What was your journey/career path to your current position?
I did a BComm specialising in marketing in UCD. After graduating I worked in Ad Ops and a number of digital marketing roles. After completing a course in TV and Video Production I moved more into online video and that's when I began my journey in social. I joined RTV six years ago and have had various roles in social in the organisation over that time. I went back to college at night to study for a HDip in Science in Data Analytics a few years ago and that transformed my career. I specalised in social data and haven't looked back.
What's your proudest achievement of your career to date?
Seeing the social stats for Ireland's most watched TV show of the year, The Late Late Toy Show, appear alongside the Nielsen data in press like The Irish Times for the first time was a proud moment. It was a real indication that the work I had done around effective social measurement was being recognised at a high level.
On a personal level being included on the NCI Dean's Honour List after retraining as a data analyst was a great moment too. Juggling a full time role with such an intense course wasn't always easy but I absolutely loved it.
What does social intelligence mean to you?
Social intelligence can encompass so much. For me in RTV it was about better utilising the social data we had available to make better informed and more effective campaign decisions. Enhancing our social intelligence through robust measurement practices meant we were much more agile in responding when followers were responding well or poorly to content.
What's been the biggest challenge you've faced while trying to get brands to integrate social intelligence within their growth strategy?
Time was an issue to begin with. Any project you start from scratch, like I did with our Social Data Project, takes time to research and put it in place before you can deliver any tangible results. Communicating my vision for the short, medium, and long term helped to demonstrate the value that could be achieved.
There will always be a certain level of resistance to change. Bringing people into the project in the early stages and enlisting them in the process was crucial in getting people invested in driving change.
What do you think is the biggest missed opportunity for social intelligence?
Leaving it to the most analytical/technical members of a team or organisation. A large number of people doing a little social listening in an organisation is much more powerful that a few doing a lot. That's not to say there shouldn't be specialists and key drivers but do what you can to get as many people as possible interested in learning the basics.
What's on the cards for you and your team/organisation in 2022?
I left RTV at the start of 2022 but at that stage the project was much bigger than myself and my own team so I have no doubt they'll continue to do great things in this space.
How do you see social intelligence and its use evolving?
I think more organisations are going to start to recognise it's potential value. Effective use of social intelligence is a hugely powerful tool for so many areas of an organisation and its value is going to be increasingly difficult to ignore.
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