What is your job title? How do you use social listening in your work?
At L’Oreal I lead Social Intelligence & Global Analytics within our Professional Products division. The Professional Products Division (PPD) consists of brands & products utilized by professional hair stylists such as Redken, Biolage, Mizani etc. With social listening I help our brands with identifying emerging trends, product & ingredient perception, content development, influencer & brand partnerships, and of course brand monitoring.
What’s your background? How did you get into social listening?
I have a whirlwind of a background within social media. It began as a fun hobby of mine; creating YouTube & Instagram accounts and content for my dance team, cheerleading team, and a local non profit organization. I saw how the exposure from those videos led to funding & scholarships. Social media can truly have an impact,which led to me pursuing social media endeavors in college as an intern at Nascar & NASA.
After graduating I was a part of the Verizon Ad Fellows where social listening was introduced to me. I participated in a war room for the Super Bowl (full circle moment coming) as Verizon waited for the reaction of their first half commercial. I worked with the social team to live report social metrics and track competitor conversations. It was so cool and crazy to experience. After graduating from AdFellows, I was offered a role as a Social Intelligence Analyst with social listening pioneer Frank Gregory. The rest is happening in real time lol.
What has been your biggest achievement?
I have two big achievements!
My first is having social listening and analytics metrics I pulled announced on live television at Super Bowl LV. It was so full circle, as just 2 years ago I was a fellow just learning about social listening. Now an announcer is reading one of my reports in the fourth quarter. The metrics were also shared in an article on Sports Business Journal. I still get so flustered talking about it, definitely one of my biggest achievements.
My second, is building a food content creator brand of 20,000 followers (and counting) by utilizing metrics and a social first strategy.
What would be your dream project to work on?
My dream project would be to work on a campaign for a global brand launching a groundbreaking product or initiative. This project would involve using social listening data to inform every stage of the campaign, from initial market research to monitoring the campaign's performance in real time.
Throughout the campaign, I would work cross functionally with other teams while continuously analyzing social media conversations, sentiment trends, and engagement metrics to gauge the effectiveness of our efforts and make data-driven recommendations for adjustments and improvements. By monitoring in real time we would be able to quickly identify emerging opportunities or challenges and pivot the brand strategy if needed.
Ultimately, my dream project would not only showcase the power of social listening but it would also demonstrate the value of collaboration, creativity, and innovation.
Do you think there’s a right way and a wrong way to use social data?
There’s absolutely a right and wrong way to use social data. It’s important to use data in the most ethical way. Yes we want to help brands and industry leaders gain consumer perception however, there's a moral responsibility to ensure that data is being used in a way that respects individuals privacy and autonomy.
When used the right way, social listening data can be a powerful tool for understanding social & market trends, identifying potential issues & opportunities, and improving products or services in ways that genuinely benefit consumers. It's all about implementing balance between leveraging data for strategic advantage while also upholding ethical standards and respecting the rights of individuals.
Are there areas where you think you should be using social data for but aren’t currently?
Nope! None that I can think of. I currently use social listening in quite a few areas of my personal and work life.
What’s your favourite data source to use and why?
My favorite data source to use is the platform formerly known as Twitter. Twitter provides such a rich and dynamic stream of real-time conversations. It allows you to truly gauge individual perceptions and sentiment as people put their MOST authentic thoughts on the platform. It’s like walking through someone's brain. It’s a resource of communities, immediate reactions, cultural moments, and trends. Its open and public nature allows for extensive data collection and analysis across diverse topics and demographics.Even companies and celebrities join in on the fun.
With Twitter’s open API it's super fun & fascinating to create analyses. With tools lille Brandwatch & NetBase I dig into specific keywords, hashtags, creators, and trends to uncover relevant insights for our brands to become a part of. Twitter's user base is highly engaged, authentic, and transparent - I couldn’t ask for a better platform.
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