S03 E08: Translating Social Media Insights Into Meaningful Business Outcomes With Alicia Johnston of Sprout Social
03/24/21 • 53 min
Today’s guest is Alicia Johnston, Senior Manager of Content and Communications at Sprout Social, an exciting social media software company that enables brands and marketers to understand and reach their audience, engage their community, and measure performance. Alicia is the driving force behind all of the content on the Sprout Insights blog, covering the latest trends and guiding their data reports with a keen eye for spotting emerging trends in the digital space. This episode hinges on these emerging trends for 2021, and Alicia has some incredible insight into not just the practical side of social marketing and what is coming in the year ahead but also an important emotional perspective.
One of the things that stands out about this interview is Alicia’s three-pronged approach to customer service, which entails understanding your role in creating an amazing customer experience, especially when it comes to social media. Tuning in, you’ll find out why Alicia believes that social media insights should be a huge determining factor in business objectives and decisions and the positive impact that regular check-ins can have on the mental health of social marketers after such a tumultuous year. She also shares her advice for small businesses, freelancers, and solopreneurs to build brand awareness and be part of the conversation, even without a team to turn to, and how brands can put diversity and empathy into action on social in strategic ways in 2021. Tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Discover a bit more about Alicia’s career journey and how she got to where she is today.
- More about Sprout software and the role social plays in moving a business forward.
- Alicia explains how you can use social listening to inform your broader business strategy.
- Why influencers in all their forms are critical right now when everyone is working remotely.
- The value of content marketing for software companies and brands in the digital space.
- Examples of what smaller businesses can do with data to build brand awareness.
- Highlights from the most recent Sprout Social Index, including increased expectations for customer service through social media.
- Brands and TikTok; you don’t need a presence to stay informed about the trends!
- Alicia’s three-pronged approach to customer service: preemptive, reactive, and proactive.
- What social marketers can do better, including building what Alicia calls ‘cyclical loyalty’.
- The benefits of strategic silence versus ‘going dark’ when it comes to crisis communications.
- Why Alicia believes starting with curiosity is crucial when looking to enter the conversation.
- Advice for freelancers and solopreneurs who don’t have a team to turn to: be transparent.
- A key takeaway from 2020: why social media managers and teams need to be critical players in business decision making.
- The difficult but necessary conversations about the mental health of social media teams.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).
For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.
Today’s guest is Alicia Johnston, Senior Manager of Content and Communications at Sprout Social, an exciting social media software company that enables brands and marketers to understand and reach their audience, engage their community, and measure performance. Alicia is the driving force behind all of the content on the Sprout Insights blog, covering the latest trends and guiding their data reports with a keen eye for spotting emerging trends in the digital space. This episode hinges on these emerging trends for 2021, and Alicia has some incredible insight into not just the practical side of social marketing and what is coming in the year ahead but also an important emotional perspective.
One of the things that stands out about this interview is Alicia’s three-pronged approach to customer service, which entails understanding your role in creating an amazing customer experience, especially when it comes to social media. Tuning in, you’ll find out why Alicia believes that social media insights should be a huge determining factor in business objectives and decisions and the positive impact that regular check-ins can have on the mental health of social marketers after such a tumultuous year. She also shares her advice for small businesses, freelancers, and solopreneurs to build brand awareness and be part of the conversation, even without a team to turn to, and how brands can put diversity and empathy into action on social in strategic ways in 2021. Tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Discover a bit more about Alicia’s career journey and how she got to where she is today.
- More about Sprout software and the role social plays in moving a business forward.
- Alicia explains how you can use social listening to inform your broader business strategy.
- Why influencers in all their forms are critical right now when everyone is working remotely.
- The value of content marketing for software companies and brands in the digital space.
- Examples of what smaller businesses can do with data to build brand awareness.
- Highlights from the most recent Sprout Social Index, including increased expectations for customer service through social media.
- Brands and TikTok; you don’t need a presence to stay informed about the trends!
- Alicia’s three-pronged approach to customer service: preemptive, reactive, and proactive.
- What social marketers can do better, including building what Alicia calls ‘cyclical loyalty’.
- The benefits of strategic silence versus ‘going dark’ when it comes to crisis communications.
- Why Alicia believes starting with curiosity is crucial when looking to enter the conversation.
- Advice for freelancers and solopreneurs who don’t have a team to turn to: be transparent.
- A key takeaway from 2020: why social media managers and teams need to be critical players in business decision making.
- The difficult but necessary conversations about the mental health of social media teams.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).
For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.
Previous Episode
S03 E07: Behind the Scenes of Some Good News — Mitzi and Mike Payne Join Linda Hoang on Don't Call Me a Guru to Unpack SGN
This episode is something a little different, in that your hosts, Mitzi and Mike Payne, are actually today’s guests. Linda Hoang on the Don’t Call Me a Guru Podcast, where they talked about the social media management they did for the global brand, Some Good News (SGN), a 2020 web series created as a way to spread positivity during the pandemic, hosted by American actor and filmmaker, John Krasinski. They share their approach and the lessons they learned while working on SGN’s social media, plus their advice for those doing similar work for organizations that might not be quite as fun as working for John Krasinski! You’ll also hear more about Mike and Mitzi’s backgrounds and some of Arcade’s portfolio highlights, as well as how they came to work with SGN, how they measured success for what was already a viral brand, and how they kept the audience engaged, even in-between seasons. Most importantly, they share their tips for rewarding engagement, dealing with the microscope of public opinion, and working under pressure when things change quickly, so make sure to tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Learn more about Arcade and how they came to manage social media for SGN.
- What they did for SGN and what their approach was to creating a brand for the show.
- Measuring success for what was already a viral brand; making people happy and having a charitable impact as well.
- How big Arcade is in terms of staff and how many hands were on deck for this project.
- Some of the other creative teams that Arcade worked with on SGN, like Senior Post.
- The importance of bringing in support; you don’t have to be an expert in everything!
- Mike reflects on dealing with negativity or trolls on a project about positivity.
- The crowdsourcing structure Arcade used to identify micro influencer-esque talent, or what they called SGN Global Correspondents.
- How Mike and Mitzi kept SGN’s audience engaged, even in-between seasons.
- Maintaining momentum by providing value for your followers that isn’t part of the campaign.
- Mitzi shares some challenges, lessons, and personal highlights from this project.
- One of the biggest challenges for Mike was learning to adapt when things change quickly.
- How marketers are often looked at as money machines rather than difference-makers.
- Tips for working on accounts that aren’t as fun as SGN: do what is creative, not trendy, and focus on leadership, not obligation.
- To close, Mitzi encourages collaboration and connection for other social media managers.
- Why Mike believes it’s an evolution, not a revolution that helps us get where we need to go.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Some Good News (SGN) on Instagram
Some Good News (SGN) on YouTube
Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).
For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.
Next Episode
S03 E09: Influencer Marketing Essentials and Clubhouse Etiquette with Tanisha Cherry, Lifestyle Content Creator
Influencer marketing thrived in 2020. Lockdowns led to increased social media usage and drastic changes in consumer behavior, and brands needed to pivot quickly to adapt. With an ever-increasing number of brands choosing independent content creators over traditional advertising, influencers need to know more than ever how to navigate this space and make money doing it. Today’s guest is Tanisha Cherry, a Black fashion, lifestyle, and travel influencer from Canada with over 16,000 supporters on Instagram. She loves to share helpful information with others and has worked with brands such as Captain Morgan, Strongbow, La Vie en Rose, Farmacy, and more that you will hear about during the course of today’s episode. The content of this interview is pretty specific to influencer marketing, but you will find it relevant whether you are a solopreneur, freelancer, or anything in between. Tanisha is an outspoken advocate for influencers actually getting paid for the work that they do and she has an intimate understanding of why influencer marketing is important for brands, how brands are capitalizing on these partnerships, and, most importantly, how influencers can negotiate and leverage these relationships to their benefit. Tanisha shares a lot of practical insight into determining your rates, coordinating gifting campaigns, and getting gigs, as well as tracking the brands you want to work with and creating strategic content, so make sure to tune in today to learn more!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Tanisha’s journey to becoming a content creator, starting with her love for social media.
- How 2020 changed her relationship with social media and the content she was producing.
- Find out how the pandemic inspired fewer filters and more vulnerability on social media.
- Hear Tanisha’s opinion of Clubhouse and how she has used it to educate other influencers.
- Learn about some of her first brand partnerships and hear her advice for ensuring that you are fairly compensated.
- Why she believes that unpaid brand partnerships are not fair exchanges or opportunities.
- How she deals with gifted campaigns by sending back her rates.
- Let’s talk about rates; Tanisha explains how influencers can charge what they are worth.
- Brands will take advantage of the fact that influencers don’t have insight into the marketing business, so educate yourself!
- Other factors to consider when deciding to engage in a brand partnership, such as their expectations and target audience.
- The value of communicating to a brand whether their product is a good fit with your audience.
- Why it is important for brands to curate their visual aesthetic before approaching an influencer.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).
For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.
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