As stated by Justine, working as a social media marketing manager can be a very busy, high paced position. Her time was very valuable. I’m so excited I was able to finally sit down with Justine to get more information about social media marketing. I intend to use a lot of social media marketing for my future businesses. I learned a lot from her in our discussion, and I hope you do too.
Justine Schwindel
The Brandon Agency:
Social Media Manager
- Tell me a little bit about your background and how you began working for The Brandon Agency?
I grew up in Florence, SC and then attended Presbyterian College in upstate SC, graduating with a Major in Business Administration, Concentration in Management and Minor in Media Studies in 2008. I was then hired by my alma mater as an Admissions Counselor, promoted to Assistant Director and then to the Director of Alumni Relations, serving many roles including running their social media channels. At the time, I also simultaneously pursued my Master in Business Administration (MBA) and graduated in 2013. Upon completion, I was offered the Director of Member and Community Relations position with the Laurens County Chamber of Commerce. I worked with several local businesses, eventually returning to Presbyterian College as an adjunct Business professor of Social Media Marketing while consulting these local businesses’ marketing efforts and social media accounts. My family ended up moving to Murrells Inlet in 2004 when I went off to college, and I always had heard about The Brandon Agency in Myrtle Beach; knowing if I ever had the opportunity to return to the lowcountry, this would be a company I would want to pursue. That opportunity arose in 2017, and I interviewed and was offered the position of a Senior Social Media Executive and relocated to Murrells Inlet and commuted to Myrtle Beach each day ever since. Three months later, I was promoted to Social Media Manager and have loved my time at TBA, what we call it for short!
- What are the job details of a Social Media Marketer?
At the Brandon Agency, my position is technically a Social Media (SM) Manager – but SM Marketers do anything from managing social media marketing campaigns to day-to-day activities including writing or curating content, posting, scheduling, monitoring, responding, and crisis management. There are housekeeping duties like reporting, internal team meetings, client meetings, presentations, new business evaluations, managerial work, submitting timesheets, training, and reading up on the latest SM trends or platforms.
- What challenges could you face as a Social Media Marketer? How might you resolve them?
One of the biggest challenges is time management, prioritization of work, and multitasking. In a nutshell, that is what you are doing at all times and sometimes afterhours. You may have an in advance, scheduled content calendar you are working from for a client, but if they have a major company update, newsworthy event, natural disaster and so on happens, you must be able to change and adapt at a moment’s notice. In addition to this, you are doing so for multiple clients, so this scenario could be happening in repeat – amidst meetings, phone calls, emails and the like.
- How have the experiences that you have had during your entire career influenced the way you now manage your department?
The experience of working with a team and managing teammates below me was one of the skills I learned in my first five years in the workforce. It can definitely be uncomfortable at first, especially if the staff member is older than you, but you have to remember that they are human, too – treat them with respect, as a peer, and heck, sometimes even have fun! Use the golden rule, professionalism, and give constructive feedback. It works like a charm!
- What, if any, educational background and/or experiences should one have if pursuing a social media marketing career?
Having a college degree in marketing, communications, business, or a similar field is definitely helpful, and in some cases, required. I have a secondary degree (MBA) as well, and I feel that has helped me even more so with client interactions, strategy, and the reporting side. Internships are extremely helpful as well as you are able to apply your “real world” experience once in this position. Lastly, other than just being an active social media user and reading articles/updates every day is the absolute best way to learn about this field.
- The Brandon Agency claims to be a fully integrated marketing firm. What qualifications or skills do you look for when hiring someone to work as a marketer?
Agency experience is always a plus – if you are right out of college, this may not be possible then, so for a position like an entry-level Social Media Associate these are the actual qualifications from our website:
- A Bachelor’s degree in communications or a related field
- One to three years of job experience, preferably in a full-service agency
- Strong understanding of social media and marketing communications
- Ability to make recommendations based on campaign analytics
- Social media platform management (Hootsuite, Sprout, etc.) experience
- Basic ability to edit photos and video
- Basic photography and video skills
- Basic understanding of Public Relations
- Ability to conduct in-person meetings and presentations
- Excellent time and calendar management skills
- Ability to work in fast-paced and pressured environment while remaining proactive, resourceful and efficient
- Ability to work well in a team environment
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Strong experience in the outdoor and/or travel & tourism strongly preferred
- Agency-experience preferred
- What advice would you give to someone who was considering a career in social media marketing?
Most of the advice I have already listed above, but some of the most important would to be yourself – you are going to spend more time with these people than your actual family and friends, so your honest needs, wants, goals, and personality should be communicated as much as possible. Not all agencies, or companies if you apply in-house, are a good fit. You need to interview them just as much as they are interviewing you.
- When someone joins your company, how do you orient them as a member of your team?
TBA has a great onboarding and “Trailblazer” program – this includes anything from our printed Trail Guide, TBA swag (goodies), HR orientation, one-on-one meetings with every department head, welcome meals, you name it! One of the newer implemented and successful programs is your own mentor for the first three months that you get to meet with weekly, monthly lunches, and access to anytime for work-related or general questions.
- Being that you employ interns, what’s the usual turnover rate for marketers at your firm?
We have internships available per semester – fall and summer, unpaid but for class credit, and then a paid, summer internship. The school year positions are typically for sophomores to seniors, and the summer term are typically seniors or graduates. I would say our department, Public Relations and Social Media, hires one intern per year.
- How do you keep up with current events in your industry, and as a business person in general?
Our PR/SM Department does two, daily emails – one that is PR related for client story pickups or industry news that make the overall team aware and for SM to use for content calendar. For SM, we make and send out a “Trend Spot” internally of the day’s biggest stories, trending (typically by hashtag) topics, new industry trends, articles, and blogs.
- In your opinion, how has social media impacted how marketing is done?
Social Media has completely changed the marketing game. It has given an outlet to even the most basic of brand influencers and expansive access to company’s customers. It has, in some ways when thinking of organic SM, made marketing very economical. The biggest impact is the speed – a tweet can reach millions of users in a matter of seconds.
- In your opinion, what makes a client want to go to a marketing professional, such as yourself, verses doing it themselves?
A client’s biggest challenge every day is their time – they do not have the capability to do everything, and when it comes to social media, it’s typically rushed, thought of last, or not invested in enough, so hiring a fully integrated marketing firm gives you the best shot to reach all of your KPIs (key performance indicators).
- I noticed that The Brandon Agency has a wide range of specialties: ranging from retail to tourism. Which industry(s) tend to utilize more social media marketing? Which industry(s) faces more challenges using social media marketing?
TBA has noticed a huge push in our ecommerce, particularly outdoor, clients – so much so, that we have established our own niche group, TBA Outdoors. These clients and this space utilizes social media, brand ambassadors, and influencers regularly in content and growing exponentially!
An industry that is more challenging would be our tourism and resort clients. With two of our main hubs being in Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina, competition is everywhere and the pressure high to bring travelers to the area and happy at all times.
- How do you determine if social media marketing is a good marketing tool for a particular client?
The SM department carries out a Social Media Evaluation, One-Sheeter Recommendation or Proposal/Plan. Sometimes all of these will occur, or a combination. This allows us to evaluate their current efforts, if any, and what the agency could carry out if hired. Some clients we also do on just a consulting basis and not a full execution plan.
- With the different social media platforms (e.g. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.), which one would you conclude has the better marketing potential? Why?
INSTAGRAM – it is ruling the social space right now – over 1 billion users now, the popularity of IG stories, and IGTV now being introduced.
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