What’s up everyone! We are officially 4 issues into Stronger Social. To be completely honest…I’m having so much fun with this. And I hope you enjoy these emails and find them helpful. The goal was to create more than just a newsletter…but a cheat code for social media professionals. No fluff. Straight to the point. Highly applicable.
Today, we are diving into a unique topic. Social media is a challenging and highly rewarding field that demands a diverse skillset. We all know this. But there’s one skill that I think is highly underrated and will do wonders for your career.
In today’s issue, we will go over the following:
The most underrated skill for social media professionals (that also unlocks big budgets)
Social Pro Shoutout: Maren Hamilton shares the importance of disconnecting
5 social jobs you should look into if you’re exploring new opportunities
Let’s. get. started 💪
I truly think that this is the most underrated skill for social media professionals…
Social media professionals have such diverse skillsets and this field requires a lot from us. We are expected to be highly strategic, tapped into trends & internet culture, move at the speed of culture (which is fast), be organized, and be highly creative. We step out of our job descriptions constantly and become copywriters, graphic designers, content creators, event managers, talent managers, and so much more.
We do a lot. We really do.
These are all great skills to have and they are needed to succeed in this field. But I truly believe that one of the most underrated skills that a social media professional can have is this…
The ability to make & sell in decks.
Yes. You read that right. Decks.
Michael Scott gets it.
But let me explain.
As social media professionals - it’s one thing to have a great idea. A great strategy. A great concept.
It’s another to present it, articulate it, sell it in, get full buy in, and get cross-functional team members excited. In fact, here’s a hot take: your strategy, concept, or idea is only as good as your pitch and presentation.
So for today, I want to provide a playbook on how to create an elite social media presentation regardless if you’re selling in an idea, strategy, or creative concept. The goal is to provide you everything you need to get full buy-in, unlock bigger budgets, and get cross-functional team members excited. LFG!
💻 Best Practices: Deck Making
Tell a Story: You’re not just creating a presentation, you’re telling a story. Social strategies are compelling stories that are brought to life on social, and they should be sold in that way.
Use brand assets: Very simple. But this has to be said. Be sure to leverage proper brand assets such as the correct brand colors, logos, and fonts. I know this is silly, but I have literally seen people called out for not using brand fonts in a presentation with 50+ people in attendance.
Lean into visuals: This is the biggest deck making hack. If your slides look good and are visually appealing - you will have everyone’s’ attention in the room. Keep text minimal on your slides and lean on imagery. My rule is that text should take up 50% of your slide maximum. To much clutter and text pushes people away.
Don’t tell me, show me: If you are proposing a creative concept…don’t just explain this to me on a slide. Show me! Use visuals and work with your designer or leverage AI if needed. This tip alone will do wonders and help get buy in on creative concepts.
Generate momentum early: When you are presenting strategy and creative concepts specifically, you need to start strong and put your best work first. Put your best ideas & concepts early on in your deck to get people excited and to generate momentum early. Start strong. Finish strong.
🗣 Best Practices: The Presentation
Know Your Audience: Like…really know your audience. If you are presenting to your Chief Marketing Officer who loves the word “viral” - include that word in slides or voice it over. Just don’t overdo it and make it too obvious of course.
Don’t just present: The best presentations aren’t presentations…they are conversations. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to your audience and discuss the slides more deeply.
Anticipate Questions: Go through each slide and anticipate what others could question, and have those answers ready. Be ready!
Don’t read your slides: The people you are presenting to know how to read…well I hope they can at least. Do not read your slides. Exaggerate on them.
Bring enthusiasm: If you’re not excited about your strategy, will others? Probably not. Bring excitement. Bring energy. Bring enthusiasm!
SOCIAL PRO SHOUTOUT
If you want to work in social media long term, then you need to regularly disconnect. Maren hits on the importance of disconnecting in this post and I couldn’t agree more. Make sure to go give Maren a follow on LinkedIn!
SOCIAL OPPS
If you’re on the job hunt and exploring new Social Media Opportunities, here are some roles to check out.
✌️KBYG (Know Before You Go)
It’s another week, let’s get after it! Here are a few things top of mind that I want to share before you go.
📲 Interested in learning more about shareability on social? Check out the full issue here. Let me know how you like it!
🗣 Make a submission for a social pro shoutout! Every week I want to amplify the voices of social media professionals and feature a LinkedIn post by one of you. If there’s a post that you found helpful on LinkedIn with regard to social media, you can submit them here.
👀 Are you following Adam? Yes, Adam Mosseri - the head of Instagram. He’s a must follow on Threads for all updates, optimizations, and more for Instagram. Highly recommend giving him a follow.
🤔 Do you have a topic that you want to see addressed in a future email? If so, respond to this email and let me know.
Sam Wells
Thanks for reading and hope you have a great week!
Follow me on LinkedIn here
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