What’s your name?
Baelaya Berendsen (please don’t find me on FB, that’s for my Grandma!)
What major social media account(s) do you (or did you) manage?
Salesforce 2019-2021, currently at Docusign
What is the best thing about managing this account?
Salesforce: the ability to experiment. During my time there we had a lot of firsts and the biggest lesson I learned is to keep your reps close—they can make things happen for you.
Docusign: helping to redefine their tone of voice on social (currently in the beginning stage of this effort) and I love that we’re making it social first (as opposed to so many efforts are social last)
What is the HARDEST thing about managing this account?
Salesforce: the number of trolls and the numerous subsidiary handles. The Salesforce ecosystem is so large and there was a handle for everything when I first started. Thankfully we sunsetted some channels and worked on a process that aligned the rest.
Docusign: finding the right tone of voice that partakes in trends and brandter but stays true to our over all brand voice and carries our long-term, loyal customers along for the journey.
How do you think up your posts?
LOL my mind is like a game of association so when I see something it makes me think of a post.
Also, scrolling…and scrolling…keep an eye out for who’s done what that you can try (or shouldn’t try) as well as conversations you can tap into.
Lastly, try to plan what you can so you have space for when things ultimately come up last minute. There’s so many great social media holiday calendars out there—make use of them
Is there a long approval process for social content or are you trusted to pretty much do your own thing?
It’s changed a lot over the years. For the most part, day to day I’ve been on my own and for bigger campaigns there are multiple eyes on everything.
What have some of your most popular posts been, and why do you think they struck such a chord?
I call them personality posts, posts that build brand affinity. Could be as simple as a “you’re doing great #MondayMotivation” post (LI does this very well). The engagement on these posts help boost your other posts. Why? People don’t like being directly marketed to. It’s like dating, start casual then get into the meat and potatoes.
What have some of your favorite posts been, even if they aren’t necessarily the ones that went “viral”?
Aviation Gin (a handle, not a post, I know) is a work of art.
Overall, I love the format trends on social because I get to see how each person/brand makes it their own and that speaks to their tone of voice and values. For example the “not Wordle just a…”
Has a post ever landed you in hot water? (Tell us ALL the juicy details!)
No, and I’m very grateful for that!
What do you wish you knew before you started managing this account that might have made things easier at the beginning?
How to make meaningful relationships with the people that make your world go round. Respect and authenticity go a long way.
What’s your advice for someone starting out in social?
Get involved. Look to the people/brands doing well in social and reach out (with questions and compliments, don’t want to waste anyone’s time).
What’s your advice for brand managers to get the best out of their social media managers?
Empower your SMMs. Give them time to read up on the newest trends and product releases. Then allow them to do their job. You hired them for a reason, remember that.