🐚The Salty Shell

If you think community management is just about replying to comments and "building a community," think again. I talk about community a lot (I will link all previous issues at the end) and I say it’s the backbone of my career or what I’m known for and it’s because I truly believe in it, have created it and have seen communities work for a variety of reasons but at the end of the day, everything seems to come back to community. You won’t find me talking about memes and trends – as part of a...

No, seriously, what’s wrong with your current audience? Every person and brand on social (and the out-of-touch-with-reality people in the c-suite) is always so concerned about growing. Growing the number of followers on every social media account – not growing the community – growing the silly little number everyone can see. The most followed person on: TikTok: Khabane Lame Instagram: Cristiano Ronaldo X: Barack Obama (it’s really Elon Musk but we all know why we follow him) Facebook:...

To me, it feels silly to write this, but it has been requested a lot recently and has always been a topic of conversation among peers and colleagues, no matter where I am. It’s never my “plan” to create relationships, it’s innately what I do. It’s also why I think it takes a certain kind of person to be a social media and/or community manager – some things can be taught, but relationship-building is instinctive. It’s not news to me, but working with some green-ish social/community managers...

🧂 Salty Insights: You're Doing Too Much Over the past several weeks I have been auditing social media copywriting, paid and organic social strategies, data, calendars and reporting and one of the biggest things I find myself tearing apart and repeating the same feedback is the copywriting. Whether it’s written by AI or a human trying way too hard, it’s obvious. One thing I mentioned was “it looks like either AI wrote it or this was the very last thing you had to do before it went to the...

If you’ve ever created a social media report, you know how time-consuming and stressful the process can be. I did everything in my power to avoid math in college (and I succeeded) and I use it every day – BUT – now I love data because it tells me what I don’t know. None of my clients’ reports are the same – and they shouldn’t be. Before I start the social media strategy I ask the client what they want to measure. Then I ask why. I take notes, ask questions if I need to, and keep my thoughts...

I just spent 50 hours on an audit of a CPG brand’s social media and community management strategy and execution which included strategic approach recommendations. Typically, I spend 20-25 hours on an audit, but after digging into consumer and category data, there was a lot more to uncover and educate the brand on – AKA their ‘goals’ didn’t align with any results the industry would yield. 🧂 Salty Insights: Imitation isn't flattery - it's dumb In an audit, I always do the competitive analysis...

My only full-time corporate job taught me a lot. A lot about people, office politics and procedures, and literally nothing about my job. Some could argue I only know one company, but I took my skills and learnings to freelance for 25+ agencies and 150+ brands after I left - because it doesn't take 40 hours to do my job and I can't do it well while sitting in a felt box. 🧂 Salty Insights: IYDKYWK Unfortunately, I continue to see all of these red flags with every company I work with and I think...

Marketing terms get intertwined and are misunderstood, especially when it comes to social media. Social listening is the most confused between social media monitoring, listening, and reporting. All three are equally important, and I also think all 3 are underused, especially when it comes to tracking consumer behavior and making business decisions. You voted for this issue at the end of last week’s issue – thank you! 🧂 Salty Insights: Social Media Managers Are Lazy Don’t get offended, what...

We need to talk. Last week we went over how to audit your mental health and create your personal wellness strategy and this week, I need you to know: Your career doesn’t define you. Your profession is not your personality. At least it shouldn’t be. 🧂 Salty Insights: A Profession is not a Personality It’s easy to find value and purpose through our work. It’s even easier to get so immersed in our careers especially as marketers and social media professionals with the internet, email, work chat,...