Human Resources, Leadership, Modern Career, Talent Branding
Employer Branding Around the World with Siobhan McHale.
Siobhan, can you tell us more about yourself and your job?
I’m a culture change specialist with a vision to make workplaces better. I’m employed as the Head of Human Resources at DuluxGroup – a successful, growing international consumer goods company based in Melbourne, where my focus in on creating a more consumer-oriented and growth focused culture.
I trained as an organizational psychologist and hold a BA in Psychology and a Masters degree in Occupational Psychology from University of Sheffield, England. I began my career as a management consultant at PricewaterHouse Coopers in London where I crisscrossed Europe helping clients create successful culture transformations. In this role I advised leaders across four continents about how to create more vibrant and productive work environments.
In 1994 I grew tired of the long, wet English winters and moved to Australia, where I continued my work as a change advisor with Accenture.
After a decade as a consultant I wanted to put some “skin in the game” and decided to test all that I had learned in an actual corporate setting. I was employed as the executive in charge of change in a series of large, complex organizations. In these workplaces I was no longer operating as an outsider but actually getting my hands dirty working in the challenging and often messy trenches of transformation. These “insider” positions gave me a markedly different perspective on workplace change.
You have an impressive a track record of creating more engaged businesses across four continents. What is the connection between engaged employees and a strong talent brand?
I worked at Accenture which is one of the biggest consulting firms in the world. Within 3 months of joining I had moved countries from Australia to New Zealand and was working in the retail sector, which was completely new to me. I was on an accelerated learning curve but my experience in the consulting firm was completely aligned with the promise that I had been ‘sold’ when I interviewed for the job. I was told by the partners that I was entering a fast-paced, stretch culture where I was expected to be agile. I was not surprised when, three months after I had joined, I was asked to move countries.
The important thing with your employer brand is that it is congruent with the ‘deal’ that you are espousing to employees. When there is misalignment between the promise and the deal, then that’s when you get noise. So, for instance, if you are telling people that they can expect a highly engaged workplace and you don’t deliver on this promise then employees will be disappointed when they enter your firm. The clearer you can be about the expectations and the closer you can deliver to these, the better.
DuluxGroup has a quite unusual Brand Ambassador. Can you tell us more about him?
Yes, our brand ambassador is an Old English Sheepdog called Digby. Our employees love Digby and he shows up to staff events where there is typically a queue to get a photo taken with him. The dog was first introduced in advertising campaigns in 1961. Since then the sheepdog has been a constant and highly popular feature of Dulux television and print adverts wherever the paint is sold. So much so, that many people in those markets refer to the breed as a ‘Dulux dog’ rather than a sheepdog. Over the years, different dogs have appeared in the adverts. However, they all look very similar and Fernville Lord Digby, was the most famous Dulux dog.
Digital Trends, Human Resources, Modern Career, Talent Branding
Employer Branding Around the World with Leni Rokosova.
Originally from Czech Republic, Leni sees herself as a global citizen. Her background is in linguistics and international relations which led her to explore the world on the path to matching the best talent with amazing career opportunities. She has lived and worked in seven different countries and enjoys getting to know a new culture and immerse into it. She is currently working as a Talent Acquisition Manager for Meltwater in their Sydney office, responsible for full cycle hiring across all their departments in Australia and New Zealand.
Leni, congratulations for Meltwater being awarded the Top 7 Best Place to Work in Australia in 2017 and Top 12 Best Place to Work in Asia in 2018, as well as being one of 2016, 2017 & 2018 Great Place to Work Awards Winners in Canada. Can you share some secretes of your company success: what are the best practices of talent attraction and retention at Meltwater?
What attracted me to Meltwater was the fact that the company has managed to establish itself as a global leader in media monitoring with 60+ offices in less than 17 years! However, despite the success and growth we are experiencing, candidates I approach on LinkedIn typically have not heard about us, but when they do their research, they’re always surprised that they have not come across us yet!
Our target market is Gen Y (also known as Millennials), it is well reported that personal growth and career development is the key factor in choosing a suitable employer for this generation. As such Meltwater is extremely conscious of building a culture that facilitates that experience, we challenge our employees from day one to be the best version of themselves. We work in a fast-paced environment, things change quickly so our new recruits need to be agile and learn quickly.
Research also shows Gen Y wants to be connected to the work they’re doing and for us, that means ensuring there is a sense of shared purpose. There is plenty of time spent with line managers and even though these meetings may sometimes seem like simple catch ups, the regularity achieves a greater purpose. A constant two-way feedback ensures people feel they have a seat at the table, they are given a platform to speak up and make an impact on the business and its culture.
Last but not least, we promote based on merits, not tenure. Drive and determination and your ability to realize your potential quickly are what determines the speed at which your progress. You can easily check this by a simple search of our employees on LinkedIn.
Is building a strong talent brand a “must have” or “nice to have” for modern employers?
Definitely a “must have”. Especially for Gen Y, they want to be coming to a place where they don’t only do what they enjoy doing but also a place where they feel welcome and are surrounded by like-minded individuals. Showing them what our culture is about, what our workplace looks like (maybe even giving them a sneak peek into our office playlists), how we celebrate success and what we do together outside of our workplace, is a no-brainer. This way they will already anticipate if this is an environment they would love to be part of or not.
What has been the process of building a strong talent brand at Meltwater?
We don’t have a designated team or employees for building our talent brand. I believe this should be a common effort of recruitment, marketing and HR, but, ultimately, all employees are responsible for this. Of course, all of us have a slightly different goal but at the end of the day, we all want to increase our brand awareness. I drive different initiatives, such as encouraging our employees to write blog posts, partner with top universities and students’ societies and provide training to all newbies (regardless of what team they join) on how to manage/promote our brand on LinkedIn. I already started this in my last job and it worked really well so took it over with me to Meltwater. It only takes about 15 minutes (if they’re in Sydney, its F2F, if in any other office, it’s via a video Skype call) but you would be surprised how little people know about different functions on LinkedIn and how to use them to your advantage. I always start the training with showing them some numbers on how many people interact with our brand on daily basis which always leads them to understand why this training is so important.
What is your social media strategy when it comes to employer branding?
I’m a huge advocate of LinkedIn and that’s where I spend lots of my time during the day. From my experience, the most quality talent is right there and it’s easy to tap into. On the other hand, it is true that the Gen Y don’t necessarily have a LinkedIn profile (yet!) and so it is important to build a strong strategy on their favourite social channels, such as Instagram and Snapchat – this is work in progress for us right now!
How do you use content marketing and storytelling methods on LinkedIn to generate stronger candidate pipelines?
As mentioned before, I love LinkedIn and consider content marketing as a great tool for raising brand awareness. I always make sure my posts have a purpose and most importantly, have a personal touch. Sharing only jobs, I’m currently hiring for wouldn’t make the cut! I divide my posts in 25% about our office life/culture, 25% about company updates, 25% about job posts (always accompanied by the right culture pic!) and 25% about my personal/professional interests. Sometimes it’s hard to keep the office life pictures to only 25% because there’s always something happening (ranging from a simple celebration of someone’s birthday – yes, everyone loves a good piece of cake! – through celebrating a new deal that just came in, to those crazy closing days when we always have a theme and dress up).
Modern Career, Modern Career Woman by Heather Schnacke, Relocation
Goodbye Prague, Hello London! Modern Career Woman – Chapter VI by Heather Schnacke
From my previous articles you might remember that I met a boy in London through mutual friends who is now officially my fiancé. We have been in a long-distance relationship for more than two years now – going back and forth between two magical cities. While not always easy, it has been quite an adventure to say the least. From exploring the two cities to nature walks outside to an American reality show (yep, that happened – my sidekick on the show is co-founder of Coachify) to even more travels in Europe, the USA, and South Africa, we have experienced a lot together so far. So now the time has come to officially be in the same place. While selfishly I wanted him in Prague, we knew that London made more sense for us in the long term. Prague is such an amazing city and it is truly a magical place. It is the only Czech word I can seem to remember – koulzena (magical)– as that’s all I think of when I turn every corner. I am so grateful for what this city has given me – a job that people told me would be hard if not impossible to find (“only Americans who are transferred with companies get jobs here besides teaching English”), the best colleagues (I am the only non-Czech person on my team and one of three in the entire company), an amazing work-life balance with a gym and grocery store only minutes away from my doorstep, and a lovely flat easily called home. I can even walk home from work which I take advantage of most day with a breathtaking view of the castle that doesn’t ever seem to get old.
Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Modern Career, Relocation
How to Find a Career in China, Get Featured on Forbes and Use LinkedIn to Its Full Potential.
From the rural Pacific Northwest to the middle of a concrete jungle, Olivia Plotnick has made it her mission to never stop challenging herself to reach new horizons. Making the decision to move to China by herself several years ago she has quickly learned how to build a personal network from scratch, become recognized for her knowledge of marketing and branding in China, get featured in Forbes and grow a WeChat account from 2,000 to 5,500 followers in just 6 months.
Olivia, what is the story behind your move to China?
I started studying Chinese at St. Mary’s High School. It was the first high school in Oregon to offer Chinese program. The summer after my first year of studying we had an opportunity to come China and I was one of the seven students selected. We travelled all around China during the holiday, it was my first trip outside of the States. It was the Summer 2007, and we went to Beijing, Henan, and the southern part of China, Kunming in the Yunnan province. It was so different from anything I had known or been exposed to before. After that experience, I started thinking that this is the path that I wanted to follow. I studied Chinese and business throughout college and I completed my final six months of college in Beijing, at Beijing Language and Culture University. I moved there by myself and enrolled in an intensive language program. The classes were only taught in Chinese and I was the only American in my class, with no other native English speakers. I think I cried a lot (laugh) and I was a little bit miserable for about five months, but by the sixth month I was loving it: I have this distinctive memory of riding in a cab and passing all these incredible buildings in Beijing. The energy from the city was electrifying. I went back to Oregon, graduated and found a job at an international adoption agency. I was helping prospective parents through the first 1 to 2 years of the adoption process. I was also helping to update the organization’s website to drive more traffic and liaising with our Beijing office. While this role was a huge learning opportunity for me, I knew it wasn’t my career path. I really wanted to move back to China and pursue a career in international business.
Adding Value, Consulting, Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Human Resources, Leadership, Modern Career
How to control social media with math
Mirco A. Mannucci is a Big Data Analytics Consultant, a CEO @ HoloMathics and a Ph.D. in Mathematics. His interdisciplinary background in the sciences and software engineering mingles with a burning interest in web social communities. Mirco is one of the authors of the research conducted at Chapman University exploring the concept of virality. The researchers were examining socially bonded clusters of people and subgroups on Facebook to identify the way to achieve the maximum reach of people. Today, Mirco and I will be discussing implications of big data for social networks, virality and the new world of super-heroes on social media.
Mirco, as a Big Data geek with a Ph.D. degree in Mathematics, how do you see social media transform in the next 5-10 years from now?
Great question to start off Dagmara! I think we should always begin with a touch of SF, because quite often what some mavericks are dreaming about now, becomes reality later. Social media means media which are social, media that are embedded in the very tissue of the social web. Now, where is the social web and where is it going?
I believe that the plumbing has already been done, we have plenty of large scales social communities. We also have small dedicated communities, we have various types of communication tools, we have, in a word, the proper infrastructure. But something is still lacking, isn’t it?
What is lacking is true SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE. By this I mean: just like there is a logical intelligence, there is a social one. Not many people are social intelligence geniuses, to be sure, and yet without it not much happens in one’s life, because social intelligence drives success.
So, here is my little piece of SF: I dream that very soon there will be another Social Web, let us say Social Web 3.0, which looks and feel like the existing one but with a glaring difference – it is smart. In this social web on steroids, people will get together, form teams, virtual ventures. All of that thanks to some help from the embedded social intelligence. It goes without saying that this would drastically impact social media and social advertisement as well. Highly focused communities would also demand highly focused media….
Will the social media 3.0 allow people with scarce social intelligence to do the work for them? Also, it is interesting that you see the future of social media 3.0 as a collaboration tool. Would not that be just another LinkedIn or Slack on steroids? Just another networking tool?
We definitely need a layer of intelligence on top of the existing social web to form a team of collaborators. I am not suggesting that a machine is better than humans at assessing whether some fellow is the right one to cover some new role in a team, but the machine could act as an advisor. I would not like machines to replace my judgment, but I would like machines to expand my possibilities. Imagine I need someone for my team who is extremely smart, knows how to speak Farsi and Icelandic, has a record of traveling in off-the-road destinations, and has a passion for new projects. What is my chance to find such a fellow now? Very slim, right? So, why not have a little help? There is another dimension involved. This is not a battle humans vs machine. Humans could recommend people too, and perhaps the machine would learn from them…
That is why you decided to build a platform that will enable it?
The platform, that I am building right now, is a “gaming platform”, in a sense. The chief difference is that instead of letting you play in an alternate world, it tries to turn you into a superhero in this one. Most of us live an unnecessarily boring life because we dream and leave our dreams in our closet. Why not add a little spice by being able to post your dreams adventures or join other’s dreams and team up with other superheroes? That is precisely what I want for the Social Web 3.0.
You mentioned that the Social Web 3.0 will impact social advertising. What is the biggest challenge while using social media for advertising and the way to overcome it?
The biggest challenge is that we are completely drowning in information: everywhere we are bombarded with ads, brochures, emails. The only way to mitigate this miserable state of affair is to provide value, highly specific value, to the individuals. If you shoot me an ad, most likely I do not want to hear it, but if you know what I am after and you leverage this knowledge by assisting me in MY objectives things are quite different.
On the other hand, retargeted ads can be pretty helpful. But, let’s drop the topic of ads and let’s get into something more entertaining. You mentioned that our lives are quite boring. What about viral content? It makes our life more exciting, or at least more fun. Getting viral is what everyone secretly dreams about, but they don’t want to admit it at loud. What do you think it takes to achieve viral growth? What could be the key variables that drive viral growth?
The paper which I have coauthored with my fellow researchers at Chapman University partially answers the question: to become viral it means to become like a virus. Viruses go from place to place in the body, being hosted not only by single cells but by entire organs. We essentially found a math model of virality which involves leveraging groups and communities instead of single individuals, to spread information around. To be sure, our research is simply a modest step in the right direction, we need more sophistication to provide a better representation of virality. But using interest groups and active web communities to spread your “virus” is certainly a great way to begin.
If the information is like a virus, looks like we should start spreading info locally, to the people that are close to us in a strictly geographical sense (but they are not our friends like on Facebook), and let them share the info to everyone globally. Do you see a potential in it, in a tool where everyone can share anything they like, but there are no other rules involved?
The beauty of the social web as it already operates now is that the notion of the locality has undergone great changes. When I grew up, several centuries ago, what was the chance of having a talk with you about social life? Close to zero. Now my nephews, who live in Milano, have friends in Spain or … China. Therefore, virality can take different clothes… however, having said that, there are certain types of information which must be spread locally, for the very simple reason that they are intrinsically local: why should I broadcast to the entire world the news that the guy next door offers the best pizza and a jazz concert for an incredible price? A guy in Peru could not care less…as for the second part of your question, I think we should have themes, channels through which information flows. I am not a big fan of Twitter’s model.
Neither am I. It’s way too messy and requires a constant time commitment. Mirco, if you were on a mission to predict the popularity of pieces of information that spread through the social media networks, where would you start?
Going back to the previous answer, I would try to understand which paths this piece of information follows to spread, and what is the relevance for folks and communities which dwell on mileposts along this path. Example: Suppose you try to spread some news about a service. You want to hit ONLY groups and folks for which this service could be intriguing, right? Nobody spreads info if they do not think it is “cool” and valuable…
Sure thing. But what is the probability to detect information big stories before they even happen?
It is extremely difficult to predict the future, especially where the human element is heavily involved. However, IF (big if!) I knew a lot about the folks and groups which receive this information, for instance, their tastes, goals, dislikes, then something can be predicted, especially if I do have a track record of previous scenarios.
Even if we knew the tastes, goals, dislikes, likes, interests of everyone in the earth, there are still many external factors that can mess your equation up. Is there anything certain about social media at all?
True, indeed the variables are almost infinite. But, as I have already said, I do not like Hal 9000 type of AI. I rather prefer Jarvis, the AI advisor of Tony Stark in Iron Man: Jarvis advises me, but I decide. If it makes mistakes, it will learn to adjust.
Using data and identifying new opportunities for unlocking it requires creativity. Could you give us an example of a product or a service that used creativity to bring data to the next level and unlocked its potential?
The obvious thing that comes to mind is Youtube. Not a rocket scientist type of technology, by any means, but one that has changed radically many aspects of our life: we can post anything, opinions, products tests, news, personal journeys. A video which is on your computer is your video, a video that is on Youtube is humanity’s video…a big difference.
There are plenty of tools on the market that helps identify the most influential authors (influencers), but after finding the right ones for your product or niche, the question emerges: How do we minimize the risk of not getting enough brand exposure, engagement or leads from this cooperation? We cannot be sure that our content will resonate well with the audience. What data would you be searching for to maximize the success of the cooperation with an influencer?
With a partner in crime, I have been working hard at a new platform to do exactly what you ask for. To be more precise, and going back to the previous part of this interview, I do not believe that getting the influencers on your side is enough. You need to also catch groups and communities for which what you want to sell is relevant, and communities have a life of their own. So, whereas as you said there are plenty of tools which are aimed at individuals who are “hubs” in the social web, this perspective is a bit too skewed toward single individuals.
You mentioned that community has a life on its own, can you share more details here…?
A community to me is like a collective mind: we are the neurons, but the whole has an intelligence of its own. It is the same everywhere: a single cell is one thing, an organ quite another. This is extremely important to understand if we really want to unravel the mysteries of the social web: if we stick to the view of the cell, we miss the organs…
Any golden tip for social media managers out there on achieving a consistent analytical approach?
Hire people, who understand both analytical tools and what these managers are trying to get.
What is the one social media metric you would die to measure, but no one out there came up with a solution yet?
How much what we offer aligns with what people really want.
I would risk a statement that people often times don’t know what they want…they search for one thing, but end up using or doing something completely different. People are irrational, don’t you agree?
You are right, but my measure is not what they want now, rather: after you show it to them, they like it or not? People are very bad at figuring out what they want before they see it but quite good at deciding what they like after they have played with it.
Information overload is killing our productivity. You have plenty of projects on your plate and you are surely a busy man. How do you achieve a better quality of information and remove the noise?
I will be honest with you: I was never good at that, I am someone who begins 1000 things and completes 2-3. But recently things have changed for me, simply because I realized (finally!) the truth: I do not have much time, nobody has, we barely have the time to do what we need and truly wish to do, and send everything else to hell.
…so, prioritizing.
Do not let information drive you, any information, drive your life and use the right info to go where you want to go.
How do you see the role of AI in data mining?
Well, the fact is, little by little we will let machines do the dirty job. Data sets are huge and complicated, so this is bound to happen (in fact, it is already happening). But I do not see the role of humans as something that is going to die anytime soon: humans are still needed to create new ways to model data, to make sense of what machines will find. Let us say that I am here an optimist: instead of substituting humans, I like to think of future AI as expanding our cognitive powers. But maybe I am a tad too optimistic. Time will tell.
They say that failures make us stronger. Could you share with us one of your failures and what did you learn from it?
There was a project I started in 2009 called MergingPot, the ancestor of this new thing. I spent a considerable amount of time building it, putting it on FB as an app, but eventually it died. Why? Truth is, I had no clue how to run a start-up, how to prioritize, how to engage people, and also my timing was not right. In fact, everything was wrong EXCEPT the core idea, which was way ahead of time. Now, if I was a complete fool, I would give up. Far from it…I always loved the hero who has been beaten up to a pulp and yet makes a last comeback 🙂
Do you want more blood? I could go on forever. What is more interesting is WHY I failed. Chiefly by lack of consistency: when you start something, you MUST complete it, no matter what.
Ouch! You even don’t know how much I agree with you on that one…thanks for sharing!
And of course, thank you a ton for the interview, Mirco!
Thank you Dagmara! I had a lot of fun.
Coaching, Consulting, Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Leadership, Modern Career
Social media tips from an expert. Tony Vincente.
Tony Vincente is a social media manager @ Microsoft, but also he is an online personality known as the Fashionable Foodie and a Fashion Designer @ Vida & Co. Tony is here to share a few secrets of the ever-changing social media space. Shall we start?
Tony, I am sure you know that one of the biggest struggles of every social media manager is to prove their impact on the company’s ROI. Can you give us an example of a campaign that is beautifully linked to return on investment?
A great example of showing the ROI of a social media campaign comes from one of Microsoft’s partners Cisco who saved $100K. While most companies spend big bucks for product launches on things like flying execs from all over the world they did the entire thing online. Here is the link to the case study. I encourage all in the social media industry to check it out!
Thanks for the link Tony. Also, can you share a proven method of retaining follower base and the way of measuring the retention rate?
Your followers will always ebb and flow. The trick to retaining them is to ask them what THEY find most interesting on your social channels. You can get immediate answers by conducting bi-weekly polls. This will provide the guidance you need to create the right content followers will keep coming back for! The way I measure retention is through weekly reporting. A part of these reports shows how many followers we gain/loss on each channel. To get this data you can use social media tools such as Sprinklr or the analytics each platform has to offer.
What is the biggest challenge in a social media manager’s job and the way to overcome it?
The biggest challenge I face is keeping up with the number of new social platforms introduced every day! Actually, tech advancements are exciting; the challenge is determining which are necessary to your organization’s success. The way to overcome this challenge is to really know what your audience demographics look like and to start off with the main social platforms you know have the most users like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Utilize the analytics each of these platforms offers to build audience profiles and based on what you find expand your platforms accordingly.
They say that failures make us stronger. Can you give us an example of one of your failures, experienced during your career in social media. What did you learn from it?
Sorry, I have no examples, I’m the bomb! Just joking, of course, we all fail at some point it’s coming up with quick solutions that make us truly successful. Early in my career, I actually had a hard time learning about the voice of the company. I was a budding social media personality in my own right and thought that my voice was universal… Not the case! My failure was that I didn’t learn enough about how the company spoke to its audience members before taking the job. I mastered it thanks to a supportive management team and a determination to get it right. Thankfully, I became great at speaking for a number of Fortune 500 companies including the one I work for now Microsoft!
My takeaway for social media managers (and community managers) would be to visit the social platforms of the companies they want to work for and get to know how they speak and what message they are looking to get across. Being the “voice” of an organization is a huge responsibility, what you say can affect how people view your company for better or worse.
How do you define the success of a non-quantitative social media activity?
It’s all about audience reaction. Knowing what I post brings joy to the audience for me is a true success even if it cannot be quantified by measurable standards. I like to create fun graphics and make jokes with audience members though these actions don’t produce sales or even tons of likes/shares. It’s the comments back of “you made my day” or “thank you” that makes what I do extra special.
Any golden tip on achieving a consistent analytical approach?
A consistent analytical approach always begins with a question. Was our promotion successful? Did today’s post resonate with the audience? Therefore, my golden tip is to be ok asking “why”. You have to be open to asking and thinking about how things occur. It’s the basis behind all analytics. So don’t be afraid to ask questions, they spark a deeper conversation that eventually leads to answers.
What is the one social media metric you would die to measure, but no one out there came up with a solution yet?
I really do not have an answer for this one. Almost everything can be measured on social these days. Once you master the tools available and really understand the importance of data analytics you can find any answer you’re looking for.
Are you using any social media management tools you cannot live without?
Oh yeah! Sprinklr is essential for what I do. I can set up listening queues, reports and of course engage with audiences on this tool. It’s easy to use and new features (like little bird-which can be used for influencer identification) are constantly added. If you aren’t using it I suggest you give it a try.
Can you share with us your process of coming up with a social media strategy? What is the most difficult phase of a strategy?
There are a number of steps to building a solid social media strategy my top three tips:
- Create obtainable goals: Outline what you looking to do. Are looking to increase traffic, mentions, etc. A strong social media plan starts with know what the goals are and once established the fun part of how they can be achieved begins!
- Find out who you want to be your audience: Your message needs to resonate with audiences for it to be successful. Identify where your industries audience behaviors, demographics, and interests lie. It is a lot of research but obviously worth it! Quick tip: You can find some of these answers by looking at social platforms in your industry and seeing who follows them and what content types they interact with the most.
- Identify what channels will work best: There are a number of social platforms to choose from but what they offer may not fit with you organizations goals of reaching out to identified audiences. Learn which platforms are essential for business and will have the demographic you are looking to capitalize on.
Step 3 is the most difficult phase of a strategy because each platforms functionalities change often so my suggestion is to be open and fluid to change. Do not be afraid to add other platforms as long as you have the bandwidth in place to support them properly.
Your biggest social media inspiration and social media guru everyone should learn from is…
I actually have two. CEO of Thrive Arianna Huffington (ariannahuff) and growing social star and host of the MPN Podcast Rachel Braunstein (@rkbraunstein). Both of these powerful women share great tips you need to know to propel your career and enrich your daily life. I love learning and both Arianna and Rachel provide guidance that is relatable to everyone. If you aren’t following them I strongly encourage that you do!
Thanks for that one. I read the book of Arianna Huffington, but I definitely need to check out the podcasts of Rachel Braunstein. Let’s talk about social media QA. Testing and innovation are an important part of every social manager’s job. Can you share your hit and miss of 2017?
My HIT of 2017 is Brand24 a FREE platform (with a paid component depending on your needs) allows you to perform deep analysis on a number of social media functions. I utilize it for event hashtag tracking. It is a must try. My MISS of 2017 would be underestimating the power of custom graphics. We are a visual society and people really respond to colorful and slightly graphics on social. Custom graphics are the main part of my social planning and essential to the continuous growth of the platforms I am responsible for.
What is the newest social media trend you would love to explore more?
Live video is taking off. All of the top social media platforms are providing avenues for users to live stream more than ever. It’s immediate and in many ways a more impactful way to get messages across. I have LOTS of video coming up soon for both Microsoft and for my personal brand so stay tuned!
What is your process and mentality around taking ideas, prioritizing & testing them efficiently, validating, and then feeding the learning back into the process?
I am an A/B tester. Everything that comes my way I want to know how it works, will it work and how it will be implemented. I am open to ideas but before they are presented to the field I want to make sure it’s something that they want and will enjoy. Do not be afraid to do beta testing with select audiences. The information collection is invaluable for success.
One DO and one DON’T for creating a meaningful growth in social media would be….?
Do: Like as many people on social platforms as you can.
Don’t: Over follow! Follow people you know will follow you back and help you promote your posts. As your social media platforms grow then you can start following verified accounts that may follow back in turn.
And the last but not least: what would be your 2017 social media tip?
My 2017 social media tip: Identify your TOP INFLUENCERS and utilize them to the fullest. Influencers are essential messengers you need to get your words in front of audiences you may not have direct access to. Engage with them as much as you can (once they are identified) and do not hesitate to reach out to them when you need specific posts amplified.
Thank you for the interview!
Coaching, Consulting, Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Leadership, Modern Career
Social media tips from an expert, Victoria Nikolaeva
Victoria Nikolaeva is a Social Media Strategist at New York Institute of Technology. Today we will be talking what excites us the most in social media: strategy, metrics and ROI. Without further ado, let’s dive into her social media world and see where she is going to take us.
Numbers tend to be a true Achilles heel for plenty of fellow social media managers, but you definitely don’t shy from numbers as a research assistant, helping out in data gathering and analysis. Can you give us an example of a campaign that was beautifully linked to ROI?
A lot of the time, I try to look for inexpensive ways to gather data. In my experience, few companies want to allocate a higher budget to social media, or media in general. So through freely available tools such as built-in media platform post/campaign monitoring tools, or even better: using Google Analytics really helps a lot. There are freely available courses on how to use such tools that I recommend everyone take advantage of. The only shortcoming of Google Analytics is its inability to monitor social media, however, I found that most platforms have their own tools available.
At the moment the best example of ROI in my experience was when I first started experimenting with social media and analytics. I ran my own advertisement on Twitter, and quickly learned all of my mistakes in the ad campaign through the Twitter analysis interface. I remember making the silly mistake of including too many, hardly relevant, keywords in the campaign thinking that as long as it reaches more people, it would be better. That was a wrong approach. After adjusting my keywords, I had gained a lot more followers and traffic to my main website at the time. Ever since then, I’ve been using the tools to find the best posting times for my particular audiences, as well as see what posts interest them the most and look for ways to make them more frequent.
Can you share a proven method of retaining follower base and the way of measuring the retention rate?
In my experience, the best way of getting a steady follower base is by finding a niche topic that you like to post about and stick to it. I have found too many blogs try and post a variety of content targeted at a varied audience. However, that tends to confuse the brand identity more so than gain more followers. For example, an account that posts only flowers will be more successful than an account that posts about flowers, cooking, and cars. People look for specialization. And of course, being engaging with the audience, and posting frequently enough and on a set day of the week/month is important.
The best way to measure retention rate would be through Google Analytics or that particular platforms available tools. I like to look at the numbers for returning users to see if I have decent retention rates. However, when using Google Analytics for this, remember to exempt the IP address from your work and home to not confuse results!
What is the biggest challenge in a social media manager’s job and the way to overcome it?
Being on time with posts. It is important to post content at the same time/day so that followers get used to when new content comes up! However, life happens and sometimes we can forget to run a post for the day. I believe it is important to have at least 2 people on social media for that reason. Someone who can pick up the slack on occasion, and generate content when you simply cannot. At my job, I was lucky to have very helpful coworkers who sent me content whenever I was sick so that I could prepare posts from home.
They say that failures make us stronger. Can you give us an example of one of your failures, experienced during your career in social media. What did you learn from it?
Coaching, Consulting, Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Leadership, Modern Career
Social media marketing tips from an expert – Lindsay Scarpello
Lindsay Scarpello is currently working as a Social Media Manager at Omaha Steaks and today we will be asking her about the strategic approach to social media, social media ROI, most important metrics, trends, and inspirations.
Social media is a rough business. What is the biggest challenge in a social media manager’s job and the way to overcome it?
I think the biggest challenge is staying abreast of all of the new trends and how customers are engaging with content. Snapchat (and now, Instagram Stories) is the perfect example of something that came in, disrupted the way we thought people wanted to consume content, and is now a dominant medium on social.
Can you share a proven method of retaining follower base and the way of measuring the retention rate?
Good content. That’s it, really. That’s the secret. Create and share good content.
They say that failures make us stronger. Can you give us an example of one of your failures, experienced during your career in social media. What did you learn from it?
Good question. I think my best example of failure in my role has been when I ran social for a (now out of business) futures trading company. That company experienced a huge public mistake that drove away customers, which eventually led the company’s demise and their being bought and absolved by another company.
Before that, though, during the mistake period, my bosses told me not to respond to angry customers on social media. I knew in my gut that this was the exact opposite of a solid PR crisis strategy, but I didn’t press the issue or try to convince my bosses otherwise. Anyway, my position (and many others) was eventually eliminated due to the company going under, but I still wonder if I had countered my bosses’ ideas with a solid social strategy, where I’d be today. I’m ultimately happy because I moved on and have had a good career, but it’s still interesting to think about.
How do you define the success of a non-quantitative social media activity?
I’m not sure there isn’t a non-quantitative way to define the success of a social activity. Vanity metrics like impressions or reach aren’t much when it comes to proving sales value, but they’re often correlated and can give a great general idea of success. I guess I would say I judge the success by the responses I receive from our followers. Example: if I’m getting a lot of great community engagement on Twitter, that’s not something I can quantify, but that word-of-mouth is incredibly valuable.
Any golden tip on achieving a consistent analytical approach?
Figure out how to report sales or conversions (as you define them) and you’ve proven everything you need to. For us, we report on sales, but we also report on CTR, because we consider that a conversion for social. If we’re getting them to click through to the content or the offer, we’ve done our job. If they’re not following through to purchase, then there’s something else wrong with the sale or the UX of the page, or something. And that’s a valuable thing to know for other areas of the company.
Coaching, Consulting, Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Leadership, Modern Career
Social media marketing tips from an expert – Fletcher Helle
Fletcher Helle is a Social Media Specialist with over 5 years of experience. He dipped his toes in Community Management, Customer Service, Social Media Policy Creation, Video Production, Facebook and YouTube Analytics, and Process Improvement. He is here to share few secrets of the ever-changing social media marketing space. Without further ado, let’s dive into his world and see where he is going to take us.
Fletcher, you worked closely with the marketing teams to create brand approved content to drive sales and increase conversions. Sales and conversions are all about hard numbers and the numbers are often times a true Achilles heel for social media managers. Can you inspire them by giving an example of a campaign that was linked to ROI (Return on Investment) and did well?
The gap between a social media strategy and strong ROI isn’t as wide as it once was. The rise of high-quality tracking tools means I can follow someone from social channel to eCommerce solution to confirmed order. I’ve run a ton of ads that I reported with basically that same formula. We spent X, which generated Y traffic, and the average conversion rate was Z, but I don’t think that’s the most beautifully linked campaign I’ve run. I recently finished up a longer-term cosmetics campaign using really focused Facebook targeting on building an email list. The success of the resulting list has been staggering, we’re talking twice as many conversions as any list they ever bought. The way I see it all the revenue that email list is generating is the result of social media.
Can you share a proven method of retaining follower base and the way of measuring the retention rate?
You want the recipe for the secret sauce?! The best I can do is some of the ingredients. On all my communities I closely monitor attrition, how many people are unliking/unfollowing every day. I like to establish a baseline using historical data, and measure my success off that. If my attrition goes up, I know I’m not communicating well with the audience (unless the brand wants a big shake up in voice, you can expect attrition to go up then). It’s all about offering value to your fans. Their timeline/feed is a personal space for them, you don’t go to someone’s house and talk only about yourself. That’s a great way not to be invited back. Engage and offer value and you’ll get invited back all the time.
What is the biggest challenge in a social media manager’s job and the way to overcome it?
“We want you to make a viral video.” I get that, or a variation of it, quite a bit. All brands really want to be the next thing people are talking about but very few of them are willing to take the risks required to make it happen. I use the squatty potty video to help stakeholders understand. That video went viral because it’s a unicorn pooping ice cream. No one expects that. People know how seriously brands take themselves if you want something to go viral you can improve your chances by loosening the reigns a bit and getting weird.
They say that failures make us stronger. Could you give us an example of one of your failures, experienced during your career in social media? What did you learn from it?
I had just started managing social media for a major snack brand and the results were pretty great. Engagement had tripled, reach was through the roof, sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, and I think I got into this mindset where I thought I was invincible so I said, “Hey, everything is going so great we should take this to Reddit!” Which is the social media equivalent of starting a land war with Russia in the middle of winter. I pitched engaging with the international snack exchange subreddit, a place where people can post regional snacks and trade them with other people for snacks around the world. I think two people signed up and the whole thing just cratered. I learned that if you’re taking something to Reddit you need to be really buttoned up and offering a significant incentive. “We’re making our product available for exchange.” Isn’t going to cut it.
How do you define the success of a non-quantitative social media activity?
By how good the story is. I know that’s a pretty wishy-washy thing to say but I don’t think there’s anything quite like a good story. Early on with my aforementioned snack food client I had an amazing community interaction with a video game streamer. A guy with over 200,000 followers. It ended with him changing his profile picture to an image of our product. The next time I was in the office the screenshot of that profile was hanging on the Senior Manager’s wall. Pretty good story.
Any golden tip on achieving a consistent analytical approach? Read More
Coaching, Human Resources, Modern Career, Relocation
Career transition – from London to China.
千里之行，始於足下.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu, Chinese Philosopher (604 BC – 531 BC)
In 2011 I quit my job in SAP recruitment in London and moved to China. Little did I know what was going to happen, but I hoped that the relocation would help me change my career.
I didn’t love my job, but I didn’t strongly dislike it either. As everywhere, it had its rainy Monday mornings when commuters were rushing through the Liverpool Station. Everyone seemed stressed out and unhappy about starting a new week in the City. However, as soon as I would get inside the office and make my coffee while chatting with colleagues, it didn’t seem that bad. ‘I can do it, I can get through another week, if I only survived Monday’ I would say to myself. There was also the thrill of headhunting, the constant buzz in the office, and a lot of laughs. Life was good and the closer to the weekend the better it was becoming. Around Wednesday, emails from my friends were starting to circulate as we were preparing for another fabulous weekend in London. It rarely happens that we are entirely happy or unhappy in our job, and I guess that makes any decision harder. When is the cutting off moment when we say: “I’m done with it and ready for a new role”? Once we have reached that stage another obstacle appears – we don’t have clarity on what we WANT.
I realized that what bothered me the most about my job was the fact that I didn’t feel challenged anymore. I didn’t want to live only for the weekend. I thought about moving to internal HR, as that was one of the most common “career transitions” for agency recruiters. I was also asking myself when was the last time I was happy at my job? The answer was three years ago, working as an executive search consultant in the energy sector. With that in mind, I was considering going back to the executive search. Then my boyfriend got a job offer in Beijing. We discussed three options: a long-distance relationship, me staying in London and trying to job hunt in Beijing, or finally quitting my job and relocating together. From a recruiter perspective, I knew that being in the right location could make a huge difference. Firstly, my CV with London and the UK number on it could go into the “bin folder” in a matter of seconds. Secondly, meeting hiring managers face to face is a small difference that makes the all the difference.
While discussing relocation, we also decided to get married. Three weeks later, on a Monday morning, I was rushing through Liverpool Station to work. I was going straight from the airport and I asked my manager if we could have a meeting. He knew I just came back from Las Vegas, he wasn’t particularly surprised about the marriage decision. However, he didn’t expect the news that I was now moving to Beijing.
I was moving to a country that I haven’t visited before. I didn’t know anyone there and I didn’t speak the language. A country that scores at the top of the most difficult places to live and work in the world. The goal was to find a new career path and I was excited about it, especially about the fact that everything was going to be different.
What happened in China?
