What is your job title? How do you use social listening in your work?
My official title has changed a few times but it’s easy to just call me our social intelligence lead, simply the combination of the words business intelligence and social media. Analytics manager, insights manager, I wear a lot of hats so I don’t discriminate. 😊
I work for the big CPG behind Advil, Tums, Robitussin, Sensodyne, and 25+ other well-known brands, where I handle all our in-house social listening, analytics stack, measurement, and elements of influencer marketing, social commerce, and Web3.
I use social listening for consumer insights (unmet needs, likes/dislikes, behavior changes, etc.), organic social strategy (community, brand voice, CX, etc.), innovation (new products, ingredients etc.), and so much more. The coolest use case I’ve worked on is M&A, which I can’t really talk much about but basically any time we look at buying a brand or company, that takes the cake.
What’s your background? How did you get into social listening?
I studied economics in undergrad, and I have an MBA in business analytics and marketing. I was in an entirely different world before discovering social listening out of college. I was previously interning at the US Treasury Department and US FDA, where I built a lot of the transferrable skills I use today! Data science, critical thinking, information systems, etc.
I got into it by accident, an answer that is far from unique, everyone “fell into this”. Which I think is the coolest part of our industry, the melting pot of talent, skills, and backgrounds. I’m one of the more analytical people in the profession but I have so much respect for the people who excel at qual, linguistics, anthropology, etc. stuff I have to work so much harder at.
What has been your biggest achievement?
It’s hard to talk about legacy when I’m still here at the company but so much of what I’ve built here will live on as my legacy. I’ve been able to democratize my expertise in an effective always-on social listening solution, with years of evangelism and dozens of non-social listening champions to show for it.
I’ve been very fortunate in my time here, and maybe if I can add another, it’s the impression I’ve left, the friends I’ve made, and the hundreds of people across the industry that I’ve taught how to do social listening.
I’ve moved plenty of mountains inside the company over the years but it’s the trails I’ve blazed in my first-of-its-kind role that I’m most proud of. I’m proud of the small part I’ve played in the evolution of the profession and our company.
What’s the boldest mistake you’ve made? What did you learn from it?
I’m a little embarrassed to answer this but I don’t think I’ve made a bold mistake, I took a very calculated approach to building this team and everything we do. And it’s one of the things I advise others on, is to take it slow and appreciate the amount of detail that goes into a team like this. This was a critical part of our success as a team.
There was a little luck involved here too, I could’ve just as easily bet wrong on KPIs, benchmarks, standards, new methods, etc.
I’m not perfect by any means, I’ve messed up data pulls, put wrong numbers on slides, left stuff in I should’ve queried out, missed deadlines, etc. I’m human like anyone else, but when you fail small and in a compartment, you can make mistakes without major ramifications. They’re reversible.
That’s what’s great about social listening, it’s so new and so hard, that making a mistake isn’t the end all be all. I teach the people I mentor this too, fail, but fail small, there’s a science to it.
What would be your dream project to work on?
Oh wow great question, I think I can also answer this with some of my favorite people who I think have the coolest jobs in our profession.
I’d love to work on something like super-secret, like FBI/CIA related. I feel like they must have a team like mine, but I’d never know who they are lol (for obvious reasons). Using my skills to help the country or society, maybe to be the social listening & analytics person for The White House? That could be cool.
My friend Lauren Powell is the social insights lead at TikTok, which might be one of the coolest jobs there is, a company that is literally redefining what culture and media consumption is. Your brand and remit are pretty much limitless, I’m very jealous of her!
Jess Bundy at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is great and has a super cool job, the stuff dreams are made of. And I’m not even a Disney adult. Any of the pro sports leagues/teams too, that’d be a lot of fun.
Do you think there’s a right way and a wrong way to use social data?
This is pretty tough and subjective because all businesses are unique or will vary by category. How one company uses the data isn’t always 1:1 with another. You can argue this both ways, but of all the people I’ve met I’ve never had this reaction of “oh that’s wrong”. I don’t think there’s a wrong way, you’re either using it in a good way or a GREAT way.
This also tells me that everyone who does this has a pretty good grasp of how to use it, so is there technically a right way by consensus? I guess there is, but this profession doesn’t have a governing body or universal set of standards. Until there is, there’s no wrong way to use social data.
Are there areas where you think you should be using social data for but aren’t currently?
Social data spans so much more than your traditional listening today so yes. Video intelligence and image recognition are big things and have been for years, there’s lots of great work being done in this space on the SaaS and brand side.
Our business isn’t the same as Paramount, or Warner Bros, or ESPN, video strategy just isn’t prioritized as much for us here, but I recognize the whitespace value it can bring (just like text-based listening does).
Influencer marketing, social commerce, livestreaming, gaming, metaverse, there’s a lot of avenues I’m branching out into that go beyond traditional text-based listening and mainstream social media, so social data takes on a whole new definition these days.
What’s your favourite data source to use and why?
I feel like it’s cheating to answer all of the above, but all of the above. Each has their purpose and I love them all!
I’ve always loved Twitter, which experts debate all the time (and I happily debate too) but it’s the highest velocity, real-time, news breaking social app. It’s so unique and has every type of engagement and digital touchpoint, it’s a great source of insight and always has been.
I’ve gotten pretty good at analyzing Reddit, one of the more advanced sources to query, I think it’s great for deep sentiment, complex consumer journeys, and candor. And Instagram I’ve been loving too, they are still very relevant today for social listening, insights, and all the other major use cases we have.
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