Benzinga

I lead the best social media team in the world. 

In the first 5 months, we've added, over 300,000 collective followers and we're just getting started.

Head of Social Media

Social Studies

I write for 10,000+ social media wizards/ninjas/gurus/rockstars.

We compile databases, case studies, and deep dives that help you do your job better.

Creator

Tyson Foods

Social Media

Life.Church

As a member of the YouVersion team, I was an employee at Life.Church, an innovative multi-site church based in Edmond, Oklahoma. Life.Church has over 40 physical locations across the country and reaches millions of people every week online. Life.Church also developed the YouVersion Bible App (over 500 million downloads), the Bible App for Kids and the Church Online Platform.

YouVersion

Managed organic social media strategy and content creation for all of YouVersion’s brands. (Global account, niche accounts, and international foreign language accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok.)

Increased the following of our global Instagram account from 500,000 to 2.6 million followers in two years. Launched multiple niche accounts and grew them from zero to over 100,000. Grew our TikTok from zero to over 300,000 in under six months. 

Led a team of volunteer community managers and designers to execute overall brand vision as well as respond to the needs of a community of over 7.5 million followers.

Developed a comprehensive YouTube strategy to provide relevant content to the target audience. During COVID, led production and creative on a series of felt-need videos that have now amassed over 21 million views.

University of Missouri-Columbia

Filmmaker

Marketing Intern

Organic Social Media Newsletter, Community, Consulting

It was dumb luck honestly...

I was unqualified to even read the job description.

But they rolled the dice and took a chance on me and just like that I was running social media at YouVersion (the Bible app with 800+ million downloads).

At YouVersion I saw how legitimately caring about your audience results in insane follower growth and engagement. We increased the following of our Instagram account from 500,000 to 2.6 million followers in two years. We launched multiple accounts that grew from zero to over 100,000. Our TikTok went from zero to over 300,000 in under six months.

I'm currently the Head of Social at Benzinga where I lead the best social media team in the world. In the first 5 months, we've added, over 300,000 collective followers and we're just getting started.

I started writing on LinkedIn on January 1, 2022 and have written (almost) everyday for 3 years. The account has grown from 0 to 40,000 followers.

In short... I help brands build audiences, engaged communities, and raving fans.

Jacob Shipley

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If your social media manager is responsible for strategy, copywriting, graphic design, video production, editing, posting, community management, reporting, and analytics for every single platform... 
 
They're working 40 hours by lunch on Wednesday.

Dirty little social media secret 🤫

Your first 100 posts will underperform.

And that's not just normal... 

It's essential.

When I writing on LinkedIn, all I posted was quotes from "Atomic Habits" by James Clear.

They sucked.

But, each post was a rep, building a habit, finding my voice, and understanding my audience.

Quality is on the other side of quantity.

i was frustrated with some personal stuff and needed a creative outlet.

i started writing on linkedin every single day.

3.5 years later, 45k of you clicked the follow button.

heckuva ride.

literally cannot overstate how important LinkedIn has been to my career.

i've become a better writer because of linkedin.

i landed my dream job because of linkedin.

i've gotten to consult for some of the coolest brands in the world because of linkedin.

idk who you are or what you're up to.

but you should be writing on linkedin.

tysonfoodservice

original-philly-cheesesteak-co-

unveiled-media

how-to-social-media

everyday-we-motivate

Talks about #socialmedia, #digitalmarketing, #socialmediamanager, #socialmediamarketing, and #socialmediamanagement

All things social media.

Average age of retirement for different careers:

NFL Player: 27
NBA Player: 28
Software developer: 52
Firefighter: 55
Teacher: 59
Nurse: 62
Doctor: 68
Lawyers: 72
Social media managers: *manually posting stories at their own funeral*

If you see an improvement a social media manager could make, let them know.

But for every time you critique, compliment 10 times.

We're a sensitive breed.

If you think social media management is just posting on social media... you probably don't work in social media.

My old boss was a very wise marketer.

One time the team was in a meeting talking through strategy and he said, "We're asking the customer to marry us on the first date. We need to ask them if we can buy them a drink."

That remains my favorite marketing analogy I've ever heard.

Shoutout to Mr. Keith for an offhand comment that forever changed how I view the marketing funnel.

My Top 7 Social Media Predictions for 2025:

(Number 7 is the most surprising)

...

Nobody. Knows. Literally, nobody.

You don’t see a girl/guy and immediately ask for her hand in marriage. You see a girl/guy and ask if you can buy them a drink.

You don’t hop on social media and tell people to buy your product. You hop on social media and give people a reason to hit the follow button.

How long until I see an ROI from organic social?

Immediately.

But also... longer than you'd think.

The real ROI often comes in a roundabout way.

During my first 10 months of consistent posting on LinkedIn my audience barely budged.

But in the background, I was landing:
- Freelance gigs
- Consulting opportunities
- Speaking engagements at conferences

Of course you want more followers. Of course you want more sales.

But look for early indicators that followers and sales are coming soon.

Things like:
- Increased engagement rate
- More comments
- Relevant DMs

If you're a social media pro... I'm gonna do you a solid...

Social teams are drowning in tools that weren't built for them (or by them)

You know the drill:

→ Edit in CapCut (pray it doesn't crash)
→ Export and upload somewhere else for brand assets
→ Repeat this nightmare 50 times a week

I've been testing Slate. And mama.... I'm in love.

Brand assets live IN the editor. Your fonts, colors, logos just... exist there. 

No hunting through folders or begging the design team for the 47th time. (not that I'VE ever done that lol)

Safe zones built in. One-click resizing. Mobile + desktop sync. 

Curious... what's your biggest pain point in creating content with your current tool stack? 👇 

https://hubs.li/Q03BBP760

I have zero commentary on this whole deal. Just wanted to stop the scroll and ask you to subscribe to my newsletter. Become a better social media pro in 5 minutes per week: socialstudies.beehiiv.com

When there’s an 11 step approval process for a social post

9 things that will guarantee you go viral (number 7 will blow your mind)!

👇👇👇

Good grief....

Why did you click on that?

That's a horrible way to write.

And there's no way to guarantee virality.

Nah we're good it's just how you think "social media manger" means "graphic designer, copywriter, video editor, executive assistant, and other duties as assigned" that threw me off a bit.

idk who needs to hear this, but you should write like you talk.

Good morning to everyone except y’all who give hell to brand social accounts as if there’s no person behind the screen.

The worst social media advice I've ever gotten...

I started working with a new freelance client years ago.

Right away there were some red flags.

They were thinking about social very differently than I was.

They wanted a ton of straight branded product promos.

I wanted to create an engaged community.

I brought up my hesitations and was told, “Don’t make mountains out of mole hills.”

Basically, don’t complain over a small things.

“Let’s just keep doing what we’ve been doing and the longer we work together, the more control you’ll have over these decisions.”

“We have to build a case for organic social first. Prove the ROI, and then you’ll get freedom.”

I’d kind of forgotten about this experience until this week when I was setting traps for moles in my backyard.

Do I actually care about a couple mole hills in my backyard?

Not really.

But those mole hills are a massive flashing warning sign that I’ve got moles!

The problem isn’t the actual mole hill, it’s those god-forsaken animals that keep infiltrating my yard.

If I ignore the first mole hill, I’ll wind up with tunnels from the back fence all the way up to the house. (Speaking from experience.)

So…

Trust your gut.

If you get a new client and they start waving red flags… don’t ignore them!

And if you bring them up and they say some variation of “don’t make mountains out of mole hills…”

Remember that mole hills means you’ve got moles.

If you and your client can’t see eye to eye on how to think about social media, you’ll wake up 6 months down the road frustrated as all get out.

p.s. Obviously there’s no perfect job/boss/client.

Concessions will always have to be made.

Competing interests are a standard.

It’s never ok to be a nightmare to work with and throw fits over every little thing.

But… it’s wise to think ahead and see how problems can manifest.

Taplio

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