media Specialist at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, is a certified friend of the Social Pros podcast! We’re thrilled to have him back as a third-time guest on the show to talk about his work at CPSC and his tips for making safety content fun and engaging.

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How do you take something like product safety information and turn it into a library of fun, interesting, and entertaining content? Well, Joseph Galbo, Social Media Specialist at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, shares his secrets in this episode.

We hear a rundown of what social is like at CSPC, how it’s changed since we last spoke, and Joseph’s creative approach to getting important information out there.

Joseph shares stories of unique social campaigns he’s worked on, from the CPSC album drop to its Marvel-like universe of characters, including Potato the Dog, Copernicus Jackson the Cat, and Quinn the Quarantine Fox, who all share important messages with the public.

Aside from talking about safety memes, Joseph chats about the importance of engagement data, evergreen content, and communicating different safety issues around the U.S.

In This Episode:

• 3:35 - What social media is like at CPSC and what’s changed
• 6:25 - How CPSC strikes a balance between serious information and fun content
• 8:40 - Joseph explains the album drop campaign
• 13:50 - Taking a more creative approach to communicating with the public
• 15:52 - How Joseph gets creative ideas approved
• 19:28 - How government agencies are evolving on social
• 26:47 - How CPSC uses engagement data and social listening
• 29:34 - Joseph explains his favorite projects and why CPSC has a Marvel-like universe of characters
• 32:47 - Joseph asks our Social Pros hosts about following government accounts
• 37:08 - Why people are looking for more hopeful content on social
• 38:13 - Joseph’s top tip for anyone looking to become a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Follow the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on X
• Connect with Joseph on LinkedIn
• Join the Social Pros community on LinkedIn

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

This episode with Fractional VP of Social Media at Social Proof Agency, Robyn Nissim, is a masterclass in social media. Hear about her journey from in-house roles to fractional work, the importance of investing in social media, and much more.

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This episode welcomes Robyn Nissim, who shares her journey from Head of Social at big brands such as Alo Yoga and Anastasia Beverly Hills to her current role as Fractional VP of Social Media for a variety of brands. Robyn reflects on the pivotal shift towards a digital-first approach and emphasizes the importance of adapting in the dynamic social landscape.

Host Leanna Pham and guest co-host Sunny Hunt talk to Robyn about how vital it is to invest properly in social, and she highlights the percentage of online users that are influenced by brand social media—a compelling stat that shows just how important it is for brands to be engaging effectively. They talk about the value of tracking impressions, click-through rates, and cultural impact, emphasizing the need for brands to align their strategies with the digital behaviors of their target audience.

The conversation also explores Robyn’s thoughts and advice on innovative influencer marketing strategies and the role of social media teams within organizations. Robyn shares her favorite structure for her social teams, advocating for cross-functional collaborations and strategic content planning. They also discuss finding the balance between leveraging trends for brand visibility and maintaining a robust content strategy grounded in brand authenticity.

In This Episode:

• 0:40 - Robyn expands on her current role
• 2:14 - What she loves about building teams
• 3:54 - How she approaches brands that aren’t investing in social
• 6:13 - Why brands need to invest in roles and responsibilities within the social team
• 8:42 - Robyn’s ideal social team breakdown
• 11:32 - How social teams can share their insights with the whole organization
• 13:06 - Ways small teams can get a seat at the table
• 15:03 - Trends Robyn is seeing in social currently
• 21:17 - Advice for starting an influencer program
• 23:35 - Robyn’s favorite activation and why
• 26:04 - In-house roles vs fractional roles

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Connect with Robyn on LinkedIn

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

How does an Ivy League school manage its social media with a small team? We asked Maya Wesby, Social Media Manager at Harvard Graduate School of Education, for some insider insights into her role on this week’s Social Pros.

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With a small social media team consisting of Maya Wesby (Social Media Manager) and a student intern, a key part of Maya’s role is wearing many different hats. While challenging, Maya’s realm of responsibility includes creating social-first content for multiple platforms, videos, editorial content for the website, and even a podcast on top of it all.

Maya joins this episode of Social Pros to share her secrets to balancing it all and creating engaging content for students, alumni, faculty members, and anyone else interested in learning about the school.

In this episode, we hear how Maya has become a master at prioritizing the best content to work on, how she jumps on opportunities to create new content, and where she gets inspiration from. We also hear a bit about her personal branding on LinkedIn and why she’s a big fan of the platform.

In This Episode:

• 1:38 - Maya gives us an introduction to her role
• 4:13 - Who Maya’s audience is on different platforms
• 5:11 - The challenge of managing different brand voices across social media channels
• 7:07 - Balancing social-first content to build a community with the institution’s needs
• 8:18 - How Maya prioritizes what content to work on in a small team
• 10:08 - Maya’s experience with generative AI
• 13:06 - How Maya seeks out student events that make great social content
• 14:50 - The types of engagement Maya seeks out and how she manages reporting
• 16:45 - Maya shares some of her favorite content projects
• 20:26 - How to review last year’s content and take it up a notch
• 23:29 - Why Maya uses LinkedIn for her personal brand
• 27:54 - Maya’s top tip for those looking to become a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Connect with Maya on LinkedIn
• Follow Harvard Graduate School of Education on X

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

HeyOrca, the uniquely named social media scheduler, is one to keep an eye on for some community-driven content inspiration. Their CEO, Joe Teo joins this episode of Social Pros to share his vision behind collaborative work, building a community, and the story behind the name HeyOrca.

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Joe Teo is the CEO, aka “Chief Executive Orca,” at HeyOrca, a social media scheduler built to make collaboration between social teams simpler. He joins the Social Pros podcast to share his philosophy on a community-first approach to social media and advice for social pros to lean into the communities they want to build.

Joe explains where the idea behind HeyOrca came from and how important it was to build a tool that makes collaboration easier within social and marketing teams. He talks about customer feedback and how that’s helped HeyOrca to evolve, optimizing video content for social, and the important question you should ask yourself before you post something.

In This Episode:

• 2:04 - A little background on HeyOrca
• 4:07 - How Joe pivoted his focus to community building
• 8:00 - Why Joe works closely with users and uses audience feedback to evolve the platform
• 10:42 - How Joe stays on top of all the evolving changes in social media
• 14:54 - Joe shares details of his new project, the HeyOrca Podcast
• 18:13 - Joe explains what it’s like to work with non-profits and faith-based organizations
• 21:58 - Why Joe has invested more time in his personal brand
• 27:20 - The important question to ask yourself while building your personal brand
• 29:00 - Where the name HeyOrca came from
• 34:07 - Joe’s tip for social pros

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Follow HeyOrca on LinkedIn
• Follow HeyOrca on Instagram
• Follow HeyOrca on X
• The HeyOrca Community on Facebook

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.

Social media for brands has evolved and a big driver of the shift has been the emergence of the creator economy. Audiences resonate with organic, user-generated content on a level rarely seen with other strategies. To talk more about how creators can evolve on social, we welcomed Katelyn Sorensen, the CEO of Planoly.

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Planoly is the first social media management tool built by creators, for creators, and CEO Katelyn Sorensen shares her story on the podcast. In this episode, we hear how Planoly helps creators manage their content more effectively and how it partners with many creators to promote the tool.

Katelyn is a big fan of the supportive nature of the creator economy, and Planoly’s partnership program makes it easier to connect with creators who want to tell the world how much they love Planoly.

We discuss the realities of being a creator and how consistency can pay off in a field with a low barrier to entry but a huge mountain to climb to reach success. Katelyn talks a bit about the evolution of Instagram, and we swap stories on our very first Instagram posts. Thankfully, we’ve all learned a lot since those days…

Katelyn also talks about why it’s a good thing that the creator community is less focused on follower counts and more on engagement – which is the real key to success on social.

In This Episode:

• 1:33 - What is Planoly and how do creators use it?
• 3:23 - How the creator economy has evolved in recent years
• 6:20 – Katelyn talks about how earlier creators she’s worked with have evolved
• 8:40 – How Planoly finds great creator stories and works with the community
• 11:43 – Planoly AI features to help with creator burnout
• 16:23 - Why creators are less focused on follower counts these days
• 18:19 - Our very first Instagram posts and what we’ve learned since
• 20:07 – Katelyn’s favorite moments at Planoly
• 22:08 - What’s next for Planoly?
• 25:13 - How Katelyn balances the “always on” world with real life
• 28:52 - Katelyn’s advice for those looking to become a social pro

Resources

• Grab your free Social Media Audit Bundle
• Planoly
• Follow Katelyn on X
• Connect with Katelyn on LinkedIn
• Follow Planoly on LinkedIn

Visit SocialPros.com for more insights from your favorite social media marketers.