Welcome New Members - January 27th, 2025

🌟 Hey everyone - I’m Reid! I am currently the Digital Marketing Specialist at Looking Glass Factory. We’re a small but mighty tech startup based in Brooklyn, NY, paving the way to introduce the world to holograms! Social media has always fascinated me—from my early days of using it in middle school to where I am today. Being involved in the mechanics of this incredible tool that not only connects humans across the globe but also gives them a voice in any conversation was something I’ve always wanted to be a part of. Throw in the opportunity to get paid for it, and here I am, haha!
 

💻 As cliché as it may sound, TikTok is at the top of my list. It holds an unlimited number of layers and possibilities, and finding not only my place but my brand’s place within those layers is a challenge that excites me.
 

🚀 Something recent that I absolutely loved was the new Cheetos “Other Hand” campaign. I thought it was brilliant—a perfect mix of humor and brand attention—and a great reminder of what being a passionate expert in your field and product looks like.

💡 Not overthinking things is probably the biggest blocker in my current process. I constantly find myself in a loop, going around and around trying to come up with something good, only to waste time and produce something that feels too manufactured for social. Also, I am no expert lol—so maybe I should just tell myself this in the mirror, LOL.
 

🔮 AI is definitely a big factor, but I believe people will forever and always yearn for things made by humans for humans. So, I’m learning to incorporate AI in ways that boost my productivity without sacrificing creativity.
 

🧠 I want to connect with people from all walks of life. Not many people understand that navigating the digital world like we do is no easy task. We’re facing challenges that no one has ever dealt with before. I think I sometimes fall into traps with this, and I’d love a place where I can learn from others and be inspired by what they’re doing as we all carve out our paths.
 

Quick note: I’ve been part of the Arb before in my previous role, but I lost access when I switched to another company and returned my Sprout access. I’m happy to be back and ready to join y’all!

🌟 Introduce Yourself: Hey everyone! My name is Cheyenne Davis and I’m a Social Media and Campaign Manager currently at Greystar International (Real Estate). My focus is organic social media and campaign strategy with the aim to go full omni-channel by the end of 2025!

💻 Favorite Platform: I haven’t been able to close Instagram since opening! I took a year break from personal social use and it was the first app I logged back into. So much so, it is the main channel in all strategies that I’ve worked on…and there’s been a few!

🚀 Campaign Highlight: At my current role, I’ve been able to take the lead on external social media agency support- selecting the right agencies to the right brands and it is sooooooo rewarding to see the change in social media daily. With an optimised strategy, internal social media training and trust from the business, social has contributed to a 15% increase on leasing for one (out of the 31) brands that I currently work on. This year, I aim for those results across the board.
 

💡 Expert Advice: The only tip I have on creating content is relevance. If you don’t get it, nobody else will x 

🔮 Future Trends: Video, video, video. Let A.I help…a little bit haha. 
 

🧠 Learning Objectives: My goal is to meet people like me. I’ve been doing this for thirteen years and I don’t know / speak to like minded people enough. A big step for me but I’m taking it! Thanks for having me :-) 

🌟 Hello from Seattle! I’m Kaily Serralta, social media manager at Friends of Waterfront Park. I somewhat plopped into social media marketing after a few MarCom roles at local and regional nonprofits. I truly love storytelling through different medium, and giving fans of these nonprofits content to cheer for, share, and engage with that makes them feel a sense of optimism. 

💻 My favorite platform would have to be Instagram from a visual perspective. I’m a Formula 1 fan (rather a Lewis Hamilton fan), and I often to go their accounts for inspiration on content. Sometimes we need a little inspiration and that’s often my go-to. 

🚀 My top campaign highlight has to be the first Music’s in Our Blood campaign with Bloodworks Northwest, including a pop of hello from Macklemore.

💡 My expert advice: Let your followers do the talking. There’s nothing more powerful than when real people who are impacted by an organization’s mission show and tell what matters to them, why others should support the organization, and how to get involved. 

🔮 Future Trends: Pffff. I’m stuck on this one. Of course, video is still going to be THE format. 

🧠 Learning Objectives: I’m hoping to be inspired by peer organizations in the civic engagement, parks, and nonprofit space, especially as a team of 1.

🌟  Hi, I’m Bekah! I’m the social media strategist for The Nature Conservancy. I’ve been in social for almost my entire career, from government to public education to nonprofits. While it has its downsides, I love what social can do for the world and (in my current role) the planet. 

💻 Pinterest is my safe space. My feed never shows me anything negative. It’s all creativity. 

🚀 The Michael CeraVe campaign had no business being that clever. 

💡 Trust your gut. 

🔮 Honestly, right now, I think we need to be ready for anything. So that just means being nimble. 

🧠 I’m happy to have this space to connect with other peers and learn from their work. 

🌟 Hi everyone! My name is Lauren Fischer and I am the social media manager for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra! I’ve been at the job for a little over 6 months and it’s been a dream. I started running social in college, after approaching my college band director about resurrecting our marching band’s FB and IG. I love bringing together my interests in social and music to create the next generation of classical music fans!

💻 Personally, pre-2024 Twitter...professionally, I love using Instagram. There’s so many ways to engage with your followers, and I’ve found it fun to interact with comments on our account. It feels like I’m talking directly to our audiences!

🚀 This is a very well-known one, but I think as a consumer I’ll always remember the day Taylor Swift completely wiped her socials, later posting a snake video to tease her 2017 album, Reputation. I came to school that day and EVERYONE was talking about it. She created all this buzz, and we didn’t even know what it was for. A lot of artists employ this tactic today, but Taylor’s is the one I remember that had the most shock value. I love when artists switch up their social strategy like that!

💡 Put yourself in the mindset of when you’re scrolling on socials. Not professionally. I’m talking about laying in bed, mindlessly swiping away as the hours tick on. What kind of content makes you stop your scroll? What about it made you take pause? When I’m stuck on how to frame a post, I think back to what I’d want to see as a follower. It’s helped me create more engaging content over time.

🔮 We’re in such a precarious state with social media right now. I do anticipate things getting worse, with more and more distressing news on the tl. I think what we as SMMs can do is continue to create content that engages, entertains, and even provides a little bit of hope for people during these difficult days. People come to social media to laugh and escape. We can give them that kind of content.

🧠 It can feel lonely being a SMM sometimes! I’m here to find community and get help when I inevitably run into problems with Meta Business Suite.

🌟 Hi everyone! I’m Hanna Parks and I’m on the social media team for RE/MAX (@remax). I’ve been with them for a little over a year and it’s been so much fun working on a larger well-known brand. I started working in social while still in college as part of a class project to develop your own business and my interest only grew from there! Going on 8 years in the industry.

💻 I’d say my favorites are TikTok and Pinterest. I love how unserious TikTok can be, the content doesn’t have to be prim and polished to do well. And for Pinterest, the fact that it’s such an unsocial social platform but it can do so much to drive traffic (and sales) to a business.

🚀 I’m not a beer drinker, but I LOVED the collab with Post Mallone/ Shane Gillis & Bud Light. 

💡 Understand what your audience likes to see and try to create more of that content so share with them. Our audience on all our channels LOVE the RE/MAX balloon so we’ve tried to come up with different campaigns to incorporate the balloon into different things, whether it’s adding it behind a cute house, putting it on wrapping paper or making it out of spring-time flowers.

🔮 AI is only going to get bigger and better!

🧠 I’m here to find community/ people who aren’t a part of my day-to-day job to talk social with, bounce ideas off of, and hear how others are going about their positions.

I’m Donal Treacy, I’m a salesperson more than a marketing but those lines are blurring quickly. I began experimenting with LinkedIn content creation and quickly scaled up to 50,000+ impressions per month. The process of storytelling and audience engagement has been an exciting learning curve for me.

💻 Favorite Platform:
Right now, LinkedIn is my go-to. It’s been fascinating to see how different storytelling styles impact engagement, and I love how it blends professional networking with personal insights. Keen to explore TikTok and YouTube.

🚀 Campaign Highlight:
While I don’t come from a marketing background, I’ve been working on a Podcast and video series with a friend. Focusing on helping men cultivate and maintain friendships as adults. Social media is playing a big role in how we shape and share our content, and I’m eager to refine that further.

💡 Expert Advice:
For me, authentic storytelling is key. People connect with stories, not just data. If your content makes someone pause, reflect, or feel something—it’s doing its job.

🔮 Future Trends:
I see short-form video and community-driven content continuing to dominate. I want to dive deeper into video storytelling and audience engagement strategies to stay ahead.

🧠 Learning Objectives:
I’m here to learn more about effective content creation, audience growth strategies, and leveraging social media beyond sales. Also, as a dad of three, I love learning how to balance creativity and productivity!

Looking forward to connecting and learning from all of you!

🌟 Introduce Yourself
I am Sonja, based in the UK, leading communications, PR, marketing and social media across two B2B organisations – a manufacturing company and a robotics company. Yes, I am always juggling and definitely time poor!

💻 Favourite Platform

For fun? Instagram – it is my happy place for creative inspo and a good scroll. For work? LinkedIn, hands down. It is an absolute powerhouse for B2B marketing, reputation-building and thought leadership. It is where I position my brands as experts, and make sure we are part of the right conversations

🚀 Campaign Highlight

Too many to pick just one!

💡 Expert Advice
Know your audience and make it relevant. Put yourself in their shoes and think about what they actually want to see, not just what you want to post.

🔮 Future Trends
I think AI is an evolving beast, and I am just trying to keep up with it! Right now and for me, I mainly see it as a tool for productivity, but it is growing fast. Its powerful stuff, but if I'm honest, i struggle to keep up!

🧠 Learning Objectives
I am here to learn, share ideas and connect with others who are navigating the ever-changing world of marketing and social media. I sometimes feel like a fish out of water, so having a supportive space to bounce around ideas is exactly what I need!

Looking forward to connecting with you all 

🌟 Introduce Yourself: 

Hi everyone! I’m Clara and I am the Marketing Coordinator for a privately-owned resort hotel in Upstate New York, The Otesaga Resort Hotel (@otesagahotel.) I have professional and learned experience in Graphic Design and Photography, so I love being able to intertwine those things in creating content for social! 

💻 Favorite Platform: 

Instagram is always my go-to. I find that there is so much there for creative inspiration and am constantly saving things for both work and personal-use!

🚀 Campaign Highlight: 

Also loved the Michael CeraVe one and thought the Severance Grand Central pop-up was very cool.

💡 Expert Advice: 

I think I’m still learning what works as I have just started this full-time position at a new company, but I always feel like high-quality visuals are very important, no matter what you’re posting! It speaks volumes to the viewers in my opinion.

🔮 Future Trends: 

I think AI is definitely evolving at a ridiculous pace, I am learning to incorporate it into my work in a positive aspect but am interested in everything that it has to offer as we go on! 

🧠 Learning Objectives: I am here to learn from other professionals and connect with a community that can bring us like-minded folks together to offer perspectives and advice! I am excited to have this space to learn from others.

🌟 Introduce Yourself: I’m Alison, in a mostly graphic design role at an agency in South Dakota who dabbles in social out of necessity and curiosity. 

💻 Favorite Platform: My personal favorite is IG because of the Explore feature. I love the visuals, options for movement, and hate the parenting reels. 

🚀 Campaign Highlight: I love the collabs that Lululemon and Athleta do with high profile and local athletes. Especially in non-traditional spaces, shapes, and sports. 

💡 Expert Advice: There is no 100% perfect post. Rip the bandaid and get it posted. You’ll learn so much faster that way. 

🔮 Future Trends: I think ways to group like-minded people tend to have the most engagement. Facebook groups is probably its most successful feature right now. 

🧠 Learning Objectives: I’m looking for insights in how other agencies handle social teams, troubleshoot issues, and help to empower clients to not be afraid of social!